When Sparks Fly (54 page)

“That’s right. There’s no knowing that Sarah and I would have been compatible or stayed together forever. She might have hated being a teenage bride married to a soldier. Just like you and Rick would have had your own problems. So we can’t look back at the ‘what ifs’. I’m thankful to know Laurie now and to have Sarah’s sister accept me as part of the family.”

Pulling her in for a whisper soft kiss, he looked deeply in her eyes and said, “And Jean? Right now there’s nowhere else I’d rather be than here with you.” Seeing the concern in her eyes melt away, he leaned in to kiss her again. This time with all the passion and love he felt.

‡
Chapter Eight

The week was long, with another random fire to put out. Jake and Tom showed up once again at the fire station to talk with Mac, who invited Rob and Brock to join them.

“You got anything new from the Arson Investigator?” Jake asked, settling down in Mac’s office.

“The incendiary devices are simple. It looks like some kind of material soaked in gasoline. Nothing fancy and any person can easily get their hands on it.”

“Do you have any suspects?” Brock asked. The other men in the room had grown up in Fairfield and knew many of the town residents.

Tom raked his hand through his blond hair in frustration, shaking his head. “We’ve thought of teens. Even talked to Brad Evans and some of his friends.” Knowing Rob’s teenage sister was dating Brad, he quickly added, “We didn’t suspect Brad of course. But he knows all the guys in town and thought maybe he’d heard something.”

Jake added, “Since one of the buildings that burned was the old shack that held some of the summer football equipment for the high school, the guys are really pissed. I think they’d tell us if they heard something.”

Rob spoke up saying, “I still want to keep my eye on Hank. He was such a prick that night Brock and I found him in the squad truck.”

Brock agreed. “He was pissed at me for sure.” Looking at Mac, he added, “I did exactly what you said, Chief. I acted real easy going and after a while he figured I wasn’t going to be keeping tabs on him and he went back to his old behaviors.”

Mac leaned heavily back in his chair, rubbing the back of his neck to relieve the tension headache building. “Jesus, Joseph, and Mary,” he said under his breath. “I should have fired him earlier, but I had no proof.”

“Dad, you couldn’t have just fired him. You did the right thing by giving him enough rope to hang himself.”

“How’s the mayor been?” Tom asked.

“Ah, he’s been pretty silent. I noticed the incident never made it into the Fairfield Times,” Mac said. “But he never said anything to me. He knew his son had fucked up, so he’s kept wisely away from me. I just worried about that young girl he had in there with him. Hell, her sister was naked and having sex with the prick while the younger one was right there.”

“I think the alcohol played a big part in that scenario,” Jake added. “He’s had alibis for every fire.” Looking at his partner Tom, he asked, “Don’t you think that’s strange?”

Tom smirked, nodding his agreement.

“Strange? How?” Brock asked.

“None of us are around a lot of people all the time. There are lots of innocent people who can’t give an alibi, because they were alone. It’s not a crime to be alone. But no matter when the fire occurred, he was conveniently with someone.”

Tom added, “And now the mayor is insisting that we’re just harassing his son, since he’s not officially a suspect.”

“So your hands are tied in continuing to question him?” Mac asked, eyes narrowing in frustration.

“For now,” Jake replied. “But don’t worry, we’ll get whoever is doing this. Maybe it’s good that Hank thinks we are backing off. If it isn’t him, we’ll focus on who it could be. If it is him, somehow, he’ll get complacent and make a mistake.”

Brock sat silently for a moment as the men continued to discuss matters and looked at the others in the room who had offered him friendship immediately. He had friends in the Army, but had lost many in the war or to distance when they discharged and moved away. Fairfield offered something more. Something permanent. Something tangible. And something that he wanted to continue.

Standing as the meeting ended, they all promised to meet at the barbeque that Rob and Laurie were hosting that weekend. With a few jokes at Jake’s expense about his infatuation with Emma, they parted ways.

*

Getting out of the pickup truck, Brock walked around to the passenger side and plucked Jean from the seat setting her down on the ground. Her smile lit his world and he wondered, not for the first time, how lucky he was to have found her at a time in his life when he had begun embracing loneliness out of necessity, not choice.

She turned to get the dish of food from the cab and he admired her ass in the green sundress she was wearing.

Jean felt his eyes on her and twisted around. “Are you checking out my rear end?”

Glancing around to see that they were alone, he patted her ass, saying, “Sweetheart, seeing you coming is a sight for sore eyes. But seeing the back? Well, let’s just say that gets my pants tight every time.”

Laughing, she swatted at him as she handed the dish into his waiting arms. Standing on her tip-toes she placed a kiss on his lips, giving them a little lick. Hearing his growl, she winked. “And that’s to keep your mind on what to do with those tight pants when we get home.”

Holding the dish with one hand, he patted her ass once more, this time with a little more force. “Oh, I know exactly what we’ll do when we get home. You keep this up and we may not make it to the barbeque.”

Linking fingers, they walked through the house and into Laurie and Rob’s back yard. Greeting everyone, he hugged Emma as she came over. His gaze landed on Jake who quietly maneuvered right behind her. Chuckling as he and Jean made their way to some chairs, he whispered, “Looks like Emma has a shadow. Notice how Jake manages to be right behind her every time she is introduced to another man?”

Jean smiled and whispered back, “Do you think she’ll be interested?”

“Jake’s a good man. And not the kind of man to just go after any woman, so I know he’s definitely interested.”

Agreeing, she added, “It’s time for Emma to find a home here among friends and family. She and Jake would be perfect together.”

After the food and drink had been consumed, the friends sat around a huge fire-pit talking and sharing stories. The summer air was still warm but a slight breeze had the couples snuggling. Jean scooted her chair as close to Brock as she could and sat with his arm pulling her in tight.

“Emma, you’re going to have to come to the annual Fourth of July town picnic and fireworks over at the Riverside Park,” Carol said. Then she looked at Brock and realized he was new too. “Brock, I almost forgot you’re new to town also. You and Jean must come. We get a huge group like this together and enjoy a picnic, games, and then there are fireworks after it gets dark.”

“Oh, he’ll be there all right,” Rob answered. “We firefighters have to be on call.”

“You won’t be able to go to the picnic?” Jean asked, regret sounding in her voice.

“We wouldn’t miss the food,” Rob joked. “But for the fireworks, the crews have to be stationed around to make sure nothing happens.”

“Is that a problem?” Brock asked.

“Nah, it’s mostly to be there just in case something goes wrong. But we do have to watch out for kids,” he added. “They like to sneak in their own fireworks and then someone ends up burned.”

“I can’t wait,” Emma gushed. “Just what I was looking for when I decided to move here.”

Rob leaned over toward Brock and quietly said, “Mac will want us to be extra vigilant that night. It’d be a good time for whoever is setting these fires to slip off and set another one.”

Nodding his understanding, he leaned back into Jean, wrapping his arm around her once more.

“Trouble?” she asked quietly.

“Nah. Just a little shop talk.” Her eyes sparkled in the firelight as he gave her a quick kiss. “We’ll head home as soon as you say, sweetheart.”

“Why, Mr. Sinclair. Are you trying to seduce me?” she whispered.

“I don’t know. Is it working?”

Laughing, she nodded. “Oh yeah. It always works.”

“Good to know I’m not losing my touch with you,” he joked. Sharing another kiss, they settled back once again to enjoy the fire and friends.

*

The heat was intense and Brock struggled with the equipment as he faced his first large fire. Rob was next to him, offering encouragement and assistance, as the two of them worked well as a team.

“Stand back farther,” Rob advised. “Once you know that no one’s in the building, you can put more space between you and the fire.”

The two held onto the fire hose, directing the stream into the burning building. This one was in an old warehouse that, while empty, was attached to a row of stores with occupied apartments above. The residents had been removed as a precaution and were now watching with concern to see that the fire would be extinguished.

The men from two fire stations were battling the flames and with relief, Brock was finally seeing progress. As another crew took over to check the site, Rob and Brock walked back to the fire truck and peeled off their outer coats. Gratefully taking the bottles of water offered, they drank first and then poured some over their faces to remove some of the sweat and soot.

Mac strode over, anger written on his face. “This one was too bloody close,” he growled, referring to the proximity of the apartment building.

Jake made his way from the crowd, interviewing those who had been in the area at the time the fire started.

Mac looked over, saying, “Let me guess. No one saw or heard anything. Not a bloody thing.”

Jake nodded. “The only one saying anything is the mayor.”

“Mayor Carter is a big-mouth, political prick. He keeps quiet when his son is arrested and rides our backs when the case hasn’t been solved,” Mac bit out.

Tom joined them after questioning a few more witnesses. “Don’t have too much, but we may have a lead. One of the men who lives over the stores says his wife doesn’t like him to smoke indoors so he walks over to the edge of the building to have his smokes. Says he saw a little, blue car coming from the alley.”