Page 39 of Flash and Bang
“Why?” Jarrett asked.
“I’ve got the note in evidence but I didn’t pick up any of the field strips. I feel really bad about it now, knowing this. I just figured it was a parade goer and never connected the field strips with the accident,” Officer Deukmejian said. He actually looked guilty. “I really thought it was an accident. I never thought to collect them. I don’t even know why I collected the note, to be honest. I just had a feeling that if the explosion turned out to be a crime rather than an accident, we should have something.”
“It’s good that you followed your instincts. There might still be some field strips out there,” Thayne said, glancing at Jarrett hopefully.
“After nearly six months? Whatever DNA we find on them would be so degraded and contaminated by now, I doubt we’d get anything useful from it. And also, what message was the writer of the note trying to send with that passage?”
“I suppose you can interpret the dragon as a beast,” Officer Deukmejian said, hopefully.
“The dragon!” Thayne said, pointing down at the picture in front of Jarrett. A highlight of the parade was a massive Chinese dragon that was walked through the streets draped over the backs of several men. There was a picture of it in the background in one of the photos.
Jarrett looked at his partner, nodding. “I think we just found our connection.”
Chapter Nine
It was dinner time when Jarrett and Thayne finished at the LAPD’s substation, so they decided to eat at a restaurant Ari recommended before calling it a day. Wu had been able to pull all the permits they’d requested while they were still there, so they’d spent several hours going over them. As they’d been told, there was no permit for the Chinese lantern that had caused the injuries with the poorly timed firework ignition. All the street vendors seemed to have permits and the parade itself had the proper permits. According to Wu and Deukmejian, the organizer had a good reputation and had done the parade for several years without any major incidents.
The maker of the Chinese lantern had obviously crashed the party and caused the damage and injuries without a permit which would have made things so much easier to follow up on. Now, all they had of the incident were photos and the firsthand account of Officer Deukmejian whom they both found to be very helpful and credible. Jarrett was glad they’d taken the time to meet with the officers and felt good that they had another solid lead. Whoever was doing this was most likely former or active duty military, and if Thayne hadn’t been so observant of the field strips out at Miramar, they would have missed the military connection between the two incidents entirely.
On their way to the Chinese restaurant Deukmejian recommended, they stopped at the scene of the fireworks incident and got out of the Crown Victoria to walk around the street where the field strips had been photographed. The neighborhood was one of the oldest in Los Angeles, heavily populated by shops, restaurants, and markets, doing a busy tourist trade; but that part of LA was also thick with apartment buildings that rose several stories. The LA jewelry district was a few blocks away and the buildings had newer renovations but most of the apartments and stores in this area were very old, built of brick, and reinforced in recent years to meet earthquake building codes. Many retained the old-school fire escapes on the outside of the buildings and some had been renovated, however, a lot of them showed their age. Some were zoned as mixed commercial use and had stores on the street level with apartments up above. All were clustered in a rather small square-mile area, and Jarrett realized that had there been a larger explosion, there would have been a great deal more devastation.
As they had expected, after nearly six months, there was nothing of the field strips or for that matter, any detritus from the parade left on the ground, probably washed away by rain or blown away by the wind. The store owners seemed to takespecial interest in what they were doing because a couple of them stepped out and began sweeping the sidewalks as Jarrett and Thayne checked out the area. For that matter, one of them could have swept up the field strips when they’d tidied up in front of their stores after the parade. Jarrett and Thayne got back in the car disappointed but not terribly surprised to have found nothing. They located the restaurant Deukmejian had recommended and sat down in the small place ordering several dishes since they were both starving after skipping lunch.
“So what’s up for tomorrow, Jarrett?” Thayne asked.
Jarrett chewed on a wonton. “We should have the autopsy report on Mason and then we should follow up with Chang to see if she has the name of the lantern maker. Now, I’m really anxious to get background checks on the Mason crew.”
Thayne sipped his hot and sour soup. “You think one of them was former military and left those field strips behind.”
Jarrett nodded. “Yeah, I do. I think he’s behaving like a damned arsonist, watching the result of the havoc he creates after he burns something. You said you found them field strips out by where the folks were injured, right?”
Thayne nodded. “Yeah, they were scattered around the area where the paramedics left some debris after they worked on the injured, nowhere near the cordoned-off area where the display was set up.”
“Which is pretty fuckin’ creepy when ya think about it. Arsonists are some of the sickest individuals out there. If you saw them there, it means he went out and examined the carnage after it happened.”
“Which means he was either stationed at the base or one of the observers who had to pass through base security. We should check records to see who was let on base that day.”
Jarrett nodded and smiled. “See? This is why I keep you around. To think of things I don’t.”
“Yep, this is why you have a partner,” Thayne replied with a grin. “And here I thought it was my great ass.”
Jarrett just waggled his eyebrows at him.
The waitress came and set down their main courses and they both dug in to them, eating for a while before Jarrett spoke up again.
“You know, we wouldn’t have gotten anywhere if you hadn’t noticed them field strips on the ground. That’s good work, Thayne.”
Thayne seemed to hesitate for a few secondsbefore he smiled. “Thanks, Jarrett. But the notes left at both scenes would have connected the two incidents just as readily.”
Jarrett watched a slow blush creep up Thayne’s neck and he smirked at him. He pointed at Thayne with his chopsticks. “You know you’re really cute when you blush, Partner. You gotta learn to take a compliment better’n that, darlin’.”
The blush deepened as Thayne looked down at his food, shaking his head before glancing back up. He had a devilish spark in his bright blue eyes. “Keep that up and you’re gonna get laid, Evans.”
Jarrett barked a laugh. “You’re so easy.” He shook his head.
They ate in companionable silence for several minutes as Jarrett pictured all the things he wanted to do to Thayne as soon as he got him alone. With all the excitement and the work they’d been doing over the last couple of days, they hadn’t been thinking about the fun stuff. And when they had the time to think about it, they’d both been so fucking hurt and exhausted, the only thing on their minds had been sleep. Jarrett looked across the table at his partner, the man he realized he probably loved, and tried not to be terrified as he felt butterflies fill his stomach. He had no idea where this feeling had come from buthe knew it was different from anything he’d ever felt before. It was a hell of a lot more than lust. Hell, all Thayne had to do was glance at him and Jarrett wanted him. He squirmed in his seat as his suit started cutting into his fun parts when he thought about getting Thayne naked.
“You okay over there?” Thayne asked with a devilish smile.