A Hope City Duet

by Kris Michaels

  Kyle stood and moved toward Sean. “If you want, I can take Harper home.”

  Rory offered the same, but much to Harper’s preference, Sean shook his head. “It’s okay. I have time to drop her off before I go to the site.”

  It was easy to see the family understood the necessity of a fast departure when they offered quick goodbyes and did not attempt to prolong their leaving. Within a minute, they were in his SUV, driving back down the street.

  “Sean, honey, if you don’t have time to take me to my apartment, I can go with you. I don’t mind sitting in the car.”

  He looked over at her and tilted his head slightly, “I don’t mind taking you home, Harper. I could’ve had one of my brothers do it, but I wanted to spend a little more time with you. If you go to the site with me, you’ll have to stay in the vehicle.”

  “I’ll do whatever works best for you, Sean. I don’t want to be in the way or a bother at all. But if you want to go directly to the site, I know it would be a crime scene, so I could stay right here.”

  She watched as indecision crossed his face, and then he nodded. “The site is not close to where you live, so if you’re sure—”

  “I’m sure.” He appeared relieved, and she was glad she had made that offer. As strange as it sounded, she found herself curious about the next place the arsonist may have struck.

  24

  Evening cast shadows as they left the suburbs and entered the city. Sean was glad that Harper wanted to go with him, even though their destination would be an active crime scene and she would not be allowed to leave his vehicle. Just knowing that she was nearby was strangely comforting, although he refused to spend time wondering about that aspect of their relationship. He had never dated anyone who understood the challenges of his job and had already grown to appreciate her empathy.

  “I’ve noticed arsonists don’t seem to have a rhyme or reason when they strike,” she said, interrupting his silent musings. “I’m assuming from what I saw in your office that there are no apparent patterns.”

  “You’re right. Sometimes they just drive around and look for an empty building, something most of us never pay attention to. We’ve tried to find patterns using a grid laid over the city with neighborhoods and districts, but so far we’ve come up empty. We’ve looked at the date, the day, the time… no pattern there.”

  “They do seem to be getting closer together,” she agreed, sighing heavily. “Are there others working on this besides you and Jonas?”

  “Oh, yeah. There are two other arson detectives that are throwing a little help our way. A few of the open cases are tied into gangs and there is a combined federal task force that will investigate those. That takes some of the pressure off of us.”

  As they made their way into a rundown neighborhood, he began to doubt his decision to have her ride along. The dark brick buildings rising on either side of the street gave off an ominous visage, and while he had never felt fearful for himself, with her in the vehicle everything was different. Glancing to the side, he asked, “Are you sure about this? I can tell Jonas that I’ve got to drop you off first—”

  “Sean, I’ll be fine. You go do what you need to do, and I’ll be right here waiting when you’re finished.”

  “You can see this isn’t a great neighborhood, Harper. You’ve got to stay in the car. Since this area is an active crime scene, there’ll be plenty of police around. I promise I’d never do anything to put you in harm’s way.”

  She twisted around in the seat, offering a smile that gave him encouragement. Reaching across the space, she laid her hand on his arm. “I know that. I promise to stay right here.” Giving his arm a little squeeze, she added, “And when it’s all done, we can go back to your house.”

  The weight on his chest eased and he leaned across the console to place a soft kiss on her lips. “I’m going to hold you to that, babe.”

  Arriving at the scene, he pulled close to one of the police vehicles, gave her hand a squeeze, and climbed out. Standing for a moment, he viewed the scene in front of him, lit by the emergency vehicles. The neighborhood, like so many in Hope City consisted of brick rowhouses. In this neighborhood, many were uninhabited and condemned due to missing roofs, missing windows, and if he had to guess, missing floors. At first glance, it appeared the fire started on an end unit, gutting not only the two-story structure, but the one next to it had some damage before the fire department was able to subdue the flames.

  The patrolman on duty had set up crowd control, keeping eager eyes from coming closer and possibly destroying evidence. As he ducked under the yellow tape, he looked to the side of the building, seeing Jonas in conversation with the Fire Department’s Officer. Moving directly to them, he offered a chin lift to Jonas and shook FD Officer Manas’ hand. “Jonas. Bart.”

  “We called you in after determining suspected arson,” Bart said, wiping his forehead with a handkerchief, trying to rid his face of the sweat and soot clinging to him. “But there’s more.”

  Shooting a glance to Jonas, Sean’s chest clenched. “A body?”

  The two men nodded, and Jonas said, “I haven’t seen it. Bart said that it could be from smoke inhalation and from an initial look, he said it could be a homeless person who took up residence in the abandoned townhouses to try to beat the cold. I told them we’d take the lead on the fire, but homicide would be called in if the medical examiner makes that determination.”

  Nodding, he jerked his head toward the building. “Can we go in?”

  “The building on the end does not have a stable floor, but the second townhouse was less affected by the fire. The body is on the first floor toward the back.”

  “Medical examiner?”

  “Forensic Investigator is already in there,” Jonas said. “It’s the new one… Natalie.”

  Turning to the chief, he offered a chin lift. “Thanks for everything. Let us know when we can get into the first unit.”

  With another handshake and nod, they left the FD Officer and walked around the destroyed end unit to the back of the building. The scent of charred wood and smoke filled his nostrils.

  “First impressions… I don’t think this was a cover-up for a murder,” Jonas said.

  Nodding, Sean agreed. “This end unit was where the fire started. Chances are the arsonist had no idea there was somebody sleeping inside the next townhouse.” The two men stopped and walked closer to the first unit, their perceptive gazes cataloging the scene. “I suppose he could have been murdered, dumped next door, and then the fire started in the first unit to throw us off the trail.”

  There were police officers at the back of the building patrolling the perimeter of the crime scene. Going up the back steps to the second unit, they stepped inside the kitchen, stopping well away from the body just as the medical examiner stood.

  Pulling off his mask, Sean could see Natalie Bastion, and he nodded his greeting. She returned with a curt nod of her own toward the two detectives, and said, “I’ll have more when I do the autopsy, but the deceased is male with no obvious fatal wounds. His body was not burned, but with the amount of smoke, he could have died from smoke inhalation. Or… there’s more.”

  She turned and moved toward the victim, kneeling by his side, Sean and Jonas right on her heels. The victim was wearing an oversized coat, and she pulled back the front and slid her hand into an inner pocket, removing a plastic bag filled with pills of varying sizes, shapes, and colors.

  “I can tell you, at first glance, I’d say they’re prescription pills.” Natalie said, “I’ve called it in.”

  Sean and Jonas stepped back outside while the ME performed her tasks. Moving back to the end unit as soon as the chief gave the go-ahead, they began searching for and collecting evidence. It appeared the origin of the fire came from the inside and they donned their hardhats and leaned inside the doorway to get a better view.

  There was no basement to the building, but there was a crawlspace about four feet below what would have been the floor. It was made
of packed dirt, and with the wooden floor mostly missing, the exposed water pipes snaked along. The back wall closest to them had the most charring and appeared to be where the fire originated.

  “We’ll need a ladder,” Jonas said.

  Already anticipating the need, Sean walked down the steps, calling over his shoulder, “I’ll be right back.” Approaching his SUV, he could easily see Harper sitting in the front seat, her gaze pinned on him. He tried to offer a smile but was afraid it came out more like a grimace. Moving to the back, he opened the door and placed his hands on the ladder. “I need to get our ladder to be able to collect the evidence. I’m really sorry, babe. There’re complications. This will take a little while.”

  “Don’t worry about me, I’ve got my e-reader on my phone, so I’m fine. If I get tired, your vehicle is comfortable enough that I can go to sleep.”

  With an appreciative nod, he pulled the ladder from the back of his SUV and closed the door. The uniformed police officer lifted the tape so that he was able to duck under easily with his load. Thanking him, Sean made his way to the end unit again, meeting Jonas.

  Working in concert, they moved through the ash closest to the origin of the fires, seeing three places where accelerant was used. Collecting the evidence in both glass and nylon bags, they snapped pictures from every angle.

  “I’m calling to see if we can get more light in here,” Sean said, pulling out his phone. “We’re supposed to get rain tonight and I don’t want all this gone.”

  With police stations scattered about Hope City, it only took fifteen minutes for several officers to arrive with large lights. While waiting, he checked to see who had come to investigate the victim. Recognizing the detective, he walked over, clapping him on the back. “Carter. Haven’t seen you in a while.”

  The tall, blond detective stood, grinning as he greeted Sean. “Good to see you, Sean.” Jerking his head toward the side of the building that had burned, he added, “You’ve been busy lately.”

  “That’s a fucking understatement.”

  “Is Jonas around? You still partnered with him?”

  Nodding, he jerked his head to the side. “Yeah. He’s over there, waiting on lights.” Looking down at the victim, he asked, “Do you need lights over here as well?”

  “I was just gonna call for some, thanks.”

  “What do you think?”

  “Medical examiner doesn’t see any signs of fatal injury, and I’m not seeing any signs of violence. I got the call and it seems right. I’ve got a couple of cases dealing with drug deaths of homeless persons, so this may just add one more to my load.”

  “You’ve probably seen more of my brother Kyle than I have lately.”

  Nodding, Carter agreed. “We’re both working the homeless drug cases. Up to our ears in this shit. We’re checking with some of the homeless shelters but it’s a slow go.”

  “Hey, I’ve got someone who could help. You might want to talk to my sis—”

  “Got the lights!” Jonas called out. “Does Carter want any?”

  The two detectives hustled toward the portable lights being carted over. “Thanks,” Carter said, shaking Jonas’ hand in greeting.

  The lights were divided between the two townhouse units, and with a nod toward Carter, Sean moved back to the origin of the fire. Not wanting too many footprints around the scene, Sean and Jonas took charge of the lights, carefully setting them on the dirt floor of the crawlspace, angling them around the inside of the unit. Once illuminated, it was much easier for them to see the pattern of the fire along the outer brick wall and the charring of the wood wall between the first and second unit.

  “This building was probably built in the mid-1800s,” Sean said. “It was never brought to code, and there’s no brick or firewall between the units.”

  “If there had been, the victim might have lived.”

  With the extra lighting, they continued to collect evidence and take pictures. Moving to the outside, Sean carefully scanned the area at the base of the end unit with his flashlight. The illumination caught on a small pile of rocks. Bending, he noted they were not in the neat pile that they had found others, but with the footprints all around from the firefighters they could have easily been disturbed. Jonas came out and headed directly to Sean, peering over his shoulder. Snapping more pictures, he then collected the rocks into an evidence bag.

  Calling for assistance to remove the lights, Sean collapsed his ladder and they walked back around to the front. The fire department had long since left, the medical examiner had taken the body away, and the police were all that remained. Until the medical examiner could give a definite cause of death, the area would remain a crime scene and would be treated as such, with a constant vigil of police presence.

  Carter was still on the site but walked over to say goodbye to Jonas and Sean.

  “Good luck,” Carter said. “I know you’re under the gun to get the arsonist.” He tossed his hand up in a wave, stalking back to the townhouse.

  Sean glanced toward his SUV, seeing Harper’s head leaned to the side in slumber. Glancing at his watch, he realized that over three hours had passed.

  Chuckling, Jonas said, “I can’t believe she’s here. If she’s sticking with you through all of this, she’s got to be pretty special. Most women would be avoiding this like the plague.”

  “We were having dinner with my family when the call came in. I should’ve taken her home first.”

  “Dinner with your family? How was that going?”

  Dropping his gaze to his boots, he admitted, “She didn’t know about it ahead of time. We were going to go to my house for dinner, but as soon as Mom heard that, she wanted us to come over. Turned out, all the McBrides and Mr. and Mrs. King were there to check her out.”

  Eyes wide and jaw dropped, Jonas stared. “She didn’t know about it ahead of time? Jesus, Sean, even I know that was a dumb fuck mistake.”

  “I thought it was just going to be my parents there. Looking back, it probably wasn’t my best move—”

  Jonas barked out a laugh, slapping Sean on the shoulder. “No, your worst move was scaring her so that she fell and broke her arm.”

  “Fuck, man. Am I ever gonna live that down?”

  The two partners chuckled and then Jonas added, “I’m glad you’ve got someone like her, Sean. You deserve that.”

  They reached Jonas’ vehicle first, and Jonas put the evidence kits in his back seat. “I’ll drop everything off at the lab. Tomorrow’s Sunday so there’s nothing we can do unless we get called in. I’ll see you Monday morning.”

  Nodding his agreement, Sean stalked over to his SUV and lifted the back door as quietly as he could. Placing the collapsible ladder in the back, he shut it but could immediately see that Harper stirred. Hustling to the driver's side, he climbed in as she straightened, blinked sleepily, and looked around for a few seconds as though uncertain where she was. As soon as her gaze landed on him, she smiled, and he felt the ache in his chest ease.

  “Do you want to go home, sweetheart?” She nodded, and he hated the evening had been ruined.

  “I’ve wanted to see your home since this afternoon.” She tried unsuccessfully to stifle a yawn.

  She straightened her back, stretching, an action that thrust her breasts forward, and he could not help but notice. Eyebrows lifted, he clarified, “You still want to go to my home?”

  “Absolutely.” Her gaze landed on him, confusion filling her face. “I don’t care where we are, Sean, as long as we’re together. But we were going to go to your house, and I’d like to keep those plans.”

  Smiling, he leaned over the console and gave her a soft kiss. Mumbling against her lips, he said, “Whatever my girl wants.” Starting the engine, he backed away from the other vehicles, heading down the road toward his neighborhood.

  25

  Harper was now wide awake, anxious to see Sean’s house. On the drive to the northern part of the city as they passed neighborhood after neighborhood, she continually cas
t glances his way to attempt to establish his mood. She knew his mind was on the arson case and did not want to say or do anything to interrupt his train of thought.

  She wished it were daylight so that she could see the houses better as they drove down a street in an older neighborhood, similar to the one his parents lived in. It had been hard to imagine where Sean lived. She could have seen him in one of the new, modern renovated warehouse condos. She could also imagine that he would be at home in one of the downtown renovated townhomes that stood like sentries on either side of the streets.

  They pulled into the driveway of a single-family home, that while smaller than his parents’ house was still a large, brick colonial. This was not what she was expecting, and she wondered whose house he had now brought her to. “Who lives here?” She hated to sound peevish but was too tired to go anywhere except to his bed in his house.

  His chuckle came from beside her, but she did not turn to look at him as her gaze was fixed on the beautiful home, well-lit with motion sensor security lights. The two-story, red brick colonial sported black shutters on the windows, a covered portico, and a picket fence extending from the sides of the house toward the back yard.

  “This is my house, Harper,” Sean said, still chuckling. “I think I learned my lesson about taking you somewhere unexpected.”

  It took a few seconds for his words to sink in, then her head jerked around as she stared wide-eyed at him. “This? This is your house?”

  Shrugging, he nodded wordlessly. Climbing from the driver's side, he walked around the front of his SUV and opened her door. Assisting her down, he reached into the back and grabbed her small bag. Linking fingers with her, he escorted her to the front door. “I usually pull around back to the garage and go through the kitchen, but I figured for your first time in my house, I’d take you through the front door.”