by Desiree Holt
He reached across the table for her free hand but she snatched it back as if he’d hit her with a blowtorch. “Listen, Randi.” He had to get this right. “I know how badly things ended between us and I wanted the chance to make things right with you. I was happy I was coming here because I figured we could talk and finally settle things between us.”
Randi’s fingers tightened on her cup. “Settle things? Let’s get real, Noah. You basically trashed my choice of career, told me it was a men only world and walked out when I wouldn’t bow to your wishes and change my life around to please you. Not to mention refusing to uproot myself and follow you to New York. I’m not sure what you think there is to settle.”
Now it was his turn to take a hit of coffee. He wished he that beer he’d left back at Jimbo’s.
“I…made a big mistake,” he finally admitted. “I handled everything all wrong.”
She snorted. “Ya think?”
He set down is coffee cup. He had to make this right somehow. Make her give him a chance to rekindle what they had, because he suddenly realized that was exactly what he anted. It was what had been missing from his life these past years. She was what had been missing.
“Okay, look. All I can say is I was stupid, selfish and blind.”
She nodded. “Yes, you were. All that.” She looked down into her coffee cup. “You hurt me, Noah. A lot. I thought we had something pretty special going but you trashed it in a big way.”
That was no lie. There had been three people in the room that night—Randi, himself, and his ego.
“You have no idea how sorry I am for what happened. I wanted to talk to you because I’d like to find a way to make things right between us.”
She shook her head, still not looking at him. “I’m not sure that’s possible.”
“But you agreed to have coffee with me,” he pointed out.
“So we could put this thing to bed finally and forever.”
Every word was like a blow to his heart. Not what he had hoped for but certainly what he had feared.
“I’m kind of hoping that instead you’ll give us another chance.”
Randi finally raised her eyes to look at him.
“You have absolutely got to be kidding. Another chance? Not in this lifetime.” The look in her eyes was equal parts of anger and pain. “You trashed our relationship, trashed my career and now you want another chance? You must really be crazy.”
“Not crazy.” He swallowed. “Desperate. Please, Randi. I took one look at you tonight and saw—“
“A chance to get laid while you’re here?” she snapped.
Was that what she thought? He suddenly felt sick to his stomach. He obviously had been an even bigger ass than he remembered.
“You know you’re a lot more to me than that,” he told her in a soft voice. “You’ve always been a lot more.”
“But not enough to encourage me in what I wanted to do,” she reminded him.
He rubbed his hand over his face, frustrated. This was not going well at all.
“I was an ass. I get it. And I really wish I could go back and have a do over.” Yes, please.
But Randi shook her head. “No do overs, Noah. It’s done. Finished. Jeff had mentioned you’d be here for a couple of weeks and he wanted to give me a heads up. He said he didn’t want me blindsided when you showed up at his party. I told him I’m good.”
He studied her carefully. “and are you? Good, I mean?”
Her lips twisted in a tight smile. “I am. I love my job. I loved being a firefighter and being an arson investigator is incredible. And look.” She waved a hand over herself. “Still in one piece.”
He shook his head. “I can’t help how I feel—felt,” he corrected himself. “It’s still a dangerous job. I’m just glad you haven’t been injured.” He leaned forward across the table. “I still care a lot about you.”
“Well, those days are gone. I’m doing great, thank you very much.” She sipped at her coffee again. “I understand you’re here for a couple of weeks, right?”
He nodded. “Chasing a story. A big one.”
And maybe during those two weeks he could find a way to change how she felt about him, because one thing was damn sure now. He wanted—no, needed—her in his life, however he had to do it.
“Well, good luck with it.” She glanced at her watch. “We’d better get back to Jimbo’s If we’re gone to long people will talk.”
“Come on,” he laughed. “That crowd is so big they probably don’t even miss us.”
“Even so.” She gave him a long, hard look. “I hate that it didn’t work out between us, but there’s no going back. I hope you remember that because we’re bound to run into each other while you’re here.”
“I hear what you’re saying,” he told her. That didn’t mean he was giving up, though.
“Tell me about the story that brought you here?” she asked. “It’s got to be something big for you to male a special trip. Besides, those are the only kind you do now, right?”
He grinned. “Been following me, Randi?”
“If you follow the news it’s kind of hard to miss your byline. You’ve been very successful.” She cocked her head. “But that’s what you wanted, right?”
“Doesn’t everyone want to be successful?”
“At whatever they choose to do, yes.” She paused. “And it’s their choice, right?”
Okay, he wasn’t going there. Not right now. “I’ve been very lucky,” was all he said.
“So what’s on your plate now?”
“Some big shot making his money on the wrong side of the law. And people are getting hurt,” he added. “I’d love to tell you more, but—“
“But you’d have to kill me, right?” She actually smiled at him. “No problem. I’ll wait for the story to break.” She gave him one long, last look and slid out of he booth. “Ready?”
“Yes.” No.
He dropped a couple of bills on the table and stood up. He didn’t want to leave but it was obvious tis conversation was over, at least for now. As they walked back to Jimbo’s his mind was going in a dozen different directions. This assignment was definitely going to take up a lot of his time. No matter. He was still going to make time to work on Project Randi. And this time he’d do his best not to fuck it all up.
Chapter 3
Randi leaned back in her desk chair and rubbed her eyes. She’d been studying articles on her computer screen for the better part of two hours and her eyes were burning as if she’d washed them in accelerant. These apartment complex fired were driving her nuts. The one three nights ago had been the third one in five weeks. Just far enough apart they might not trigger suspicion, except Randi was suspicious of everything.
The first one five weeks ago occurred at Cedar Hills apartment, a medium-to-low rent complex of six buildings that catered mostly to single parents and people working entry level jobs. One entire building had been destroyed, combusting so rapidly that it was unsalvageable before the firefighters even got there. The tenants had received a relocation stipend and moved on to find other places to live. The building was still roped off with Danger: Do Not Enter signs placed every few feet. The stench of fire still hung like a miasma over the entire area. Randi heard that other tenants were also looking for a new place to live.
Then ten days later another building burned, one of four at another small complex, La Giaconda Arms. It, too, burned completely. Sparks had also showered on an adjacent building and that had partially burned. A lot of people were displaced. Randi had begun her investigation after the first fire, a routine examination that she did for all fires, suspicious or not, just to be safe about them. But two fires so similar and so close together made her nose itch. But by the time they were faced with the fourth one her nose was itching as well as the back of her neck, both signs something was definitely not kosher.
“Still looking for answers?”
She looked up to see Captain MacNeill standing there. Randi had the utmost r
espect for the main, He’d been with the fire department for twenty five years, earning his command through sweat, hard work and a lot of smarts. There wasn’t a man in the department that didn’t respect him. Randi was particularly grateful to him because he’d given her a chance when some others might not. There were too many like Noah who felt women did not belong on a firefighting team.
Noah. Her stomach hurt every time she thought of him. Seeing him had been both wonderful and painful. She thought she’d convinced herself she was no longer in love with him but one look told her how wrong she was. He was just as ruggedly handsome as he’d been the last time she saw him, after that disastrous last evening. And she still wanted him just as much, but she didn’t think she could ever forgive him for the way he’d handled everything. He’d hurt her badly and she still hadn’t been able to completely bury the pain.
Forget him, she told herself. You have work to do here.
MacNeill hitched hip onto a corner of her desk. “Still puzzling over those fires?”
She nodded. “I want to go back over each of the sites again. Take more specimens and do some more testing.”
“You thinking there’s a tricky accelerant involved?” he asked.
“I’d say that’s at the top of my list.” She stretched. “There’s just so many of them to analyze for. I’m looking for similar burn patterns, too. And I want something that explodes at a lower temperature but still takes enough time so our firebug, if there is one, has time to get to safety.”
“Oh, you can be sure there is one,” MacNeill said. “Four apartment fires in five weeks? That’s not just poor maintenance.”
Randi shrugged. “You know people are always complaining that apartment fires in this city are a weekly event. Old buildings. Lousy maintenance. All the usual.”
“Any determination yet on the ignitable liquid residue?”
ILR—ignitable liquid residue—was the trace left at every fire if an accelerant had been used. The arson investigator carefully took samples to the lab where they were analyzed for identification.
Randi sighed. “Yes. Unfortunately there seems to be more than a single accelerant. Different ones at different sites. If this is indeed one person—which I’m getting the weird feeling it might be—it’s someone who knows what the hell they are doing and working hard to throw us off the scent.” She gave a tired grin. “So to speak.”
MacNeill nodded. “You’ve got good instincts, Randi. That’s one of the reasons I pushed so hard to make sure this happened for you.” He gave her a faint grin. “Don’t tell any of the male investigators but you already run circles around them.”
His words gave her a warm feeling. “Thank you for that. I do my best.”
“Which is excellent, by the way. So what’s your next step?”
“I want to go back and revisit each scene, take more photos, take additional samples.” She pointed at the screen on her computer, where she had pulled up pictures of the various fire sites. “I told the lab to look for even the most miniscule trace of an additional accelerant, something that would reach a flashpoint quickly and destroy an entire building that quickly. This is a very sophisticated arsonist.”
“It is unusual,” MacNeill agrees. “It’s rare for a building to combust completely before the fire trucks can get there.”
“The lab tech says they are using both an IRL and an accelerant to increase the speed of combustion. They’re different in every incident, though. Plus, whoever is is doing this uses onsite materials to try and describe the real cause of the first. In one case it was stacks of foam patio cushions, in another wicker furniture stored in an empty apartment.”
“Damn.” MacNeill shook his head. “We’re just damn lucky that no one was killed or seriously injured.” Randi nibbled the tip of a pen. “The apartment complexes are scattered all over the city, everywhere except the northwest. Firebugs usually contain their activity to one geographic area.”
“Well, we need to figure something out, because all the owners are banging on us to get the reports in so they can file insurance claims. I’m tired of them they’re breathing down our necks and threatening us with lawyers.”
“I’d love to say let’s close this but I can’t.” Randi sighed. “There’s just so much strange to the whole situation. Dan thinks I’m nuts, too, looking for some kind of conspiracy. He wants to get a profile of the firebug and let his men go to work on it. Go back through their files. They’ve already questioned some suspects, but all of them had verifiable alibis.”
Dan Kessler was the detective from the San Antonio Police Department she’d been paired with since she got her promotion. He’d ben assigned to her first couple of cases. When they’d discovered they had a good working rhythm together MacNeill had reached out to Dan’s lieutenant and asked if it could be a regular thing. So far so good.
“But you think it’s more.”
She shrugged. “Maybe I’m crazy, but the back of my neck itches.”
MacNeill gave her a tired smile. “I always pay attention to that kind of an itch. Do what you have to.”
“Like I said, I’m going to back to the four sites and go through my entire process all over again. I must be missing something.”
“Well, if it’s there, you’ll find it.” MacNeill stood up. “Be sure to keep me in the loop. I have a nasty feeling our firebug isn’t finished yet.”
“I have that same feeling,” she agreed.
After the captain left she pulled up the lab reports on her computer and went over each one in great detail. She had a feeling there was something sinister underlying the whole thing, something more than just arson for the pure enjoyment of the blaze. It also bothered her that no one was harassing them to get this settled so they could get their claim paid and rebuild.
She needed to touch base with Dan Kessler, too. She had the feeling they were missing something and she didn’t know what it was. It would be great if he could go back to each of the sites with her. He had a very keen eye for things and almost a sixth sense. Randi had worked several cases with him and they had developed a comfortable professional relationship with a healthy respect for each other. She suspected that he was open to something more personal. He was a very sexy god looking guy that women fawned over, but she knew that was the sure kiss of death to a professional situation. Wouldn’t that just give the good old boys something to hoot and holler about.
Besides, her heart had never recovered from Noah. She had locked it in a box and thrown away the key, pretty sure she’d never take it out again. She was a one-man woman and he had been that man. His return here had opened all that pain up again, leaving her struggling to protect herself from more hurt and agony. She could do it. She had to do it.
Meanwhile she was glad to have the professional partnership with Dan that they’d settled into. He’d been working arson for some time before she came on board and his experience was always very valuable to her. Maybe he could help her find the answers that were alluding her, although he seemed just as exasperated by the situation as she was. He was, however, ready to toss her conspiracy theory. He kept reminding her they’d found nothing to support it.
It should be so simple but it wasn’t. Frustrated she leaned back in her chair, put her feet in their ankle high soft leather boots on her desk and closed her eyes. She hoped by doing so she could clear her brain and some of the pieces of this puzzle would start to make sense.
Instead an image flashed across her personal video screen of a lean, muscular man with hair the color of rich tobacco and eyes that were pools of melted chocolate. He was naked, his cock rising proudly from that dark nest of curls, and his lips were curved in a hungry smile.
Holy fucking shit!
She sat upright abruptly, her feet slamming to the floor hard enough that she nearly fell out of her chair. This could not be happening to her. No, no, no. She had worked hard six years ago to scrub Noah Cutler from her memory cells but apparently some of those stubborn babies had retained the imprint of
him.
In spite of herself Randi wondered where Noah was staying? She’d left right after Jimbo hauled out the big birthday cake for Jeff and everyone s had sung an off-key and slightly off-color version of the traditional birthday song. Noah had still been there, hanging with some of his old friends. Had he reconnected with some woman? Gone home with her? Had he thought about Randi while he was—
Damn! I need to get a grip on myself.
She needed to focus on the case again and avoid Noah as much as possible. Or at least keep her shield up whenever she happened to run into him. And would she? Run into him? San Antonio was a big city with the ambience of a small town. Everyone seemed to know everyone and connect everywhere somehow. She’d just have to be prepared and deal with it.
Meanwhile she sent the lab reports to her tablet, where she also had the photos stored. She picked up her cell and texted Dan that she was going to revisit the sites if he was available, stuffed everything in her messenger bag and headed out to the parking lot.
*****
Noah tipped back his bottle of beer, took a swallow and gave his friend a long look across the booth where they were just finishing a late lunch.
“Okay,” he said, setting the bottle down. “Out with it.”
Jeff gave him a lopsided grin. “Out with what?”
“Whatever you’ve been dying to ask me since I walked in here.” He chuckled. “For a detective you don’t make a very good interrogator.”
“Not so, my friend.” Jeff took a drink of his own beer. “The hallmark of a good detective is to fix his target with a steely-eyed star, say nothing and wait for him to spill his guts.”
Noah burst out laughing. “And does that really work for you?”
“Sometimes. Come on, spill.”
“Spill what?” Noah knew exactly what his friend was waiting for.”
“Okay, you want me to put it into words? I saw you and the lovely Randi sneak out of my party. I may have been celebrating but I’m not blind.” He paused. “Although it didn’t seem like you were gone all that long.”