Up in Flames [The Heroes of Silver Springs 10] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic) (14 page)

“Which also makes it damn near untraceable.” Max slid a hand down his face. “I take it your father never figured out who was behind the fires.”

Regina shook her head. “It was the only case he left open when he retired. Thirty years on the job and he cracked every case no matter how long it took him except that one. The local media kept the story buzzing for a while. They dubbed the guy the Flame Jumper, but, so far, that’s the only identity he has.”

Max gazed at her for a long moment. He didn’t speak, but she could almost see the thought wheels turning in his head. “Why start it up again four years later? And if it is a chain of events like you said, what’s with the hiccup? He staged the first MVA, torched an automotive shop, and then went back to a MVA again. That’s not keeping with the chain you just linked together.”

“He wants me to know it’s him.” A cold chill swept through her system, as if someone had walked over her grave. “I didn’t know about the first MVA and Timothy Renault investigated the first automotive shop fire. The electrical snafu, remember? I’ve got him going back over his notes and taking a second look at his findings. From what I know of that fire, it went up hotter and faster than the one at Mr. G’s. The automotive shop was also in poorer shape than Mr. G’s. The building had electrical issues. Timothy made the determination it was faulty wiring and closed the case.”

“So, the Flame Jumper started over, moving further into your district this time to make sure he got your attention.”

“He wants to tease me, to torment me like he did my father. I think the Flame Jumper knows I’m Ethan’s daughter, and he wants to test me.” She let go of her coffee cup with one hand and pointed a finger at her chest. “He wants
me
to be the one to catch him.”

Worry clouded Max’s eyes. “Do you think he knows you’re on to him now?”

Regina shook her head. “I doubt he knows I’ve figured out it’s him, but I’m betting he was there yesterday. He was watching.” Arsonists rarely fled quickly from the scene of their work. They’d find a place nearby to hide, a place where they could watch emergency services scramble to extinguish the force they’d unleashed, a place where they could admire and laugh. “SSPD combed the area and didn’t find anyone suspicious. They wouldn’t have. He would’ve had it all planned out before he started. He would’ve made sure he could blend with the crowd if nothing else.”

“How do we catch this guy?”

Regina briefly closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “I go through everything I’ve got, everything Timothy got from the first automotive-shop scene, and everything my father collected over the years. Gage is helping me out with that last part. Between my father and his own connections with the Kingsford Fire Investigator’s Office, he can get the stuff faster than I can by simply requesting it.” She sighed. “And we get on the phone, contact every physical therapist office in Silver Springs, and put them on alert.”

“You said you doubt he knows you’re on to him. What’s going to make him move on if he doesn’t know? What’s going to keep him from starting over again, staging another MVA?”

“The fire at Mr. G’s accomplished what he wanted. I’m on the case. He knows it now,” Regina said with a confidence that chilled her to her bones. “He’ll move on.”

“If you’re right, then we have a week to stop him and the clock’s already ticking.”

* * * *

“Inside or out?”

Terri snapped out of the reverie she’d fallen into while waiting at the counter of the Mickey D’s on their order and smiled at Gage. “Out.”

Located on the strip of the Silver Springs beach, the restaurant had a dining area beneath an awning out front with a fantastic view of the water across the street.

She started to reach for the tray, but Gage snagged it first. He curled his long fingers around the edge as he turned and motioned with his head for her to lead the way. Why did it feel so strange to be with him? Sure, she had called him. She had invited him to breakfast. She had even picked the restaurant. How simple and non-date-like could a restaurant get? It was McDonalds, for crying out loud.

A date is date, girlfriend. You and Owen have gone to far stranger places together.

True. Their first date had been the Chuck E. Cheese’s. That had been a laugh riot.

She pushed through the door and stepped out onto the patio, holding the door for Gage as he carried the tray out and headed for the table closest to the railing. She wasn’t with Owen today, and she needed to get him out of her head.

Her gaze slid down Gage’s back and lingered on his tight-looking ass clad in well-worn jeans. She sighed in full female appreciation. Getting Owen Banks out of her head when she was spending time with such a prime specimen of male perfection shouldn’t be that hard to do this morning.

Then why the hell are you still thinking about him?

She ruthlessly pushed Owen out of her mind as she pulled out a chair opposite Gage and sat. Her tummy growled, and she glanced up to find Gage grinning at her. No doubt he’d heard her stomach’s insistent roar for food.

“Hungry?” Gage sat across from her and separated their orders, placing her Coke, biscuit, and hash browns on the table in front of her.

“Starved.” She immediately dug in, unwrapping her biscuit, and taking a huge bite. “Mmm,” she moaned dramatically as her taste buds sang at the flavor of the sausage, egg, and cheese.

Gage didn’t dive into his food as quickly, obviously electing to watch her instead, the grin on his full lips spreading wider. “I take it you didn’t grab a bite before leavin’ the station this morning?”

Terri swallowed hard and took a sip of her Coke to wash down the bite. “Not this morning. We do sometimes. About once a month or so, B-shift will hang around for a little while and shoot the shit with the shift coming in to take over rotation. We managed to get such a peaceful night, I think we were all ready to split this morning in fear that all hell would break loose before we got out of there.”

“Does that happen often?” Gage unwrapped his biscuit far slower than she had done, but his gaze never wavered from her face. “All hell breakin’ loose and you guys havin’ to stick around to help out, I mean?”

Terri shook her head and spoke around another bite. “Hardly ever. It’s happened a time or two, though.” She covered her mouth as she finished chewing and felt butter smear the tip of her nose when she grazed it with her finger. She reached for a napkin to wipe it away and winced. “Sorry. I’m not always so ladylike when it comes to table manners.”

Gage laughed. He had a great laugh, deep and smooth and husky all at the same time. “I’m glad. I like a woman who feels comfortable enough to be herself when she’s with me.” He glanced at her now half-eaten biscuit. “And one who isn’t afraid to eat her fill.”

“No worries there, Prosecutor. If I’m hungry, I’m going to eat, and I don’t care who’s watching me.” She reached for her hash browns, took a bite, and moaned again. “See this?” She gestured with the hash browns in one hand and the biscuit in the other as if she were weighing them on a scale. “This is the breakfast of champions in my book. Practically dripping with grease, heavy on the butter, and so not good for me.”

“You wouldn’t know it by lookin’ at you.”

Terri paused in midchew, her gaze slamming into his. What she saw swirling in his do-me eyes nearly made her toss her food aside and get down to it right there on the tabletop outside the Mickey D’s. Christ, the lust and attraction swirling in the green of his eyes ignited a fire in her belly that quickly spread to every erogenous zone in her body.

“I have high metabolism.” She waggled her brows. “Lucky for me because I’m a chocolate- and carb-aholic. Thaddeus, he’s the engineer for the engine company. He’s always on my ass to eat healthier, but I ignore him.” She laughed. “It drives him crazy.”

Gage’s smile seemed frozen to his handsome face. “You’ve got a great laugh.”

Terri angled her head. “Funny, I had the same thought about you a second ago.”

Gage rested a forearm on the table and leaned back in his chair. “Thaddeus, is he someone special? I suppose I should’ve asked, made sure you didn’t have a boyfriend, before I came on to you outside the station yesterday. Although, since you did call, I’m assuming…”

“Were you coming on to me?” Terri teased and ruthlessly squashed the pang of guilt that shot through her belly. Technically, she didn’t have a boyfriend. Owen was a friend, by his definition and determination. She might have thought she wanted more than that. Hell, it wasn’t like this one outing with Gage was going to change her whole world. Still, she was growing weary of waiting around, hoping and wishing Owen would decide to take their relationship to the next level. “I didn’t notice. Well, I mean, aside from the fact that you slipped me your business card with your personal number scribbled on the back.”

“I was going for nonchalantness, especially since your lieutenant was sittin’ right there.”

“On a scale of one to ten, I think you pegged the nonchalant meter in the middle. You weren’t
too
obvious, but Max wasn’t oblivious either. As for Thaddeus, he’s my best bud. We’ve been practically connected at the hip for years.”

“Friendships like that are hard to come by.” Gage’s tone had dropped slightly and his words sounded wistful. “You should cherish it.”

“Oh, I do. Believe me.” Terri hesitated, studying him. His smile was gone, and, while she still saw the swirls of attraction in his eyes, they had started to mix with something very akin to sorrow. “Why do I get the feeling that little piece of advice is coming from someone who didn’t treasure a close friendship the way he should’ve?”

The corner of his lips twitched. “Because you’re perceptive.”

Terri lifted a shoulder, shoved the last bite of her biscuit in her mouth, and spoke around it. “I’m an EMT. It’s part of my job description. Want to tell me about it?”

“Not really.” Gage’s smile this time was far too friendly. “But I will. It’s not an easy thing to admit. What I did, I mean.”

Terri wrinkled her nose. “That bad, huh?”

Gage sighed. “I’ll let you be the judge.”

Terri lifted a finger. “That’s not part of my job description, but tell me anyway.” She lowered her finger and shrugged again. “Or don’t. Really, it’s okay if you don’t want to pour out your heart to a woman you just met. I’ll understand.”

“This is gonna peg the nonchalant meter at the very bottom, but, even though we just met, you have this way about you that makes a man feel like he can pour out his heart and it’ll be okay.”

Surprised, Terri straightened and grinned at him. “Well, thank you. I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“It was meant as one.” He hesitated, his gaze dropping to his fingers as he toyed with the corner of a napkin on the tabletop. “It was a long time ago. We’d been friends for a long time, too. We met in college, roomed together, and kept in touch after. We were, how did you put it, practically connected at the hip for years? Anyway, he fell in love with this woman. She was a beauty, sexy, vivacious, and obviously crazy about him. At least, I thought she was. I never felt like the third wheel when I spent time with them, even if I didn’t have my own date. A year passed and they got engaged. At the same time, his job started keepin’ him away from home more and more.”

Uh-oh.
Terri could already see where this story was heading, but she didn’t interrupt. The guilt and remorse she saw overtaking Gage’s expression twisted a knot around her heart.

“The three of us had certain days we always got together. It was a rarity if we missed them. She and I kept up the routine even when he couldn’t be there.” Gage stopped and pushed a hard breath from his lungs. “Things got sticky between them and she eventually called off the engagement.”

“And you were stuck in the middle, friends with both of them, but suddenly they weren’t together anymore,” Terri guessed softly.

“I continued to hang out with both of them, separately, of course. I couldn’t alienate either of ’em just ’cause they weren’t together anymore. They were both still my friends.” His gaze snapped up, colliding with hers. “Long story short, after a few months, she started comin’ on to me. I didn’t push her away. He’d moved on, or at least I thought he had, and I’d always had this secret attraction to her. What I didn’t know was they had started talkin’ again, goin’ out together, and tryin’ to work things out.”

Terri gasped. “You were all still friends and neither of them told you?”

He shook his head. “I didn’t have a clue. Things got pretty heavy between her and me.” He shrugged. “I fell in love with her. He found out, and that was the end of all of it.”

“They shouldn’t have kept it from you in the first place. You were all supposed to be so close. Why didn’t either of them tell you they were getting back together? And her! Grr…she had no right striking up something with you when she was doing him again on the side.”

“Even though I know you’re right, it doesn’t change the facts. He and I were friends first. I broke the coveted man law. A guy never,
ever
goes out with his best friend’s ex. It’s the most heinous crime in the male universe.”

Terri cleared her throat. “Well, as the judge on this case,” she said in her best imitation of an arbitrator’s voice. “After carefully considering all the evidence presented before me today, I rule that you, Gage Britt, should not be so hard on yourself for transgressions.”

Gage chuckled and the full smile that dazzled her world returned to his handsome face. “Thanks, your honor. I’ll try not to be so hard on myself from now on.”

“Good.” Terri nodded once sharply. “Thaddeus is gay, by the way.” Gage blinked at her conversational shift and she giggled. “I just thought I’d throw that out there. You know, since you were assuming I don’t have a boyfriend, and we all know most people don’t believe that a man and woman can be friends without getting busy between the sheets. He’s blissfully happy, almost to the point of being disgusting, with two other guys.”

Gage’s brows winged up, etching very attractive wrinkles in his otherwise flawless forehead. “Two? We’re talkin’ a ménage relationship here?”