The Billionaire Rescue

by Jenna Brandt

  “I can answer that, too,” Gillian said, opening up his file a second time and glancing through the papers. “Yes, there were several places that had acetone residue throughout the facility, but it was used by the nail artists on a regular basis.”

  “If the arsonist was smart, he or she would have known that and figured it would be written off as a chemical that was already present.” Christian stood up and turned to face Gillian, re-calling that the other property that had been burned down was a gym. “Was acetone found at the other location? Arsonists tend to stick to the same accelerant so they know how it’s going to react each time.”

  “I don’t have that report with me,” Gillian confessed, a sheepish look crossing his face. “I thought we were only coming here today.”

  Christian looked at his watch and shook his head. “The day is only half over. I want to take Cinder to the other location after we finish up here. I suggest you go get the file in the meantime, so we have it when we get to the second location.”

  Gillian nodded, closing his file and turning around to leave. “I’ll do that right now.”

  Christian tried to push away his irritation at the other investigator's lack of professionalism. Where had this guy trained? It was clear he didn’t have a grasp on what he was doing, and the case had suffered for it. Focusing on finishing up at the first location, Christian gave Cinder the signal to continue searching the rest of the area. Sure enough, she found several more locations sprinkled throughout the salon portion of the building, including in the room that held the fire’s point of origin.

  When they arrived back in the former lobby, Mr. Williams and his entourage were still waiting. Christian had half-hoped that they would have gotten impatient and left. No such luck.

  “What did you find?” Mr. Williams asked with a concerned look on his face.

  “Cinder was able to locate a possible accelerant. We’ll know more when we investigate the second location to see if the residue from the same ignitable liquid is there. I’m headed there now to continue my investigation after I give Cinder a treat and some water for her hard work.”

  “We’ll meet you there,” Mr. Williams declared firmly.

  “You don’t have to do that,” Christian protested.

  “Yes, I do,” the billionaire stated emphatically before turning around to leave.

  Christian could tell there was no point in arguing and headed towards the door, himself. It was only then that he noticed that Megan had slowed her pace so that she ended up right next to him as they exited the building.

  “Consider me surprised you’re following through on this investigation. I hope you don’t decide to up and quit without explanation, like you did on me two years ago,” she whispered in a tone that made it clear she remembered everything that had happened during the end of their relationship.

  A shocked look crossed his face for a moment before he quickly masked it. “You don’t have to worry about that. I never quit unless it’s warranted, and my job never falls into that category.”

  “We’ll see if you’re a creature of habit or not,” she stated flippantly with a shrug, causing her long hair to flip over her shoulder. Christian tried to ignore the inviting scent of coconut and honey that wafted off of her from the gesture. “You’re going to have your hands full with my dad.” Without waiting for a reply, she hurried off and joined the billionaire in his black Town Car.

  As Christian watched the vehicle drive off, he realized it wasn’t her father he needed to worry about. He had a sinking feeling that Megan was going to be the real problem for him if he didn’t watch out.

  “Welcome to Prestige Fitness,” Mr. Williams boomed as Christian entered the burned-out building. “Or at least what’s left of it.”

  “This was our flagship gym for the entire chain,” Megan explained. “I don’t want to even think about how much this is going to cost us to replace everything.”

  “I told you that there’s trade-offs for high tech components, Megan. It was a good idea, but now it’s going to cost us four times as much as a normal gym to get it back to what it was.”

  “But that’s why the members were willing to pay the premium fee and travel a half hour to get to this place. They knew it was a quality wellness program, all-encompassing, with hologram trainers that can speak any language, providing anything they needed, from custom diets to private dance lessons.” She leaned towards Christian and added, “My dad doesn’t believe in the necessity of a complete body wellness program, but the numbers prove me right. People want a place to help them become the healthiest versions of themselves.”

  Her father shook his head, his face sullen. “Thank goodness we have excellent insurance.”

  “You guys really did have state-of-the-art equipment here,” Christian stated, as he weaved his way through the remains of the gym. “I’ve used a few of these machines on occasion. You can’t beat the work out.”

  Megan tried to keep from giving him a once over again, but when he wasn’t looking, she couldn’t help but notice his chiseled chest and arms. It was obvious he knew a thing or two about gyms.

  “If you get this investigation done quickly and catch who did this, I’ll give you our elite membership; full access any time to any of the gyms. Heck, I’ll even outfit the entire DCSRA gym with a full suite of the same machines and equipment.”

  Christian spun around and gave Megan’s father a surprised look before his brown eyes narrowed into disapproving slits. “That’s a generous offer, Mr. Williams, but we couldn’t possibly accept that. I’ll get this done for you as quickly as possible, but because it’s my job, not due to anything you offer me.”

  Megan wanted to melt away right on the spot from embarrassment. Leave it to her father to try to bribe an arson investigator to work faster. He was a firm believer that money could buy anything, but apparently, not Christian Perez’s time. It actually made her respect him a bit to know he couldn’t be bought. The men that said no to her father were few and far between.

  “I…I didn’t mean anything by that. I hope I didn’t offend you,” her father stammered out, his own face turning red, making it apparent he was flustered.

  It was equally unique to see someone cause her father to back pedal and make excuses for something he said or did. Chalk up one more point for Christian, Megan thought with amusement, then she reminded herself she didn’t like the investigator after what he did to her. The last thing she wanted to do was find him charming.

  “I know I asked this at the last location, but was there anything strange that happened leading up to the days before the fire? Were there any strangers hanging around outside, or members acting odd?”

  Megan shook her head. “We have top-notch security around here to keep the members feeling safe.”

  “Have you received any threats at either location, or at your home?”

  “I don’t live with my parents. I live on my own,” Megan quickly explained, then just as quickly regretted saying it when his eyes widened for a moment before a small smile formed on his lips. Why would she blurt that out and think that Christian cared if she lived alone or with her parents? What was worse, did he think she was telling him so he knew she lived alone and was available?

  “Okay, have you received any threats at either of your homes?”

  Her father shook his head. “No, no, nothing like that. We don’t have any enemies.”

  That wasn’t exactly the truth. Her father was known for being ruthless when it came to business and made plenty of enemies over the years. She didn’t think it meant any of them would resort to burning down their businesses, however, as retaliation.

  “I’m just glad that the arsonist did this at night when both places were empty. I couldn’t live with anyone getting hurt.” A shiver crawled up her spine as she thought about Heidi and how her death shook her to the core. It had nearly destroyed her, especially because she felt responsible for what happened.

  “I noticed the banner outside. This place was clo
sed temporarily while you were renovating, correct? Was that why no one was here when the fire was set?” Christian asked

  “Yes, do you think the arsonist knew that?”

  “Most likely. It’s why I asked about strangers in the vicinity. Arsonists often scope out their targets before they strike so they know the best time, place, and method to set their fires. If I find acetone residue here like I did at the other location, it will validate my working theory. Acetone can be used as a paint thinner, and with renovations going on, it could have been overlooked by the other investigator as the accelerant.”

  “That man really doesn’t know what he’s doing,” her father growled out in anger. “He’s completely incompetent. I should have Richard fire him.”

  “Honestly, even the most seasoned investigators can miss things like this. I think that we’re dealing with a highly intelligent arsonist, possibly one who researched how we conduct our investigations to find blind spots that most investigators would miss.”

  As if on cue, Investigator Gillian entered the building. As soon as he made eye contact with Megan’s father, he dropped his gaze as he quickly handed the file to Christian. “You were right about the acetone. There’s evidence of it here, too.”

  Her father let out another growl as he mumbled some less than flattering words about Gillian. Everyone chose to ignore his reaction, but it didn’t make the situation any less awkward.

  “Was the lab able to determine the make-up of the acetone? Do we have any leads as to where it came from?”

  “No, there wasn’t enough of it,” Gillian said, lifting his eyes to meet Christian’s for the first time since he entered the room. “I can’t believe I missed this.”

  “It’s okay, Gillian, it happens to the best of us,” Christian said with a sympathetic grin.

  “Somehow I doubt this has ever happened to you, even when you were just starting out as an investigator. I think it speaks more about his abilities, which makes my decision to ask Fire Chief Walsh to have him removed from the case that much easier.”

  “The only way he’ll learn from his mistakes is to keep working this case,” Christian pointed out.

  “Then I’m going to at least ask that you be made the head investigator for the case. He can work under you, if that’s what you want.”

  “I’m fine with that,” Gillian said with a nod. “He’s better suited to take lead, anyway.”

  “It’s settled then. I’ll call the chief on the way home. I’ll also have Tracey coordinate those interviews for you, Investigator Perez.”

  “Thank you, I appreciate that,” Christian said, nodding to all of them. “In the meantime, I’m going to take Cinder around the property and make sure nothing else was missed.”

  “We’ll be on our way then,” her father said as he glanced down at his watch. “My wife is going to be furious that we’re already late for dinner.”

  Lydia Williams was the only person that could truly strike fear into the heart of Ronald Williams. Her mother was a force to be reckoned with for sure, but Megan suspected it was their deep mutual love and respect that kept them happily married after nearly thirty years. Megan wasn’t sure if she would ever find that for herself. She’d all but given up on dating after her horrible relationship with Chad ended. Seeing Christian today just reminded her of how off-track her life was from where she wanted it to be. Love didn’t seem to be in the cards for her, no matter how badly she wanted to share her life with someone.

  They dropped Tracey off at the office on their way back to her family home on the other side of the city. The ride was quiet, and her father broke the silence by asking, “Is something the matter, Megan?”

  “I’m fine; it’s just been a long day. I hate seeing what happened to our businesses.”

  “Me, too, but along with the joys, there’s also the disappointments of being your own boss. Things don’t always go smoothly, but if you push through, there’s always a chance to set things right.”

  Until there wasn’t. Heidi’s face came flashing across her mind. Even though her friend’s death wasn’t her fault, Megan couldn’t help but feel if she had tried harder, been more present, she might have seen the warning signs, and been able to save her from herself. Not wanting to think about that, Megan forced herself to think about their current problems. “I just hope this new investigator can get the job done and figure out who is behind all of this.”

  “I noticed you were watching him very closely today,” her father observed, side glancing towards her.

  “I wanted to see for myself if he was worth the favors you pulled to get him assigned to our case. If he’s not, I’m worried the arsonist might set another fire.”

  Megan knew that was only part of the truth. Yes, she did want to make sure he knew what he was doing, but it was more than that. She still had unresolved feelings where Christian was concerned. He had ended things so abruptly; she didn’t get the closure she needed to move on properly. She blamed her weakened state of mind for her misguided impulse to date Chad. She didn’t see him for what he was until it was too late. Add to the fact that Christian looked even better in person than he did in his profile on the dating app, and this made it harder to stop watching him. She wasn’t sure how this was going to work. Christian was the kind of unwelcome distraction she didn’t need in her life. Her only option was to keep things strictly professional.

  3

  Three days had passed since Christian started the Williams case, and he was no closer to figuring out who was behind the fires than his predecessor. He’d re-interviewed all of the employees and customers of both properties, and gone over all the evidence a dozen times. There wasn’t even an image to go by from the properties, as the arsonist had cut the power to the buildings, making security cameras inoperable. The acetone was also a dead end. There was no unique characteristics about it. It wasn’t often that Christian was stumped, but this case was quickly becoming a problem for him.

  To make matters worse, Megan kept floating into his mind, distracting him from his work. He shouldn’t be thinking about her, but ever since he saw her again, he couldn’t help but remember how much he cared for her when they were dating online. They spent hours talking on the phone, texting each other throughout the day just to see how the other was doing, and even shared a few video chats. He’d been looking forward to meeting her in person, but when the tornado of truth came out in the news about her involvement with her friend’s death, he started to have doubts about her. As the bad press surrounding her increased, he was overwhelmed by it, and decided it would be easier to cut ties than fight for something that was so new. If he had told her why he ended things, she would have just tried to defend herself, and he might have let himself get sucked back in. For his own preservation, he had decided to make a clean break. It was better to get out before either of them got hurt. The problem was, from the way Megan looked at him the other day, he was pretty certain she had gotten hurt, anyway. It filled him with regret to know he was the cause of it, since it had been the last thing he wanted to do. When they ran into each other again, she seemed more like the woman he knew from online than the woman that had been portrayed in the media.

  His mind flashed back to the details of the numerous articles. Megan had thrown a Botox birthday party for her friend at her day spa. The details said that she had been reckless, ordering in far too much of the drug, and allowing her friends to inject each other without medical supervision. Her friend got too much of the drug, and, as a direct result of Megan’s negligence, overdosed. As more information had come out about the tragic death, friends came forward accusing Megan of regularly being irresponsible and selfish. He’d debated about reaching out and asking her about it, but then he heard there had also been illegal narcotics at the party. Megan had supplied them, and that was what caused her friend’s death. With his type of work as an arson investigator, Christian couldn’t afford to be involved with someone who used drugs recreationally, let alone one who was at the center of a man
slaughter case. A few weeks later, he heard that the district attorney chose to forgo pressing charges as a direct result of a bribe by her father. As far as he knew, none of it was ever proven, but it had made Christian feel validated in his choices.

  Part of him still wondered how much truth there was behind all of the stories about Megan and her family. Considering her billionaire father had just recently tried to bribe him, it was hard to discount the merit to all of the rumors. As he had watched her the other day, however, she seemed to genuinely care about the people around her, including her workers and customers. Was it possible that her friend’s death had changed her for the better? She seemed grounded, even more than she had back when he used to talk to her online. He wondered if he might have misjudged her and ended things prematurely, when they really could have had something special.

  “Do you need help with any of this?” Jesse asked as he came into his office at the DCSRA facility.

  Christian shrugged. “You good at figuring out puzzles?”

  “I’m a former FBI agent that specialized in investigating domestic terrorism, of course I love puzzles,” Jesse replied with a chuckle.

  “Good, take a seat,” he said, gesturing to the chair beside him.

  Jesse sat down and pulled a stack of files towards him. He started going through the information. Two hours later, he leaned back in his chair with a frown on his face. He crossed his arms behind him, clasping his hands behind his head. “I hate to say it, Perez, but you might not be able to figure this one out. There’s nothing to go on. Everything’s a dead end.”

  “I know, but the commander is depending on me to figure this out. I can’t go back to Dallas FD with nothing.”

  Christian’s phone buzzed, prompting him to pick it up and glance at the screen.