by Jayne Ripley
He hugged her to him again, as tight as he could without hurting her. She clung to him desperately. He glanced at the carport and saw that it was empty. Nicole’s little Volkswagen Rabbit was nowhere to be seen.
“All her stuff…” Gabriela sobbed. “It’s all gone.”
“Only thing that matters is that both of you are safe,” he said, holding her tight. The rest of his crew had hoses up and were dumping water on the fire. Caleb ran up beside him, also in full gear and ready to go inside. Luke waved him off and then shouted to Chief Smith. “Everyone’s out! There’s no one inside!”
“That…the guy who started the fire might still be inside,” Gabriela said in a very small voice. She was trembling in his arms as if she’d walked through a blizzard in nothing but a T-shirt.
“Then too bad for him. We don’t put our lives at risk for an arsonist who attacks our pack.”
She stared down at the knife in her hand. She dropped it on the grass and began trembling harder. “God, I’m lucky I didn’t stab you.”
“No, I’m the lucky one.” He even managed a grin for her, even though he felt sick to his stomach with fear and rage at what had happened…and what had come so close to happening.
An EMT ran over to them from an ambulance. “Are you hurt?”
“I don’t think so…” Gabriela said, though she sounded far from certain.
“Check her out anyway,” Luke ordered. To Gabriela he said, “Go with them. I want you at the hospital. Even if you weren’t burned, smoke inhalation is dangerous. Nicole and I will come get you there as soon as we can.”
Gabriela nodded. He wanted to kiss her, to stay with her and comfort her, but he had a job to do. And that was to save whatever was left of his sister’s house. Nicole had been so proud and happy when she’d bought it that she’d drunk-texted him for an hour when she’d been celebrating. And now it was close to burning to the ground.
He watched until the EMTs had Gabriela safely over by the ambulance. A police officer was standing next to her as well. He recognized the officer. Andrew Jones wasn’t Rescue Company Pack, but he was good people and would watch out for her.
Luke turned back to his fire engine to help run the hoses and stop this damned fire.
They battled the flames for what seemed like hours. Soon he was so heartsick at watching his sister’s place burn that he could only wish he felt numb. When Nicole’s car finally raced up the long driveway, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He let it out with a shudder of mixed relief and dread. Seeing her cemented the fact she was safe. But he also dreaded what seeing her home destroyed would do to her. She parked near the trees, pushed away from the house by the sea of emergency vehicles. When she got out of the car, all she did was stand there, staring at the flames.
Chief Smith turned to him, his expression sympathetic. “Go to her.”
He nodded and obeyed. The first thing she asked about was whether Gabriela was safe. When he’d told her she was, his sister immediately asked about her goats.
“They’re fine, sis. The pens are far back enough from the flames. We got a hose back there, attacking the fire from that side. The crew will keep your goats safe.”
“Oh, good,” she said in a strangled, quiet voice that was utterly unlike her. Then she broke down and started crying. He held her and said soothing things until she calmed a little bit. She’d lost everything, but at least she was safe.
Once the fire was finally under control, Chief Smith drew him aside. “Why don’t you take your sister and go see Gabriela at the hospital. That tough little lady is probably feeling a bit lonely right about now.”
“You sure, Chief?” There was still a ton of work to be done securing the scene, dealing with all the equipment, and making sure the fire didn’t flare up again.
“Yeah, me and the rest of the boys can handle this. Go see to your woman.”
Normally he would’ve grinned at anyone referring to Gabriela as his woman, but not tonight. He didn’t think he had any grins left in him. “She’s not my woman yet.”
“Then get your head out of your ass and make her yours. Go on, go.”
Luke drove Nicole to the hospital, even though he hated driving her tiny car with a passion. She was in no shape to drive, as shaken up as she was. He wasn’t much better. He reeked of smoke and sweat. He was a bit shaky himself, after all that adrenaline and the fear that had nearly swallowed him when he’d found out exactly which house had been on fire. Not to mention the long battle with the fire itself.
At the hospital, it took a favor from the woman at the front desk of the Emergency entrance and another from the head nurse for them to finally get in to see Gabriela well after midnight. Officer Jones was lounging in a plastic chair outside her room and reading a Good Housekeeping magazine. He waved them in without pause.
Gabriela was still awake, sitting in her hospital bed and watching an infomercial for blankets that doubled as ponchos or some damn thing. Her face lit up when she spotted them, then shadowed again as her eyes filled with tears.
“Nicole, I’m so sorry. But I’m glad you’re safe. I was so scared for you. Your poor house.” A tear spilled down her cheek. “Are your goats okay?”
He suspected he fell helplessly in love with her right then. That exact moment, when she was crying, frightened for his sister’s safety and the damn goats when she’d been the one who’d nearly died at the hands of the arsonist. It touched him right down to the center. She’d been terrified and traumatized and the first thing she thought of was someone else’s safety. And, of course, the goats. Chief Smith’s words came back to him. That he had to pull his head out of his ass and make her his. His mate. His forever girl.
Nicole sat next to her on one side of the bed, while Luke took the other. Gabriela held out her hands to them and they both took one. Her grip was firm and tight.
“Don’t you worry about me, sweetie,” Nicole told her. “You’re safe and my goats are fine. The rest of it…” She shrugged. “In the end it’s all just stuff.”
Gabriela’s expression was dubious, but she did nod.
“How are you feeling?” Luke asked.
“I could go home right now, but they recommended I stay overnight for observation. I had some smoke inhalation, but it wasn’t serious. I’m too wired to sleep. And…” She glanced at Nicole again. “There’s no place to go to.”
“You’re staying with me,” he said with finality.
“No, I couldn’t—”
He leaned down and looked her straight in the eye. “You are staying with me. You don’t have a choice, babe.”
Gabriela opened her mouth but didn’t seem to know how to respond.
Nicole laughed and her voice was teasing. “You’re the only Puerto Rican girl I ever met who was at a loss for what to say.”
Gabriela turned to his sister, mouth still open, mild outrage on her face but still not saying anything. He chuckled and brought her hand to his lips and kissed it. But when he spoke, he kept his voice deadly serious. “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of you.”
“All right,” she finally said. “You win. For now. I don’t know why you two are so eager to help me. It was your house that burned down.” She turned those big brown eyes to him. “And your sister was in danger. I don’t think they expected me to be there.”
He gritted his teeth and said nothing. Now wasn’t the time for macro-pack politics. After all, he’d seen some of the Sturmwulfen today on the road. They’d been making their presence known, throwing their weight around. If he had to guess, the firebug was either some rogue human or one of the Sturmwulfen motorcycle gang.
Nicole snorted and shook her head at Gabriela. “We’re eager to help you because we’re your friends and we care.” She glanced at him, and he could read his sister’s expression easily. Some of us more than care. He didn’t bother to respond. She knew him well enough to read the signs. He didn’t offer his pad to just any woman strolling along the street. Gabriela was special.
“Thank you,” Gabriela said, wiping at her eyes. “Look at me. I’ve been a weepy idiot all night.”
Nicole hugged her and stood. “You’re exhausted. I’m exhausted. We’re all wasted by what happened. Look, I’m going to hit the road. Our alpha has already found this wolf a temporary home. So I guess my furry union dues are worth something after all.”
“Where are you staying?” he asked.
“With the Millers. And their ten kids.”
There was a soft knock at the door.
“This place is practically a revolving door even in the middle of the night,” Gabriela said, sounding half amused, half exasperated. “You can come in,” she called out.
Detective Carpenter opened the door and stuck his head around the corner. His expression was one of genuine contrition. “I’m sorry to bother you, miss, but I like to talk to witnesses before the details get faded.”
“I already gave a statement to Officer Jones.”
He nodded. “I have it. Thank you for that. I’m only here with some follow up questions. I wouldn’t bother you if it weren’t important.” He nodded to Luke and then to Nicole. “Feel free to stay if you’d like.”
Nicole hugged Gabriela one last time. “I think I’d better be on my way before I fall asleep in this chair. I’ll see you tomorrow.” She hugged him too, and he hugged her back tightly.
“Stay safe, sis,” he said.
“I don’t have a choice. Our alpha promised me twenty-four hour protection, whether I like it or not.” Nicole nodded again to Detective Carpenter and left.
“I can’t believe how well she’s taking this,” Gabriela said.
Luke frowned, rubbing his chin. “She’s tough, but I can tell she’s rattled.”
He couldn’t help but see the signs of it. He was her brother for Heaven’s sake. The tightness around her mouth, the haunted look in her eyes when she wasn’t forcing herself to smile or focusing her attention on someone else. Gabriela had that same look, but she didn’t hide it as well as his sister. The rage and fury began to bubble to the surface of his mind. He wanted to find the man responsible for setting the fire and tear him to pieces. No suffering. No drawn out scene. No mercy. He would find him and rip him apart.
Luke took a deep breath and forced himself to let the anger go. His complete failure to protect her was fueling his dark rage. But Gabriela didn’t need his anger right now. It wouldn’t do anyone any good. She needed his love and his support. He had to keep focused on her. If he focused only on revenge, he’d only be failing her yet again.
“I’m glad the goats are safe,” Gabriela said with a wan smile.
He forced himself to smile back. “Exactly. My sister will always land on her feet as long as she has some farm animal to care for.”
Detective Carpenter cleared his throat as if to make sure they remembered he was still there. He pulled out a notepad and pen from his jacket pocket. “I know you’re tired, ma’am, so I’ll be out of your hair as soon as I can. What can you tell me about what happened to you? Start where ever you think is best.”
Gabriela wasn’t looking forward to reliving the night’s terrifying events, even if it was necessary to report them to Detective Carpenter. She was exhausted, but she’d had trouble sleeping even before everyone had shown up. Every time she closed her eyes she found herself opening them again, looking for a fire. She was grateful Luke was here with her now. She felt safer. Protected. She felt loved.
Or was she simply projecting how she’d come to feel onto him? She looked at him. He was holding her hand in both of his, wrapping it in his warmth, his hands so big that hers completely disappeared. He nodded to her encouragingly, his gaze never leaving hers. How had he come to mean so much to her in such a short time? It felt as though they’d always been meant to be together. That was silly though, because in high school she’d barely noticed him. She’d been too busy crushing on one of the linebackers who never gave her the time of day. She closed her eyes and tried focus her drifting thoughts back on recent events.
Her throat was sore and she had a few minor bruises. Aside from that, she’d checked out fine. She wanted to get home. To Luke’s home, because he’d invited her there. And she wanted to thank him, to love him, in every possible way. She quickly stopped that line of thought, because the fantasies she had of him spreading her out on his bed and fucking her hard and fast were turning her on and this was really not the time, what with the bear shifter detective in the room and so on. Strangely enough, surviving the fire had made her body yearn for his caresses even more than it had been aching for his touch already.
She took a deep breath, opened her eyes, pulled herself together. Then she started telling the detective what she remembered. She began with how she’d heard something outside—a shovel knocked over—and the goats getting upset.
“Did you see anyone out there after you heard the noise?” the detective asked.
“No. I was scared, but I convinced myself it was a raccoon. I double-checked that the doors were locked. I didn’t want to go outside, so I only looked around from the windows.”
Detective Carpenter nodded. “Smart.”
She gave him a half-hearted smile, not believing she deserved the praise. Luke squeezed her hand reassuringly.
She continued relating the details of the night, explaining how she’d later dozed off and what an idiot she’d been, leaving the phone handset in the kitchen, believing there wasn’t any danger. She skipped over her odd dream, because he probably wouldn’t understand her people’s belief in what a dream about water and tears might mean. She wasn’t sure she believed it entirely either, even though something catastrophic had happened only minutes later. She jumped to the part where she’d woken and smelled the gasoline and heard noises inside the house, and then how she’d seen the figure in the hallway as she’d made a break for the phone to call the police.
“Can you describe this unsub?”
“Unsub?” she asked, frowning at the unfamiliar term.
“Sorry. Unsub means unknown subject. What did he look like? Height, race, clothing, anything.”
“I didn’t see him well. He was wearing a lot of bulky clothing, but he didn’t seem that big…” She frowned, trying to remember. The distance and the darkness combined with all the stress and adrenaline had made the memory unclear.
“Was he my size?” The detective patted his gut and gave her a small grin. He was a little shorter than Luke but wasn’t anywhere in the same kind of shape as her firefighter. “Or built more like Luke here? Or smaller, skinnier maybe?”
“Bulky, but… Um… I can’t quite…” Her brow furrowed as she struggled to remember. “It’s hard to say. I only had the one glance, but he seemed bigger than me. But not that tall.” She hesitated again. “I didn’t see his face. He was wearing a heavy jacket and sweatshirt or something with the hood up. So his face was shadowed. He had gloves on and I couldn’t see his skin color. I’m sorry. I know that’s not very helpful.”
“That’s OK. He took pains to conceal his identity. That tells me a lot. Did he say anything?”
“No, he set the fire and ran.”
“What about a scent trail?” Luke asked the detective.
Gabriela knew bear shifters didn’t have as developed a sense of smell as werewolves, but they were still better than humans in that regard. So her heart leaped in her chest at the possibility of the police tracking the arsonist down through a scent trail.
“Couldn’t pick up one close to the house because of the fire,” Detective Carpenter said. “But Kasprack caught a trace of something through the woods. Couldn’t identify it though. It was obscured by vinegar. Real pungent.”
“So the guy did that on purpose.” Gabriela’s skin went cold. Luke seemed to sense her fear and squeezed her hand again to reassure her. “He knew he’d be dealing with shifters and he had it all planned out.”
Carpenter nodded. “Looks that way. So what happened after you saw the unsub in the hallway lighting the fire?”
She described how she’d grabbed the phone and a kitchen knife and had escaped out a window because the porch was on fire. She struggled to describe how terrified she’d been, calling for help, expecting to be attacked at any second, feeling alone and vulnerable. Both of them had seemed to understand though.
“I’m sorry,” she finished. “That’s everything. After that the police and fire department arrived. I didn’t see the guy again.”
“Has anyone been following you recently? Maybe you keep seeing the same person in odd places? Anything like that?”
“You think she was targeted?” Luke asked.
“I’m only covering all the possibilities.” The detective looked at her again. “Do you know Cameron McGee?”
She frowned. The name seemed familiar... Then she had it. “The human guy at the picnic? He had a green army surplus coat?”
“That’s him. Has he been hanging around you? Maybe acting a little off?”
“No. I only talked with him that once.”
Luke’s scowl was intense. “How is he connected to this?”
The detective shook his head. “It’s probably nothing, but I have a witness who spotted him in the area about the time of the fire. He was walking along the side of the road nearby.”
“Cameron’s always walking everywhere. He lost his license. The guy’s harmless.”
“You’re probably right. But the witness is reliable—from the Cadillac Falls Pack. And I’m looking into every lead.”
Gabriela couldn’t believe the arsonist had been Cameron. Not the right jacket, for one. And Cameron had seemed a bit odd, but essentially harmless. Still, these days you never knew...
Detective Carpenter shut his notebook and put it away. He gave her his card. “I know it’s late. Thank you for seeing me. I think this information will help, but if you remember anything else, call me. Any time.”
The detective nodded again to Luke and left. Afterward, it was very quiet in the room. Even the hospital wing seemed strangely still, as if they were alone together in an abandoned building.