Page 74 of Burning Justice

Blaze’s tail whipped faster. Brett’s dog she could handle. The dog’s handler, not so much.

“You gonna let us in?” His brows rose. “We’ve got work to do. I want to run a theory by you.”

“Uh, sure.” She stepped aside, closing the door behind them after allowing him to do precisely what she’d sworn less than five minutes ago never to let happen again: letting him into her home, taking up her personal space, and breathing the same air she did.

Blaze trotted in behind Brett, his body wriggling when she knelt to pet his head and let him lick her chin. “Good morning to you, too, Blaze.” At hearing his name, Blaze made an adorable, whimpering sound.

“I see you’ve been installing the security system.” Brett looked around the living room, in particular at each of the windows, before watching her intently, wordlessly for an awkwardly long moment. “That’s good.” He looked up at the ceiling, then went to the bottom of the stairs and did the same. “You should also install more smoke detectors.”

“I have enough to comply with the building code.”

He turned and frowned. “You can never have enough smoke detectors.”

Gemma crossed her arms. She hadn’t invited him here again, yet here he was giving her construction advice. “You’re annoying. Do you know that?”

“I’m being cautious.”

“Overly cautious. And nosy.”

“I’m worried.”

“Uh, why?” She put a hand to her forehead. Duh. Because he’d lived through two fires in which others had died. Could she be just a bit more insensitive?

He cleared his throat. “Did you tack your map and spider diagram back on your office wall?”

“Uh, yeah.” Could she possibly start a sentence with anything besides uh? Her use of the English language had been fine until she and Brett had made love. Again, was it more accurate to call it sex? A lot of women might refer to what they’d done as making love, but a guy’s perspective on the matter was totally different, and Brett was a guy.

“Good. Let’s eat in there.”

Her jaw dropped as he headed directly for the office aka bedroom. “Wait!” He didn’t. “We can work out here. All we have to do is clear away the tools from the workbench and bring in some chairs from my garage and—”

“No, in here,” he flung over his shoulder, completely ignoring what he had no way of knowing was a desperate plea.

Blaze strolled through the living room, sniffing and scenting every box and bin like he’d never been in her house before.

Her pathetic heart hammered as loudly as if she’d actually picked up a hammer and begun pounding nails into the wall. Somehow, she’d get through this.

In her office, Brett still held the deli bag and coffee. His throat worked as he glanced at the mattress on the floor with the rumpled sheets. He set the coffee and what she assumed were two toasted everything bagels with scallion cream cheese on the table. “Uh, let’s get to work.” He slipped the laptop bag from his shoulder and put it on one of the two chairs.

Well, good. At least she wasn’t the only one starting sentences with the dreaded uh.

He popped open the tab on his coffee, then unwrapped his bagel and took a chunk out of it. Still chewing, he stared thoughtfully at the map on the wall and the spider diagram.

Popping open the other coffee, she stood beside him. Not too close beside him.

“These guys are smart,” Brett said. “They know enough about house systems to manipulate them into making arson look like accidents. Who would know how to do that?”

“Contractors. Some home renovators,” Gemma supplied. “But I wouldn’t know how to manipulate the electrical system to do that. That takes an expert.”

“Okay, let’s go with that, then.” Brett sipped his coffee. “No offense, but we’re looking for someone who does this for a living, not as a side hustle. Someone like Hawkin.”

“No offense taken.” She unwrapped her bagel and took a bite.

Brett started pacing back and forth in front of the map. “The only reason the Torrance Lane house came up on your radar was because that house was titled by Kobuk Titling.”

Gemma swallowed. “That and the use of MEK to burn it down like the warehouse.”

“Right.” Brett pointed to the map. “But unlike the other houses on your list, plus the two new ones in Leadville and Burlington, we actually know who the new owner was at the time of the fire. Hawkin Construction. You said you weren’t able to contact a single other homeowner.”