“In a surprising turn of events, an Eagle River firefighter was arrested late last night after a suspicious arson investigation. The state’s employee, Paisley Hill, who also happens to be the only female in the department, is being held in confinement until a court date is set. A witness claims they saw Miss Hill at both crime scenes before the fires started. We’ll hear from Mayor Jensen regarding the arrest later in the show.”
I cussed at the TV and flipped it off, shaking my head. I wanted to punch a hole in the wall as anger seized my throat and threatened to boil over. Guilt ripped at my insides; I had to do something, but what? If this went to trial, would the judge find Paisley guilty based on the little evidence the city had dragged up? Was it enough to prosecute her? We all knew damn well that Paisley’s acceptance onto the crew had not been taken well. The entire city had been up in arms since we hired her, which enraged me. She was a hardworking, stand-up employee, and her family at the station had let her down by allowing this to happen.
I set the bottle of liquor aside to sober up. I had to figure this out if it was the last thing I did. I’d be useless to Paisley in this state. Something had to be done now, before things got worse.
When I’d sufficiently sobered up at around seven, I drove to the station to find Korbin. Half the crew was out on a call, but I found Chief Davis a moment later in his office. He waved me in when he spotted me, and I obliged, sitting across from him on the other side of his desk.
“You heard?” I asked.
Preston Davis closed his eyes briefly and then opened them again to look at me as he slowly nodded his head. “What’s your plan?”
“Prove Paisley’s innocence,” I said. “But I don’t know how in the hell to do it, Chief. I’m so lost right now.”
“Imagine how Paisley feels.” Our Chief sat back in his chair, hands over his belly, an expression full of wisdom gazing at me, waiting.
“I don’t—I-don’t know what to do.”
“You are the captain of this squad, Hansen,” Chief Davis said. “You better figure it out quick.”
We stared at each other for a moment, and I longed to drop to my knees and beg for his help. My mentor, my chief, the man who had fought so hard alongside me to bring Paisley onto this team. For some reason, I felt ashamed sitting in front of him now, mortified that I’d let this happen to her when Chief Davis had put the crew’s well-being into my hands.
“What are you thinking right now, Hansen?” Chief Davis asked. I leaned forward in the chair and rested my head in my hands with a small sigh.
“I haven’t been able to think straight since I got the call,” I admitted.
“Do you believe she’s guilty?” His tone was so calm, so matter of fact, that I thought maybe he did for a fleeting second.
“No,” I said and didn’t hesitate this time.
“Me either.”
“Then what should I do?”
Chief Davis didn’t answer straight away. He shifted in his seat, his eyes still steady on my face, expression thoughtful. “I heard Holland Jensen came to pay you a little visit not too long ago,” he said. “Is that true?”
“Yeah, he did.” I shrugged, unsure of what he was getting at.
“What did he say to you?”
“The same thing he’s been saying all along that Paisley being on the crew was pissing people off. He’s always felt that way. He wanted us to fire her.”
“And did you?”
“Of course not,” I said defensively. “She’s one of my best employees.” When Chief Davis met my eyes again, he said nothing further, but he didn’t have to. “Do you think that Mayor Jensen ha—?”
“Look.” Chief Davis shook his head and leaned forward, dropping his tone as though keeping a secret. “I spoke to a buddy of mine over in Texas. Daxton Chambers, he’s a cop. We trained together back when I was still a cop. Good man, Daxton Chambers. Though I can’t say I miss that Texas heat.”
“Dax. Yeah, I’ve heard of him.”
“Turns out, Daxton had some information on Jensen. Mentioned something about dirty work and even money laundering.”
“Do we have proof?”
“No,” he said with a sigh. “Not yet. But it will help in the long run. In the meantime, we need to do everything we can to fix this. I’ll see if I can get more information from Daxton when he has some time.”
“But, Chief, I—”
“Fix this,” he said. He finally looked away from me, resuming the paperwork he’d been working on before I’d come in. “I want Paisley Hill back to work on Monday. I don’t care how you do it. Just do it.Fix this.”
