Everything inside me wanted to tell her no. To tell her that what happened to Corey was a typical casualty of the job. That Angela’s bar was an accident. I wanted to calm the questions I saw swimming in her eyes, but I couldn’t.
The lie wouldn’t come out. I had to go with the truth.
“I don’t know,” I said, running my hand through my hair. “But I think so.”
Her shoulders slumped. “What are the police doing about this?”
“I’m handling it.”
She raised her eyebrows. “You?”
“Why not me?”
Her eyes circled the room, searching for a response. “What about the police? Arson is a crime, the last time I checked.”
I released another breath and thought about how much I wanted to divulge. Jocelyn was obviously no one’s fool. If I didn’t give her enough information, she’d start digging and asking around for answers.
Yet, giving her too much information would also lead to her asking more questions. In other words, if I didn’t play this right, she’d insert herself in this damn case and likely put a target on her back. I wouldn’t allow that.
“The Fire Department has its division of investigators,” I explained. “I don’t work in the department as an official investigator, but I am a station investigator.”
She frowned. “What does that mean?”
“I’m not a full-fledged investigator, but I have been through most of the training investigators go through, and as a first responder, I can analyze scenes upon the first arrival to convey all details to the investigators at headquarters. I assist on ongoing investigations and can interview witnesses. Things like that.”
“Have you done any of that?”
“Yes.”
She cocked her head to the side. “For months, you suspected this was going on?”
“I have it under control, Jocelyn.”
“I’m sure you do.” She spun on her heels and headed for the door.
I couldn’t let her go with that.
“Where are you going?” I asked, taking her by the arm and moving in front of her.
She glanced down at my hand on her arm. I wasn’t holding it tightly or by force, but I didn’t let it go either.
“To get the answers you don’t want to give me.”
“I fucking knew it.”
“Knew what?”
“This. You. That if you had any inclination of what I’d suspected, you’d try to get involved.”
“More than try,” she said, pulling her arm free. “Iamgetting involved.”
“Like hell you are. Leave it alone, Jocelyn.”
Her face balled, a tiny wrinkle appearing between her eyebrows as she folded her arms.
I groaned. “I’m already all over this.”
“Are you, because it’s been seven months since Corey…”
