Chapter 2: Dave

Saturday September 4, 2021

A soft cool breeze swept across Arlington, Virginia cooling of the late summer day enough to warrant starting the fire bit. The Jareau-Hotchner family gathered in the large backyard that had been the selling point of this house. In the early days, there was a swing set for the boys that would be taken down to make room for pick up soccer and football games. Last summer Aaron, with the help of Derek, had added the fire pit to their backyard. It had quickly become a favorite gathering spot for the adults, many glasses of wine had been enjoyed around the soft orange glow of the fire.

Henry was curled next to JJ, her fingers running through his soft blonde hair. The pair sharing the outdoor sofa. Aaron and Jack sitting across from them, the team surrounding the family completing the circle around the fire. Every now and then Aaron and JJ's eyes would meet across the fire, the couple smiling softly at each other, after all these years they were more in love with each other than when they first met.

The Labor Day barbeque had been a success now the pseudo family sat around the fire enjoying the final days of summer. The team had been warned about Jacks project, each ready for the questions to come. JJ and Jessica had discussed sending Henry and Conner up to Henry's room but had decided to include the younger boys. At twelve years old both boys were old enough to hear more about what had happened on 9/11.

When the conversation slowly died Jack had asked them the question they had all been expecting, "Where were you on September 11th?"

Crickets could be heard in the distance as they all contemplated what had happened that day, where they were, what they saw, what they lived through. It was Dave who finally spoke up.

"I grew up in Commack, Long Island, just outside of New York City. I was sixteen in 1968 when they started construction on the towers. I left for Vietnam in 1970 and when I came back in 1975 there they were. When they were built the were the tallest towers in the world." Rossi sounded almost Reid like stating facts about the towers. I left New York for the FBI but every time I'd go back to Long Island there they were, standing just as tall just as majestic."

"Commack was a tight knit community especially back in the 60's and 70's, a lot of guys I went to school went on to work for the NYPD and FDNY. There were people I grew up with who worked in those towers or the buildings surrounding them. Those towers were a much a part of our community has Lower Manhattans."

Dave's mind went back to that fateful day. He had retired a few years back and was working on another book. He was in Manhattan that day a meeting with his publisher would put him in the middle of history.

New York City

September 11, 2001 8:15 a.m.

Dave Rossi walked down familiar streets of New York City, a native of Long Island, this city was a part of him. It was a beautiful late summer morning; the sky was a crystal blue not a cloud in sight. It was the start of what promised to be a perfect day in the city.

Just after eight in the morning and the city was busy as ever. Dave had come to New York for a meeting with his publisher, his second book was due to come out in a few months. He had decided for a few extra days and visit friends who still worked in the city, dinner plans for the night already set. He had decided to take advantage of his free morning wandering around the city.

Dave always stayed at in the same hotel, The Millennium Hilton. The upscale hotel was in the heart of the financial district, just blocks from the Twin Towers but far enough from the droves of tourists that littered Times Square and Central Park.

Horns honking, the soft hum of the subway, echoes of feet hitting the pavement, a lone siren in the distance; these were the sounds of the city. A symphony of noise that only true New Yorkers could appreciate, these were the sounds that guided Dave around his city. Stopping at a local coffee shop for a true New York Bagel and a cup of coffee he continued his trek not sure where he was headed.

Cars crashing, people screaming, the sound of a gun being fired; these were the sounds they were accustomed to interrupting the usual noise nothing could prepare them for the sounds of that day.

Dave paid no attention to the sound of the plane overhead, he was approaching battery park, he was looking forward to finding a park bench to enjoy his bagel and people watch. While he had retired he still enjoyed watching people and profiling their lives; once a profiler always a profiler he thought to himself.

The sound of metal crash and the explosion that followed grabbed his attention, people around him started screaming looking up into the sky wondering where that God-awful sound had come from. Dave skimmed the skyline in front of him, the black smoke billowing from the North Tower unmistakable. He couldn't see where the tower had been hit, or even what had caused that smoke but he knew it wasn't good.

8:46 a.m. he didn't notice the time but forever in history that moment was sealed. Without thinking Dave took off running towards the towers, not sure what he could do but knowing he could help.

It was half a mile from battery park to the World Trade center but today that distance felt insurmountable, he felt like he couldn't get there fast enough. He ran past people frozen in place staring up at the towers, shocked to see the dark black smoke billowing out of the North Tower. Taxis stopped in the roadway their drivers frozen, some saying prayer, while other's eyes locked on the towers. Rossi had to weave his way in and out of the traffic of cars and shocked people.

With each step towards the Towers he wondered how they would put up a fire so high up, how the people on the top floors would find a way out of the inferno. The sound of a collective gasp stopped him in his tracks, he looked up and the world seemed to freeze around him. Dave watched in horror as a second plane flew above their heads crashing into the South Tower.

9:03 a.m. Dave watched the ball of fire engulf the tower as the plane smashed into the building. Dave had lied to himself before that this must be some terrible accident, mechanical error, but as the second tower burned he knew this was no accident, this was a terrorist attack.

Dave yelled at the people around him, telling them to get out, to run. They were under attack and he had no idea what would happen next but these people needed to get out of Manhattan. He grabbed the woman next to him, shaking her to get her attention, pointing towards battery park telling her to get on the next ferry out of the city.

He continued his trek to the towers, pushing people towards the park as he ran. The closer he got to the towers the louder the screams became. The screams of the injured, the screams of those stuck in the towers, and the screams from the vehicles being driven by first responders.

The air around the towers was thick with smoke, Dave coughed as it burned his lungs. From Battery Park, he couldn't imagine the damage that had been done, but now standing under the towers it surrounded him. He watched as Firefighters ran into the buildings without hesitation, NYPD officers not far behind.

Dave was frozen in horror, this wasn't the New York City he loved, this looked like a war zone. He could hear the screams of people stuck in the towers above him, he felt helpless knowing he couldn't go in there, he'd be more of a hindrance then a help in there. He watched as a shadow fell from the North Tower slowly floating down each floor. He realized this was no shadow but a man who had chosen to jump from the towers rather than burn in the buildings.

Dave was a man of action and in that moment, he felt useless, there was nothing he could do for those people, nothing he could do for anyone. For all his FBI training, it seemed useless in that moment. He watched as a blonde woman ran out of the building blood streaked down her face. Dave ran to her pulling her out of the wreckage around them, guiding her away from the buildings. He could help this woman get to safety that much he could do.

Dave tore off his shirt quickly pressing it to the woman's head to stop the bleeding, he was thankful for the white undershirt. "My name's David Rossi, what's yours?"

The visibly shaken woman clung to the retired FBI Agent, "My friends, I lost my friends. They were in the stairwell I can't find them." Tears streaked down her face.

Dave wanted to tell her they would be ok that she would see her friends again, but he didn't know if that would happen and he couldn't lie to her not today. "Every fireman and police officer in the city is coming to the towers Ma'am, they're going to do everything they can to help your friends." He told her the only truth he knew. Dave knew the resolve of the members of the FDNY and NYPD, they would do everything they could for the people trapped in the towers.

Dave wrapped an arm around the woman leading her away from the mess that the planes had left when they slammed into the towers. Dave started walking not sure where he was, he was having a hard time getting his bearings, trying to figure out where to take the stranger he had promised to help. All he knew was they needed to get as far from the buildings as they could.

It was a slow walk leaving the area ground of people all trying to escape, cars left abandoned, fire trucks and law enforcement racing to the towers. Dave had learned the woman's name was Jennifer Carlisle she worked as a trader in the South Tower. The two shared stories of growing up in the area as the slowly made their way towards NYU Downtown Hospital.

A loud rumbling stopped them, they turned around and watched in horror as the South Tower collapsed on its self. Floor by floor the building fell until all 110 floors were gone.

9:59 a.m. a cloud of dust, smoke, and debris descended on them covering everything around them in the fine white dust. In mere seconds, everything and everyone inside that tower was gone. David thought about the countless first responders who had run into the buildings, about the people who had sat in their offices, they were all gone. There was nothing he or anyone else could do for those people, Dave could only focus on getting back to his family and getting Jennifer back to hers.

The air was thick as the pair moved on, neither talking, neither knowing what to say. Jennifer more than likely lost coworkers, friends. Dave was sure friends he had grown up with had perished when that tower fell.

The city had become eerily quiet after that tower had fallen, the world around them was dark the sun covered by the smoke and debris that filled the air. If Dave didn't know better he would think it was late evening instead of ten in the morning.

It would take another fifteen minutes before he would hear the sound of sirens he knew they were getting close to the hospital. His mind and body were exhausted the weight of the day sitting on his shoulders like a ton of bricks. He pushed forward taking Jennifer with him, the pair wanting nothing more than to crawl into a ball and grieve.

The closer they got to the hospital the air started to clear the blue sky coming into view. A few more blocks and the hospital was in sight, the staff clearly busy with those who had made it out of the towers.

10:28 a.m. Jennifer was triaged, a low priority patient, Dave made is way out of the hospital not wanting to be in the way. Another rumble the ground shook around him. The North tower succumbed to its fatal blow less than two hours after being hit. The New York City landscape forever changed.

Jack was speechless he knew September 11th had been horrific but to be right in the middle of the horror to see first had the evil that had befallen their country. Had it not been for a school assignment he may never have known how his Uncle had survived or how he had helped save another.

Dave paused for a moment the memories of that day flooding back. For the rest of his life September 11th would be a part of him. "After the second tower fell I knew I had to get out of the city. The only way out of the city was to walk, the city was shut down.

"Everyone I passed was shell shocked, unable to believe what had happened. It took a couple hours to get out of the city, I remember finally crossing the Brooklyn bridge and turning back towards the city. Lower Manhattan was covered in smoke, it's an image I'll never forget."