“I mean, yeah. The fire went out after he showed up.” I sat back with a frown, trying to look as if the thought that Kas had put out the fire was just occurring to me. “It was odd timing. But odd shit happens all the time.” I shook my head. “I've seen fire turn in on itself. I've seen it take shapes that would send chills down your spine. Weird shit. It even shrieks sometimes. Sounds like a monster. But it's just fire. Science can explain all that shit. Hell, I'll bet you that electrical storm had something to do with it. Ask a scientist or a weather reporter. They'll tell you how crazy nature can get. And everything that science can't explain, you can blame on heat hysteria. In the middle of a fire, you get put under a lot of strain both mentally and physically. You sweat in your suit, you don't have your complete line of sight, and you get fucking tired. It's not uncommon for people to see things. We call it going tits-up—overheated and under-hydrated.”
“But it's a fact that the fire was raging and then it stopped,” Watkins said. “That wasn't heat hysteria. It's a fact.”
“I know. I was there and I've already told you that the fire went out. Is it unusual for a fire of that size to simply go out? Fuck, yeah, it's unusual. But, as I said, you should be talking to someone who knows more about electricity. I don't know what happened. To be honest, I don't fucking care. In my line of work, when something unusual happens that helps you, you just say a prayer of thanks and maybe donate more at church that Sunday. You don't question it.”
“So, you don't think the naked guy did it?” Chinen asked.
I scratched my head and took a sip of my beer. “Fuck, I dunno. He was saying some strange things. Maybe he was an angel.”
“What did he say?” Watkins demanded.
“Something about the fire. He wasn't worried about it hurting him. He had control of it.”
“He said he had control over fire?” Chinen narrowed his stare at me.
“Yeah, but that's impossible,” I said. “The guy was obviously nuts. To wander into the middle of that blaze, you'd have to be. And then there was the fact that he was nakey. The fire going out was a hell of a coincidence, but that's all it was. I'm sorry, but there's no such thing as a man who can control fire. This isn't a Stephen King novel, guys. Come on. You don't believe this shit, do you?” Then I let my face go slack, and I leaned forward. “Holy shit! Are the X-Files real? Are you actually paranormal hunters or some shit like that? The real-life Mulder and Scully? Does the government know about aliens?Arethere aliens?” I lowered my voice to say, “Just whisper yes or no. I won't say anything.” I slid my stare around the room. “Is my house bugged? Just nod or shake your head.”
Watkins was over my act. He stood up with an exasperated huff. Chinen glanced at his partner as he left, then leaned in. I leaned in as well, eagerly meeting him halfway.
Chinen whispered, “No.”
“Aw!” I flung myself back with a laugh. “Man, you had me going for a second!”
Chinen chuckled as he stood up.
I hurried to my feet. “Oh, so that's it?”
“Unless you have the naked man hidden somewhere in your house,” Chinen shot back.
I snorted a laugh. “You're free to look in the cupboards if you want.” I waved at the hallway.
Watkins paused near the front door, then looked back.
I wondered if I'd taken the ruse too far.
“Are you seriously going to search this man's house?” Chinen asked his partner.
“Yes, I think I am. He just gave us permission, after all. Why not conduct a thorough investigation? Then we can be absolutely certain about him.” Watkins headed for the hallway. “Watch those stairs while I search the first floor.”
I shook my head and sat back down, waving at the chair Chinen had been using.
Chinen sighed and sat down.
“You sure you don't want a beer?” I asked him.
“Can't. Do you have any soda?”
“Sure, buddy.” I got up and went to the kitchen, walking past Watkins who was on his knees, looking under the bed Kaspian had slept in. Thank God Kas had straightened the blankets.
Chapter Twelve
I waited until dark to leave, just in case those spooks were watching me. I think I had played it cool enough that they wouldn't bother. Watkins had searched my house thoroughly but also pretty quickly. There weren't a lot of places someone could hide, and that was obvious. Though he spent a lot of time in the basement. That worried me. Maybe I was paranoid, but I wondered if he had left some kind of monitoring device somewhere. I tried to look for bugs and then gave up. If he had planted one, I couldn't get rid of it. That would look suspicious. And I wasn't going to be around anyway. But just in case that asshole was listening, I turned the radio on before I left.
All the way to Dallas, I watched for a tail. I doubled back, stopped at a gas station to fill up the truck, and finally determined that no one was following me. At last, I went to the house.
Kaspian was sitting in the dark on the couch, watching TV. He looked up when I came in. “You've returned!” He shot to his feet.
I turned on the overhead light. “Yeah. I made it home just in time. And I think I convinced them you're running around Portland somewhere.” I grimaced. “Shit. We'll have to stay away from Portland for a bit.”
