One week later
Ash stared in horror at the devastation before him. He stood on the roof of the local fire station and looked across at what had been the town of Stonewall Gap, Virginia. The explosion had taken out most of the downtown area that had once consisted of several shops with residences above, and a few smaller homes the next street over to the west. To the east, a river separated Stonewall Gap from Miller’s Landing – and the buildings that backed up to the river had suffered damage from the blast wave. Broken windows glittered above cars that had been rolled with the force of the explosion. A few of those cars found themselves tossed into the river from the Gap side and now caused swirls and rapids where the water flowed over and through them.
“And you say this was only one bomb?” Ash asked the fire chief that stood beside him.
“One big-assed motherfucker of a bomb,” Chief Ridley replied. “We’re still working the area, from the outside in, but all we’re finding now are pieces of what might have been bodies. Bone fragments and ash of what were once my neighbors and friends.” Ridley sighed and turned to Ashton. “I don’t much care which agency you’re with. There have been more three-letter busybodies in my town in the last two days than I knew ever existed. But if you and yours can help find out who did this? And make them pay? I’d be forever in your debt.”
Ashton put a hand on the Chief’s shoulder and gave it a light squeeze. “I’m going to do my best.” He paused and met the chief’s eyes. “Was there an event in town when the bomb went off? Or was it just an ordinary day?”
The chief’s eyes grew wet and he turned away from Ash. “It was the Founder’s Day parade. My granddaughter was marching in it with her dance troupe.” He paused, took a breath, then let it out slow. “She’s in critical condition, lost both of her legs, but they say she’ll make it. They’d already turned the corner and were at the far edge of the blast radius.”
Ash opened his mouth to speak, but the chief answered his question before he could ask it.
“Those bastards,” the chief said. “They waited until the Pride float was across from the viewing stands before they set off the bomb. This was a hate crime, pure and simple. Love is love and there’s no reason to hate someone because they find it somewhere you don’t. Find these fuckers, because they don’t want me to find them first.”
Ash watched the chief head back to the door that led down off of the roof, then turned to face the destruction as he pulled out his phone.
“Jo, who do you have near Stonewall Gap, Virginia? I’m going to need some help with this one.”
THE END
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