Rae brought the notebook in a clear document sleeve. A drop of rain rolled off it onto Maya's hand.
They stood at the center's side entrance. Inside, somebody had propped a door with a box of toner. The ordinary clutter reassured Maya until she looked down at the original Calder page.
Ruth wanted the common hall warm before the early shift left. Rae had written that in the margin, then the unit details, then her own compact signature.
“There are two others,” Rae said. “I went through every page from that shipment.”
“Do they know?”
“Dad says he was checking them separately. He didn't say he'd told them. At Calder's he told Ruth it was a replacement.”
Imani came out. Maya handed her the book.
“Rae found omitted installations,” she said. “Same batch. Her firsthand record. Elias has a crew at Calder's doing a quiet repair without telling Ruth about the two fires.”
Imani read the page. Rae stood straight, as if somebody had told her not to fidget during an exam.
“Is this your signature?”
“Yes.”
“And you were there?”
“Yes.”
“All right. Come in.”
Imani copied the signed pages and contacted the fire officer. Maya kept still while Rae gave the work dates. Ruth and the other omitted customers would be warned.
Elias called Maya's cell phone. She showed Imani before answering on speaker.
“Rae's there?” he asked.
“Yes,” Rae said.
“Len's nearly finished. If you make Ruth empty the house before he can—”
“She needs to know why he's there,” Maya said.
“She needs heat.”
“She needs the choice,” Rae said. “Give them every address.”
He was quiet. The pause had become so familiar Maya could feel it arriving before he stopped speaking.
“I have the rest of the records,” he said.
“Send them to the fire office,” Imani told him. “The contact is requesting a complete list. Tell your crew to stop pending inspection.”
He agreed. His voice was flat, as though the agreement had been imposed on a different man.
Rae asked him to put the call to Len on speaker while they were still connected. He did. Len's voice came through rough and distant.
“We're close, Elias.”
“Stop work. They'll have someone out.”
“Ruth's got eleven rooms to worry about.”
“Stop,” Elias repeated.
Len said he heard him. The connection ended.
Rae didn't move. “Call Jory.”
“I told Len.”
“Call Jory.”
He called the younger worker, who said he'd leave the service work alone and help Ruth get people out if she wanted. That answer sounded different enough that Maya saw Rae's shoulders lower.
The complete records arrived while Imani was on another call. She checked the three missing addresses and handed the notebook back to Rae. Ruth had answered. A nearby café could take people into its back room while a longer arrangement was made. It would not restore the house, but it gave the warning somewhere to lead.
Maya signed the supplement. Rae slipped the original notebook back into its sleeve.
Outside, the rain had stopped. The air smelled of wet sidewalk and the warm exhaust from the center's vent.
“I need to go to the shop first,” Rae said. “Then Calder's.”
“For what?”
“My gear. I've got personal tools in the lockers.”
Maya waited.
“I'm not going back to taking his calls after tonight.”
“Have you told him?”
“I'll tell him when I get there.”
It was a choice Maya had privately wanted for years and never said without making Rae defend him. Hearing it now, she felt no satisfaction. Rae would need work. Her name was in an investigation. Her father was frightened and still responsible for the firm.
“Do you have somewhere else lined up?” she asked.
“No.”
Maya almost said that was something they could fix. She stopped herself.
“I've got a number,” Rae added. “A contractor from the school job. I'll call him tomorrow. Maybe he needs somebody. Maybe he doesn't.”
“You're good at the work.”
“You keep saying that. I know.” Rae rubbed the van key against her thumb. “Sorry. I'll call him tomorrow.”
Maya nodded.
Rae opened the van door, then turned back. “He taught me nearly everything I know.”
“You don't have to pretend he didn't.”
“I won't.”
Maya wanted to hug her. Rae was holding the notebook and looking at the road. She said, “Call the assigned line with what you find at the house.”
“I will.”
Rae drove away.
By ten forty, the fire office had the full roster. The first two affected buildings were already being assessed. Ruth's residents had been told the risk. Maya was at her assigned station, recused from the firm's calls and available to everyone else.
Elias sent a text: Going to Ruth's. I need to see that they stop.
Maya read it twice. Then she passed the information to Imani.