Hansen joined us then, and Korbin and I shut our mouths to keep from spouting off more assumptions.
“Was anything salvageable?” I asked. Hansen wiped the back of his hand over his face, shaking his head. Even with beads of sweat forming at his temples and ash in his hair, I longed to reach over and run my hand over the stubble on his face.
“No,” he said. “Hardly.”
Korbin and I looked at each other again but didn’t press any further.
“I, uh… I have to go down to the station to answer some questions, Cap.” Tanner Rey came up behind us with a cop on his heels. I couldn’t read his expression; honestly, I wasn’t sure I wanted to.
“Of course, Tanner.” Hansen reached out and rested a hand on his shoulder before giving it a little squeeze. “Take all the time you need and do what needs to be done. Can the crew help in any way? Where will you stay?”
“I have options, thanks, Cap. I just have to figure this out.”
“I’m sorry, Tanner,” I said. “Let me know if I can help in any way.”
Tanner glanced over his shoulder, and for a split second, I saw something in his expression that sent a shiver of fear down my spine. But before I could place that look, he’d turned away, unspeaking, and followed the officer to the patrol car.
“Damn,” Korbin said, shaking his head. I swallowed and glanced again at the ashen ruins of the house, a home burnt to the ground, with everything inside. I looked back towards the cop car, but they were already pulling away. Raking fingers through my hair, I sighed heavily and nodded along with him.
“Damn is right.”
Chapter30
Hansen
It was the middle of the night, yet sleep eluded me, just as it had for the last few weeks. I found myself in my office around one a.m. with my fingers on the keyboard of my computer as the rest of my crew caught some shut-eye upstairs. The glow from my computer screen stung my tired eyes as my fingers clicked away at the keyboard, searching for anything and everything I could that might help me fathom what we’d seen.
The fire at Tanner Rey’s had been different. So different in such a way I’d never quite seen a fire like that before. It had been unfamiliar, as far as fires go—the odor, the color, the patterns of the flames. Part of me knew the answer to my question already, but the other part wanted nothing to do with it. Fires happened randomly, with no warning, no reason. That’s what made them so dangerous.
But sometimes, there was something more sinister lurking.
I sat back in my chair and folded my hands around my stomach, staring at the cursor on the screen. The words “arsonist in Colorado” hadn’t produced much at all, not even a sliver I could get my hands on, and that made me doubt anything I had already assumed.
A light rap on my office door pulled me out of my stupor, and I glanced up to see Paisley peek her head in. She smiled, if only slightly, and had a mug cradled in each hand.
“Am I interrupting anything?” she asked. Even fully dressed in her uniform, dark circles under her eyes and messy brown hair around her shoulders, I wanted to kiss her. Hold her. Take her where she stood and never stop. Instead, I shook my head and fought the urge to tell her that her company was exactly what I needed at that very moment.
“Please, have a seat.” I pointed to the chair across from my desk, and Paisley came in, closing the door behind her with the bottom of her foot. She set both mugs down on my desk and slid one over to me before taking a seat in the chair opposite and crossing her legs, picking up her own mug to cradle it between the delicate curves of her fingers. My eyes searched the lines in her face, the light glow of her skin that flushed with pink hues.
“Thanks for this,” I said and took a long swallow of coffee. “I couldn’t sleep. You?”
“I couldn’t either.”
“Is it for the same reason that I can’t?”
“You mean Tanner’s house?” Paisley asked, and I nodded. “Yes.”
I took another drink of coffee and set the mug aside. “What do you think about it?”
“It’s above my pay grade to say anything,” she said with a shrug and sipped at her drink. She licked her lips, and again, I had to restrain myself from leaning over the desk to kiss her.
“I want to know what you think,” I said.
“Professionally or personally?” she asked, and I couldn’t fight the smile.
“Both.”
“Professionally, I think the fire that burned down Tanner Rey’s house was intentional.” Paisley swallowed and looked away from me as if to gather the courage to continue speaking. Her eyes searched the wall, the certifications and awards that hung in a neat row above the office shelves. I kept my eyes on her face. I couldn’t look away, even if I wanted to.
