30. Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty
SETH
“He ran that way,” the older man told Dylan. “Into the woods.”
Maybe we would actually catch a break this time with an eyewitness. Almost like clockwork, the arsonist had struck again. I wondered if Violet had already made the connection. I hadn’t until that moment. “He ran that way,” the older man told Dylan. “Into the woods.”
Maybe we would actually catch a break this time with an eyewitness. Almost like clockwork, the arsonist had struck again. I wondered if Violet had already made the connection. I hadn’t until that moment.
The first one I’d dealt with was at the beginning of May.
Then he set Logan’s garage on fire at the beginning of June, but there was nothing in July.
The one in August happened the first week of August, and now this one was in the beginning of September.
I made a mental note to ask Violet when she arrived on scene.
I was dying to see her, but preferably not because she had to come help investigate another fire. The last one didn’t go too well. Well… I smiled. Maybe it did. It had brought us together, after all.
I planned to follow her through the house this time and not let her out of my sight. That settled, I tuned back in to the conversation Dylan was having with the older guy who lived across the street.
“Did you recognize him?” Dylan asked.
The man shook his head. “I couldn’t see his face. He wore a sweatshirt with the hood up.”
“Was it green?”
“It was dark.” The guy paused and his shoulders slumped. “I’m sorry, I don’t know.”
Dylan’s jaw locked. I understood his frustration, but it was also why our arsonist liked the early morning hours. It was easier to come and go without prying eyes when it was still dark out.
My feet were moving the second Violet’s car pulled up along the curb. I fucking missed her. Between working night shifts and dealing with Lucy, I’d barely seen her in the last two days.
I’d done my best to be kind to Lucy. Open to the idea of talking, but also making it very clear we were not getting back together.
Only to have her throw a fit yesterday and go back to Charlotte.
I was almost worried she’d freeze me out, decide not to let me go to the doctor’s appointment and sonogram.
But so far, she hadn’t said anything to make me think she changed her mind on that.
The second Violet was close enough, I wrapped my arms around her shoulders, bringing her into my chest. I breathed her in, letting her ground me.
“Rough morning?” she mumbled.
“Yeah.” I pulled back and looked down at her. “Rough couple of days.”
She gave me a slight nod and I stared down at her.
I was still nervous that the situation with Lucy would affect my relationship with Violet.
It was so new, and obviously not what she signed up for.
But so far, she’d been nothing but supportive and understanding.
Would that change when I moved back to Charlotte?
Would history repeat itself and another relationship end for the same reasons?
I blinked. Violet was nothing like Lucy, I knew that, but it didn’t stop me from wondering how things between us might change once I was living in Charlotte, having to co-parent with my ex.
She reached up and brushed a long lock of my hair off my forehead.
Staring into her eyes, everything around us disappearing, I vowed to do whatever I could to make this work.
It was almost impossible to fight the pull between us, and I didn’t care who saw, I needed to feel her lips on mine.
But the chaste kiss we shared wasn’t enough to tamp down the need to hold her in my arms and get lost in her.
It didn’t matter that I saw her last night for a few minutes, or the fact that it had only been forty-eight hours since we were in each other’s arms. The time away from her was torture. Thankfully we only had one more night of this.
A throat clearing behind me made me reluctantly let her go and step back. She brushed past me, and Dylan filled her in on their eyewitness statement and what he had marked for her inside to look at and bag.
I followed behind them until they got to the door, when they both stopped and turned my way.
Dylan cocked a brow, silently asking what I was doing.
“I’m not letting her out of my sight this time. We haven’t started the overhaul process yet, and with this dry heat, the fire could reignite easily.”
We probably had at least another few weeks of high temperatures and very little rain, which always made our jobs a little harder.
Dylan looked over at Violet. “Please tell me I wasn’t this bad when Hattie and I first got together.”
Violet chuckled. “No. You were worse.”
He scoffed. “Seriously?”
“Totally.” She nodded and then moved forward into the house.
“In my defense,” Dylan said as he followed behind her, “she did have a stalker trying to come after her.”
I didn’t care if they thought I was being overprotective. Frankly, I would do this for anyone poking around the scene of a fire before we had a chance to overhaul. But I was definitely making damn sure I did it for Violet.
Dylan showed Violet the few spots he’d marked for her on the first level and left us both inside to go canvas the neighbors.
She squatted down at one of the numbered evidence cards and glanced back at me. “I’m assuming it’s pointless to argue with you about following me around.”
“That’s a good assumption.”
She rolled her eyes. “Here then, hold the flashlight on this spot while I collect a sample.”
I took the flashlight from her and held it on the spot she’d indicated. “Seems like the fires are always at the beginning of the month.”
She nodded. “Not a specific date, but I have noticed it’s always between the third and tenth. The BBQ joint threw us off, but now it makes sense why.”
“Sucks that the eyewitness didn’t get a good look.”
“Yeah, and I’m afraid the arsonist is getting bolder. Not being as careful.” She finished the second spot Dylan had marked and I followed her into the third room.
“Might be a good thing. The bolder he gets the less careful he’ll be.”
She put her hands on her hips and glared at me. “Bolder could mean careless, but it can also mean more dangerous. If someone gets hurt or dies because we couldn’t catch this guy…”
She didn’t finish her sentence. Didn’t need to. I closed the distance and pulled her into a hug. “You’re doing the best you can.”
“Yeah, and sometimes that isn’t good enough.”
I knew that feeling all too well. You couldn’t save everyone, and you couldn’t prevent every tragic accident either. You constantly played the what if game in your head.
After a moment, she stepped out of my embrace and went back to collecting evidence.
I held the flashlight for her and we both fell quiet while she worked.
Our conversation hung heavy over us. It shouldn’t, but it surprised me that she dealt with the same thing that first responders constantly dealt with.
It made sense, we couldn’t save everyone in the moment, but people behind the scenes worked hard to stop bad things from happening again and bring justice to the victims.
She was hyper-focused, meticulous as she examined and collected evidence.
Violet was good at, and obviously enjoyed, her job.
Would she be willing to leave it and move to Charlotte at some point?
I forced my shoulders to relax. I had to remember that we would figure all that out when the time came.
There was no use worrying about it right now.
After she was done on this level, I followed her upstairs. “Want to grab lunch later? Or dinner before my shift?” I asked as she moved into the third bedroom after having finished looking around the first two.
I leaned my shoulder against the door frame and crossed my arms over my chest, letting my gaze roam down her body. The tiny leather-like shorts she wore reminded me of that day I pulled her out of that fire.
She spun back to me. “Sure. Let’s do dinner. Since I’m starting earlier today, I can leave a little early.” I nodded and she studied me as she took a few steps forward, coming to stand in front of me. “And then tomorrow night you’ll be off again?”
“Yeah.” I reached out and gripped her chin with my thumb and forefinger. “And I can’t wait to spend all night showing you how much I’ve missed you.”
Her lips parted with a sharp intake of air. I leaned forward, claiming her mouth. There was nothing chaste or gentle about this kiss. It had all my need for her wrapped up in it.
I pulled back, wishing we were anywhere but in this charred house, and tucked her hair behind her ear. “Want to come up to the cabin tomorrow when you get off? I can make us dinner and we can sit by the fire.”
She nodded with a smile pulling at her lips. “You cook?”
I shrugged. “Yeah. Nothing fancy. When I first became a firefighter, I got stuck doing a lot of the cooking that first year, so I had to learn.”
“Hmm. Well, dinner at your place sounds great. I can bring dessert.”
I gripped her waist and tugged her close. “That’s perfect, considering I was already intending to have you for dessert.”
“Oh?” Lust flashed through her eyes as her lips parted slightly.
“One hundred percent planning to lay you out and devour every ounce of your sweet pussy until I have you begging to come.”
The skin of her cheeks flushed a light pink. “I can’t wait.”
I pressed a quick kiss to her forehead and stepped back. “Better get back to it before I decide to lay you out right here.” I didn’t even try to hide my hard as fuck cock as I openly adjusted myself.
Her eyes flared with protest and I chuckled, leaning back against the door frame as she turned back to her job with a slight pout. It was nice to know we were both on the same page, ready for some very intense and intentional time alone together.