Chapter 8 - THE FIREFIGHTER'S FINAL MESSAGE
The police assigned protection to Hope and me after the threats.
Rebecca urged me to stay somewhere secure.
I refused to leave the hospital while Hope remained in the NICU.
So I stayed in a small family room near the unit.
Three days later, Captain Brennan called.
“Hannah, we found something.”
My heart quickened.
“What?”
“Owen's phone.”
I frowned.
“The fire destroyed it.”
“That's what we thought.”
Mike explained that Owen had left a backup phone in his locker.
It was an old device he used during training exercises.
Investigators had recovered it while reviewing his belongings.
On it was a voice memo recorded the morning of the fire.
I met Mike and Rebecca at the firehouse.
They played the recording.
Owen's voice filled the room.
“Thursday, 9:42 a.m. Warehouse 19 inspection follow-up. Fire doors still chained. Suppression system appears disconnected. Management says repairs are scheduled, but I don't like it.”
A pause.
Then:
“There's a janitor named Luis who says people have been moving sealed crates after midnight.”
Another pause.
“I told him to report it. He said he's scared.”
I covered my mouth.
Owen continued.
“If something happens here, someone needs to look at the shipping records.”
The recording ended.
I stared at the phone.
For five months, I'd been desperate to hear Owen's voice again.
Now I had.
And he was warning us.
Mike looked at me.
“He knew something was wrong.”
I nodded.
Rebecca leaned forward.
“This supports the possibility that safety systems were deliberately disabled.”
I looked at Owen's phone.
Then at the photograph of him on Mike's desk.
“He didn't die because he was reckless.”
Mike shook his head.
“No.”
“He died because someone made that building dangerous.”
Mike's eyes filled.
“Yes.”
I picked up the phone.
Held it against my chest.
May you like
And whispered:
“We're going to finish what you started.”
