Chapter Three
Aiden sat back on his haunches and admired the floor. It had taken him a while to cut all the edge tiles to the correct size, but it was worth it. It looked damn good. The white tile with streaks of gray matched the gray vanity perfectly. It also matched the shower tile. Once the grout was set, the upstairs shared bathroom was finished.
He let out a deep breath and glanced at his watch. If he took a quick shower in his bathroom, he could be at the football field in time to help out Jory and his mom. Or he could stay home and sleep. He rubbed his face. He needed sleep, but he also knew that, more likely than not, Hazel would wind up at the concession stand and he wouldn’t mind spending some time with her.
What the fuck had he been thinking, volunteering to help her with Jory? It was stupid and he’d regretted it the moment it came out of his mouth. Still, he knew Jory was being unreasonable, and if he didn’t stop pushing Hazel, she’d leave town. Aiden wasn’t having it. It felt like he’d just gotten back into town. He wanted all the people in his life to stay in his life. He was done with losing people. But especially, he didn’t want to lose Hazel.
He stood and yawned. Maybe a power nap would help. He walked down the hallway into his bedroom and glanced at the bed. No. If he crashed now, he wasn’t getting up again. He trudged into the bathroom and turned on the shower.
He set the temperature to frigid, better to wake him up and cool down his thoughts about Hazel at the same time. After stripping off his pants, he stepped under the spray and a shudder wracked his entire body, distracting him from thoughts of his best friend’s sexy sister. He really was going to have to get over her since she was off-limits. It was just stupid to pine after her. On the other hand, it wasn’t like there was anyone else he wanted to ask out.
He enjoyed their Thursday nights. Probably more than he should. He always felt good being with Hazel. They laughed and had a lot of fun together. He lifted his face to the spray. He was surprised Jory hadn’t caught on to how Aiden felt about his little sister. Some of the other guys at the firehouse who also hung out at the bar on Thursdays certainly had. They shot him knowing looks, but everyone kept their mouth shut, for which he was eternally grateful. Jory would absolutely fucking kill him if he knew. Aiden let out a long breath, shut down the arctic-level shower, which hadn’t cooled his libido in the least, and reached for a towel. He really should stay home and stay the hell away from Hazel.
But a half hour later, he pulled into the parking lot by the high school football field. It was packed already, and the game didn’t start for another thirty minutes. He made his way to the concession stand. “Hey, Jor,” he called when he got close. His friend was behind the small cinderblock building, breaking down empty boxes.
“Bro,” Jory said as they did the man-shoulder bump. “Glad you came. Did you finish your floor?”
“Yup. Looks good. Do you need help?” he offered.
“I think we’ve got it for now. Hazel is helping Mom inside, so I’m on restocking duty.”
“The whole town is here. This charity game was a great idea. The rivalry between Cherry Valley and Huntsville is still alive and well. The fact that Billy Winston is playing for Huntsville and Phoenix is playing instead of his brother just makes it all the better. Gonna be a great night for your mom.”
Jory nodded. “Should be a hell of a game, too. I can’t believe Phoenix is putting on the uniform. After blowing out his knee in college, I didn’t think he’d ever do it again.”
Aiden shrugged. “He’s helping out his brother’s team. It’s pretty cool of him to do it.”
“Also, pretty damn stupid,” Hazel groused as she came out the door. “Do you know how many of these guys we see in the ER with some injury or other because they’re trying to get in shape for the big game every year?” She shook her head. “They’re too old to be running around in full gear, smashing into each other. Recovery isn’t as quick and easy once you’re over thirty.”
“Well, thanks for that thought.” Jory crushed another box under his foot. “Nothing like being told you’re old.”
“Who’s old?” Eileen Kincaid poked her head out of the back of the concession stand. “Aiden! It’s nice to see you. How are you?”
“Doing well, Mrs. Kincaid.”
“How many times do I have to tell you? It’s Eileen, please.” She smiled at him and then turned to Jory. “Would you mind grabbing the rest of the soda from the back of the van? People are thirsty tonight.”
Jory nodded and raised his chin to Aiden. The two headed to the parking lot. It was early evening, and the sun was already down behind the trees. The game would be played under the lights. There was a cool breeze, and Aiden was glad he’d worn his favorite black sweater with his jeans. The leaves were a riot of color already, and although it had been warm recently, the distinctive smell fall permeated the air. Winter was around the corner. “It’s cooler tonight. I guess that’s the end of the warm spell.”
“Yeah. It’s also windy.” Jory frowned.
Aiden shoved his hands in his jean’s pockets. “You’re thinking if the firebug lights the grass tonight, it’s gonna be ugly.”
“Yup.” They reached Mrs. Kincaid’s van. Jory went around back and opened the door. “You got any kind of a feeling about it? The firebug, I mean?”
Aiden often had a gut instinct about things. When he’d worked on Wall Street, he would just know when a stock was going to do something unexpected. His gut would tell him. He’d made some serious money trusting his gut. Jory had also always paid attention to Aiden’s instincts. Not once did he dismiss them as being hokey, so he usually told Jory what he felt. This time he hesitated. “To be honest, there’s something going on. I don’t know how to describe it.” What he was thinking sounded weird and he didn’t really want to say it out loud.
“Give it a shot.” Jory stood watching him.
“I think…there’s something bad gonna happen. Like really bad. I’ve been having nightmares. Someone is planning something, and it’s gonna get people hurt.”
“Shit, man. You think the firebug is gonna light up a building with people in it?”
Aiden shrugged. “I don’t know what it is. I just know there’s something coming.”
Jory nodded. “Not much we can do about it at the moment. Just keep our eyes open, I guess.” He reached in and grabbed a couple of cases of soda. Aiden did the same.
Just then, Phoenix came across the parking lot. “You guys need some help?”
“Hey, Phoenix. I thought you’d be in the locker room, getting ready for the big game.” Aiden said with a smile.
Phoenix reached in the back of the van and pulled out the last two cases of soda. “I was held up at the station.”
“The arson case?” Jory nudged the back doors of the van with his hip to close them.
“Among others.” Phoenix shook his head. “I have no idea what the hell is going on these days, but people are doing all kinds of weird shit.”
Jory’s face got serious. “We were just talking about that. Aiden has one of his feelings.”
When Phoenix turned and stared at him, Aiden grimaced. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Phoenix. He just didn’t want his—what the hell should he call it, “gift?”—to become well-known. This wasn’t the first time Phoenix heard about it, and he’d kept his mouth shut so far. There wasn’t much point in worrying about it at the moment.
“What’s your gut saying?” Phoenix asked.
“Not sure. There’s just some bad shit coming.” Aiden didn’t know how else to describe it.
“I think you’re right about that,” Phoenix agreed. “The whole town seems to be on edge these days.” He glanced around the parking lot as they walked. “I’m not so sure this game is a good idea.”
They came to a stop behind the concession stand, and Hazel opened the back door. “Hey, Phoenix. How are you? Ready for the big game?”
He shot her a smile. “Hey, Hazel. I’m as ready as I’ll ever be, I guess.”
She smiled back. “I’m sure you’ll kick ass.”
Aiden frowned. He did not like that smile. Since when had Hazel and Phoenix become so friendly?
There was a loud yell in the parking lot. They all looked over to find a crowd gathering. It looked like there might be a fight in the middle of it.
“Shit,” Phoenix said and put down the boxes of soda. He moved in the direction of the circle.
Aiden’s gut knotted. He glanced at Jory and then gestured with his chin at the crowd. The bad feeling dominated every nerve in his body, and there was no way he was leaving Phoenix on his own. It didn’t matter that Phoenix was a detective and a couple of years older than either one of them. He was part of their circle of friends. They put down their loads and headed out behind him.
“Where are you going?” Hazel called out.
Aiden glanced back and pointed.
“Oh,” she said and stepped out of the enclosed stand. When he shook his head, she frowned at him, but just then her mother called her name. Aiden turned back around and breathed a sigh of relief. Hazel didn’t need to be anywhere near whatever this was.
As they approached the circle, the jeering got louder. There were about twenty kids surrounding two rough-looking boys in the middle who were going at it.
“Break it up!” Phoenix demanded. He pushed his way into the circle.
“Fuck off, man! Let them fight,” someone called from the back of the circle, close to a parked pickup truck.
The crowd started chanting, “Fight! Fight! Fight!”
Phoenix was trying to separate the two boys when a third broke off from the circle and came at him. Phoenix side-stepped the swing and had the kid with one hand behind his back pushed up against the pickup in seconds. “Knock it off!” he yelled.
“What are you gonna do about it, asshole?” yelled another kid wearing a gray hoodie. The crowd started making catcalls at Phoenix.
Aiden broke through the teens and came to a stop in front of the mouthy kid. Aiden was pretty sure the kid was Tommy Vincent. He’d garnered a reputation as a troublemaker around town. “Tommy, you’re gonna shut up and back away or Detective Halston over there is gonna arrest you.”
The kid glanced at Phoenix and then back at Aiden. He threw a wild punch, which Aiden ducked, but then all hell broke loose. The next thing he knew, Aiden was fighting off a bunch of high schoolers. He tried not to hurt anyone too badly but there were a few broken noses, he was sure. Someone landed a hell of a punch, and he staggered back, bumping into Jory. The two of them looked at each other and grinned. It had been a long time since they’d been in a brawl, and it was kind of fun.
Two minutes later, sirens wailing, all of Cherry Valley’s police department showed up along with a couple of ambulances. The kids tried to run, but Aiden grabbed the little shit who’d thrown the first punch and held him. Phoenix had two, and Jory grabbed one as well. The other police officers rounded up the few that tried to escape. It wasn’t hard to tell who the fighters were since they were all bloody.
Chief Bowers stepped over and stood next to Phoenix as two patrol officers took the kids he was holding and cuffed them. “What happened here?” the chief demanded.
“I wish I could tell you, Chief,” Phoenix said. “One minute, I was trying to break up a fight, and the next it was a free-for-all. I have no idea what started it or why it happened. I was too busy trying to defend myself without pummeling these little assholes into the ground.”
“What about these two?” He pointed at Aiden and Jory.
“They were helping break up the fight. Everything turned so fast. There was no time to call for backup.”
“Yeah. Eileen called me direct and told me what was going on.”
Aiden tried not to smile. Maybe Hazel was right.
“What the hell is wrong with people?” The chief asked the nearest EMT, “Anyone badly hurt?”
The guy shook his head. “Cuts and bruises mostly. A couple of broken noses. Nothing major. They were lucky.”
Aiden glanced around and immediately spotted Hazel with Tommy. She was helping stop his lip from bleeding and giving him instructions. He nodded to her, and then the officer next to him took him by the elbow and lead him over to a police cruiser.
“You guys, okay?” Hazel asked as she approached. She eyed him closely and then did the same to her brother and Phoenix.
“Yeah. Fine,” Jory said as he wiped a bit of blood out of the corner of his mouth.
“Phoenix,” she said, “come and let me patch up that cut above your eye.”
“It’s fine, but thanks, Hazel.”
“Listen to the woman,” Bowers said. “Get your cut patched and then meet me at the station. We’re gonna need all your statements.”
“What about the game?” Jory asked.
“It’s canceled.” The chief walked away from them and headed toward the stadium.
Phoenix went over and sat on the bumper of the nearest ambulance. When Hazel smiled at him as she patched him up, Aiden had the urge to throw another punch, this time at Phoenix, so he turned his back and looked around the parking lot.
Jory came and stood beside him. “That was weird.”
“Yup.”
“What does your gut tell you about all this?”
Aiden shrugged. “I have no clue.” He held off telling Jory that his gut said this was only the beginning.