Austin stepped into the room.His gaze met Caleb’s.Caleb was sitting in the visitor’s chair, looking comfortable and familiar, like he’d been there for hours.Maybe he had been.
“I didn’t expect to see you here,” Caleb said.He sounded wary.
“I like to check on people after difficult calls,” Austin replied.He didn’t want Caleb to worry about his presence here.“How are you feeling, Margaret?”he asked as he turned to her.
“Like I’ve been breathing smoke for six hours,” Margaret said with a weak laugh.“But alive, thanks to you and your colleagues.”
Austin pulled up a second chair, positioning himself where he could see both Margaret and Caleb.Jonathan wasn’t anywhere to be seen, but maybe he’d gone home.Caleb had mentioned being a journalist, so he was probably here for answers, unlike his best friend.
“I’m glad you’re okay,” he told Margaret.“I’ve started looking into the fire, but I need information.Can you tell me anything about how the fire started?Did you notice anything unusual, maybe someone hanging around?”
Margaret frowned.“Nothing out of the ordinary.I closed the shop at seven, did my usual evening routine, and made sure the back door was locked.I live in the apartment upstairs, so I would’ve heard if someone had broken in.”
“What happened?”Austin asked.
“A neighbor called me and told me she saw smoke coming from the store.”Margaret shuddered.“It was so fast.I barely had time to get downstairs.”
Austin nodded.The speed of the fire’s spread fit with accelerant use.“How about recently?Did you notice anything weird in the past few days, maybe?”
Caleb leaned forward slightly.Austin wondered if he was just being a concerned friend or if he was taking mental notes the way Austin was.
“There was a man,” Margaret said, still frowning.“Yesterday afternoon, maybe around four.He was standing across the street.I noticed him because he stayed there for maybe twenty minutes, not really doing anything, but he was on his phone and kept looking at his watch, so I thought he was waiting for someone.”
“Can you describe him?”
“Maybe around forty, white, average.He was wearing a hat so I couldn’t see his hair.There was nothing odd about him except that he was just standing there.”
Austin exchanged a glance with Caleb, who was frowning.“Did you see which direction he went when he left?”he asked Margaret.
“I have no idea.I got busy with a customer, and he was gone when I looked again.Do you think he might have had something to do with the fire?”
Austin couldn’t give Margaret false hope by implying the fire department was treating this as anything more than an accident for now, but he also couldn’t ignore the evidence his trained eye had spotted.He didn’t want to give her false hope in case it didn’t go anywhere, but he wanted her to know he was taking this seriously.
“It’s a possibility,” Austin said carefully.“But, like I told you earlier, I’m not an investigator, just a firefighter.”
Caleb was watching Austin, and Austin had the uncomfortable feeling that the man was reading between the lines of what he was saying.He wasn’t sure he liked that.
“Margaret,” Caleb said, “Can you think of anyone who might want to hurt you?”
Margaret shook her head.“No, but I don’t think the fire had anything to do with me personally.”
Austin wanted to ask more, but a nurse appeared in the doorway.“I need to check your vitals and ask a few questions about your discharge paperwork,” she told Margaret.
Austin and Caleb stood.“I’ll check on you tomorrow, okay?”Caleb said.“And I’ll let you know about the fundraiser plans.”
“You’re a good boy, Caleb,” Margaret told him with a smile.
Austin followed Caleb out of the room.“You know her well,” he said, curious.
Caleb pressed the down button of the elevator.“Us shifters have to stick together.”
“You’re a journalist,” Austin said.
Caleb’s shoulders tensed slightly.“I’m not doing this because I want the story.I want to find out what’s going on so we can stop the arsonist.”
“I never said that wasn’t the case.”
The elevator arrived, and they stepped inside.Caleb was quiet, but only for a moment.“Four fires in two months, all local shifter businesses.That’s either a very unfortunate coincidence or something worth investigating.”
