Setting Off Sparks (Jupiter Point Book 4)

by Jennifer Bernard

  At the Orbit Lounge and Grill, they slid into a black vinyl booth. The entire place was designed to look like outer space, with black walls and a curved ceiling decorated with glow-in-the-dark stars. Kind of like the ceiling of her motorhome, Lisa realized with a smile.

  Brianna introduced her to Suzanne Finnegan Marshall and Merry Warren, who were both around her age. She’d seen Suzanne at the wedding reception—she was the extremely pregnant blond ordering people around. But she hadn’t met Merry before. Merry had skin the color of almonds and warm eyes alive with curiosity. A headband held her dark hair back from her face.

  “Hi. I’m Lisa.”

  “I know you.” Merry toasted her with her margarita. “You’re the Freak.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “The Freak on the Peak. Rollo told me that’s an affectionate nickname for the spotters who hang out in those lookout towers.” Merry’s eyes danced; she definitely lived up to her name. “You have no idea how much I’m dying to interview you. How did you not lose your mind up in there? Didn’t you get bored?”

  “No, not really. I liked it.” She’d loved it. But she didn’t want to sound like too much of a freak. “It was what I needed at the time, I suppose.”

  “Needed it? Why?” Merry cocked her head. Lisa could see why she was such a good reporter.

  “Overworked and under-vacationed,” she said lightly. “I was—am—an ER nurse. Pretty much nonstop stress. That tower was kind of like detox. It was so peaceful.”

  “I could use some time at that tower,” Suzanne announced. Her long blond hair was twisted off her neck and her pregnant belly barely fit into the booth. “Josh is driving me crazy. If he offers me one more back rub… Just kidding. I’d marry him ten times over just for those talented hands of his.”

  Brianna waved a toothpick with a chunk of pineapple at her. “You can stop right there, Mrs. Marshall. I’m still recovering from the overdose of sappy we all experienced at the wedding.”

  “Oh please. You’re the sappiest one of all. Didn’t you find those white flowers that look just like stars?”

  “She’s my oldest friend. I have the right to be sappy.”

  “You’re both a total embarrassment,” teased Merry. “It’s a good thing I’ve got enough cynicism for all of us. Anyone needs a dose, come see me.”

  “Or me,” Lisa chimed in. She raised her hand. “Team Cynic over here.”

  The other women all looked at her with surprise. “Really? You?” Brianna asked. “But you’re so romantic-looking.”

  “Romantic-looking?” Lisa laughed. She had no idea what that meant.

  “Yes. Just ask Finn. He was tongue-tied at the sight of you. And foot-tied. I thought someone had literally tied his shoelaces together when he practically tripped over himself at the tower.” Brianna’s green eyes brimmed with laughter. “It was fun to see, after all the times I made a fool of myself over him.”

  A weird jealous feeling came over Lisa. Had Finn flirted with Brianna too? “You and Finn—”

  “Oh no. It was just a crush. A misguided one. Not because he isn’t crush-worthy,” Bri added quickly. “He absolutely is. He was so nice and patient about my crush. But Rollo’s the man for me. It just took a while for me to see the light.”

  “I can vouch for Finn. He’s a very cool guy,” said Merry, popping a chip into her mouth.

  “So you and Finn…” Brianna asked, lifting her eyebrows at Merry.

  Merry shook her head. “Too alike. We can talk up a storm together, but we don’t have any sparks. Now Finn and Lisa…”

  “No, no,” she said quickly. Maybe too quickly. “No men for me.”

  “Amen.” Merry reached across the table and high-fived her. “Team Cynic is on a roll.”

  Suzanne gestured between her and Brianna. “Speaking for Team Romance, some important information has just come to light. Did you hear that Annika Poole broke up with Finn? He’s available.”

  Brianna bounced on her seat, making her drink slosh. “Rollo’s so happy he wants to throw him a big bachelor-party-type thing. Like a ‘congratulations, you’re free’ party. Rollo really didn’t like Annika, by the way.”

  “If the Mighty Finn is back on the market, plenty of girls will be throwing a party,” said Suzanne.

  “I don’t know, I think that might be the old Finn.” Brianna chewed thoughtfully on her straw. “Rollo says ever since the burnover, he’s been different. Like something’s eating at him.”

  “Well, he did nearly die,” said Merry logically. “And he had surgery and spent months in rehab. There’s no way something like that doesn’t change you. I heard he used to be kind of a player but he never acted like that with me.”

  “Or me, Lord knows,” said Brianna mournfully. “I tried to get him to flirt with me but he was so sure I was with Rollo he refused.”

  “So only one person here has the scoop. Lisa, what’s it like to be flirted with by Finn Abrams?” Suzanne lobbed the question so quickly, Lisa didn’t have time to deflect.

  “Disturbingly fun.” She grinned.

  The other girls hooted and Merry reached across the table to high-five her again.

  Lisa laughed as their palms met. Then she saw a familiar figure push open the door of the Orbit. The rangy form of Deputy Will Knight emerged. She must have reacted, because Merry turned to look over her shoulder.

  “Oh, crap on a cracker jack. Deputy Slow-Mo is here. This calls for a refill.”

  Suzanne gazed at her, fascinated, as she sipped at her virgin margarita. “Merry, I didn’t know you had a thing for the hot cop.”

  “A thing? Like a can’t-stand-the-sight-of-his-slow-ass thing? I guess you could say that.”

  “His ass looks pretty good to me.” Brianna was watching him as he headed for the bar. She actually tilted sideways to get a better look. “Yup, looking good. You may go out with him if you choose, Merry.”

  “I don’t choose. I’d rather date a cactus.”

  “You are kind of a cactus,” Brianna pointed out. “Emotionally speaking. I should probably mention that he’s coming this way.”

  “Mother—” Merry snapped her mouth shut as the detective strolled next to their table.

  “Ladies,” he said, nodding a greeting to them all. Did those gray eyes linger on Merry? Lisa couldn’t tell. He ended up fixing his gaze on her. “I’m glad I ran into you, Lisa. I have a few more questions for you. Can we set up a time to talk?”

  “I really don’t—”

  “You don’t need to talk to him,” Merry piped up. “He doesn’t have any jurisdiction here. This is JPPD territory, he’s with the county.”

  His eyes flickered to her, then lingered there. His tone was cool when he spoke again. “This is about your attempted kidnapping, Ms. Warren. You might show a little more concern.”

  “You’re on the case?” She sank back in her seat and folded her arms across her chest. “Great. Might be solved by the time I’m eighty.”

  He showed no reaction, which earned him big points in Lisa’s book. It sure looked to her like Merry was trying to get under his skin. He turned back to Lisa. “Well?”

  “I really don’t know what else I can do for you, Deputy. I don’t know anything more.”

  “Call me Will. Just a few questions. It won’t take long.”

  “Pfft.” Merry snorted. “Won’t take long? Tell my editor that. Maybe he’ll forgive me for the four deadlines you made me miss.”

  “I like to do things right,” Will said firmly. “They take whatever time they take. Thoroughness is my middle name. Comes in handy in certain situations.”

  Merry’s brown skin turned a little rosier than before. To save her from any more embarrassment, Lisa made a plan to meet Will for coffee the next day.

  When he was gone, Brianna and Suzanne both pounced. “Okay, time to dish some dirt here,” Suzanne declared. “Merry, you have some explaining to do. You and Will Knight? Is there some sort of history there? And Lisa, what do you have to do with what ha
ppened to Merry—oh!” She sucked in a breath. “Hang on.”

  With a hand on her belly, she closed her eyes. They all held their breath while she rode out whatever sensation she was experiencing. When she opened her eyes, they were shining with laughter. “Just a little love tap from the little guy,” she explained. “Don’t let us interrupt the spilling of secrets.”

  “Sorry, Team Cynic is going to plead the fifth,” Merry announced. “You’ll have to find your gossip elsewhere.”

  “Boo,” Brianna chanted. “This isn’t gossip. This is information. You’re the queen of information, Ms. Best Reporter in Town. Cough it up.”

  Merry muttered something inaudible into her margarita, so Brianna turned to Lisa. “Oh my God, I just figured it out. That mugger! He was looking for you, wasn’t he? When he grabbed Merry? Of course he was! You were the girl in the tower he kept jabbering about.”

  Lisa turned to Merry. “I’m really sorry, Merry. I feel terrible that he hurt you.”

  “Pfft.” Brianna waved her toothpick in the air. “She would have kicked his ass if Rollo hadn’t done it first. You should have seen her face.”

  “I grew up in Brooklyn. No one grabs me without payback.” Merry shoved aside her margarita and leaned toward Lisa. “But now you got me curious. Why was he after you?”

  Lisa was seriously second-guessing her decision to come to the Orbit. “I probably shouldn’t talk about it now that the police are investigating.”

  She had no idea if that was true, but it sounded plausible.

  “Not just any police, but the very handsome Deputy Knight, for that matter.” Brianna winked at Merry, who ignored her. She was still focused on Lisa.

  “You’re pretty new in town, right? How do you like it here so far?” Merry asked her.

  “It’s great. Everyone’s been really nice and welcoming. I love working for Molly McGraw. She’s a sweetheart.”

  Merry tilted her head. “Where’d you come here from? I hear an accent.”

  “Houston.”

  “Merry, why are you interrogating her like that?” Suzanne interrupted. “This is supposed to be a nice, friendly drink to welcome Lisa to town.”

  Merry twisted her face in apology. “Sorry, Lisa. I don’t mean to be rude. It’s the reporter in me. When I smell an interesting story, I can’t resist following up. And the fact that I nearly got kidnapped by someone looking for you—that’s definitely a story. Forgive me?”

  Lisa stared at the other woman. If only she could explain. If only these were her friends. In ordinary circumstances, she could be friends with these women. They were fun, kind, funny, friendly. She missed having friends and being able to vent about anything and everything. “Nothing to forgive,” she murmured.

  Brianna clapped her hands, breaking the tension. “Let’s talk about something else. Rollo and I came up with an amazing plan for a wedding present for Sean and Evie. We’re all going to work on it together. Except Suzanne because sorry, babe, you’re just too darn pregnant. Lisa, we’d love for you to join in. Are you interested?”

  “Sure. Absolutely.” She felt a huge smile cross her face. She couldn’t share everything with them, but she could offer up her time. At least it was something. “What are we doing?”

  “How are you with manual labor?”

  8

  Normally, Finn loved a good work party—the kind where a bunch of friends got together to help someone build or repair or clean or paint or move. But that was before the three skin-graft surgeries and months of physical therapy. Once again, he’d overdone it with the workouts and now everything hurt, even pulling on his work pants.

  This is nothing compared to firefighting, he reminded himself. Suck it up. No way was he going to miss out on Sean and Evie’s wedding surprise.

  Since last year, the hotshot crew had been talking about helping Sean fix up the old airstrip his family used to own. It had been abandoned since Sean was eighteen, but he’d recently decided to fix it up and sell it. Without Sean’s knowledge, his friends had decided this was the perfect time to make it happen. While the newlyweds were roaming around Italy, the crew would be repairing the roof and painting like maniacs.

  Finn drove to the hotshot base, where he helped Rollo, Josh and Tim Peavy load one of the rigs with tools. They filled a cooler with ice and beer and headed out to the airstrip.

  It was situated close to the shoreline, on an isolated stretch of wind-tossed meadow not far from Stargazer Beach. The constant breeze sent ripples through the high grasses and made the tattered old wind socks dance like raggedy puppets.

  Finn strapped on his tool belt and stared dubiously at the ramshackle collection of buildings—two hangars and a reception building—that formed the airstrip. “People are actually willing to get on a plane here?”

  “Once upon a time.” Josh shrugged. “Sean’s father did pretty good business here. Until the crash, obviously. And that turned out to be weather-related.”

  Finn scanned the buildings. They all looked like they needed some love, but the main reception building was the worst. “All right then. Where do we start?”

  Josh pointed at the main building. “Right there. The roof. The inside’s in pretty good shape but that roof’s about to go.” They all strode toward the reception building like some kind of wrecking crew. Jupiter Point Hardware had already delivered the supplies. A pile of roofing metal sat on the tarmac, along with some two-by-fours and other lumber.

  “I volunteer to stay on the ground so I don’t make the damn roof collapse,” said Rollo. “The rest of you lightweights can get your asses up there.” Since he had a good three inches on everyone else in the group, no one argued with that plan. Bracing for pain, Finn climbed up to the roof by way of an awning and squatted near the seam that ran the length of the roof.

  That wasn’t so bad. Not too much soreness. On the other hand, the roof was a mess. He couldn’t see one piece of metal roofing that was salvageable.

  “Demo time?” he called down to the others.

  “Go for it,” answered Josh. “Then we can check the boards underneath, see what needs replacing.”

  Finn took a hammer from his tool belt and worked the first piece of metal away from its screws. The heads were so rusty it came right off. “Head’s up,” he called down as he tossed it behind the building. He took a moment to look out at the ocean, which was so cheerfully blue it could have been a painting. The offshore islands held a smudge of haze that promised heat later in the day. A slight breeze lifted the hair off the back of his neck. It helped him ignore the soreness of the right side of his body.

  It was just scar tissue stretching, he knew. The doctors said it was good to be active. The pain wasn’t harming him, so he could bear it. As long as he could shove it to the back of his mind.

  He didn’t want the guys to know he was still dealing with the effects of his burns. He wanted to be active, to do all the things he used to do. So he was going to stay up on this fricking roof and rip metal away from wood until he was damn well done.

  Josh and Tim Peavy joined him on the roof. Right away they got into the same kind of groove Finn remembered from the fire lines. Joking, teasing, real talk—all interspersed with comfortable silence.

  Tim was doing his best to scare the crap out of Josh about the baby coming soon. “Treat it like a tornado’s gonna hit. Like you gotta stock up on rations and find yourself some shelter. You better learn how to do laundry and dishes and anything the hell else she needs you to do. Changing diapers—that’s the least of it. You know what helped us? You’re not going to believe this, but get yourself some lavender oil. I’m not even kidding. Really calms you down.”

  “For the baby?”

  “Nah, for you and your wife. Soothing as hell. Just spritz it on your pillows or something. And forget about sex, by the way. Unless it’s a quickie. It’s like the baby has a sixth sense, like it’s nature’s way of making sure you don’t have another one too soon. You start thinking about sex, boom, baby starts cryin
g. Weirdest thing.”

  Josh looked gloomily toward the ground, which was at least twenty feet down. “Are you trying to make me jump off or something? Finn, stop laughing. This could be you someday.”

  “Not laughing.” Finn tried to straighten out his grin. “Just exercising my facial muscles. It’s a burn thing.”

  “Riiiight. Speaking of which, the guys and I have been talking.” Tim and Josh exchanged a glance. Josh pried off another sheet of metal and sent it sailing onto the pile. “You’re going to talk to Sean when he gets back, right? About getting on the crew?”

  He tensed. Rollo must have let that slip. “I’m thinking about it.”

  “You should,” said Tim Peavy. “We’re gonna need someone, because ol’ Josh here is about to be MIA in the BBL.”

  “The what?”

  “Babyland. That’s what Rosario and I call it.”

  Josh snorted as he pulled off the last of the roofing sheets. “The hell with that. I’m going to be back in no time. No baby tornado is going to stop me. I’ll take some time with Suzanne, work on my hotshot YouTube channel, then get back to work.”

  “See, that’s the thing. You’re going to want to be home with them. You won’t want to fly off to Montana at zero dark thirty.” Peavy shook his head. “Nope, you’d better get your ass ready to jump in, Finn. And we’re going to help you. We have two weeks to get you in top shape before Marcus gets back. Then another month until we have to report. You can do this.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Dude.” Josh slid a sheet of metal off the roof and wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. “You were rookie of the year. You’re an animal when it comes to training. And with the rest of us kicking your ass, you’re a shoo-in.”

  “I might have to go somewhere else if I want on a crew.”

  “Fuck that. You belong here,” said Josh.

  Finn had to look away, a surge of emotion catching him by surprise. Did he really belong here? For sure, LA wasn’t home anymore. But he might have a better chance getting on a hotshot crew that wasn’t run by Sean Marcus. Something in Alaska or Arizona.