Page 17 of Never Forget
"I just got off the phone with the chief's office," he said. "The city attorneys weighed in this morning."
City attorneys. The words sat wrong in my chest.
"They're not classifying it as line of duty."
The air left my lungs.
"That's not—" I started. "He died from smoke inhalation. From the fire. That's textbook LODD."
"I know." Cap's voice was tight. "That's not their argument."
I waited.
Cap exhaled. When he spoke again, his voice was heavy. "The building had been deemed unsafe for entry. Command orderedeveryone out. The structure was too unstable to continue interior operations."
I knew this. I'd heard the radio traffic afterward. The whole department had.
"Jack went back in anyway," Cap continued. "Against a direct order."
"He saved a little girl."
"I know he did." Cap met my eyes. "But the city attorneys are calling it insubordination. Willful disregard of safety protocols." He shook his head. "They're saying if they classify it as line of duty, they're admitting liability. Opening the city up to a lawsuit."
"A lawsuit? His daughter is four years old. She just lost her father."
"I know, Sam." Cap's voice cracked, just slightly. "I've been on the phone for two hours trying to fight this. It's not coming from us. It's coming from downtown. The lawyers made the call and the chief's office signed off."
I stared at him. Tried to make the words make sense.
Jack saved a child. He walked through fire to bring her out. And now some attorneys in an office downtown were going to bury him like he was a liability instead of a hero.
"What about the benefits?" My voice sounded far away. "Rosie. She's supposed to get?—"
"If it's not classified as LODD, the federal benefits don't apply." Cap looked like he wanted to put his fist through the wall. "I'm sorry, Sam. I tried. There's nothing else I can do."
I nodded. The motion was automatic. My body going through the motions while my mind tried to catch up.
"We'll still be there for his family," Cap said. "Whatever they need. The men will show up. We always show up for our own, even when the city won't."
"Thank you, Cap."
The words came out steady. Polite. The way you're supposed to sound when the world stops making sense.
I walked out of his office and back through the kitchen. The guys were still there. Martinez. Tyler. The older guys who'd come in on their day off.
They looked up when I passed. Saw my face.
I didn't stop.
Jack died the way a firefighter should. Saving lives. Going back in when it mattered.
But the city called it insubordination.
And now it didn't count.
I had to tell Jamie.
The whole drive to Jack's house, I kept turning it over in my head. Jack died covering my shift. The least I could do was make sure he got the recognition he deserved. That was my one job today. Handle the department side. Make sure Havensworth honored him the way a firefighter should be honored.
