“Exactly!” I point out. “Who knows? That’s where we come in.” Maybe we shouldn’t be leaving if the action is happening here.
“We should focus on one crime at a time,” Bam suggests.
“What if there’s a link?”
“Not saying you’re wrong, but we will need to wait for the police and fire trucks to clear out before we go poking around.” Once again, he’s being the logical one.
“Fair point.” Bam keeps a hold of my hand, so when he starts walking again, I’ve got no choice but to go with him. I see his eyes tracking everything, and I start to do the same but pay more attention to the people that are standing around. I pull out my phone and start snapping pictures of the crowd.
Arson is an interesting crime, at least the people behind it are. People who fraternize with fire more often than not have a bigger fascination with destruction and chaos.
“What are you doing?”
“The same thing as you.” I keep snapping pictures.
“I’m making sure there isn’t a threat.” Ah, well, yeah. I’m doing that too but slightly differently.
“And I’m seeing who is the threat.” I’ll go through the pictures later but slowly to study each person. “People who are into fire enjoy watching the mess they make. It’s part of the fun for them.”
“It can also cover your tracks.” I nod in agreement. It could be that too. If that was the case, then they would have gotten the hell out of here.
“Now what?” I ask when Bam finally stops on the sidewalk a bit down from the crowd of people that has formed outside the school.
“How’s your blood sugar?”
I shrug. Bam’s mouth presses into a firm line. “It’s fine if the sensor doesn’t go off.” It’s adorable that he’s worried about me. I can’t even get mad at it.
“Those things can mess up.” Sure, but I get a warning.
I usually wouldn’t even check it, but since Bam is being sweet, I make a show of pulling out my phone to look at what my reading is. “All good.” Bam grunts a response.
“So?” I bounce on my heels, itching to keep on cracking this case. “Can we burn down your school next?”
“Josie,” Bam mutters my name under his breath and starts walking again. I notice a few people glance our way.
“I was joking!” I shout back at them. “It was a joke,” I say again with a huff to Bam.
“I know.” Bam is shaking his head, but a smirk plays on his lips. “But now we’ll have to wait a few days to burn mine down.”
I snort a laugh. We’re both joking now… I think.
Chapter Eleven
BAM
She looks thrilled at the idea of burning down my school, and I fucking love it. Not that I’m an arsonist, but it’s awesome how she’s down for everything. If I could have crafted a girl to suit me, I couldn’t have come up with someone as perfect as Josie. Hot, funny, smart, adventurous? Before her, I wouldn’t have dreamed that all those traits could be in one person.
But that was my problem. My dreams have never been very big. I enjoyed being by myself. Or maybe I learned to enjoy it. As an orphan, you don’t have much choice. But when Niki and I got paired up with the Riders, I basically adopted myself into his family.
They always seemed to need another set of hands around to keep company with Niki’s baby sister. She was kidnapped when she was three. That’s how Niki came to be part of the Riders. He needed to find her, and the Riders had connections. To save his sister, he became a Rider. To save my own life, I joined too because a kid on the streets alone was prey, and that kind of existence wasn’t for me.
The Riders always sent out two or more because what we did was sometimes dangerous, and you needed a person to watchyour back. I guess they learned early on that if you had too many lone wolves, eventually your pack would be eliminated.
That’s how Niki and I came to be a team. And I’ve been satisfied being on the team, being a Rider. I’ve even put money away since the pay is actually decent and I don’t have anyone to support except myself. I didn’t think about the future much because tomorrow was going to happen no matter what I did.
Now, though, in face of this smart as hell girl, I wonder if I’ve made a mistake. A vague sense of panic settles over me. What do I need to do or be to get this sexy girl to throw her oars in my boat?
A sharp poke in my side catches my attention. Josie is staring at me. “You’re deep in thought.”
