Summer Flash Burn

by Unger, Erin;

  He grinned. “I thought they had it after that fumble recovery.”

  I almost hopped out of my seat. “I know. But then number eighty-three had to let that receiver get past him. I couldn’t believe it.”

  We stopped talking at the same time and stared at each other until Christopher tilted his head and narrowed his eyes. “Most women hate football.”

  “Not me. I grew up watching it with lots of brothers and a father who played college football. He almost got drafted, but he didn’t make the final cut.”

  Christopher sat forward, and I tingled at our closeness. “I…I can’t wait for the pre-season to start next month.”

  The air between us charged as if electric.

  He lowered his head and sat back with his hands supporting his weight behind him, the moment gone as fast as it’d come. But my heart refused to behave itself. It pattered on in race mode.

  He puffed out his cheeks. “It was the last game my dad and I watched together. We had a trip planned each year to see them play on their home field.”

  I held my breath and stilled. Maybe Ava should have come instead. I struggled to gain focus on his statement. It carried a shock of its own. What would it be like to not have my father around? “You must miss him.”

  He sat back up, swiped his hands down his jeans, and then coughed. “So, you said you had more questions for me?”

  His closed-off expression shut down further personal talk between us, and I didn’t know if it was a relief or a let-down. But the more he talked, the more the rasp in his voice bothered me. Better not push him too much tonight. I didn’t want him to collapse. “Maybe later. You shouldn’t be talking so much with all that smoke in your lungs.”

  Waving away my concern, Christopher scanned the ceiling. “Make it yes or no answers again.”

  That was doable. “OK.” I shifted my weight and rested an elbow on the arm of the chair. “First, you were fidgety at the meeting on the mountain. Then, someone torches your house. Are these isolated events, or have there been others?”

  He didn’t nod right away. Why was he holding back? I scanned every inch of his face. Great. We needed to have an in-depth conversation right now but we couldn’t, and I didn’t have the people reading skills that came natural to Ava. Note to self, watch interrogation videos again. But I’d have to use what I’d learned if I wanted to do justice to the case. “You didn’t tell us about anything concerning you.”

  The corner of his mouth pulled down, and he waved his hand in the air.

  No wonder he’d been so evasive. “Someone’s been after you, but you thought you could handle it?”

  He nodded.

  “But I imagine you agree the fire takes things to a new level.”

  His gaze held mine. It must be hard being the victim for once.

  “And, you need to leave a statement with the police.”

  “I did.”

  Good. A detective must’ve come while I remained in the waiting room being a useless bodyguard. Perhaps he was ready to let me in now. As my client.

  Why did I have to keep reminding myself it was all he was to me?

  9

  Christopher

  The Worthington investigators were like a termite infestation on my life. Yeah, I’d hired them, but it was Dad’s case I wanted turned inside out, not my own personal life. Why wasn’t it good enough to stick to the case? Why did they need to know everything about me too? Shauna’s questions made me fidget like a conductor in his first locomotive. How could I tell her how much I missed Dad? Or how losing another parent was incomprehensible. But then, my mom was alive out there somewhere.

  Forget about her. I rubbed my eyes and kept them closed, bidding the unwanted thoughts away. My aunt had taken Mom’s place. She was the only mom figure I needed.

  Shauna didn’t hide her obvious desire to leave. But was it the hospital environment or me she wanted to escape? Better leave her alone. I don’t need to find out.

  I needed to tune in to the present issue. No one needed to see me as incompetent or unable to take care of my own problems. Especially not Shauna, or the investigative team. But those problems were becoming dangerous. And they were related to my father’s death. Why else would they happen as soon as I started looking into the case, asking too many people questions? And any of those people might be responsible for the whole mess. Even the ones I trusted.

  Shauna’s cell phone rang. When she answered it, she put it on speaker. “Hello? Hey Ava.” They exchanged the usual niceties. “We’re still hanging out here.”

  “Hope you’ll be finished soon, Mr. Newen,” Ava’s voice came through crystal clear. “We started a search on all arson cases in the area. Looks like a short list, but Jillian and I will go through it tonight. We’re going to study patterns and similarities.”

  Shauna held the phone a little closer to me, but I heard her partner fine. “Great idea. I’ll help when I get there.”

  “I wonder if we can link the forest fire to Mr. Newen’s house fire.”

  My phone rang. I pulled it out and studied the number. The fire chief.

  “Hold on a minute, Ava.” Shauna scurried out of the room, holding a finger up to me as she went.

  Good. Privacy was much more comfortable than a woman sitting too close and asking me questions I didn’t intend to answer. “Hey, Chief.”

  The thick, deep voice of my superior resonated a bit too loud into the room. I hit the volume down button. “Newen, looks like the fire marshal has to do a full investigation. He still has to grade the fire damage and structural integrity.”

  So I’d be staying at the B&B also. “I figured. You think he’ll get back to me in the next two or three days about when I can go in the house?”

  “Around that time frame, but I can tell you there’s extensive damage to the kitchen and back hall. You did a decent job keeping it from spreading, though.”

  “I need some clothes from the house. Can I grab them later tonight?”

  “You know I shouldn’t let you, but I trust you not to touch anything related to the investigation.”

  “Thanks.” Would my aunt let me stay with her if I had to move out of the home for the repairs? “How bad is the smoke damage?”

  “You know how it goes. The upstairs seems OK, but there’s smoke residue throughout the downstairs. Water. The usual.” I’d be having an unwanted conversation with the insurance company by this time tomorrow. I balled my hand in my lap. It wasn’t the way I wanted to spend my time off work. And what if the marshal deemed the house a total loss? That couldn’t happen. Not to the house where I’d grown up. “Thanks, Chief.”

  The phone landed on the gurney at my side. I rubbed the stubble on my chin and then ran a hand over my face where I could still feel some soot clinging to my pores. For a second, I considered walking out of the hospital, but then my bosses wouldn’t let me go back to work or volunteer without a release form from the doctor. A good run would clear my head, but how did I expect to do it with my lungs still burning and aching? I was grounded, plain and simple.

  Shauna peered into the room before re-entering. I motioned for her to close the door behind her. “Looks like I’m homeless for at least a couple days.”

  Someone had tried to destroy the most important thing in my life, and now I would have to hunt them. I tried to keep the anger welling in my gut right where it was, but man…was it hard.

  The transporter in blue scrubs pushed me down the hall to X-ray in my emergency room bed and chattered on in a quiet voice. I appreciated her peppy niceness, but if only I could have a few minutes to think and process. I was probably the first patient ever who was thankful when she left me outside a door with a radiation warning on it.

  When I returned from getting the X-ray, my new blue-scrub friend wheeled me back into the half-lit room where Shauna stood. Now, if only the doctor would hurry and assess the results so we could leave.

  My investigator paced a few times. “I don’t want you to think I’m being a mot
her hen, but I’m concerned. Are you sure you’re OK?”

  She’d almost landed in the emergency department today too. “Are you OK? You never got a real check-up after your accident.”

  “Fine. My shoulder still hurts.” As if to emphasize her words, Shauna rubbed it. “That’s all—and maybe my neck…but no worries. Are you feeling worse? The same?”

  She was persistent, and I appreciated it. Her worry wasn’t lost on me. It was kind of nice. I shrugged. “The same.”

  “How long do you think the doctor will take to return?” Her hands were in constant motion, rubbing together. Her nerves seemed to be as bad as mine.

  “You’re agitated. What’s up?”

  “Oh, nothing. It’s just that I should be working, not sitting around waiting.” She stopped, and her eyes got big. “Not that I don’t want to be here—with you.” She leaned against the wall. “While we’re here, someone dangerous is out there. I could be doing surveillance, interviews, all kinds of things to help you.”

  She wasn’t the only one wasting time. But we were stuck for now. “But you’re here with me. That’s gotta be part of the job.”

  She took a cleansing breath. “Right.”

  I wanted to pace around the room, but then she’d see the toll the smoke inhalation had taken. “I hate to ask, but can one of you give me a ride to my house when they finish with me?”

  “We’d be glad to. We wouldn’t want to leave you alone again and risk you getting injured.”

  Since when did I need protection?

  10

  Christopher

  All I wanted was to fall into a comfortable bed and sleep away from this nightmare. I checked the wall clock of the emergency room as I pushed off the side of the gurney and then looked out the small window to the black sky. No moon tonight. And it was already eleven thirty. Ms. Worthington still had to take me to my house to get my truck before I could close my eyes for the night.

  How did Shauna move about the room with the energy of a teenager this late?

  I took the discharge papers the nurse handed me and headed for the door, Shauna literally on my heels.

  When I stopped to find out which hall to turn down, she bounced off me. “Oops.”

  Her closeness created a chain reaction I couldn’t ignore even though I tried. What was it with this woman that kept me so imbalanced? I worked to regulate my voice and not feel the exact spot where she’d touched me with her body. “Do you know which way to go?”

  With a look to the right and left, Shauna gestured to the right hall. For some reason she stuttered as she talked, “It’s that way. I remember that picture of the tree and mountainside.”

  I narrowed my eyes. What was up? Did she feel the connection, too? Well, she couldn’t. There wasn’t going to be anything between us, and I might have to set boundaries to ensure it.

  I strode down the hall and tried not to walk too fast for her. But she had no problem keeping pace. It almost seemed she was the one making sure I didn’t fall behind. Did she think she was superwoman? I stopped the sudden competitive thinking that coursed through me. How ridiculous.

  “Ava said she’d be in the drop-off zone, waiting.” Pushing open the door at the end of the hall, Shauna held it for me to exit.

  A couple techs and the receptionist waved and smiled as we left. This was a decent hospital. It helped that I had friends here too.

  When we pulled up to Dad’s house, I couldn’t believe what I saw. I fell against the SUV door. In the dim glow of the pole light I’d installed only last summer, I eyed the blackened smoke damage on the side of the house that ascended up to the roofline. The whole north side of the house blended with the dark sky, making it impossible to see edges with all the black soot and damage covering it. It was much worse than I’d imagined. Don’t think about it now. I’d fix it when the investigators left, even if it cost more than the insurance would grudgingly give me. My childhood home had to have a chance. I couldn’t let the only memories I had left of Dad die the way he did.

  I pulled out my phone, flicked it to turn on the flashlight, and stalked down the sidewalk. How did I let this happen? “I’ll be back.”

  Shauna held out her hand and stopped me. “Are you sure? It’s not a good idea for you to go in there.”

  “I’m a firefighter. I’ll be fine,” I said through gritted teeth.

  “Well, I’m going with you.”

  “No—"

  “Hey,” Ava called from the open passenger window. “I don’t like the sound of that. Please don’t.”

  Shauna marched toward the porch. “Don’t worry. We’ll be fine. You heard him. He’s a firefighter.”

  This woman had no fear. Interesting. No, dumb. And she insisted on being at my side. Draw the line now. I couldn’t be responsible for another death. But…

  I caught up to her, ducked under the police tape across the entry, and then opened the front door to a hall covered in gray smudges on the walls, the degree of smoke damage moderate. Burnt wood assailed my nostrils, a smell I’d grown so accustomed to on the job. But now it was in my home. Searing heat poured through my veins as my nostrils flared. How dare someone come here and try to destroy it.

  Let’s see how they liked it when they lose everything. Prison was its own form of torture, and I was going to put this guy away no matter what it took.

  I took one breath and lapsed into a hacking fit. It was too soon to be in the acrid environment. Tomorrow would be safer for my lungs and hers, but we were already here. Why hadn’t I considered the danger before asking them to bring me here?

  I did a double take. Shauna was staring at me.

  “I’m fine. I need to go upstairs. Stay here.”

  “Oh, no. I’ll come.” She coughed too.

  Hands on her hips and eyes daring me to cross her, Shauna pinched her mouth together. I was too tired to deal with this. I wasn’t about to force her to stay where she was if she was that adamant about it. “The floor may be weak up there. I don’t think you want to fall through it.”

  “Then guide me.”

  “Fine.” Did I need to add hard-headed to the list of her attributes? “Come on. But let’s hurry. This air is bad for anyone to breathe.”

  We crossed to the stairs. I took her hand and pulled her close. Raised eyebrows met my quick glance and involuntary gulp. “I want a good hold on you if the flooring gives.”

  Her strong grip matched my own. She must work out a lot. My hand tingled at our contact. Should I let go? I couldn’t risk her getting hurt though. But this put her very close. Hadn’t I done the same in countless rescues? Yet this was very different. It was Shauna.

  I worked to concentrate on each step as we climbed upward.

  The stairs were undamaged. In the hall, I turned and shined my light down the corridor, water seeping up the soles of my shoes. Blackness reached from the floor below to a spot right past my bedroom door, and a slow drip, drip echoed at the hole. There was a chance my room was compromised because of it. The sharp acrid air sent me into another coughing spell.

  “See that? Hold tight. The joists could be weak around it.”

  Now would be the time to tell her to stay put, but she wouldn’t listen. I knew.

  We inched forward. Three steps in, the floor creaked. One more step, the creak turned to a whine. “Listen, you stay right here. I don’t think it’d be wise for both of us to put our weight on that spot.”

  For once, she listened. I made it to my closet and took out a duffle bag then filled it with a few days’ worth of clothing plus a couple extra, just in case. At my bureau, I stuffed a pair of socks in the bag. Something on the top of the dresser stopped me. The air in the room thickened and threatened to choke me. I picked up my phone and shined the light across it in slow motion. Something was missing. Think. What usually sat up there?

  Spinning around, I checked all the corners of the room and stopped at the long curtains. Their thick eighties material didn’t hang straight down as they should. My feet rooted
to the old carpeting as beads of sweat formed on my upper lip. Something was behind one side. I crept forward, slow and sure.

  With a yank, the curtain flung open.

  Nothing. A pair of my jeans must’ve gotten kicked under the hem of the curtain.

  Shauna’s soft voice echoed through the door, “What’s wrong?”

  I twisted and flashed the light around the room and tried to bring my breathing back to normal. “Nothing. I…was just checking things.”

  With the mess I’d left, it was hard to tell if anything else had been moved.

  Shauna held her peace.

  Then it hit me. My grandfather’s old cigar box had been on the top of the bureau. I grabbed my temples. It’d been so dark at the door. Why had I not checked to see if someone else had disturbed the police tape before I did?

  Careful to avoid the area close to the door, I grabbed up the clothes strewn across the floor and thrust them aside as I searched.

  “What’s wrong?” She drew closer to the door.

  On my knees, I checked under the bed. “Someone took something. And before you say anything about my fire buddies, they wouldn’t have done it.”

  Shauna didn’t wait for me to give her permission to enter. She took a few careful steps into the room—exactly as I had—past the weak spots and started picking up things, tossing my blankets aside, and studying the floor. “What are we looking for?”

  With a wince, I stopped searching and eyed her. She wasn’t too bothered by the mess and didn’t even comment on it or ask if the room had also been tossed by the perp. That was a good woman.

  “I had an old cigar box on my bureau, but it’s not there anymore.”

  At the dresser, Shauna studied the top but touched nothing.

  I got off the wet carpet. “See how there’s a clear blank spot. No dust or soot? It was right there this morning.”

  She picked up my cell and shown the light over the dresser. “Can you think of any reason someone would want it?”

  “Dad never kept anything of value in it. I don’t get it.” It’d been months since I’d looked inside of it. I could barely call to mind what items were there. “There were a few old pictures, a dead watch.” I scrubbed my face. “I don’t know what else.”