14. Kane
Chapter 14
Kane
The fire had been one of the biggest Kane had seen.
The kind of blaze that would go down in legend amongst any firefighter who helped to put it out.
Every firefighter on the service had a special fire. One that they would tell their grandchildren about one day. The kind of visually memorable blaze that was not only spectacular on the eye but full of untold peril too.
Of course, no firefighter ever actually wanted to see a fire like of this nature. Especially not if it meant innocent lives being placed at risk.
But they were kind of inevitable.
Part of the job.
And when fires of this magnitude did crop up, the sheer charge of adrenalin that filled every firefighter’s veins reminded them exactly why they chose this calling.
Kane hadn’t been involved in such a fire for a long time. He trawled his mind and had to go back to a factory fire he dealt with in his first year as a firefighter to match it.
It had been a long night. One he would never, ever forget.
Not every civilian made it out. A firefighter was lost too.
But given the circumstances, they had done the best job the possibly could.
But that was then.
Back in the present day, it had taken six crews to finally get a hold of the fire and put it out. The old warehouse development had been stalled a long time. As a result of this, the semi-derelict building was ripe for all manner of illegal activity.
The flames had been intense.
That was almost a given for any NYC fire.
What really made this fire so hard was the fact that over the course of the three floors, it appeared as if there were multiple fires.
This tested the firefighters in a way that was difficult to comprehend. Inside the building was like a maze. They hadn’t known what was around the next corner. It could be an empty room. Or it could be another blazing fire.
There had been reports that some refugees and homeless people had been using the building for respite.
Those rumors had been proven to be correct too.
All in all, the fire service had managed to successfully extract a total of thirty-seven people without a single loss of life. This included children and pregnant mothers.
It had been time for heroes to step up.
And Kane was one of those brave souls.
‘Now please tell me you’re coming to sink at least a dozen cold ones?’ McCall enquired, his weary expression showing exactly how tough the shift had been.
‘Not this time, dude,’ Kane said, changing out of his gear and getting ready to jump in the communal showers. ‘I’ve got a very special someone to go home to.’
‘Ha! Well, that’s fair enough,’ McCall said, a generous smile on his face. ‘I’ll let you off this time. And good for you, Kane. I mean that.’
The pair embraced and went for their showers.
For McCall it would be a precursor to a long drinking session.
But for Kane, it was all about cleaning up and heading back home to see his beloved Little.
Well, that was the plan anyhow.
‘Hey! I’m home! Fancy picking up where we left off?’ Kane called out, putting his apartment keys in the large oak bowl on the vintage dresser. Casting his eyes around the apartment in search of Cassie, he drew blanks. ‘Hey? I’d better not find you having fun with those toys, Mister!’
Kane didn’t get a response.
Huh, that was strange.
It didn’t appear that Cassie was home. Not unusual in itself, but normally Cassie would message to say where she was going to be.
Kane checked his cell phone.
Nothing.
‘Hey, you haven’t seen that mischievous Little have you?’ Kane enquired to Bouncer, Cassie’s ever loyal stuffie. ‘Nope. Silent treatment. Didn’t expect you to talk. You little ones always stick together.’
Kane decided to make himself a coffee, but on his way over to the espresso machine he saw what looked like a note.
It was from Cassie.
‘What… the…’
CASSIE: Daddy, I had no choice. He hacked my email. I had to meet up with him. He was being really horrible to me, making threats. There was nothing else I could do. You weren’t here, I had to go and meet him. Don’t worry, I’ll be back soon. C XoXo
Kane reread the note. This wasn’t good. Not good at all. A feeling of total worry came over Kane. It felt like he was going to throw up.
Cassie had put herself in danger.
What the fuck was she thinking?
I’m so angry right now I could…
Kane’s anger was tempered slightly by the fact he didn’t know exactly what was going on.
It was possible that Cassie was being overly dramatic. But it was also possible that Cassie was getting herself involved in something that was incredibly dangerous too. Either way, Kane knew that he had to do something.
But what ?
Kane paced up and down the room. He didn’t know where to begin.
Sure, he could call the police.
He could also speak directly to Cage.
But what could the police force do? Right now, Cassie was simply an adult who had arranged to meet another adult. There was no crime to report as such. No clear and obvious threat to life. On the face of things, it looked like little more than a personal dispute.
But Kane sensed it was more than that.
It was out of character for Cassie to act like this. Something must have rattled her to her core.
Okay, get a grip. Think.
But the more Kane tried to think logically, the more he began to worry.
New York was a wonderful city, arguably the finest metropolis in the world. But a lot of bad things could happen there too.
Cassie had many great qualities. She was fun loving, creative, and was loyal to her friends. But Cassie wasn’t streetwise.
As a matter of urgency, Kane needed to figure out what to do to ensure that Cassie was safe.
I said get a God damned grip of yourself, man.
Kane stopped pacing and instead made a beeline toward his computer set-up. He turned his main computer on and waited for it to boot up. It was a fast computer, but each and every second felt like an eternity.
Everything was more intense.
The computer’s whirring sounded like a hurricane.
The tick-tock of the old clock on the wall sounded ominous, almost like a warning.
Kane wanted to do something.
Anything at all.
There had to be a way of locating Cassie.
Sitting at the computer, Kane began to think back to a story that Cassie had told him one night. It hadn’t been an easy story for Cassie to tell. It dated all the way back to her early teenage years and a time when she was feeling bullied by one of the ever-revolving cast of stepfathers in her life.
Things had gotten bad.
Like, seriously bad.
Cassie had decided to run away.
But it wasn’t one of those empty threats that young kids make. The kind where they pack a toy suitcase and march a hundred yards down the road before turning around and running back to their mom.
No, this had been different.
Cassie had planned everything.
She’d even gone as far as emptying her savings account of the meagre funds in there and bought a cross country train ticket.
Cassie had indeed taken the train and was away from home for a week before she was picked up by a kind police officer three states over. She had returned home, but things had never been the same with her family since.
Could history be repeating itself now?
In his worried state of mind, Kane was beginning to wonder whether Cassie had done the same thing again. That she hadn’t in fact gone to meet someone. Could Cassie have decided that life with Kane wasn’t for her?
Had she run away?
Was it possible that Cassie had made up the story in her note as a way of putting Kane off the scent?
It was possible in theory.
Stranger things had happened.
‘Jesus fucking Christ, that’s enough,’ Kane bellowed, his frustration at his own paranoid mind spilling over. ‘Just focus on what you know. That’s the only way this gets solved.’
Kane’s stern words with himself did the trick.
His mind calmed.
A clear-headed energy came over him.
Suddenly, a moment of inspiration.
In a flurry of activity, Kane began by checking Cassie’s social media for any sign of activity. This could give a clue to where she was headed.
Nothing.
Unperturbed, Kane continued.
He began messaging Cassie’s friends. Something he should have done right away. Damned panic. It was because he cared so much, but he knew that he should have kept a cool head right from the get-go.
Maybe it was the stress of the fire at work.
Perhaps his usual rational thinking had been used up during the fire rescue.
Either way, it was back now.
Katie and Sydney responded almost immediately. Frustratingly, neither had heard from Cassie for hours. Not since she messaged the group chat much earlier in the morning. Since then, nothing but radio silence.
Kane could see from their messages that both Katie and Sydney were worried by his line of questioning. Not wanting to cause undue worry, Kane did his best to assuage their fears. After all, there might not be anything to this.
But no matter how much he tried to convince them, Kane could see that Katie and Sydney were scared for their friend.
Before long, a message came through from Cage…
CAGE: Kane, Katie messaged me at work. She’s terrified. I’ve calmed her down. There may be nothing to worry about. But Leon told me that he filled you in on the hacking situation that’s been on the rise. It might be connected with Cassie’s situation. She could be involved with some piece of shit assholes. I’ll see what I can find out. Stay safe brother.
Kane rubbed his hands over his stubbly jaw. It was good that Cage was looking out for him like this. Any good fellow Daddy would do it. Certainly, Kane knew he would do the same for Cage.
But Kane could tell that Cage was taking it seriously. He was a detective with enough police experience to know when something was up. In his years working the streets, he’d seen plenty.
Cage knew the signs.
And that was precisely what worried Kane. It was hard not to let his concern spill over into anger.
I can’t believe Cassie did this. So irresponsible.
A Little should never leave her Daddy in the dark like this!
But all Kane could do was keep on trying to figure this out.
That, and wait…