Kat and crew couldn’t believe how many fire trucks and ambulances were downtown at the Federal Courthouse. Paul was driving and was looking for Kat’s brother’s Fire Chief. Any time they helped, they always reported to him.

“Over there Paul.” Kat spotted his truck over near the firetrucks trying to put the fires out from the explosion.

“Why would someone blow the Federal Courthouse up?” Crystal was looking at all the damage that had been done.

“Don’t know, but here are the rules. You do whatever the person you are assigned to tells you to do. Also, you may see body parts and such.
Wear your gloves and tag where you found the part. Take pictures of the body part. If there are people trapped where you are working, be careful in getting them out and call it in. That way we can have paramedics over helping you, letting you know if they can be moved safely.”

Officer Rayani notices K&P Services SUV heading his way. He knew Kat has always volunteered during any emergency that came along. He waves her SUV over towards him. He still couldn’t believe that she had the same type of vehicle they used in the Fast and Furious movie.

Paul pulls the Terradyne Gurkha up to Officer Rayani “where you want us to park?”

“Park over there with the rest of the rescue vehicles. Just stay near Chief Carlson’s SUV from fire station 17. No one will say anything. Once your park, get with Chief Brandon.”

“Alright, thanks.” Paul pulls the Terradyne over near Chief Carlson’s SUV.

“Take your wake-talkies with you and make sure everyone is on channel 2. Samuel, you’re with Crystal and Valentina until we can send the two of you through search and rescue training. Crystal is in charge and listens to what she tells you to do.”

Kat and Paul hand out the gear and make sure everyone has their gear on properly. Kat adjusts Samuel’s gear, so it fits better on him. It was a spare suit they kept at the office, where everyone else were custom fitted.

“Remember, be careful and do what the person in charge tells you to do.” Kat and Paul lead their crew over towards Chief Brandon.

“Hey Chief, where do you need me and my crew at?” Kat walks up to an older man with a Marine-style haircut. He stood about 5’8” and had dark tanned skin. He had several tattoos on his forearm. One of them was a bulldog.

Chief looks over towards Kat’s voice, a smile appears on his grim looking face. He was glad she was here to help his crew out.

“I need for you and Paul to go in and start looking for survivors. Send the rest of your crew over to Sergeant Harris for crowd control.”

“Will do.” Kat turns towards Crystal “you heard the Chief. Find Sergeant Harris and handle the crowd.”

“Will do boss.” Crystal leads Valentina and Samuel towards the line that had been made to keep the crowd back.

They find Sergeant Harris. He was a huge Hispanic guy in his late forties. He had a scar on the right-hand side of his face. Crystal walks over towards him.

“Hey Sergeant, where do you need us?”

“Who are you and who sent you?”

“We’re with K&P Services and Chief Brandon sent us over to help you with crowd control.” Crystal just watches the Sergeants facial expression. Crystal knew some of the older police officers didn’t like Bounty Hunters or Kat either.

“I need you here and the other two come with me.” Sergeant Harris leads Valentina and Samuel down the line placing them where he needed them. He informs them they aren’t to let anyone pass the line, no matter what and since they had radios to switch to channel 5 to communicate with everyone else. Crystal radio’s Kat and Paul that they were switching channels.

“Kat, we’re switching to channel 5.”

“Alright, Paul and I will be on the same channel as everyone else.” Kat adjusts her radio channel.

Kat and Paul go into the rubble looking for bodies and survivors. They work as a team as they clear areas, being careful of hotspots. When they find bodies or people that are still alive they work together getting them out. Kat wants to know who did this to the Federal courthouse.

Benjamin spots his sister and her husband helping in the rescue of people that had been caught or buried in the explosion. So, far they had uncovered six dead bodies and four survivors. He walks over towards Kat and Paul.

“Hey sis, where are my nieces at?” Ben takes his helmet off and wipes the sweat from his eyes.

“They should be at the office. Kristen is going to drive by and check on them.” Kat knew the girls could take care of themselves, but she still likes having her sister check on them and give Carol a break.

“Do you know who did this to the courthouse?” Kat takes a swig of her bottled water.

“I have no idea. We got the call and been down here fighting the flames.” Ben takes his sisters water bottle from her and drinks it.

“Hey, that was my water.” Kat gives her brother a dirty look.

Paul just smiles as he walks over towards the table where the water was. It had been set-up with bottled water, Gatorade, and a few snacks for the responders. He grabs two more bottle waters and heads back over to Kat and Ben.

“Here, take it before your sister kills you.” He hands a fresh bottle of water to his brother-in-law.

“Thanks.” Ben cracks it open and takes a swig from it. He had already finished the rest of his sister’s bottle.

Paul hands his wife another bottled water.

“Thanks.” Kat cracks hers open and takes a sip of it.

Crowd Barrier:
Crystal, Samuel, and Valentina were stationed up front near the barrier and told to keep people from coming pass it. So, far they have had several people attempt to get past. Valentina had to forcefully escort a fellow back pass the barrier. She could understand that they were worried about their loved ones. However, they didn’t need to be up where the federal courthouse had once been.

Samuel couldn’t believe how many angry and worried people he had to keep back.There were a few huge guys that tried to muscle their way past him, but he stood his grounds and made them back off. He could understand the concerns of the people gather in front of him, but he couldn’t let his emotions get the better of him.

Later in the evening Crystal, Valentina and Samuel are switched out by National Guardsmen and told to go and rejoin their bosses. All three of them were tired and ready to get out of their body armor. They spot Kat and Paul under a canopy along with Kat’s older brother, Ben.

“Hey, Ben.” Crystal walks up and gives Ben a hug.

Ben returns the hug. He looks at the two new members he hasn’t met yet.

Crystal looks at Valentina and Samuel “guys, this is Kat’s older brother Benjamin. As you can see, he’s a firefighter with station 10.” She turns to Ben “Ben let me introduce you to Valentina Fallon and Samuel Smith. They are the newest members to join our team.”

Ben shakes hands with both “nice to meet both of you. Also, I’m sorry that you’re working for my sister.” He had a playful look on his face.

Crystal smacks his right shoulder. She has gotten to know him since she and Brittney have been dating. She was almost family. Her and Brittney were going to wait till she finishes school before they got married.

“You behave before I tell your sister.”

“Go ahead. I’m older than her.” Ben just smirks.

Kat and Paul come walking over to the group. They had been talking with Chief Brandon.

Their jumpsuits were covered in blood, dust and other stuff.

“What are you guys up too?” Kat looked tired.

“Just meeting the new people and telling them I feel sorry they have you as a boss.” He had a smile on his face.

“If I wasn't so damned tired right now. I would beat the crap out of you.”

“Well, I’m heading back towards my firetruck.” Ben starts heading towards his truck.

“Come on guys, let's head home.” Kat was tired and so was Paul. Kat knew her crew was tired as well.

As they are walking back towards the Terradyne. Kat spots Marshal Edward Bullock walking towards her and her crew. He looked like he had
gone twenty rounds with a gorilla.

Marshal Edward was walking towards his pick-up truck when he spots Kat and her crew. He hadn’t seen them since that incident in Memphis when they went after Marin Jones and got caught in a trap he set for them. His partner switched departments shortly after they got out of the hospital. He requested to be transferred to Operations out in Flagstaff, Arizona instead of Fugitive Retrieval.

He had been sent to Knoxville on a protection detail. He had been heading to the Federal courthouse when it exploded. He was surprised he wasn’t dead. He had been helping to look for any survivors in the rubble of the courthouse.

“Hey Kat, it’s been awhile.” Edward notices that Kat had two new members in her group.

“Hey, Marshal Bullock. Are you alright?” Kat steps closer to him to help if need be.

“I’m alright Kat. I was here when the building exploded.”

“What caused the explosion?” Kat was curious.

Marshal Bullock looks around to see if anyone was listening, before answering. He looks back towards Kat “I can’t talk about it out here. Is your office still over off Sportsman street?”

“Yay, I’m still down there. If you feel better meeting there to talk, I normally arrive at 8:00 a.m. I can be there earlier if you want to meet.” Kat figures she could get Carol to watch the twins while she is meeting with Marshal Bullock.

“No 8:00 a.m. is fine. I’ll see you tomorrow.” He starts heading towards his pick-up truck.

“I wonder what that is about?” Paul and the crew had stayed quiet and listened to Kat and Marshal Bullock.

“You guys know that US Marshal?” Samuel was curious.

“Yea, we worked together on a case in New Mexico and in Memphis, Tennessee. I wonder what happened to his partner?” Paul knew Bullock had a partner.

They had been in the same hospital as they had been. He had heard Bullock's partner had survived the blast like they had.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if his partner quit or asked for a desk job.” Kat had run into Bullock's partner while she had walked around at the hospital.

“What are you guys talking about?” Samuel was curious now.

“The last bounty we went after. The guy nearly killed all of us at once.” Crystal shivers just from the memory.

“Who was he?”

“An asshole and murder that our brilliant fucking government created.” Crystal blames the government for creating him.

They walk to the Terradyne and gets in. Paul gets in the driver seat and heads back to the office. It was 10:00 p.m. when they arrive at the shop. It was dark, and Kat had gotten a text message from Brittney informing her that the twins were with them at home.

“Be here tomorrow morning at 7:30.” Paul drops everyone off at the office and parks the Terradyne.

Kat and Paul take the Honda Odyssey home.