The Fallen (Amos Decker #4)(57)

Zoe nodded vigorously while sucking anxiously on her thumb.

Decker walked on with the little girl in his arms, a stunned-looking Jamison hurrying after the pair.

Inside, they were directed to the office of the person who managed the facility. The nameplate was on the wall next to the office door.

“Ted Ross,” read off Decker. “Interesting.”

Through the gap in the blinds covering the window looking into the office they could see a middle-aged man in a dress shirt and tie with thinning gray hair sitting behind his desk and on the phone. Three of the walls were white-painted drywall, but the rear wall had been gussied up with wood paneling trimmed with moldings and medallions. A boxed Pittsburgh Steelers jersey with a “terrible towel” suspended inside was hanging on one section of the wall.

“Why is it interesting? Do you know him?” asked Jamison.

“I might have met his old man.”

They knocked on the door and they could see Ross glance up, finish his call, and cross the room to open the door.

He looked up at Decker, then Zoe, and his features turned somber.

“I’m Ted Ross. Thanks for coming in. We didn’t know what to do with…”

He stopped and glanced uncertainly at Zoe.

Jamison said, “We were glad to come by. Amber is my sister. I’m Alex Jamison and this is Amos Decker.”

“You’re both with the FBI, I heard.”

“That’s right,” said Jamison. “And this is Zoe, Frank’s daughter.”

Ross put out his hand for Zoe to shake. “Hello, Zoe, it’s very nice to meet you.”

Zoe nodded and shook his hand, but said nothing, as her thumb was still firmly planted in her mouth.

“Is your father Fred Ross?” asked Decker.

Ross looked surprised. “Yeah, why?”

“I met him the other night.”

“Sorry,” said Ross tightly. “He’s a real piece of work.”

“One way of putting it,” replied Decker.

“Anyway, let me show you where the things are.”

Ross led them down a long hallway.

“How big is this place?” asked Decker.

“A million two hundred thousand square feet,” replied Ross. “And we’re adding another six hundred thousand square feet. This is the future of retail, for better or worse. Malls across the country are shutting down and chains are going bankrupt. Consumers are going to the Internet to buy their stuff and these places are how that stuff gets delivered.”

Decker said, “I guess that’s why these facilities are so big.”

“That’s right. And it’s really a win-win for us and the vendors we serve. It lets them focus on products and services, and we handle how the orders get filled. We do order fulfillment for over fifteen thousand vendors and counting. These fulfillment centers are not cheap to build and run. So companies that want to sell online, but can’t afford to build a distribution site, outsource that function to companies like Maxus. We charge shelf space to the vendors down to one-twentieth of an inch and we take a cut of every sale, but it’s worth it to them for the reasons I just cited. This is our tenth center, and there are plans for ten more to be built pretty much simultaneously in the next five years. Business is booming. We literally can’t keep up.”

“I guess that’s a good problem to have,” said Jamison.

“Yeah, but they’ll work you to death if you let them.”

As soon as Ross said this he paled and glanced at Zoe, but she didn’t appear to have heard him. She was busy looking around from her high perch in Decker’s arms. He had tried to put her down once, but she had so frantically clung to him that he had kept carrying her.

“Here we are,” said Ross.

He unlocked a door and opened it to reveal an office about a third the size of his own. It was neatly organized with a desk and chair, three metal file cabinets against one wall, and on another wall a large whiteboard covered with notations and lists.

A sleek computer rested in the center of the desk.

“Frank was very organized and efficient,” noted Ross. He looked at Zoe. “Your dad was really good at his job.”

She nodded but said nothing.

Ross pointed to a cardboard box on the desk. “We collected his personal items. They’re all in there.” He fished in his pocket. “And here are his keys. We pulled his car up near the front entrance. It’s a blue Kia four-door, but you knew that.”

“Thanks,” said Jamison, taking the keys and handing them to Decker.

Decker said, “Alex, why don’t you take Zoe and head back. I can bring the box in my car.”

“My dad’s car,” said Zoe, her thumb out of her mouth now.

“Exactly, your dad’s car,” said Jamison quickly. “Okay, we’ll see you back home.”

She took Zoe and they walked off. Zoe looked forlornly back at Decker, before they turned a corner and were out of sight.

Decker turned to Ross. “Hey, you mind doing me a favor?”

“If I can, sure.”

“Can I see where it happened?”

Ross looked mildly surprised. “Where Frank was…killed, you mean?”

“Yeah.”

“It was an accident. A tragic and stupid one and it never should have happened, but it was still an accident.”