I walked up to the dispatch room. We were one of the few stations that had our dispatch room in the same building. I walked over to Amanda. She had been here awhile, and was friends with a few of the firefighters. "Hey, I need to look at the security tapes."

She gave me an odd look, "They're not working."

"What do you mean?"

She gave me another look, "A few of them stopped working about an hour ago. We didn't notice until now. The footage was deleted somehow."

"So you didn't get the fight on footage?"

She gave me another look, "What fight?"

I finally got it. "So the tapes haven't been working for an hour."

"Right. We don't know what happened." She winked at me, glad that I got it. "We actually just called the security company to see what happened. Then our whole system crashed."

Amanda had been a hacker in high school. So she didn't go to jail, she was put in our department to work for the city. "Can you fix it?"

"I'll try. I need the security company to give me permission to fix it though. You know, it's part of my probation and all."

"Yeah, I remember." I gave her a look, "How many people saw the cameras go out?"

"I wasn't the first to point it out. Someone over there saw that they hadn't been recording or something, so I looked into the time it started. That's all I have access to until they give me the password."

"Whoever started the fight has got to be thankful that it didn't record."

"Yeah, I wouldn't know who that was. But quite frankly, they owe the security guys a good cup of coffee."

I chuckled, "Duly noted. I'll make sure they get the word if I find out who it was."

I left to go talk to the firefighter who started this. I went over to the guy who found out his wife died. "Did the cops tell you anything?"

He shook his head, "No, the guy accused me of killing her. I loved her."

I nodded, "Well if it makes you feel better, I knocked him out."

He snorted, "At least one good thing came of this morning."

"Go home. Call your union rep. I'm sure that detective will try to pin this on you. Thankfully the cameras didn't catch any of it."

His head jerked up at that, "Really?"

"Yeah, Amanda told me they stopped working about 45 minutes before the fight broke out. She also said whoever started the fight owes her a cup of coffee for figuring it out."

Thankfully he got what I meant, "I'll pass the word around."

I squeezed his shoulder, "I am sorry for your loss."

"Thanks cappy. I need to take a few days off. I'll let you know when I can come back in."

I nodded, "I'll find someone to cover your shifts for the next two weeks. If you need any more time, just let me know."

I walked up to my office to start paperwork. I needed to find someone else to put on our crew. We were short men lately, and that did not bode well for our safety.

After an hour or two of paperwork my phone started to ring. "Hello?"

"Hey, it's me." I smiled when I heard Jamie's voice.

"How are you?"

"I'm good. I only have a few minutes to talk though. Are you still willing to go to family dinner this Sunday?"

"Yeah, I can even bring dessert. I can make it Thursday and then drop it off Friday so all I have to do is put it in the oven on Sunday."

"Sounds good. What are you planning on making?"

I smiled, "You'll just have to wait and see. What does your family think of you bringing me over?"

He laughed, "Don't worry, they're excited. I haven't brought anyone home in a while."

"No pressure, huh?"

He snickered, "Exactly. I promise they're excited. Pops even said you should bring Jewls if you want. Everyone wants to meet her too."

I sighed, "I don't know if that's a good idea Jamie."

"I know, but Pops said to suggest it. I think it will work, she'd have a great time. Besides, she already knows Nikki and Erin so she'll be fine."

"Fine. I'll ask her. But if she gets uncomfortable at any time, we're leaving."

"That sounds fair." He paused a few seconds, "Well I have to go. Can I come over for dinner one night this week?"

"Yeah, come over tomorrow. Tonight I'm taking Jewls and my grandfather out to dinner."

"Ok, have fun. See you then."

We hung up. I thought about our conversation. Would Julia want to go to a Sunday dinner? What if Jamie and I didn't work out? Would she see any of them again? What was I getting into? I needed to talk with her tonight to see what she thought. Then I could panick.