Playing With Fire (2 page)

I
wasn’t going to let this firebug get away. The kid had run off on foot. He couldn’t have gotten far. I started up my car and headed in the direction he’d gone.

I drove slowly, peering down each alley. Businesses were starting to open. I passed Tommy’s Café and saw Matt’s car parked in front. I guess he’d gone back in for coffee after dropping mine off at the newspaper office.

I inched along, checking street after street. Then I circled my car around again. Nothing. Yet the kid had to be here somewhere. Maybe he lived downtown, in one
of the apartments above the businesses. But which one?

After a good hour of searching, I finally parked my car in front of Tommy’s Café next to Matt’s. I held the kid’s glove, hoping for a vision. Maybe I could pick up on where the kid was. I had used Amber’s bracelet to find her the night before.

I willed a vision to come and got nothing. Then I remembered what Mom had told me. I had to relax in order to see where the person was. Mom said I should meditate on the object. I had to clear my mind and let the vision come to me. I couldn’t force it.

Still holding the glove, I closed my eyes and took deep breaths. After a few minutes, I felt my body relax and my mind calm.

Just when I thought I might get a vision, I heard a knock on my window. I opened my eyes. Matt waved at me from outside the passenger door. Shit, I thought. He had
caught me meditating in my car. He would think I was as odd as my mother.

I rolled down the window and tried my best to smile back.

“Are you on a stakeout?” he asked. He laughed. “Spying on some criminal?”

“Something like that,” I said. I didn’t laugh with him. Lack of sleep had made me cranky. I didn’t feel like being the butt of jokes this early in the morning.

Matt thumbed Tommy’s Café. I looked over my shoulder to see Fire Chief Wallis and his crew sitting at the counter in front of the café window. Jim gave me a little wave and laughed with one of the men, clearly at my expense. He must have taken the firefighters out for breakfast after the fire. I just hoped Trevor wasn’t there to see me with Matt.

“The boys are ribbing me for keeping you out all night,” said Matt. “They think you fell asleep in the car.”

“If you must know, I’m meditating.”

“Meditating?”

“Jim may have told you I saw a kid at the fire who was acting strange. I think he might be the firebug. He dropped his glove.” I held it up. “I was trying to track him with it. I thought maybe holding it would trigger a vision. It did this morning.”

“You were trying to have a vision?” Matt held up both hands. “Well, don’t let me stop you.”

I sighed. “It’s okay. I got nothing.”

Then, just like that, the vision hit. I felt a rush, like I was zooming down a water-slide tunnel. Then I saw the firebug walking through the alley between the old movie theater and the bank. This time I knew the vision was in the present. How, I don’t know. I just
knew
.

“Are you okay?” said Matt. “You looked like you were about to faint.”

As soon as I heard Matt speak, I startled back to myself. “The kid who owns this
glove is here, close by,” I told him. “By the
old theater. Matt, I’m sure he’s the firebug.”

“Okay, let’s go.”

That felt good. I didn’t have to fight Matt to get him to believe me. He understood I really could find people with my visions. I had proven myself the night before—to him, at least.

I got out of the car and led the way. The theater was only a block from where I had parked my car. What I saw in my vision was real. The kid was there, crossing the street. His red-haired girlfriend was walking with him.

“Hey!” I shouted.

The kid turned, saw me and bolted. The girl ran off in the opposite direction.

“That’s him,” I exclaimed. “You’ve got to catch him.” I knew there was no way I could outrun the kid. He had the build of a jock.

“Wait here,” Matt said. He sprinted down the snowy sidewalk after the boy. Matt was
a jogger. Within moments he’d tackled the kid, pressing him to the ground.

I watched as Matt hauled the firebug up by his coat collar. He walked the guy down the street toward me. The kid looked scared out of his wits.

Matt, on the other hand, appeared worried. “Are you sure about this?” he asked me as he approached.

“I’m positive,” I said.

“Okay, your call.”

“We should let the chief handle it,” I said. “Let him question the kid.”

“You got it.”

Matt dragged the firebug into Tommy’s Café, and I followed. Trevor
was
there, sitting at a table to the side with some of the other firefighters. Some of the cops were also there for a coffee break.

“What do we have here?” Jim asked. He turned to the firebug. “Devon, what’s
going on?” I was surprised the fire chief knew the boy. Matt let the kid go.

“We caught your arsonist,” I said. I waved a hand at the boy, Devon. I felt pretty darn proud of myself in that moment. My vision had solved yet another crime. I was on a roll.

Jim glanced around the café, at everyone watching. “Claire,” he said to me, “this isn’t the place for this.” He pulled Devon outside. Matt and I followed. I was surprised when Trevor did too.

“Got anything to say for yourself, son?” the fire chief asked the kid. “
Did
you start those fires?”

Devon shook his head. But he also looked at his feet, like he had something to hide.

Trevor took my arm so I would face him. “What’s all this about?” he asked. He was still sooty from the fire. That just seemed to make him more handsome.

“I tracked down the firebug,” I told him. I nodded at Devon.

“You think Devon is the arsonist?” Trevor asked. He looked at Devon and shook his head. “I don’t think so.”

At that moment I saw Devon’s red-haired girlfriend walk by on the opposite side of the street. Trevor’s face clouded when he saw her. He clearly didn’t like the girl. She paused and walked on.

“It’s true,” I told Trevor. “I saw Devon in a vision, setting the fire. He was also acting suspiciously at the fire scene. He ran when I tried to confront him.”

“And he ran just now,” Matt said, supporting me. “When we tried to stop him.”

Trevor eyed Matt and then squeezed my arm a little too hard. “Claire, I know Devon didn’t set that fire.”

“I know he did,” I said. “I saw him.”

“In a vision.”

I hesitated. Everyone inside the café was watching us. They all knew my mother and her nutty ways. I knew how they would see me.

“Yes,” I said finally. “I saw Devon start that fire in a vision.” At least, I thought I had. Now I was beginning to doubt myself.

“No, you didn’t,” said Trevor.

“How could you possibly know what I saw?”

Trevor glanced back at the café. Then he looked down at me. “Claire, I know you didn’t see Devon start that fire because Devon is my brother.”

I
looked up at Trevor, shocked. “Your brother?” I said. “The firebug is your brother?”

“He’s no arsonist, but yes, Devon is my brother.”

I studied Devon’s handsome face. Now that I knew he was Trevor’s brother, I could see they were family. Devon did look a lot like his older brother, though he hadn’t filled out yet. He was still on the skinny side.

“I thought you knew,” said Matt. “You were dating Trevor. That’s why I asked if you were sure about this.”

“I’ve never met Trevor’s family,” I told him.

“I’m not a firebug,” Devon said. “I’ve never set a fire in my life.” He looked up as he thought that one through. “Well, maybe a campfire. But I’ve never set a building on fire.”

“So why did you run from the parking lot?” I asked him. “Why did you leave your glove behind?”

“I was late for class,” he said. “At the college.”

I wasn’t convinced. “Why were you at the fire in the first place?” I asked.

Trevor answered for him. “Devon tries to make it to all the fires,” he said. “To watch and learn. He wants to be a firefighter, just like me.” He stood straighter when he said that. He could have burst a button on his shirt, he was so proud. Obviously, the two brothers were close.

The chief put a hand on my shoulder. “Look, Claire, I know Devon. He’s a good kid. He’s no firebug. Unless you’ve got some kind of proof, I’ve got to put a stop to this.”

“When I picked up his glove, I saw the arsonist set that fire.”

“I know. And I know your mother really believes in her visions. But Claire, her visions are so often wrong. Maybe yours was too?”

“My vision led me to find Amber Miller last night.”

“I know, I know. I’m just saying, we can’t go around accusing people of arson based on your visions.” He glanced back at the others, watching from their tables inside the café. “Especially not in public. Claire, you’ve got to be careful here. You’ll end up with a reputation like your mother’s.”

I knew he was right. Almost everyone in this logging town figured my mother was a nutcase. She ran yoga classes and drank herbal tea, for god’s sake.

“I get it,” I said. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I guess I’m not thinking straight. I didn’t get much sleep last night.”

“How about you go home and grab a nap? I’ll take it from here.”

I nodded, defeated. I felt like a child, surrounded by all these big, burly firefighters.

“I’m so sorry,” I told Trevor.

“I’m not the one you should be apologizing to,” he said.

“You’re right, of course,” I said. I turned to his brother. “Devon, this is all my fault. Matt had nothing to do with it. I told him to grab you.”

“It’s okay,” Devon mumbled. He glanced at Trevor and away, as if embarrassed that his brother was there. I felt like a real shit
then. I had humiliated the poor kid in front of his big brother.

I turned back to Trevor. “I hope this doesn’t sour things between us. Friends?”

“More than friends,” he said, taking my hand. “How about dinner tomorrow night?”

Matt stepped forward. “We have plans,” he told Trevor. I heard the warning in Matt’s voice. Matt had asked me out to dinner, and I had said yes.

“Maybe another time?” I said hopefully.

“Come on,” Matt said. He took my other hand and pulled me to his truck. “I’ll give you a lift home. You’re so tired you’re acting like a drunk. You shouldn’t be driving.”

He was right. I
was
acting as reckless as a drunk. Here I was, trying to make dinner plans with Trevor in front of Matt.

I glanced back at Devon before getting in the truck. He held my gaze a moment, then looked away.

I felt that familiar ache in my gut. Something wasn’t right. I
knew
that kid was hiding something. I couldn’t let this go. If Devon was the firebug like I thought, I needed to find proof.

Once we reached my building, Matt walked me to my apartment door. There, he gave me a peck on the cheek. That was a first. He hadn’t kissed me the night before.

“Get some sleep,” he told me. “See you tomorrow night? I’ll pick you up at seven.”

“Yes, tomorrow.”

I watched him stride down the hall. Matt was practical and steady, the kind of man a girl could marry. Trevor on the other hand? Well, Trevor was eye candy. He was yummy. I wasn’t sure I was ready for the marrying kind.

I unlocked my door and went inside. I had a bachelor apartment, just big enough
for me and my few things. I’d done my best to liven the place up, but it still looked lonely when I walked in.

The cupboards of the kitchen were old and dark. My small couch and oversized television filled my tiny living room. My tropical plants needed watering. They drooped.

I threw my keys on the kitchen table and grabbed my cell. I needed sleep, but I had to phone Mom to make sure she was okay first. I had put her through hell the night before. I had dragged her up a snowy mountain to find Amber.

The phone rang several times before Mom picked up on her end. When she did, her voice sounded groggy. “Hello?”

“I woke you, didn’t I?”

“We were up so late.” She yawned. “I expect you were up much later.”

“Yeah, I didn’t get much sleep.”

Her voice brightened. “Oh! So I guess your date went well.”

“My date with Trevor? I missed it to find Amber, remember?”

“I meant your date with Matt. You were off to have a burger when I left the search-and-rescue camp.”

“Oh, Matt. Yes, that was nice. We talked well into the night.”

“You just
talked
?”

“Mom!”

“I do want grandchildren, you know.”

“As you keep telling me,” I said.

“Well, maybe you’ll do more than talk next time.”

“I don’t know. We’ll see. Trevor turned up at my office this morning.”

“Mad, I bet.”

“Yeah, but he still wants to see me. And then at the fire—”

“Fire, what fire?”

“At the garden and pet store,” I told her. “The feed shed burned down this morning. The chief thinks an arsonist set it on fire.”

“The chief? How is he? I’ve been meaning to call. I’ve been thinking a lot about him lately.”

“Mom. Focus. I was telling you about Trevor.”

“Oh, yes, of course. Trevor. The hunky firefighter.”

“Yes, at the fire he was so, so…”

“Manly.”

“Yes!” I said. “He was so strong, so sure of himself. I loved watching him put out that fire.”

“Aha.”

“What do you mean,
aha
?”

“Now that Matt is interested, you suddenly want to see Trevor again.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“You didn’t have to. It’s one man or the other, my girl.”

“Does it have to be?” I asked. “Why can’t I date two men at once? Men go out with more than one woman all the time.”

“And how would you feel if your date went out with another woman? Really, Claire. Try that and you’ll end up alone.”

“I’m a big girl, Mom. I’ll be thirty-one next spring. You don’t need to give me dating advice.”

“You’re playing with fire,” she told me.

“Maybe,” I said. I was too tired to argue. I said my goodbye, lay back on the couch and fell fast asleep.