But I’d appreciate it if you didn’t go wandering into the crosshairs of some drone’s high-powered rifle,” he added, smoothing back strands of hair with a big, thick hand.
“I’d appreciate it. I didn’t do that either. I need to check on my folks,” I said. “Have you seen them?”
“Yeah, Fielding’s in that big trailer the funeral home people bought for you. He was cooking eggs in the kitchen like he’s camping out or something. There’s a refrigerator truck, too.”
“Okay. I know exactly where it is.”
“I’ll take you over there, if you want,” he nonchalantly said, as if he didn’t care.
“I’m glad you’re here,” I said, because I knew I was part of the reason, no matter what he claimed.
Wesley was back, and he had balanced a paper plate of doughnuts on top of cups of coffee. Marino helped himself while I looked out windows at the bright, cold day.
“Benton,” I said, “where is Lucy?”
He did not reply, so I knew. My worst fears were confirmed right then.
“Kay, all of us have a job to do.” His eyes were kind, but he was unequivocal.
“Of course we do.” I set down my coffee because my nerves were bad enough. “I’m going out to check on things.”
“Hold on,” Marino said as he started his second doughnut.
“I’ll be fine.”
“Yeah, you will,” he said. “I’m going to make sure of that.”
“You do need to be careful out there,” Wesley said to me. “We know there’s someone in every window, and they could start shooting whenever they want.”
I looked at the main building in the distance, and I pushed open the glass door that led outside. Marino was right behind me.
“Where’s HRT?- I asked him.
“Where you can’t see them.”
“Don’t talk to me in riddles. I’m not in the mood.”
I walked with purpose, and because I could not see any sign of terrorism or its victims, this ordeal seemed a drill.
Fire and refrigerator trucks and ambulances seemed part of a mock emergency, and even Fielding arranging disaster kits inside the large white trailer that was my outpost did not strike me as reality. He was opening one of the blue Army footlockers stamped with OCME, and inside was everything from eighteen-gauge needles to yellow pouches designed to hold the personal effects of the dead.
He looked up at me as if I had been here all along. “You got any idea where the stakes are?” he asked.
“Those should be in separate boxes with hatchets, pliers, metal ties,” I replied.
“Well, I don’t know where they are.”
“What about the yellow body pouches?” I scanned lockers and boxes stacked inside the trailer.
“I guess I’m just going to have to get all that from FEMA,- he said, referring to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
“Where are they?” I asked, because hundreds of people from many agencies and departments were here.
“You go out and you’ll see their trailer directly to the left, next to the guys from Fort Lee. Graves Registration.
And FEMA’s got the lead-lined suits.”
“And we’ll pray we don’t need them,” I said.
Fielding said to Marino, “What’s the latest on hostages?
Do we know how many they’ve got in there?”
“We’re not really sure because we don’t know exactly how many employees were in the building,” he said. “But the shift was small when they hit, which I’m sure was part of the plan. They’ve released thirty-two people. We’re thinking there’s maybe about a dozen left. We don’t know how many of them are still alive.”
“Christ.” Fielding’s eyes were angry as he shook his head. “You ask me, every one of the assholes ought to be shot on the spot.”
“Yeah, well, you won’t get an argument out of me,” Marino said.
“At this moment,” Fielding said to me, “we can handle fifty. That’s the max between the truck we got here and our morgue back in Richmond, which is already pretty crowded. Beyond that, MCV’s mobilized if we need them for storage.”
. “The dentists and radiologists are also mobilized,” I assumed.
“Right. Jenkins, Verner, Silverberg, Rollins. They’re all on standby.”
I could smell eggs and bacon and didn’t know if I felt hungry or sick. “I’m on the radio, if you need me,” I said, opening the trailer’s door.