Two pairs of eyes shot to me.
Shawn—my second-in-command—seemed raggedly tired. Guilt hit me square in the chest. We’d been communicating every day since I’d been gone. He’d briefed me on everything that was happening, and we’d shared the paperwork load. Even so, I hadn’t realized how exhausted he’d become.
My gaze slid to the man standing on the other side of my desk, facing Shawn.
Nolan Davis stood before my desk with his arms crossed over his chest.
I closed the door slowly behind me, my stomach twisting. Nolan was one of my captains who specialized in fire investigation. If he was in my office, especially after I was called in, that wasn’t a good sign.
“Fill me in,” I instructed, immediately ready to get to business.
Nolan cocked his head to the side as he took me in from head to toe. “How much time do you have?”
“As much time as needed,” I said stiffly.
“I thought you were still on leave? Who’s got Hailey?” His green eyes narrowed. They weren’t as bright as my late wife’s had been, but there was definitely a glimmer of his sister there. When Jess first passed, it had been hard for me to look at Nolan for weeks.
“She’s fine,” I said. “I’ve got the time.”
Shawn’s face softened with relief.
“Brief me,” I insisted. “What’s going on?”
Nolan and Shawn shared a look. An uncomfortable feeling prickled at the back of my neck.
Shawn leaned back in his chair. “It’s about the fire at the church last night.”
Of course I knew about that fire. I kept an ear on all the calls the station got. They’d been busy last night, and today with the snow. From people using their fireplaces and generators improperly, to cars skidding off icy roads, there’d been little emergencies to attend to constantly.
The fire at the local Pentecostal church was a bit different.
It hadn’t been in the main building, but one of the smaller outbuildings they used for storage. It was a fairly large structure, though, and engines from the surrounding counties had been called in to help get it under control. It had been assumed someone had broken in to get warm and accidentally started a fire.
The way my deputy chief and captain were looking at me made me think that wasn’t the case.
When I remained silent, Nolan cut in. “I checked the place out early this morning, and I’m fairly confident there was an accelerant used. Kerosene.”
A muscle in my cheek twitched. “Could it have been someone using a kerosene heater?”
It seemed unlikely, but I wanted to exhaust every possibility but the worst one.
“No.” Nolan shook his head. “There was no evidence of a heater, and indications from the burn patterns suggest it was deliberately set. All evidence as of now is pointing toward arson.”
I sighed through gritted teeth. What a perfect way to return to work. It had been a long time since we had a serious structure fire from arson.
“Was there anything important or of value stored in the building?”
“Doesn’t seem like it.” Nolan shrugged. “From what the pastor said, they mostly store seasonal decorations, large props, and extra furniture. All together, it’s probably a decent loss, but nothing extravagant or crushing.”
“Cameras?” I asked.
“They have them,” Nolan said, “but not on that specific building. None of the surrounding cameras caught all angles of the structure. There are blind spots someone could’ve used to avoid being recorded.”
I stood in silence for a beat.
Given that nothing inside the building appeared to be a target, my brain ran through the idea of why. It could possibly be some kid getting themselves into trouble. That had happened before.
Ember Hollow was a small town. There wasn’t much to do to keep teenagers busy, and sometimes they made their own trouble. I could think of a few names off the top of my head—kids who liked to push boundaries, see what they could get away with.
