Stop it Annie!
“Where would you like me to put these?”
Only then did Annie register the fact he was holding a couple of take out sacks from the Chinese restaurant down the road from her house.
“Oh I wasn’t expecting you to bring food.” She turned and led the way into the dining area. Pictures covered virtually every inch of the table’s surface. “Let me clear a space.”
“Did you get any sleep this morning?” His gaze slid over her face.
“Naw,” Annie muttered, her head bent over the pictures as she studied them. “I’m off the next four days so I plan on catching up then.”
“Yeah, I’m looking forward to these next few days myself.” His fingers skimmed the back of her hand as he retrieved one of the photos. “So are you still up for that road trip?”
The nonchalant question sent her spirits soaring. She was powerless to resist the growing pull of attraction each time she saw him. She studied his profile, excitement building in her. Annie shifted in her seat and blew out a shaky breath.
“I’m not a serial killer, Annie.” His rich laugh brought her gaze to his. Amusement flickered in the eyes that met hers. Her lips twitched with the need to smile. “This is purely a business trip.” The teasing glint swiftly disappeared from his eyes, replaced by an emotion that was anything but comical. “Unless, of course you have other plans.”
Annie swallowed hard. Mason had an uncanny way of keeping her off balance. She needed to get her bearings straight.
“Well now, Mason,” She straightened, “I’m not sure what your partners have done with you in the past, but I don’t make a habit of sleeping with my partners.”
“Good to know.” The trace of laughter in his voice didn’t reach his eyes. “At least I won’t have to kick anyone’s ass at the station. That always leaves a bad impression.”
Annie stared wide-eyed at him for a span of a couple seconds before she burst out laughing.
~&~
Two hours, and one Chinese meal later, they had selected a dozen pictures from the bunch. Mason placed them in a neat stack on one corner of the table, and pushed back from the table.
“How well do you know everyone at the fire department, Annie?”
Intense lust flared in him as he watched her chew on her bottom lip. Desire to nibble on that luscious lip had consumed him since the first time he’d watched her deep in thought. His body ached to crush her against him, and taste her mouth again. Not a wise move considering they were sitting in the middle of her house, isolated from interruptions.
“Steve Lawson moved to town, oh, I’d say about six years ago, and Rob Thompson arrived not too long after that. Several of them I’ve known nearly my entire life.”
Thankful for the disruption of his thoughts, Mason raised one leg so that the ankle rested on the knee of the other.
“Do Lawson and Thompson ever talk about where they came from and what they did before coming here?”
She looked as if she were weighing the question.
“Steve has family in Oklahoma. He goes for visits at least once a year.” Her gaze rose to meet his. “Now that you mention it, Rob’s never really shared much about his past. I’m pretty sure that he moved here to be with someone.” Excitement sparked in her eyes. “But, come to think of it, he’s never talked about them. As far as I know, he’s never been involved with anyone. He’s pretty much been a loner.” She leaned closer. “That’s one of the indicators isn’t it, Mason?”
Her excitement was palpable, and Mason found himself drawn in by it. “It sure is. However, before we go jumping to conclusions, we need to dig a little deeper.”
Soul singer Sam Cookes rendition of “Chain Gang” blasted from Annie’s cell phone lying on the table, startling them both. His gaze shot to hers, a mischievous grin splitting his mouth. Sam Cooke huh? Now that’s an interesting choice of ring tones.
Annie’s eyes swept over the caller I.D. A flicker of apprehension crossed her face putting Mason on instant alert.
“It’s Chief.” She stated for his benefit, and depressed the button to connect the call. “Yes, Sir? Yeah I know where that is.” Her dark eyes danced with concern as she listened to the man on the other end. “Oh crap.” She shoved a hand through her thick hair, pushing it off of her forehead. She jerked to her feet, and reached for his hand, pulling him up behind her. “We’ll be right there, sir.”
“Mind filling me in on what’s going on, Annie?” Mason asked once she’d disconnected.
“There’s been another fire.” Worried eyes turned on him. “At the pet store in town, and this time the building wasn’t the only casualty. There’s a body inside.”
“Damn it.” Mason bit out. “Can you drive? I need to make a phone call.”
“Sure thing.”
Annie got them to the pet store in under ten minutes. The small business sat on one of the main streets in Bunker Falls. Strands of yellow barricade tape closed off both ends of the street forcing traffic to detour around the block. Mason ended his phone call and jumped out of the passenger side of her black and silver Dodge extended cab truck. He lifted the tape enough for her to drive under, before climbing back inside.
Annie maneuvered around the fire engines and ambulance that sat at odd angles in the middle of the road. She slid into an empty spot next to the command vehicle. The charred remains of the pet store loomed through the windshield.
“Ready?” Mason asked, drawing her attention to where he sat in the passenger seat. He knew without a doubt that tongues were going to wag when the rest of the crew discovered they rode together. “If it would make you feel better, I could wait a couple of minutes before making my appearance.”
His gaze followed Annie’s as she cast a quick look in the direction of the building. Several firefighters he didn’t recognize mingled not more than twenty feet away.
“I’m thinking that wouldn’t do any good.” Nerves lent an uneasy note to her chuckle. “We might as well get this over with.”
“No time like the present.”
Chief Daniels met them near the front bumper of Annie’s truck.
“I’ve got a call in to the county medical examiner.” He began when Annie and Mason were within earshot. “His boys will take the photos of the body. I’ve already told the others that I will need the two of you to dig around a little and see what you can come up with.” Mason understood the haggard expression on the older man’s face. Investigating arsons was a difficult task in and of itself. When the scene turned into a homicide scene, it went to hell in a hurry.
“You’ve got it, Chief.” Annie turned toward the driver’s door again. “Let me grab my bag and we can get started.”
Mason scanned the area around them ensuring everyone was out of hearing range before he continued. “Annie and I have a stack of pictures that I need one of my partners to take a look at. Did you say you’d collected samples you thought were suspicious from the previous fires?”
“Yeah,” Chief Daniels bobbed his head in acknowledgement. “I stored them in the safe at my house. I know it’s an unusual move, but I couldn’t be sure they would be safe if I left them at the fire station.”
Mason watched as the Chief’s throat bobbed up and down as if he were having difficulty swallowing. He understood how hard it had to be for the man to admit that one of his own could very well be responsible for five arson fires. And with the added homicide that had just occurred here, Mason knew it would take the small department a long time to recover from these tragedies.
“Smart thinking, sir. When we’re finished up here, we’ll make plans to pick it up. Then I think we’ll be heading south for a few hours. We can deal with the chain of evidence issue later.”
Mason turned in Annie’s direction as she approached, a black camera bag slung over one shoulder, her hair tucked up beneath a baseball cap sporting the fire department logo. Stray wisps of hair escaped their constraints, falling over the flush on her otherwise pale cheeks. There was both
delicacy and strength in her face.
Mason’s admiration for her kicked up several notches. This situation wasn’t any easier for Annie than it was for Chief Daniels.
“Here we go.” He slipped the bag from her shoulder, and hooked an arm behind her, ushering her toward the burned out building. “I’ve got to look like I’m doing more than just following you around like a puppy dog, Annie.” He stated when her surprised gaze turned on him. “Not that I mind the view from back here.”
“Jesus, Mason. Do you ever turn it off?”
“What do you mean?” he asked injecting an air of innocence into his tone. “It’s been turned off. Would you like me to turn it on and show you the difference?”
“Oh my, Lord.” She threw her head back and laughed. “What have I gotten myself into?”
~&~
Annie clicked off a dozen pictures in quick succession before turning to the man at her side. They’d worked the entire building, gathering samples and snapping shots of anything and everything that seemed out of place. The strong scent of gasoline had assailed them the moment they entered the building.
“All we have left is the pictures over near the victim.” She couldn’t bring herself to put a name to whoever lay under the white sheet just yet. They couldn’t be sure if it was the shop owner, Carl Rutger, or not. The body had been too badly burned. They would have to wait for the medical examiner’s report to determine that.
A shudder ripped through her. It wasn’t the first time she’d seen a death from burning, but the idea of the amount of pain the poor person had endured got her every time. She prayed that he or she had succumbed to the smoke before the flames had consumed their body.
“Hey, Annie,” Mason’s warm hand on her chilled body drew her out of her thoughts. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m good.” She shifted from one foot to the other, blinking several times to clear her head. “It’s just sometimes if I let myself think of the pain people go through with their injuries, it gets to me a little.”
“I can relate to that.”
“Really?” She turned a questioning gaze on him, surprised that someone like Mason, considering the job he had, would admit to feeling anything.
“Yes, really, Annie.” A flash of hurt showed in the depths of his dark eyes a split second before the guarded gaze returned, and he dropped his hand from her arm. “Despite what you may think, I do have feelings.”
He turned away, looking at the white shrouded corpse instead. A stab of remorse coursed through her when she realized she had hurt his feelings. That hadn’t been her intention at all.
Annie reached out and clutched his hand, stopping his forward motion. The sparks of in the dark depths of the gaze locked onto hers sent spirals of longing through her. She swallowed around the lump of desire in her throat. She owed him an apology.
“I’m sorry, Mason.” His calloused palm rubbed enticingly against her soft one. “I didn’t mean to insinuate that. It’s just that none of the other men I’ve worked with have ever admitted to anything bothering them so I thought it was just a ‘woman thing’”.
Annie found herself caught off guard when he suddenly wrapped his arms around her, and pulled her against his big body. Through the pale blue chambray shirt, she could hear his heart thudding in his chest. She could feel the power in the muscular physique beneath her cheek. Her eyes drifted shut of their own accord. Even over the strong odor of charred wood, Annie drank in the warm, heady scent of his cologne. Her arms slipped around his waist, the camera hanging forgotten from her wrist.
It felt good to simply be held by a man. There was definitely a physical attraction between them, but Annie understood that this embrace was one of comfort, not seduction.
“Don’t let me interrupt.”
The sudden sound of Mark Flynn’s statement startled Annie several moments later. She jumped back, but found her retreat blocked by Mason’s arms locked firmly around her waist. Lifting her eyes, she locked gazes with him. The expression in his seemed to say that they didn’t have anything to be embarrassed about. Easy for a man to think. She dropped her gaze back to his amazing chest for a second before turning in the unyielding circle of his arms to face the newcomer.
“You’re not interrupting anything, Mark.” It was hard to convince him of the fact with Mason’s arms still locked tight around her waist. The heat of his big body wrapped around Annie. “I was just having a moment.” She plastered a smile on her face, hoping Mark would buy it as a genuine emotion. “There’s been a lot happening around here lately.”
Annie would have to be blind to miss the anger that crossed Mark’s face. Mason stiffened at her back. Even though she couldn’t see Mason’s expression, she felt the warning in the strain of the body behind her.
“What do you need, Mark?” The deep rumble of his words pulsed through her. His less than pleasant, tone made it clear that the interruption was an unwelcome one.
“What I want is none of your business, Ramsay.” Mark bit out. Annie watched fists clench and unclench at his sides. Anger shimmered in the air currents surrounding them, an almost palpable force. “Sorry, Annie. I didn’t realize you needed a bodyguard around me.”
Mark turned, and skirting the corpse, made his way to the front entrance.
“We’re just about done here anyway, Mark.” Annie stepped out of the safety of Mason’s embrace. “What did you need?”
“I was looking for a ride back to the station. I can’t stay for overhaul and Chief says none of the rigs are leaving till it’s done.” Chagrin replaced the anger. “I thought maybe you could give me a lift since it’s your day off too.”
Annie’s gaze shot to where Mason was squatted, examining an area of floor. His eyes met hers. If she hadn’t been looking so close, Annie might have missed the subtle nod of his head before he bent back to his work.
“Sure thing, Mark.” She turned her attention back to her partner. “Give me ten minutes and we should be good to go here.”
“Thanks, Annie.” Mark spoke in an odd, but gentle tone. “Ten minutes then.”
A shudder of unease snaked through Annie. Had she imagined the sultry tone in Marks voice? What was that all about? She’d worked with him for three years now and never before had he treated her as anything other than a coworker.
She was probably imagining it. She turned her attention to where Mason stood.
“I guess we need to get this wrapped up don’t you?”
“Yeah,” His eyes were sharp and assessing as they met her gaze. “Wouldn’t want to keep the boyfriend waiting now would we?”
“Oh please, Mason.” She readied the camera, peering through the viewfinder before continuing. “Mark is my partner at work. Nothing more. Never has been, never will be.”
“Someone might want to fill Mr. Flynn in on that fact then.” He stated matter-of-factly. “I get the strong impression he thinks differently.”
“Men.” Annie muttered, turning her back on the exasperating male beside her.
~&~
Twenty minutes later, Annie slipped the gear shift of her truck into drive. Mark was ensconced in the passenger seat, smiling as if he’d just won the lottery. Chief Daniels had offered Mason a lift back to the station on the pretext that there was some paperwork he needed to fill out.
Annie knew the real reason.
“So what’s with all the picture taking lately, Annie?” Marks voice cut through her thoughts. “Did I miss a memo or something?”
“Nope, you haven’t missed a memo. Chief hasn’t issued the official one yet.”
“Ah, so I am out of the loop, huh?”
A trace of anger threaded its way through his laughter.
“In all fairness to the Chief, this just came about yesterday. For the time being, I’ll be keeping all the records at my place seeing as how there’s no official protocol for the program yet.”
They pulled to a stop at a traffic light, and she cast a look in his direction. Mark stared straight ahead, a m
uscle ticked in his jaw. Annie had witnessed that many times when they were on particularly stressful runs. But what would have Mark so stressed about this situation? It was common for policies to change. And more times than not, it took several days for the crews to get notification of the change.
“It gets so annoying to always be the last to know things.” He puffed out a harsh breath. “Sometimes if feels like I’m not respected enough to be privy to information.”
“Trust me, I know exactly what you’re saying.” Annie commiserated. ”Anyway, the whole reason behind the new policy is that Chief Daniels thought it would be a good idea to keep a permanent record of the fire scenes. Especially since we seem to be experiencing so many of them lately. It’s easy to confuse one scene with another. This way, we have references we can go back to if there’s any questions that arise.” She tossed a cheeky smirk his way before accelerating through the intersection. “The only ulterior motive here is to CYA.”
“Cover your ass sounds about right.” Mark chuckled.
Several minutes passed before Mark broke the silence of the cab.
“So what’s the story with you and Ramsay?”
The question didn’t surprise Annie, especially after Mark had found them locked in an embrace. In fact, she was surprised it had taken him so long to broach the subject. Usually the men were quick to jump on any chance to harass one another. And Annie had always been included in the fray.
“Nothing’s going on, Mark,” she answered as they pulled into the front parking area of the station. She slipped the truck into a vacant spot, and shifted into park, before turning in her seat to face him. Despite Mark’s odd behavior of late, she owed her partner the truth. “The simple fact is that Chief has assigned me to be his mentor. Which, as we both know means that wherever I go, he goes.”
“And that includes your off time, too?”
“Unfortunately yes. Chief wants two of us on this program for the time being. The old, four eyes can see better than two, train of thought.”
Where There's Smoke: Page 7