by A. K. Evans
I reached for her hand and gave her a squeeze in response.
“And in the meantime, I’ve got this great guy who loves to listen and help me work through it all,” she added.
Looking over, I found her eyes shining while she smiled at me. Seeing her like that, I knew I’d listen to her talk for as long as she wanted to about anything that was on her mind. But no sooner did that thought pop into my head when the smile faded and a look of concern washed over her.
“What’s wrong?” I immediately asked.
“I was just thinking that I’ve got you to listen to me when I need it, but what about you?”
“What?”
“I know that a lot of what you do is confidential and that you probably can’t share much of it, but I’m here to listen to you, too. If you need to unload any of your thoughts or feelings about any of it, I promise to give back to you at least as good as you give to me.”
I let go of her hand as we continued to walk and wrapped my arm around her shoulder. Pulling her into me, I kissed her forehead and assured her, “I know that, beautiful.”
Zara and I followed a few steps behind Blaze as we continued our descent down the mountain trail back to the truck. Only a few minutes of silence passed before she spoke.
“So?”
“So what?” I asked.
“So, do you have anything you want to unload on me? How is the case going?”
I didn’t know how to break the news to her. We weren’t having much luck and I didn’t want her worrying more than I already knew she did about the arson. Before I could figure out how to impart any information to her without dumping a bunch of worry on her mind, she ended up speaking.
“I’m not asking for all of your confidential secrets about how you plan to take down this crazy person, Pierce. I don’t expect you to give me information like that. I just want to know that you’re doing okay.”
“I appreciate that, baby. I wish I had confidential secrets about how the guys and I were going to take down this person. Unfortunately, I don’t have much to share. It’s been a tough go of it and we’re doing our best to work through this with the information that we have collected. Sadly, it’s not enough that we’ve been able to make any real progress that makes me confident.”
“I’m sorry,” she lamented. “You’ve been working so hard on this case, too. This guy hasn’t left any clues that can lead you to who he is.”
Shaking my head, I sighed, “Other than the fact that he starts all of the fires the same way, which lets us link the fires to him, there’s not been anything. Frustrated isn’t even the word to describe how Trent, Holden, and I feel about this case.”
We made it to the base of the mountain and off the trail. As we walked to my truck, Zara stated, “I wish there was something I could do to help.”
“You already do, Zara.”
“I do?”
Nodding, I explained, “Every night I see you or talk to you after a long day of working on this case, you take my mind off it. Just being able to hear you talk about the day you’ve had or what you’re feeling about your family gives me something else to focus my attention on. I need that a lot in this business. So, every time I give you what you need by listening to you when you’re working through something in your head, you give me what I need by offering a much-needed distraction from my case. I expect that’s how it’ll always be.”
With almost a skip in her step now, Zara declared, “I think we make a good team then.”
We reached the truck, and I opened the back door to get Blaze’s bowl out. After filling it with water, he dove in and I turned to Zara. I pressed a not-so-gentle kiss to her lips and she melted into me. When I pulled back, I whispered, “We make a great team, beautiful.”
Zara smiled against my lips before giving me a much gentler peck.
Blaze finished his water and hopped into the backseat.
The moment I started the truck, my cell rang. Trent was calling.
“Michaels, what’s up?” I greeted him.
“You with Zara?” he asked.
My body immediately went on alert. “Yeah, she’s with me now. What’s wrong?”
“I assume you’re not at her place then. Detective Baines just called me and said he tried reaching out to you. He said your phone was going straight to voicemail.”
“We were out hiking. Maybe he called when I was in a bad spot. What’s going on?” I wondered.
“Another fire,” he started. “Holden and I are on our way there now.”
“Right. I’ll drop Zara off and meet you. Where am I going?”
Trent remained silent for so long. I didn’t like it and knew it wasn’t going to be good. “Michaels?” I called, quickly losing my patience.
“You’ll see when you take Zara home.”
Fuck. Fuck.
Callie was home.
There was no way I could break this news to Zara.
“Is it hers?” I asked him, seeing my woman tense beside me as her eyes grew wide and worried.
“No,” he answered immediately. “Baines said it was a yoga studio. It was completely burned. Since the businesses are connected in that strip, damage has been done to the hardware store and the craft store on either side.”
“Was anyone hurt?” I pressed for more information as I started pulling away and toward Zara’s place.
“We don’t know yet, but we’ll be there in two. How far out are you?” he asked.
“Less than ten.”
“Right. We’ll assess the situation and update you when you get there. Prepare her for the worst, though.”
Trent disconnected as I pulled my phone from my ear. With tears in her eyes, Zara immediately begged, “Just tell me Callie is okay.”
“Callie is fine,” I assured her. “The fire was set on your block, but not your shop.”
Zara slumped back in the seat but was still tense. “Was anyone hurt?”
“I don’t know yet, but brace yourself, beautiful,” I warned.
She sat back up. “What is it?” she worried.
I took in a deep breath and let it out before I said, “Harvey’s going to need to rebuild again, and Leni’s yoga studio was torched.”
Zara gasped. “How bad?”
We had just stopped at a red light. I glanced over at Zara and advised, “Your friend is going to need you, baby. From what Michaels told me…Leni’s studio is no more.”
Her hand immediately flew up to cover her mouth. “Oh my god,” she said, her voice muffled by her hand.
I reached across the center console and took her free hand in mine. Then, I held her hand the rest of the way there, hoping I was offering her some strength that she could use to help her friend through what I expected was going to be a very long, tough road ahead.
Zara’s street had been blocked off by the time we arrived. Once I pulled up and one of the officers recognized me, he moved one of the barriers and let me through. No sooner did I make the turn onto the street when the space where Leni’s studio came into view.
“It’s gone,” Zara cried. “There’s nothing left.”
I pulled up as far as I could and saw Trent talking with Detective Baines. Holden was nowhere to be found. Seeing the damage, I turned to Zara and instructed, “Take some deep breaths. You’ve got to pull yourself together, beautiful. I don’t know if she is here, but I can’t imagine Leni is going to be in a good state when she sees this. You’re going to need to pull it together for your friend and help her through this.”
I watched as Zara took in several deep breaths and nodded slowly. Finally, she declared, “Okay, I’m good.”
“Good.”
I met Zara on her side and held her hand as we approached. I slowed my pace as we got close to Trent and Detective Baines, but Zara was determined. She marched right up and asked, “Where’s Leni?”
Trent glanced in the opposite direction before his eyes came back and settled on Zara. “Holden just took her into the ambulance over there.”
Zara took off.
I watched as she raced over to get to her friend. Within seconds of Zara climbing into the ambulance, Holden had stepped out. He glanced back at the girls in the ambulance, something washing over him, before he removed himself and walked back over to us.
“Baines?” one of the officers called out.
Detective Baines looked over and gave a nod. “Let me know if you guys need anything. I’ll check this out.”
Glancing over to what was now a hole in the middle of the strip of businesses, I asked, “What do we know?”
“The good news is that there were no injuries,” Trent started. “The bad news is that, as you can see, there’s extensive damage to the studio and considerable damage to the ones on either side. It’s such a shame considering Harvey just went through this a few months ago. Even worse is that we know it’s our guy and we still have nothing. I know you put cameras up outside Zara’s place, but I’m willing to bet this guy isn’t going to be showing his face.”
“It won’t hurt to try,” I reasoned.
“Will she be cool with me checking the feed from inside her store?” he asked. “It’d make it a lot easier and quicker if it gives us something else to go on.”
“Of course,” I replied. “Was Leni inside when this happened?”
“Yeah,” Holden chimed in. “She was terrified because when she realized what was happening, the fire had already engulfed a large part of the front of the studio near the door. She was in the back of it.”
“How’d she get out?”
“She had a bunch of crystals in there. One of them was large and heavy. She threw it at the large picture window in the front and shattered the glass so she could climb out. Once she got out, she ran over to the hardware store and got Harvey out. Nobody was in at the craft store yet.”
“Fuck,” I muttered, looking down at the ground. Suddenly, something caught my eye. I closed my eyes, trying to recall what I was certain I saw at the last fire.
“Reynolds?” Holden called, clearly noting my concentration.
I tilted my head and glanced over at the guys. “How many people do you know who smoke cigars?”
“What?”
I crouched down and pointed to the cigar on the ground. It hadn’t been put out and was still burning. There was one of these at the last fire. I remember kicking it aside, but it never dawned on me that it could be a clue.
“What are the chances that we go and look at the video footage from Zara’s shop and find that our guy likes to smoke cigars?”
One of the officers walked by, and I stopped him. “Hey, can you get the cigar collected and added to evidence?”
He gave me a nod and answered, “Sure. Is it evidence though?”
I shrugged. “I’m not sure yet.”
“Got it.”
The guys and I walked over toward the ambulance, where Zara, Leni, and now Tasha were huddled up. When they realized we were there, three sets of sad eyes came to ours.
“You have the keys to your shop?” I asked Zara. “We want to check out the cameras.”
She nodded and held the key out to me.
Once inside, Trent got to work on getting the footage from that morning. A few minutes later, we had one camera that caught just a glimpse of our guy. He had a mask covering his face, so we couldn’t make out any distinguishing features. He stood there, staring at the studio for several seconds before he took the cigar from his mouth, lit the Molotov cocktail, and tossed it up onto the roof.
Finally.
We finally had something.
“I realize this is something,” Trent began. “But this is a needle in a haystack. I don’t know anybody who smokes cigars.”
“I don’t either,” I put in. “But I know someone who will.”
“Who?” Holden asked.
“Frank Jenkins.”
“The same guy that helped with the sex-trafficking case you guys were working on a while back?”
I nodded and pulled out my phone. The last time I’d enlisted Frank’s help, I’d saved his number in my cell. The phone rang three times before I heard a grumpy old man answer, “Hello?”
“Hi, Frank. It’s Pierce Reynolds with Cunningham Security. Do you remember me?”
“Of course, I remember you, Pierce. I may be old, but I don’t forget who the good guys are in my town.”
“Right. Well, I was hoping you might be able to help me out, Frank.”
“What do you need?”
“Do you know anything about cigars?”
“What kind?”
I gave him the name on the label.
“Rare. There are three tobacco shops in this town, but only one of them would carry those.”
This was the best news I could have gotten. “Great. Which one?”
“Joe’s Smoke Shop over near the Windsor Area High School. But don’t waste your time going over there,” he advised.
“Why not?”
“It was shut down,” he stated.
“Shut down?” I repeated.
I heard Frank audibly sigh. “Yeah. Joe’s a good guy. He was the owner there for thirty-five years before the school took his property. His father opened it up thirty years before that. Joe got an attorney and fought them in court, but under eminent domain, they were able to take it. The man was handsomely compensated for it, but that doesn’t matter. Joe wanted to pass that business down to his son, just like his father passed it to him. They took away his livelihood and his legacy.”
Fuck.
Fuck!
“Thanks for the help, Frank. Appreciate it,” I responded
“You know me. I’m always willing to do what I can to help out the good guys,” Frank maintained.
“I know. Stay sharp,” I said before disconnecting with him.
Holden didn’t wait. “That call sounded like you just figured out this case,” he pointed out.
“If I did, it’s not good.”
“Why is that?”
Shaking my head, I thought back to all the cases I’d worked over the years. Time and time again, I’d seen it. We all had. Good guys who end up doing bad things. It never ended well for anyone involved.
“A standup resident of this community was wronged and he’s seeking revenge.”
“That woman out there almost died today, Reynolds,” Holden clipped.
I cocked an eyebrow at him. “Well you’re definitely not getting emotionally involved,” I noted. “Do you know her?”
He looked away from me, through the window of Zara’s shop, before he answered, “Not yet.”
Trent brought us back to the issue at hand and wondered, “What do you think we should do here?”
“We could locate him and question him about it, but without any additional evidence, I doubt it’s going to be beneficial. If anything, we might just end up spooking him and not getting what we need.”
“I’m on him,” Holden declared.
Trent and I turned our attention to Holden but didn’t say anything. He directed his attention back outside to where we saw Zara helping Leni make her way toward Petals. “I’m going to follow him until he makes his next move.”
“It could be several days before he does anything,” I cautioned.
Holden’s eyes shot to mine. “She could have died.”
I didn’t know what was going on with my friend and co-worker, but he felt something for Leni. Knowing how I would have reacted if Zara was in that situation, I couldn’t say I didn’t understand how he felt. With that, I dipped my chin in acknowledgment and understanding.
“I’ll rotate with you,” I offered. “Every other night.”
“Make it every two nights,” Trent chimed in. “I’m in.”
With that, the guys and I came up with a plan that would put us one step closer to bringing this case to a close.
“I feel utterly useless,” I sighed into the dark room.
My body was curled into Pierce’s, my head resting on his chest and his arm wrapped tigh
t around my back. While our day had started off great, it quickly turned sour.
Leni’s studio was gone.
Harvey’s hardware shop had considerable damage to it.
Stephanie’s stationery store had minor damage.
The moment Pierce and I got out of his truck when we arrived, my only concern was getting to Leni. She was devastated. I hopped in the ambulance, pulled her into my arms, and did my best to console her. But I wasn’t sure there was anything you could really say to someone in that situation that would make it better.
She’d just lost her livelihood. Sure, she could rebuild it and get back up and running again, but she was renting. This wasn’t going to be on her timeframe. She had to allow her landlord and the insurance companies to dictate the timeline.
Not long after I’d gotten there, Tasha showed up. She, too, was doing her best to offer Leni the comfort and support she needed. I wasn’t convinced that Tasha felt any more successful in her attempts to help Leni than I did.
Tasha and I sat with Leni while she told us the story about what happened that morning. When she finished, I took her inside my flower shop. Pierce, Holden, and Trent were still there talking quietly. Or, they were talking quietly until they heard the door chime and saw me walking in with a seriously devastated woman. Blaze had walked over to greet us. I bent down to give him a few scratches on the head, but Leni didn’t. I noticed her entire demeanor had changed from when we were in the ambulance.
“Everything okay?” Pierce asked.
I shook my head. “I’m going to take Leni to get her foot checked out since she cut it on the broken glass from her window,” I began. “Tasha went back down to the café to prepare food for when we get back. I think it was too much for her to be standing around feeling like she wasn’t helping. Food sometimes helps in situations like this.”
Pierce dipped his chin.