Never Forget The Past (The Men 0f Fire Beach Book 4)

by Lorana Hoopes

  Across the room, his cell phone buzzed. It had to be Makenna. No one else he knew would text him at seven in the morning. He picked it up and sighed when he read the message. Another fire. Another life taken. Who was this guy?

  “Good morning, Matt,” his mother said as he entered the kitchen. “Did you sleep well?”

  Matt. The name still caught him off guard, but he hadn’t had the heart to ask his parents to call him Bubba. After all, he’d let them believe he was dead for five years. “I did, but unfortunately, Makenna will be here soon. There was another fire last night.”

  Fear clouded his mother’s eyes as she set a plate of bacon and eggs in front of him. “Do you think it’s safe for you here? Won’t he go after you again?”

  “I don’t know, Mom. If I even had an idea of who this guy was, maybe I could tell you, but I’ve got nothing. Still, I can’t go back to Fire Beach knowing this is happening. Now that I’m here, I have to stay until it’s over.” He speared an egg and shoved it into his mouth, but his mind wasn’t on the taste. It was on his past life here. Who had he known who would want to kill him?

  The answer was no one. He hadn’t been mean to people in high school, and while there were women he hadn’t dated, he had always been as nice as he could when turning them down. Then he’d gone to the fire academy and been a firefighter. His job was to help people. Had there been someone he saved who hadn’t wanted to be saved? He’d heard stories about people like that going after the people who saved them, but no one had ever blamed him that he knew of.

  The knock on the front door came just as he finished breakfast. “Gotta run, Mom. That will be Captain Drake.”

  “Please be safe,” his mother said. “I don’t want to lose you again.”

  “I promise.” The words were easy to say, but he just hoped they were the truth.

  “Sorry for the early text this morning,” Makenna said as he opened the door. Dark circles ringed her eyes, and his heart went out to her. A part of him wanted to take her in his arms and ease her stress, and the other part of him wondered what he was thinking. He didn’t have feelings for Makenna, did he? No, it was probably just seeing his family again and realizing his parents had something he might never have, but he couldn’t deny there was something appealing about Makenna. She held herself with an air of confidence that he found attractive.

  “It’s no problem,” he said shutting the front door behind him. “It’s what I’m here for.”

  “Right,” she said. Was that disappointment he heard in her voice? Was she feeling something too?

  “So, what’s the plan for today?”

  “A quick stop at the station to gather information about our victim and then we’ll go to his place of employment and interview friends and family just like yesterday.”

  “Sounds like a plan,” Bubba said as he slid into the passenger seat and buckled the seat belt.

  Ten minutes later, they were in the station and staring at another photo on the board. Another young man, probably in his late twenties. Bubba hated the loss of lives so young.

  “This is Dustin Cox,” Kelsey said. “Twenty-eight and single. He worked for Harrison Insurance where he was a claims agent. No family in town and no apparent connection to Peter, the first victim.”

  Makenna sighed. “Okay, Bubba and I will go to his job and see what we can find. You guys keep digging. There has to be some connection we’re missing.”

  What were they missing? Two men from different backgrounds who worked different jobs. Why were they being targeted? Bubba shook his head in frustration sure that the answer was right in front of their faces.

  Chapter 11

  Makenna expected the stop at the insurance company to be routine, but as she parked the cruiser, a call came through on her radio from dispatch.

  “Captain Drake, we have a report of a woman acting erratic in the Harrington Insurance building.”

  Makenna exchanged a startled glance with Bubba. “Harrington Insurance? Are you sure?”

  “Yes, ma’am, the call just came in. Should I send Lieutenant Brewer or Officer Cook?”

  “No need. I’m here at the building with Matt Fisher. We’ll check it out.” She clicked the radio off and glanced at Bubba again. Though he wasn’t a cop, firefighters were also trained to deal with situations like this, and his hulking presence certainly wouldn’t hurt in de-escalating the situation. “Feel up to this?”

  “Whatever I can do.”

  Makenna nodded and opened her door. As she stepped out of the car, she could hear what sounded like screaming coming from inside the building. She shot Bubba a concerned glance as her hand touched the butt of her gun.

  She led the way up the walkway and pulled the door open. A harried-looking receptionist glanced up at them and motioned them to continue. A glass door separated the reception area from the office area, but the screaming was audible even before Makenna opened the door.

  “Where is it? I just want what he owed me.” An edge of hysteria filled the shrill voice.

  As Makenna opened the door, a blonde woman came into view. She held a knife in her hand and was whirling around with it whenever anyone came too close to her.

  “Ma’am, I need you to drop the knife,” Makenna said as she stepped closer.

  The woman turned wide, frantic eyes on her. “Not until I get what he owed me. They know where it is, but they won’t tell me.”

  “Okay, so how about you tell me? Who owes you and what does he owe you?” Makenna scanned the area as she stepped closer to the woman. Most of the employees were cowering in fear but she never knew when one might decide to be a hero and send the situation careening downhill.

  “Money. He owes me money. I filed a claim when my house was broken into a month ago, and he’s been sitting on my claim. I need that money to fix my house.” Her hand trembled sending the knife wavering like a shiny, floating ripple.

  “All right. I hear you. Why don’t you put the knife down and tell me who your agent was?” Makenna held her hand out as she took another step closer to the woman. From the corner of her eye, she saw Bubba move off to her right, and she knew he was placing himself behind the woman.

  “Dustin Cox was my agent, and I know he has my check somewhere in his desk, but they won’t let me look.” She pointed the knife at a balding man in a suit who Makenna deduced to be the boss. “I just want my money.”

  “Ma’am, I’m sorry you didn’t get the money owed to you, but I’m here now. I’m Captain Makenna Drake, and I can get them to help you if you just put your knife down.”

  The woman’s eyes twitched as if she wasn’t sure she believed Makenna’s words. But after a moment, her hand opened, and the knife clattered to the floor. Makenna rushed in and snapped the cuffs on the woman.

  “What are you doing?” the woman asked. “I thought you were going to help me.”

  “I am, but I also need to ask you a few questions, and I need to make sure you aren’t going to harm anyone until I can do that, okay?” Makenna motioned Bubba to come forward and take the woman’s arms. At the sight of him, the woman stopped struggling and dropped her eyes to the floor, but not before Makenna saw the sheen of unshed tears.

  Makenna picked up the knife and turned to the balding man. “Is there truth to her words? Did Dustin Cox have her check?”

  “I don’t know,” the man said. “I’ll have to look into it, but I can tell you that Dustin was on our radar for insurance fraud. She’s not the first one to claim that money owed was never received.”

  “Okay, I’m going to need you to investigate as quickly as you can, and then I want all the cases he was working on.” Makenna felt her suspect pool growing. If this woman was angry enough to come in with a knife, could she have been angry enough to light his house on fire? Could any of his other victims?

  The man nodded. “I’ll compile them myself and send them over this afternoon.”

  “Great, thank you.” She glanced over at the sniffling woman who no longer appeared a thr
eat to anyone. “Do you want to press charges?”

  The man’s lips pinched together for a moment. “Not if she’s right. If it turns out Dustin was stealing her money, then let her go.”

  Makenna nodded and picked up the knife. She handed it, handle first, to Bubba as she took the woman’s arm. “What’s your name, Ma’am?”

  The woman lifted a splotchy, tear-stained, and defeated face. “Chloe. I wasn’t really going to hurt anyone. I just need the money.”

  “Okay, Chloe. I understand that, but brandishing a knife is not the best way to go about getting what you want. I’m going to take you to the station and ask you some questions, but we’ll figure it all out.”

  Chloe nodded, but she said nothing more as Makenna led her out to the car. A sigh escaped Makenna’s lips as she closed the door after securing Chloe in the back seat.

  “Do you always see this much action?” Bubba asked with a teasing smile. He was obviously trying to ease the tension of the situation.

  She smiled and shook her head. “No, it’s usually pretty sleepy around here, but these murders have everyone acting crazy. And this admission just opens up a whole new bunch of suspects.”

  “Well, I don’t know what I can do to help, but I’m here. Whatever you need.”

  His last three words stirred something in Makenna’s heart and she sneaked a glance at him. She knew he was talking about helping with the case, so why did it feel as if some other innuendo existed in those words?

  As he held her gaze, she felt something between them shift. She cleared her throat and tore her eyes away from his penetrating stare. “Thank you. I’ll question her if you want to grab some lunch and then maybe we can begin looking into other victims of Dustin Cox’s.”

  “I’d be happy to. Would you like me to pick up something for you?”

  “A sandwich would be great,” she said as her stomach rumbled at the thought.

  “You got it.” The smile he sent her direction caused her heart to skip a beat, and she shook her head to bring it out of the clouds and back to the case at hand. She could daydream later when her town was safe again.

  Chapter 12

  Bubba opened the door to Charlie’s, the small family run sandwich shop just a few blocks from the police station. Charlie’s had been one of his go to restaurants when he had worked at the fire station, and he was glad to see they were still in business.

  The traditional lunch crowd packed the interior, and Bubba scanned the area as he waited. He wished they had more information on the arsonist. With so much ambiguity, he couldn’t help wondering if anyone in this room could be the suspect. Would he know it if he spoke to them? Would the killer give off some creepy vibe or feel?

  “Can I help you?”

  Bubba glanced up and realized the line had moved without him and the cashier was waiting for him to order. He didn’t recognize the woman, and he wondered if Charlie and Darla still owned the place. They had been the sweetest couple always making time to circle the room and ask about the food or life in general. Charlie would sometimes even pull out a chair and sit with patrons until Darla good-naturedly ushered him back to work. He would hate to hear they no longer ran the place.

  Stepping up, he placed his order and handed over the money. She took it and handed him a receipt as if it were the most normal thing in the world. He had almost forgotten that feeling. The stares and whispers as he passed had become so common that when they didn’t happen, it felt odd.

  When his name was called, he grabbed the food and made his way toward the front door, but before he reached it, a hand landed on his arm. He whirled to see who had touched him and found himself face to face with Daphne.

  “Hey, Matt,” she said in her soft, flirty voice. “I was hoping I would run into you again. I know we never got a chance in high school, but I thought maybe we could do dinner or lunch?”

  Bubba forced his face to remain impassive, but the thought of having dinner with Daphne ranked about as high as watching paint dry in his book. He had a feeling it might be about as intellectually stimulating as well. “I don’t know if I’ll have time as I’m helping Captain Drake out, but if I do, I’ll let you know.”

  Her smile faltered for a moment, and a cloud passed over her eyes, but then she brightened again. “Sure, sounds good. You know where to find me.”

  “That I do. Good to see you again, Daphne.”

  “You too. Be careful out there,” she called to him as he opened the door.

  He turned back to her, the choice of her words stopping him in his tracks, but she had already turned away and was stepping up to the counter. What had she meant by that? Did she know something about these murders? Or was that just something she said?

  As quickly as it was gone, the unease returned, and Bubba returned to the prayer he’d uttered the day before. He hoped they found the killer soon. This constant state of uncertainty was wearing on him.

  He opened the door and nearly collided with Davis Redman. Davis had been a fellow firefighter, but Bubba had never been close to him. There always appeared to be a current of anger brimming just under his surface.

  “Well, if it isn’t Matt Fisher back from the dead.”

  Bubba flinched slightly at the hatred that assaulted him with Davis’s words. “Davis, good to see you again.”

  “Is it?” He folded his beefy arms across his chest and leaned back. “We had a funeral for you, you know? Dress uniforms and all. Your picture hangs on the wall with the other firefighters who actually lost their lives in a fire. Guess we can take that down now, huh?”

  Bubba could feel his own temper rising. Normally cool headed, this guy was pushing all the right buttons. “Look, Davis, I didn’t ask to be targeted, and if I hadn’t thought my family was in danger, I wouldn’t have left. I’m sure if you had been in my position, you would have done the same thing.” Bubba had no idea if the man even had family or if he was close to them, but he had to assume there was decency in Davis somewhere even though something had clearly happened to make him fixate on the negative so much.

  “That’s where you’re wrong.” Davis leaned forward and for a moment, Bubba thought he was going to poke him in the chest. “I would have stayed and found the person responsible. Stopping them is the only real way to protect your family.”

  “Then I guess we’ll have to agree to disagree, Davis.” Bubba was careful to keep his voice even. Clearly, Davis was agitated at him, but getting in a fight was not something he wanted to do. He hadn’t seen Natasha, the dogmatic reporter, today, but if she truly were watching his every move, the last thing he needed to do was hit anyone - even someone who might deserve it.

  “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to get back to the police station. Captain Drake and I are working hard to find the killer so that no one else has to go through what I or my family did.” Before Davis could say another word, Bubba stepped around him and continued to the police station. He couldn’t help wondering if his other firefighter brothers felt the same way as Davis though. A part of him wanted to go to the firehouse and apologize, and the other part of him felt that might just make the situation worse.

  “I don’t know why you brought me back here, Lord, but I sure hope something good comes out of it,” Bubba said under his breath as he pulled open the door to the police station.

  “Hey, you okay?” Makenna asked as he entered her office with the food.

  “Yeah.” He set the bag down on her desk. “I just had a run in with a guy from my past. He was pretty angry that I faked my death. I guess I never realized people might be mad; I just thought they would understand the reasoning.”

  She rose from her chair and crossed to the space in front of him. “Bubba, I wish I had the words to make everything better. I know that everything you are going through right now is my fault, and I just…” She shook her head as if her words had run out mid sentence. Her bottom lip folded under her top teeth, and for the first time since he’d known her, a sense of vulnerability floated around her.<
br />
  He placed a hand on her arm and forced it to stay there and not wander up to her dark hair which fell to her shoulders today. “It’s no use living in the past, Makenna. We have to focus on today and finding the killer.”

  Her eyes met his, and every nerve in his body tingled. He wanted to kiss her, to take her in his arms and forget their current predicament for just a moment, but before he could, Natasha’s voice carried across the room.

  “Now this will make a great headline. Captain Drake fails to find the killer because she’s too busy canoodling with the victim who got away.” She lowered her iPhone and flashed her predatory smile at them.

  Bubba dropped his hand from Makenna’s arm but not before he felt her tense.

  “What are you doing here, Natasha?” Makenna’s voice was cool but professional.

  “I came to see if you had a comment about the most recent death but clearly you’re too busy to be doing your actual job.”

  “That’s enough,” Bubba said. “Makenna has been working tirelessly to find this killer-”

  “Bubba, please,” Makenna said, cutting him off. She shot him a look that said she appreciated his help but could defend herself, at least in this situation. Then she turned back to Natasha. “I appreciate your doggedness on this case, Natasha, but you know I can’t discuss details of the case with you. What you can tell your readers is that we are doing everything we can to catch this guy and that if the public wants to help, they can be vigilant watchers and report anything suspicious.”

  “Hmph, I’ll be sure to do that, Captain Drake, but you should remember that a picture’s worth a thousand words.” She waved her phone as a reminder. “I’ll see myself out.”