Charlotte was saved from having to respond to that appealing declaration by the appearance of the scene in the distance. Thick black smoke filled the air, blocking out the still bright afternoon sun. Flames spit and danced from the roof and windows of a large house on the corner. Men in full firefighter gear raced around, hooking up hoses, positioning ladders, and running straight into the belly of the dragon.
Fear for those men sprang clear as day in her gut. She may not know any of them by name, but with their gear hiding their faces, any one of them could have been Trey. On another day, Trey would be one of them, flinging himself right into the line of death. She hadn’t thought about how truly dangerous his line of work was until that moment.
Trey threw the SUV into park next to one of the fire trucks and jumped out. Even when he should have been racing toward the action, he took the time to come around the vehicle and help Charlotte ease out. He pointed out the barricades where he wanted her to stand, and she nodded without tearing her eyes from the licking flames.
Heat like nothing she’d ever felt before pulsed out in waves as the flames quickly spread up the walls of the home. They danced above the roofline, the shingles melting in on themselves. Outside the building, men holding high powered hoses waved the water in arches along the outside of the home.
People huddled to one side of the area, hugging each other while they cried. Trying to not seem obvious, Charlotte made her way towards them, curious if they were the residents. They spoke in slightly elevated voices, trying to be heard over the pounding of water, whooshing of flames, and sirens in the distance.
Charlotte’s heart pounded inside her chest, the rush of the scene and the fear for the men fighting the blaze elevating all her senses.
“Has anyone found her yet?” One of the women whimpered to a man holding her tightly.
His sad eyes turned down to her face and he simply shook his head. The woman let out a heart rending sob and leaned harder into his chest.
Curiosity overwhelmed Charlotte. Who was in the house? An occupant? The fire had done enough damage already that it was impossible to tell the original condition of the structure. However, the houses around the street all seemed to be in various stages of decay, with most boarded up and covered in graffiti.
Taking a deep breathe, bracing herself for what could be a very bad reaction from the people in front of her, Charlotte took a step towards them, tapping the man on the shoulder. “Excuse me sir, do you know if anyone lived in the house?”
The man was as tall as Charlotte, maybe an inch below her. Clouded over blue eyes swept her from head to foot. For the first time, Charlotte realized she probably looked a mess. She hadn’t bothered brushing her hair after the passion she and Trey had experienced in bed. Her pants were wrinkled from being piled in a heap on the floor for most the day, the PFD T-shirt stood out like a sore thumb against her otherwise professional attire, and she hadn’t taken a shower since before work the day before.
“It was a popular squatters house. But the police cleared it out two days ago, so no one should have been in there right now, but one of our neighbors goes in there to feed the stray cats that hide out there.” The man’s voice turned ragged. He paused for a moment, obviously attempting to reign in his emotions. “My wife thought she saw Lou Anne go in for her daily visit with the cats just before the smoke started. We don’t know if she got out or not.”
The man turned back to watch as the house continued to buckle under the weight of the flames. Charlotte’s stomach sank. So far, there had been no injuries or casualties from the arsonist’s fires. If this was an intentional fire, it would be the first with a possible victim.
Phone in hand, Charlotte began snapping pictures of the fire, and sent them back to the station. That done, she began getting video clips they could use on air later. It wouldn’t be the prettiest video they’d ever had, but it would be something.
A text notification popped up along the top of her screen. A message from Michelle to call her as soon as possible.
Charlotte searched for a less frantic area as she dialed Michelle, but everywhere she went the noise still drown everything out.
“Charlotte?”
“Yes, I’m here. Sorry, you are going to have to yell a little. It is really loud out here.”
Taking her volume advice to heart, Michelle’s voice filled the speaker. “Sean and Rudy are on their way to you. Their story fell through today anyway. They should get there just in time for the first hit at six. Can you do a little of the leg work for him. Get information, go to the press conference?”
Nerves joined her already pounding heart, making her hands shake. “Yeah. I can do that. I already sent back a bunch of photos. I’m working on video now, and I talked to a witness that said they saw a neighbor go inside shortly before the fire started. Not sure if she is still in there or not.”
“Jesus, okay. Any word on if this is the arsonist? Had your boyfriend given you any updates?”
“No, Trey hasn’t said anything since we got here. But I looked at the map on the website, and this fire is one block away from the first trashcan fire we are aware of, and four blocks from the row home fire last week.” Charlotte paced up and down the sidewalk. A blur of movement from the corner of her eye drew her attention. Trey shouted into a walkie talkie and pulled a hose from a newly arrived truck. At some point, he had shed his coat and now wore his tight white T-shirt, leaving his massive arms out for the world to see. Lucky world. They bulged and relaxed as he gripped the hose, pulling it into place. Veins along his forearms popped out in stark relief at the strenuous activity.
Turning from the very real distraction of Trey’s body at work, Charlotte focused back in on the task at hand. “Also, according to the neighbors, a police raid a few days ago cleared out all the squatters who used to live in this house. I find it hard to believe it is a coincidence that just days after this house is cleared of inhabitants, it randomly is set on fire. Can you have Mira call some of her police contacts and see if they have more information on that end of things?”
“Got it. I’ll get that to Mira right away.”
Once she hung up with Michelle, Charlotte got back to work videoing a few different angles on the scene, and looking around for potential interviews to line up for Sean once he got on scene. The couple from earlier seemed to have wandered away, but several other neighbors and spectators lined the barricades.
Approaching a young woman who appeared to be in her early twenties, Charlotte took a deep breath, gathering her courage to ask for an interview. “Excuse me, Miss?”
The woman turned to Charlotte, her eyes narrowing in an angry expression for a moment before recovering into a blank expression.
“I’m with WQUZ news, would you mind going on camera with a reporter to talk about the fire?” Thankfully, her voice held firm, not giving away the nerves wracking her body.
Unfortunately, the woman shook her head and stalked away.
Suddenly, a frenzy of activity broke out on the other side of the fire trucks. Shouts of men down echoed down the street, and every single non-firefighter fell silent at the words.
In contrast, the men battling the flames seemed to pick up speed, some racing into the house, others running to man more hoses. Trey ran full tilt toward the building, but another man grabbed him by the arm, pulling him to a stop before he could hit the door.
Not able to hear what the two men yelled at each other, Charlotte stood by uselessly watching from the sidelines, when all she wanted to do was go to Trey.
