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The man froze and stared down at her, his brows drawn together. He swallowed, started to speak, stopped and cleared his throat. “The homeowner? She’s dead?”
Josie nodded. “Not from the fire.”
“Not from the fire,” he repeated slowly. “Are you sure she’s gone?”
It was on the tip of her tongue to ask him if he was okay since he didn’t seem to be grasping her words, but Trinity started coughing again, her whole body spasming violently in Josie’s grip.
“Excuse me,” she said, leaving him in the middle of the street and hauling Trinity toward the nearest ambulance. “She needs to be checked out.”
Josie left her sister in the capable hands of the paramedics before fishing inside her pocket for her phone. She made her way to one of the other ambulances so that she could be checked out herself while she called Noah to update him. As she recounted the morning’s events, she watched flames shoot from the second-floor windows of Sylvia West’s house.
* * *
Josie hadn’t meant to doze but the oxygen pouring into her lungs, the coolness of the ambulance, and the adrenaline ebbing from her body made her drowsy. Warm fingers brushed her hair from her forehead, the touch far too intimate to belong to anyone but her husband. Josie’s eyes fluttered open and there he was, leaning over her, his dark hair more mussed than usual, his hazel eyes dark with concern.
“Hey,” he said.
Josie took his hand and intertwined their fingers, managing a weak smile. “I’m fine. Wren?”
“Still with Erica. They went to lunch.”
“Is Drake with you?”
“He’s with Trinity.” Noah chuckled. “Honestly, I think he’s in worse shape than she is. EMS said she’s stable but both of you will be going to the hospital soon.”
Josie hated hospitals with every fiber of her being, but she didn’t argue. Trinity had been in the house longer than her. If Josie went to the emergency department, she’d be able to keep an eye on her sister.
Noah arched a brow. “No argument? Really? Nothing?”
Josie didn’t respond.
“I’d think this was personal growth but I’m guessing you just want eyes on Trinity.”
He knew her so well it was uncanny.
“There’s something else,” she said. “You—or Gretchen or Turner—will need to take a statement from her.”
His brow furrowed. “A statement?”
Josie glanced around to make sure the EMTs were out of earshot. They were standing just outside the back doors, deep in conversation with one of the firefighters. She lowered her voice anyway and filled Noah in on what she and Trinity had witnessed.
The lines of his face hardened as he listened. “Have you told anyone from the fire company?”
“I told one of the guys about the body, not about the Last Kiss Killer’s signature.”
Noah ran a hand through his thick hair. “All right. I’ll talk to the fire chief. It could be a while. You know how this goes.”
She did. The fire had to be put out, obviously. Then, when the structure, or what was left of it, was deemed safe, someone from their team and the fire chief, who also acted as the city’s fire marshal, would investigate. The fire chief would determine the source of the fire while Denton PD worked the homicide. Their ERT—Evidence Response Team—would process the scene and gather any evidence that hadn’t been destroyed. Then Sylvia West’s remains would be transported to the medical examiner, Dr. Anya Feist’s office for an autopsy.
Noah’s cell phone was in his hand. “I’ll call Hummel, let him know we’ll need the ERT on standby. Then I’ll call Anya.”
“It’ll be hours before they can enter the scene,” Josie said, adjusting the cannula under her nose.
“Yeah,” Noah agreed.
Before he could make either call, shouting erupted outside. Noah pocketed his phone, turning and jumping out of the ambulance. Tearing the cannula from her nose, Josie followed.
The scene was controlled chaos. More fire trucks had arrived. Hoses snaked across the asphalt. Neighbors lined the sidewalk across from Sylvia’s house, all looking stricken and worried. Some of them filmed but no one dared step off the curb into the firefighters’ way. Josie lost count of how many had descended on the burning home. Black smoke billowed from the windows, most of which were now shattered. One of the ladders extended from the top of a truck to the roof where two other firefighters worked.
