Chapter 2
Chapter Two
LYLA
“Do you think it’s the arsonist?” I shifted nervously in the passenger seat as Adam drove the ambulance to the location of the fire. Not the best way to start a shift.
Early morning, hours before the sun had fully risen, a vacant building, and with it being the beginning of October, meant it could be our serial arsonist. Whoever it was had been causing havoc in Half Moon Lake since the beginning of the year.
It was unusual for something like this to happen in a small, quiet town.
Even though I hadn’t grown up here, my hometown forty minutes away was similar.
Just like ours, you would find an occasional drunk driver or bar fight, but a serial arsonist? Highly unlikely.
“Definitely possible. Has his MO written all over it.” His hands tightened on the steering wheel as he confirmed what I was thinking.
Regardless of where we were headed, I was super excited that Adam had picked up this shift.
There were only a handful of people I enjoyed riding with.
Some of the paramedics and older EMTs treated me with kid gloves, not really giving me a chance to learn and grow.
I was a hands-on learner, and fortunately, Adam understood that and gave me the chance to apply the things he’d taught me.
He seemed to recognize that if I needed help, I wouldn’t hesitate to say so.
One of the paramedics, Kyle Williams, was good about that too.
He used to be an army medic until he was medically discharged.
He had some truly interesting, but also heartbreaking stories to tell.
But most of all, I loved hearing about his wife and kids.
He lit up every time he talked about them.
There were a few others I liked working with, but overall, Adam was my favorite.
It helped that we were friends. We liked the same music—mostly country—and had the same taste in food. Conversation between us came easily. He listened and didn’t judge. Even when I complained about my ex, Ted.
My best friend Mia was always quick to roll her eyes, telling me to dump his stupid ass every opportunity she got.
She rarely sugarcoated anything, and was thoroughly delighted when Ted and I finally called it quits after four months.
And even though I knew Adam agreed, he let me vent and process, never throwing it back in my face. I appreciated that.
This would be my third arson fire since I’d joined the Half Moon Lake fire department as an EMT in July.
Seth’s girlfriend Violet was the crime scene tech assisting with the case, and they still had no hard evidence or new leads.
They’d had a suspect back in May, but weren’t able to prove he was responsible, leaving everyone frustrated and the police department back to square one.
“You good?” Adam’s voice broke through my endless thoughts.
I looked over at him, his concern etched in every feature, and nodded.
“Yeah, I’m good. It’s just nerve-racking.
” Every time we got called to one of these fires, I worried that this would be the one where someone got severely injured, or worse.
But I also didn’t want to voice that thought out loud.
Call me superstitious, but I liked to keep my worst-case scenarios in my head.
Putting them out there made me feel like it might call it into existence.
He parked the ambo in a safe spot away from the fire and turned toward me, reaching out and gripping my shoulder. “I know. But so far, we haven’t had any injuries or casualties.”
I worried my bottom lip between my teeth. “True. But each time there’s always a chance. And what if he sets a vacant building on fire with a squatter inside?”
I cringed at the thought. Our small town had a low homeless population, and very few of them took to occupying vacant buildings in the area. But it was still a possibility.
“Let’s not go there. If you stress and worry about every possible outcome with this job, it’ll eat away at you.” He studied me for another moment, then, with a reassuring squeeze of my shoulder, he opened the door and climbed out.
While he made his way over to check in with the second shift lieutenant, who was acting incident commander, I made my way around to the back of the ambo to prep the supplies that might be needed for possible injuries.
After making sure everything was ready, I jumped out of the back and cursed my clumsiness as I teetered on my feet before gaining my balance.
I was always on high alert and constantly taking in my surroundings when working—especially at a fire scene—so I wasn’t surprised when movement on the edge of my peripheral vision caught my attention, and I turned to look that way.
The sun hadn’t completely risen, so everything was cast in shadows, but I could still make out a figure standing near the tree line a couple hundred feet away.
I took a few steps that way and froze as the man glanced my way before quickly turning and sprinting into the woods.
It was hard to make out the color, but he was definitely wearing a dark sweatshirt with the hood up.
My body went rigid and unease crept in. The arson suspect the police had on camera, someone who’d followed Violet around in a grocery store, wore a dark green hoodie. Could the man I just saw be our arsonist?
A hand landed on my shoulder, and I jumped with a muffled shriek, spinning around to see Adam standing there with a mix of confusion and concern marring his features.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
I took in a steadying breath and glanced back over my shoulder. “I saw someone.”
He cocked a brow. “You saw someone?”
“Yeah.” Based on his expression, he probably thought I was talking nonsense. But I know what I saw. “Like a figure lurking near the trees. They were wearing a dark hoodie.”
His eyes widened. “A green hoodie?”
“I couldn’t tell.” I crossed my arms, rubbing my hands up and down my upper arms. “Might’ve been.”
He stepped forward and gripped my shoulders, glancing back toward the tree line. “I’ll call Dylan and give him a heads up.”
I pulled my bottom lip between my teeth. “We don’t even know if the fire is arson yet.”
“Yeah, but this way Dylan can make the call if he wants to head over yet or not.”
I sighed when Adam pulled me into him, melting into his arms, feeling safe. It was only for a few seconds, and although I wasn't ready for my bubble of safety to burst, he was stepping back and fishing his phone out to call Dylan.
Was I being ridiculous? Plenty of people gathered near fires to watch. It was basic human nature to be curious. Plus, plenty of men wore dark colored hoodies. And we weren’t even sure the fire was set on purpose.
But why was he all the way over near the tree line and not near the street, the place most lookie-loos gathered?
I was likely overreacting. Wouldn’t be the first time.
I was constantly being told I was too eager to push the panic button.
And although I didn’t agree with the term, I could admit I tended to worry and jump to worst-case scenarios.
But it wasn’t always in every situation, and truthfully, when I did, my gut was usually right.
And right now, my gut was saying the figure I saw was the serial arsonist.