“Everyone in the park is a suspect until we rule them out. You got an alibi, then you’re in the clear.”
“Yeah, well, we’ve got an alibi.” Aaron’s stance grew even more stubborn and defensive. “Last night we were hanging out with some other kids on the lakeshore.”
“You know these kids’ names?” The pair glanced at each other, Lewis looking worried and Aaron mulish. “I’ll need to clear them as well, of course.”
“They’re talking about having a bonfire on the beach tonight, so you can talk to them then if you want.” Aaron took Lewis’s arm and tugged. “We need to get back to our tents before my dad and Uncle Hal wake up.”
“I’ll come by and see you later, then,” he called after the pair.
Aaron glared at him over his shoulder, stopping momentarily. “Why?”
“Just to check in. It’s what friends do.”
Aaron stared at him with an unreadable expression before resuming his hurried walk, Lewis talking to him in low tones as they disappeared through the trees. Hell. He didn’t like what his gut was telling him when it came to those two.
“That seemed to go well.”
He turned to find Jared leaning against a nearby tree with his arms crossed. The golden dawn sunshine seemed to highlight every strand of dark red in his auburn hair and deepen the forest green of his eyes. His worry for Lewis and Aaron immediately dissolved into oblivion. For the first time since he’d arrived on scene, Troy paused to really take him in, appreciating the hell out of the firefighter look, even in the bulky turnout gear.
“See something you like?” Jared drawled, shifting his stance so his shoulders were braced more firmly against the tree and his hips were pushed forward.
The text message he’d sent Jared last night about his prize popped into his mind. He glanced past Jared to see if anyone was paying them any attention, but the rest of the EFD crew were beginning to pack up now that most of the dock had fallen into the water and the stumps were only glowing with remnants of embers, no longer in full flame.
“Answer me one thing,” he said as he stalked closer instead of responding to Jared’s teasing question.
“And what might that be?” Jared’s chin tilted up, breath hitching as Troy stopped less than a step from him and braced a hand on the tree trunk next to Jared’s head.
“What exactly are you wearing under all that gear?” He used a single finger of his other hand to trace the collar of the heavy yellow jacket.
“My EFD uniform, navy blue pants and shirt,” Jared answered, then took his lower lip between his teeth as he stared up at him. Troy only just refrained from groaning at the idea of licking over the spot to soothe the hurt.
“And beneath your uniform?” he asked, giving into temptation and pressing his hips into Jared’s. There were too many bulky garments between them for it to be truly satisfying, but just the idea Jared might be getting hard like he very certainly was almost made him shudder.
He lifted his other hand and braced it against the rough bark next to Jared’s opposite shoulder, effectively trapping him in place.
“I was ordered by a very bossy park ranger to go commando today.” Jared shifted against him, subtly mimicking the thrusting movement he very badly wanted to pin Jared to the nearest bed with. Or the ground. Or maybe this tree right here. He wasn’t particular.
“And?” he demanded, practically panting.
Jared leaned into him, lips brushing his ear. “And beneath my uniform is nothing but my hard dick.”
“Oh fuck, Jared.” He couldn’t take it, didn’t care who saw them or that they were both supposed to be working.
He pressed the rest of his body weight up against Jared and snagged a handful of his short hair, catching his mouth in a bruising kiss. But Jared was right there with him, hands snaking under his shirt and fingers digging into his waist in a tight grip as Jared yanked his hips into him.
The kiss was all slow, deep drags of their mouths against each other, tongues lingering and stroking, drinking each other in like nothing he’d ever known was possible. Besides getting him all wound up like everything about Jared always did, the kiss was doing something to his chest, making his ribs squeeze, making his heart stutter and his lungs contract.
Just as he was starting to debate how difficult it’d be to get Jared out of all his heavy firefighting gear and whether anyone would notice if he dragged the guy into the back seat of his SUV, a wolf whistle split the air, making them pull apart.
Troy glanced over to see a couple of Jared’s EFD buddies, who’d been rolling up the hoses, watching them with grins that probably meant Jared was in for hell from his fellow firefighters in the foreseeable future.
“I better get back to it.” Jared kissed him on the cheek and then untangled himself, leaving Troy to lean against the tree in defeat, trying to think of the least sexy things he could come up with so his cock would calm the hell down before he had to walk anywhere.
At least Jared’s gear was good for covering up what Troy suspected was an equally uncomfortable problem, if the way Jared subtly adjusted himself was any indication.
“What time do you get off tonight?” he asked, running a hand through his hair.
“I don’t know,” Jared replied breezily. “Guess it depends on what time you and I end up in bed together.”
This was followed by a wicked yet self-satisfied smirk.
He rolled his eyes, even though Jared’s flirty innuendos got more charming by the day.
“Very funny. I meant what time does your shift finish?”
“Seven,” Jared replied quickly as one of the guys down at the truck called out to him.
“Want to get dinner?” He pushed up from the tree and trailed after Jared as he started making his way to the rig. “Seven thirty? Monroe’s? I heard Danny’s got these new pork slider things on the menu that are meant to be awesome.”
Something crossed Jared’s face—apprehension or maybe caution—whatever it was made Troy’s stomach bottom out.
“I’ll text you later.” Jared didn’t wait for him to answer but hurried the rest of the distance to climb into the truck as the engine started with a mechanical growl.
Troy waved as they pulled out of the small clearing and disappeared, leaving him to walk back to where he’d left his SUV.
Had Jared just blown him off? After that kiss? He hadn’t agreed to dinner but certainly hadn’t refused either. The hot-and-cold act was starting to confuse the hell out of him. So much for thinking dating a guy would be easier than dating a woman.
He turned his SUV around and drove back to the rangers’ station, finding the usual number of early-morning hikers waiting for him to open up. He wasn’t meant to be working today, but he figured since he was already here in uniform, he might as well try to catch up on the continuous backlog of things that needed doing around the park. Plus, it kept his mind off worrying whether Lewis and Aaron had anything to do with the dock fire and his flat tires.
By the time Jared had finished logging all the morning hikers, Buck turned up with his usual coffee and greeting.
“EFD get the fire under control?” Buck asked as he started checking through the piles of work on his own desk.
“Yeah, definitely arson. The sheriff will probably send a deputy out to coordinate later today.” He told Buck about the air being let out of his tires—but left out exactly what he’d been doing at the park that late at night, leaving his boss to assume he’d still been working—and reluctantly mentioned his worry over Lewis and Aaron.
Buck listened like always and offered some of his own thoughts, giving Troy a few new angles to consider when the investigation started. He’d probably be working with an arson specialist sent by the fire department and a detective from the next county over—at least that’s what’d happened the one other time they’d dealt with arson in the park a few years ago. He hoped this case was wrapped up as quickly and as straightforwardly as that one had been.
He spent the morni
ng catching up on paperwork, and once it got to lunchtime, he rummaged around the fridge and cupboards in the small kitchen to make some sandwiches before heading over to the campground.
As he parked, he spotted Lewis and Aaron listlessly tossing a football between them. Neither of them looked very interested in it, but he figured they probably didn’t have much else to do.
“Boys, how’s your morning been?” he called out as he approached.
Aaron immediately looked at the little cluster of tents in alarm before hurrying over to him.
“Keep it, down, asshole. Some people around here are still sleeping.”
“Aaron!” Lewis snapped, looking horrified. “Don’t talk to Ranger Troy like that.”
Troy crossed his arms and let the asshole thing slide, even though it pissed him off to no end.
“Sleeping at lunch? It’s long past time they got their lazy asses out of bed,” he returned calmly, not bothering to lower his voice but also not yelling.
At Aaron’s second panicked look, his anger disappeared in a puff and he took pity on the kid. Wasn’t his fault he had a bastard for a father.
“Come on.” He held up the basket. “I brought lunch with me.”
He didn’t wait for them to answer but made his way over to the large wooden picnic shelter. It was another uncomfortably warm day and a little early for lunch, so there wasn’t anyone else sitting at the low wooden tables and benches. He set out three places—sandwiches, a handful of potato chips, can of soda, and apple each. It wasn’t much, but it was pretty good for things he’d scrounged on short notice from the kitchen of the rangers’ station.
After a few moments, the boys joined him. Lewis sat down and eagerly tucked in, mumbling a thanks around huge bites of the sandwich. The way the kid was scarfing it down set off all kinds of alarm bells in his head.
Aaron held out for a few moments, watching his cousin, but then his hunger obviously got the better of him.
“So, are there going to be many kids at this bonfire thing tonight?” he casually asked, splitting his own sandwich in two and putting the halves onto the boys’ plates, then doing the same with his potato chips.
“A few,” Lewis answered. “Apparently it’s like some unofficial Everness High get-together they do every year during summer break. We’ve never been before. It’s going to be great.”
Yeah, he knew the one. Usually someone from the school gave him a heads-up so he and a few of the other rangers could unobtrusively chaperone. The message was probably buried on his desk or in among the thousand or so emails he’d failed to read in the last few weeks. He wondered if Jared had gone to any of the bonfires when he’d been growing up here in Everness. Buck had told him it was a tradition going on fifty years now.
“It’s always a good night,” he replied.
“How would you know?” Aaron scoffed. Though maybe not as pugnaciously as he might have the day before.
“A few other rangers and I stay late every year, just to make sure everyone’s safe. We make a point of not interfering unless something happens.”
“That’s cool,” Lewis said, turning his appetite to guzzling down the soda.
Troy opened his mouth to reply, but a dull thudding-clinking noise caught his attention and he turned to see empty beer and whiskey bottles being tossed out of the cluster of three tents the Sadlers were camping in.
Son of a bitch.
“Excuse me, boys.” He stood, motioning to what was left of their lunch. “You two finish up here. I’m just going to have a word with your dads.”
Aaron started to stand, but Lewis caught his arm and sent him a pleading look, making him drop back down without saying anything.
Satisfied they wouldn’t interfere, he ambled over and rounded the tents as a few more empty bottles came flying out.
“Excuse me,” he called loudly. The tent flap shifted to reveal it was Aaron’s father, Benny, tossing out the empties. The second tent stood open with Hal sprawled inside passed out or asleep. He was also surrounded by a litter of empty bottles that would probably make their way out to the grass when he woke up.
Benny straightened and came out to squint at him with bleary, reddened eyes against the bright sunshine.
“You again.” Benny spat on the ground. The guy had given him the stink eye the past couple days he’d passed by and spoken to the boys, but otherwise hadn’t said anything to him.
“Sir, you can’t leave your empty bottles out on the grass in the sun. Besides the fact littering is against park regulations, we’re under wildfire restrictions. The glass could cause a fire to start.”
“I’ll pick ’em up when I’m good and ready. Now unless you think I committed some real crime, you can be on your way, Ranger.” Benny turned and chucked out the last few empty bottles, purposely making sure they landed near Troy’s boots.
“Mr. Sadler, you’ll need to pick them up right away, or I’ll have to issue you a fine.”
He clenched his teeth over the polite tone he’d forced himself to use, wishing for nothing more than the guy to try something so he could arrest his drunk ass and send him to lockup at the sheriff’s station for a few nights. The boys acted like they hadn’t eaten for days, yet there was probably over a hundred dollars’ worth of empty bottles discarded around the tents.
He raked a critical gaze over the setup, looking for any signs the boys were being neglected—and in Aaron’s case, abused—like he suspected. It was getting to the point he was going to have to notify CPS, even though he knew ending up in foster homes wouldn’t help the kids one bit. His gaze snagged on a pile of junk between Benny’s tent and what he assumed was the tent Aaron and Lewis were sharing. A white bottle of lighter fluid sat in among everything, the same brand the firefighters had found down at the burning dock. Along with an empty bottle of bourbon.
It was probably a coincidence—the lighter fluid brand was pretty common—but he couldn’t help glancing over his shoulder to where Lewis and Aaron were sitting before returning his gaze to Benny Sadler, who was pretending he hadn’t heard him issue the warning about the fine.
His earlier worries about whether the boys might be responsible came back but then quickly dissolved into a different question—whether Benny had been the one to let the air out of his tires and torch the dock. They seemed like juvenile acts, but he certainly couldn’t put them past a pissed-off drunk asshole. And drunk idiots had been Jared’s initial theory for the dock fire. Maybe.
“Mr. Sadler, I won’t ask you again. Get this site cleaned up or not only will I fine you, I’ll have you removed from the park.”
The threat did the trick. Benny came stomping out of the tent, but Lewis and Aaron also came rushing over. He hadn’t been serious. The last thing he wanted was for the kids to leave and end up God knows where, meaning he’d be unable to check on them every day.
“You’ve got no right—” Benny started ranting at him.
“I’ve got every right. The safety of every single person in this park comes down to me.” He settled his hands on his equipment belt, pointedly close to his holstered gun. “If your actions are putting other visitors at risk, then I’m well within my jurisdiction to have you removed. Forcibly if it comes to that.”
“It’s okay, Dad,” Aaron said, shifting forward with his hands up in a calming gesture, as if he’d intervened on his father’s behalf a million times before. Poor kid probably had if the guy was as much of a hothead as he seemed. “Lewis and I will clean it up. You head into town like you were going to.”
Aaron stepped forward, obviously intent on picking up the nearest empty bottle.
“Stop right there, son,” Benny said in a cold voice. It sent shivers down Troy’s spine and he was an adult, for God’s sake. Aaron had gone alarmingly pale, frozen on the spot, his entire body tensed as he stared at the ground. “You’re not picking up anything unless I tell you to. Got it?”
“Mr. Sadler, let’s do the right thing and leave the kids out of this. You drank all this bo
oze, you should clean it up yourself. Set the example.” His own voice came out sounding harsh, and Aaron visibly flinched.
Troy swallowed, hating the idea that Aaron might be afraid of him the same way he was of his father. He knew what that kind of fear felt like, and he’d never, ever wanted to inflict it on another person.
“I’m not bluffing,” he continued, firming up his resolve. “I will have you removed from the park if you don’t clean up this mess.”
“I’ll do it!” Aaron cried, dropping to his knees and reaching for the nearest bottle. Before he laid fingers on it, however, Benny lashed out and kicked Aaron in his midsection. Aaron made a pained grunt and fell onto his side, curling into a ball as Lewis started crying.
Before Benny could aim a second kick, Troy grabbed him and propelled him backward, forcing him well away from his son. It was a lot less than he wanted to do, which was lay the guy out and then see how he fared when swinging at someone his own size.
“Make another move and I’ll have you arrested for assault and endangering lives, asshole!” He shoved Benny back again when this time it seemed like the guy was going for him.
Hal finally woke up and came stumbling out of his tent as Lewis dropped to the ground and put his arms around Aaron, who hadn’t moved from his curled-up position.
“Benny, what the hell are you doing?” Hal asked in a hoarse voice, almost tripping on his own spread of empty bottles. In that second, Troy couldn’t remember being more disgusted with another human being in his life than he was with these two men.
“This asshole park ranger is trying to get us kicked out of the park!” Benny yelled, spittle flying from his reddened face.
“Trying?” Troy repeated incredulously. “More like refraining. I could have kicked you out five times over this week alone. Get this fucking mess cleaned up.”
He kicked one of the bottles so it went skittling into Benny’s legs and then turned to gather up Aaron in his arms. The boy whimpered when Troy adjusted his hold on him so he was tucked securely against his chest.
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