Taking the Heat

by Samantha Long

  “Ugh, I’m going to die. I don’t think I can handle this.” Addie groaned and started to pace again. “Life was so simple before him. I liked how it was. I was independent and had all this free time to myself.”

  “But now that you’ve met him, would you take it back? Go on without meeting him?”

  Addie paused. The thought of him not being in her life made her chest hurt. Misery coiled around it. “Shit.”

  Victoria laughed at the wonder on her sister’s face. “You’ve got it bad, girl.”

  Addie thought about that on the way home. Halle was coming over in a little while, and so was Victoria. Tonight she was telling each of her sisters something they probably didn’t want to hear. She raced up the stairs to her apartment and sent Finn a text letting him know that she had something with her sisters tonight. He replied, saying that he had to work at the station.

  Her apartment felt strangely empty without him as she moved to get the wine and glasses out. These conversations would definitely need some liquid courage to go with it. She changed out of her work clothes, then cleaned out Harlow’s litter box. Anything to keep herself busy until they arrived.

  They both walked in at the same time, laughing and cheery. God, Addie hoped they would leave that way. Not mad at her or at the world. She poured the wine, making sure they each had enough to get through this. Her stomach was queasy and she hoped she could keep the wine down.

  Halle and Victoria sat at the bar.

  “What is going on with you?” Halle gave Addie a thorough look over. “You look sick. Are you pregnant?”

  “Holy shit, no. Halle, don’t you curse me.” Some of the tension melted away as she laughed. “No. I’m not. But since you asked that, I guess I’ll talk with Victoria first.”

  “Oh God.” The color drained from Victoria’s face. “What the hell is going on?”

  Addie glanced at Halle, then back at Victoria. “Lucia talked with me a while back about something, and she swore me to secrecy. I discussed it with Halle, because I wasn’t sure if the topic was serious enough to breach that trust with Lucia.”

  Victoria fanned herself, trying to get more color back in her cheeks. “What kind of conversation?” She took a long sip of her wine.

  “Um.” Addie took a deep breath. “Well, some of the other girls on the cheer squad have already lost their V-card and are pressuring Lucia to do it.”

  "What?” Victoria jumped off the stool. “You two didn’t think that was important enough to tell me then? Jesus, Addie. That’s a big deal!”

  “I know.” Addie held up her hands to placate her sister. “We should’ve told you. I talked with her and I think I impressed on her the importance of waiting. That it’s a special moment that should be with a special guy. Not a guy that she barely likes.”

  Victoria’s face was splotched with red and she took several deep breaths. “This is unbelievable. She’s only thirteen. Why is she worried about that already?” A thought occurred to her, and she looked back at Addie. “Has Helena said anything about this?”

  “No, Helena is only worried about school right now.”

  “Thank God.” Victoria muttered. “I can’t believe you kept this from me for so long. What if she’d slept with him? What if she did? Oh God.” Victoria drained the rest of her wine.

  “If I thought she was going to do that, to take that step, I promise I would’ve told you immediately. I just didn’t want to break her trust, because she’ll never tell me anything again.” Addie soothed.

  “Why couldn’t she tell me? I’m not a bad mother.” Victoria frowned and Addie saw the hurt in her eyes. She quickly rounded the corner and put her arms around Victoria.

  “She didn’t tell you because she respects you too much and doesn’t want to disappoint you. She was probably afraid of your reaction. I don’t think she held back because you’re a bad mother, because you’re not. You’re the best mother besides ours.”

  “That’s the truth,” Halle put in. “You’ve done so much for those girls, and you love them to pieces. She wasn’t trying to hurt you.”

  “Okay. Just next time, please tell me immediately. I promise not to track her down and go off on her. But I also need to communicate with her, show her that there’s nothing she could do that would disappoint me. She should feel able to tell me anything, that’s what I’m for.” Victoria looked to Halle. “Now, we have something to tell you.”

  Halle’s face closed down. “What?”

  “Just say it, Addie. It’s easier that way,” Victoria said.

  Addie’s stomach was a tortuous mess of misery. How would Halle react to this? “Finn is Jenna’s brother.” She knew she didn’t have to explain further when Halle’s face paled. “I know what it looks like, and I swear that I didn’t know when I met him. I can stop seeing him if you want.”

  “Shut up, Addie.” Halle didn’t say it unkindly. “I just need a minute to adjust.”

  Addie stared at her hands, not able to see the rejection in Halle's eyes. She was facing the prospect of never seeing Finn again and her heart fought the idea. When had she come to care so much about him?

  “It’s not Finn’s fault that his sister is a whore.” Halle took a deep breath. “I’ve met him remember? At Luke’s football party? He was kind and sweet and very polite. Not once did I get a bad vibe from him. And the fact that you even brought this to me without just breaking up with him first tells me how much you already feel for him. I’m not going to stand in the way of that.”

  “Thank you.” Addie hugged Halle close, loving her sister for her selflessness. “I won’t ever invite her to any family events, I promise.”

  “Good, because I’d have to kill you.” Halle brushed a tear from her cheek and smiled at them. “Now, let’s talk about something happy. I think we all need it.”

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Finn

  A few days later, Jack called him back. Three guys from his former unit were vacationing on the eastern seaboard and it just so happened that all three had a problem with him while he was there for one reason or another.

  The first was Steven Marshall, a guy that Finn busted with drugs while on base. Steven lost two ranks and served 30 days. Ever since then, Steven disliked Finn. Sergeant-Major told him that Steven had taken a leave of absence two months ago. The second was Todd Aldrich, whose offense was a little more personal. While Finn was dating Mia, Todd developed a hard-on for her and got a chance to bang her. When Mia didn’t leave Finn for Todd, Todd reacted harshly. He’d caused trouble for Finn overseas, petty pranks and arguments. He’d never attacked Finn outright, so Finn had trouble seeing him as an arsonist.

  The third was Roy Smith. This one was a little more serious. Finn had caught him stealing stuff from the villagers. One night he and Isaac had stopped Roy from raping a twelve year old girl. When questioned about it, they stood up for the girl and Roy was dishonorably discharged.

  Finn ended the call with his Sergeant-Major and looked around the fire station. His friends were in a game of pool, and he could hear Carter teasing Caleb about the time Autumn had beat the fire out of him. If Roy was the one causing this, and Finn could clearly see him doing it, were his friends in danger by being near him? Roy was violent and had no regard for rules or morals. He’d asked the Sergeant-Major to look further into each one and see where exactly they were and why they were each on vacation. He just couldn't believe he didn't think about these men sooner.

  Next, he needed to talk to the Chief. He’d wanted to stay apprised of the situation, but since he wasn’t in at the moment, Finn would have to wait to tell him. He thought back to all the times he’d confronted those guys, each memory a little distant, and pretended to watch his friends play pool. It just didn’t make any sense. Why was the arsonist attacking him now, after so long? Each of those incidents happened over a year ago.

  Why fire? He couldn’t think of anything that tied those men to fire. None had ever exhibited any symptoms of being a pyromaniac, although they could
have hidden it.

  “Finn, want to play?” Carter broke him from his thoughts.

  Finn shook his head. His energy wasn’t really in playing games right now. Not when two women were dead. Even if it wasn’t necessarily his fault, it was directed at him.

  "Do you like my necklace?" Aaron stood from the couch and held it up. "My sister gave it to me."

  Not wanting to be a dick, Finn took a deep breath and looked at the silver necklace. From the thin chain hung a black dragon with wings arched out as if it was going to take flight. "Cool. You're sister picked a good one."

  "Yeah, she did." Aaron grinned. "She said I remind her of a dragon."

  Finn didn't know what to say to that, just nodded, and then walked to the fridge.

  Carter handed the pool stick to Nate and walked over to Finn. “Is everything okay?”

  Finn thought about telling Carter and realized he wanted to. Carter was a true friend, and Finn felt that at least he deserved to know. If it came down to it, he’d tell the whole unit. “Let’s talk over here.” He led Carter to the garage bay.

  Carter watched him carefully, his face serious. “Did something happen?”

  “Those women from the last fire? They had my tattoo carved into their stomachs.” Finn jumped right into it, didn’t feel like sugarcoating it.

  Carter frowned but stayed silent.

  “It got me thinking, so I checked photos from the beach house fire a few weeks ago. My tattoo was carved into the coffee table.” Finn leaned against the concrete wall, wanting some type of balance as he talked. Everything felt unstable around him. “This tattoo was from my time in the Marines. I got it with my best friend, Isaac.” He swallowed the lump in his throat. “He died in Afghanistan.”

  “I’m sorry, Finn.” Carter glanced down at the tattoo. “So you’re saying that someone from your time in the military is doing this?”

  “That’s the only thing I can think of. No one else really knew about the tattoo, not it’s meaning or the significance of it. People here barely notice it."

  “Have you talked to anyone from that time?”

  “Yeah. I got the names of three guys that are on vacation out here somewhere from my old Sergeant-Major. Three guys that all have a reason to hate me.” Finn relayed to Carter what Jack told him.

  After a moment of silence, Carter looked Finn in the eyes. “What do we need to do?”

  “I’m not getting you mixed up in this. Two women have already been killed because of me.”

  “Because of the son of a bitch that killed them. Not because of you.” Carter stepped forward. “You have to understand that. You are not the guilty one here. We’re going to find out who’s behind this.”

  “Damn it, I’m serious. I don’t want anyone else getting hurt.”

  “It’s too late. You’re my friend, you don’t get to do this alone,” Carter said. “Now, when the Chief gets here we can both talk to him. We’ll figure this out together.”

  Finn watched him walk away, marveling at the fact that he wasn’t alone. He may have felt that way, but all around him were people that cared about him, about what happened to him.

  The Chief arrived the next morning. All was silent from the arsonist’s front, which worried Finn even more. He and Carter met the Chief in the office, where Finn explained what he’d learned about viable suspects.

  "Does your Sergeant-Major know where exactly these men are?” Chief leaned back in his chair. He looked longingly at his empty coffee cup.

  Finn ignored it for a moment. The Chief could wait a few minutes for his morning caffeine. “Not yet. He’s looking into it. He has a friend at the FBI who is checking the men’s backgrounds. Only one is still in the Marines, although he’s doing a piss poor job there.”

  “You brought Carter into this?” Chief eyed Finn.

  “No, sir. I brought myself into it. Finn tried to keep me away, but I hassled him until he told me.”

  “Alright. So what do you think we should do from here?” Chief asked.

  “First, I need to know who is even in this area. If the Sergeant-Major doesn’t call me back this afternoon, I’ll call him.”

  “I’d like to see the photos from the beach house.” Carter placed his elbows on his knees and leaned forward. “I want to get a feel for what the guy’s thinking.”

  Chief took the folder out of the drawer and handed them over.

  Carter frowned when he got to the photo of Finn’s tattoo carved into the coffee table. “We really need those background files. It could give us a good lead as to who the arsonist is. Usually they aren’t that great at hiding the symptoms. A little fire here, a vandalism with fire there.”

  “We just have to wait and see what the Sergeant-Major digs up.” Finn let his impatience thread into his voice. He didn’t want anymore innocent people to die because of him.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Addie

  Okay, it was time to admit she missed him. Addie couldn’t deny it any longer. She well and truly missed Finn. His voice, his laugh, the little crooked smile when she did something he thought was cute. His touch…Jesus, she sounded like a freaking high school girl. It wasn’t like she could help it. She waited this long to become attached to someone, so her mind and body were catching up.

  He was coming over after his shift ended at the station, which was around seven. It was only six o’clock now. She heaved a sigh and decided that maybe her room could use some cleaning up. As she surveyed the room, hands on hips, she realized she should’ve been embarrassed the times he stayed the night. She was a messy person. No denying that either.

  Harlow trailed after her, pawing at her feet, as she gathered the myriad piles of dirty clothes and actually put them in the clothes hamper. She laughed a little, knowing that if her mother saw her doing this, she’d probably faint. Once that was finished, she picked up all the empty soda cans that littered her nightstand and threw them away. After they were cleared off, she saw the sticky residue they left and wiped the nightstand down. It was a miracle she didn’t have ants.

  She put fresh sheets on her bed, then folded her clean clothes and put them away.

  “I didn’t realize I had this much room in here. Or a floor.” Addie kneeled down to pet Harlow a few times. The kitten meowed at her, nuzzling her hand. “Finn better get here soon or I may clean the whole apartment. Imagine that.”

  She started a load of clothes in the washer and then made herself stop. If liking a guy and waiting on him made her this fidgety, how was she going to make it if they made things serious? Did she want to make things serious? Already she realized that not seeing him ever again made her sick, so what exactly did that mean? How did a person know if love was really love or just a hyperactive case of lust?

  Most of the relationships she saw crumbled into ashes, with the exception of her parents. She’d watched them growing up, and while their marriage wasn’t perfect, they were still in love. It was evident in the way they talked, kissed, or looked at each another.

  How does someone walk through that fire? Just get through the other side without burning to those ashes? What made a relationship stick?

  It’s not like she’d know. Finn was the first guy she’d ever dated for longer than a weekend. When that sentence didn’t cause her heart to race in panic, she knew she was done for. So much of her life was changing and it was all because of him.

  He knocked on the door and she sighed in relief. He could distract her from her thoughts, even if they were about him. When she opened the door, he kissed her softly. She leaned in, breathing his scent. It comforted her.

  “You cooking tonight?” He laughed when she shot him a look. “I figured. Want Chinese?”

  “Sounds good to me.” Addie shut the door behind him. He looked right at home here and she freaked just a tiny bit at that.

  “How was your day?” Finn dug through her menu drawer and pulled the Chinese one out.

  Her lips quirked at that. It was such a normal, relationship question. “
Good. We're having end of the quarter testing soon, since it’s already the beginning of October. The kids had to start doing their study guides. They’re not happy about it.”

  “Who would be? Know what you want?” He waved the menu.

  “I want sweet and sour chicken with fried rice and wontons on the side.” She glanced over the menu. “It’s a number 12.”

  “Okay. I’ll call it in.”

  She sat on the couch, watching him as he did. He moved surely, and she knew that confidence translated to how he moved in bed. Faint lines of stress creased his brow and she wondered just how much all this was getting to him. He was the kind of guy who would blame this all on himself, even when it wasn’t his fault. It was like she could almost see the weight of the events heavy on his shoulders.

  He finished the call and looked up, gaze meeting hers. A ghost of a smile crossed his lips. “What is it?”

  “You’re letting this hang about you. Thinking too hard about it. I can almost see your mind turning in circles, and I think you’re hampering your ability to figure this out.”

  “It’s not like I can just shut it off.” He sank down beside her. Instantly the heat from his body warmed her where they touched.

  “I know.” She placed her hand on the side of his face, rubbed the stubble there. “I don’t want you to wear yourself into the ground either.”

  This time she got a full smile. “You sound like you care what happens to me.”

  Her heartbeat faltered. She couldn’t say what she didn’t fully realize yet, but she let the emotion show in her eyes. And what she showed, she saw mirrored in his. His head leaned down and he kissed her, but kept it from boiling over since the food would be there soon.