37. Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Raif
R aif has barely put his things down at the station before he’s pulled into a closet by Ash.
“Mornin’, baby.” He kisses her chastely, but she pulls away before it can become more.
“I pulled you in here because the fire inspector is here. They are looking into the warehouse fire and think it’s arson.”
“Okay,” Raif replies, not at all surprised since it was clear there was an accelerant used.
“The investigator is some asshole, Jeff something, he basically insinuated that the fire department was responsible for the fire getting as big as it was.”
“That’s crazy, the building was up in flames when we got there.”
“Yeah, I know,” Ash brushes her hair back off her face. She looks irritated, and he gets that. Firefighting is her life, and someone is coming in, after she and her fellow firefighters almost died, and saying it’s their fault. It makes him mad, too.
“Well, you’re probably going to get talked to too.”
“Thanks for letting me know,” he pulls her in and wraps his arms around her, kissing her lightly on the forehead. He can feel some of the tension leaving her body and hugs her tighter.
“Henderson.”
Raif turns to see the Chief standing there with his hands on his hips. Raif is folding the fire station laundry and sets it down when the Chief cocks his head back in a clear sign for Raif to follow him.
When they get to the Chief’s office, there is a man behind the desk where the Chief usually sits. He’s tall and slight, with a wispy mustache and a scowl on his face.
“Raif, this is fire inspector Jeff Cummings. He’s going to ask you some questions about the warehouse fire.”
Raif sits in the seat across from Jeff, and the Chief stands, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest.
“I’m going to be recording this,” Jeff says before clicking a recorder on the desk next to his laptop.
“I was told you are a fairly new firefighter.”
“Volunteer firefighter, yes. I’ve been here for a couple of months.”
“Pretty unusual for a volunteer firefighter to run into a burning building, isn’t it?”
The Chief levers himself off the wall and opens his mouth to speak, but Jeff holds up a hand to silence him.
“I need an answer from Mr. Henderson.”
“Yes, I don’t think it’s common. I went in because the rest of our team had gone in and we’d lost contact with them.
It had been several minutes, and we couldn’t just leave them.
I was trained on my gear and what to do in a fire.
I was able to locate all members of my team and bring them out safely. ”
Jeff hums under his breath and types on his computer.
“Were you aware that an accelerant was used?”
“I assumed once I was in the building. The flames were licking the walls, floors, containers, basically everywhere, and it seemed to be burning hot and with a lot of smoke.”
“Anything else you saw while in there?”
Raif isn’t sure what the man is referring to and shakes his head no.
“We found multiple cameras inside the warehouse that were not placed there by the owners. They seemed to be set up strategically to capture the fire in progress.”
Jeff stops talking and looks at Raif with squinted eyes.
“Is there anyone who would want to see you in a fire? Any reason these cameras may have been set up for you?”
“For me?”
“All of the cameras were set to upload the pictures off-site. They were damaged beyond repair, except one. It was taking pictures of you, Mr. Henderson. It was accessed via remote control and was able to move and zoom in.”
Raif sits and does not squirm as Jeff shuffles papers around on the desktop.
When Jeff pulls out photos, Raif holds his breath.
They are the same photos his brother received from Harvey Group.
There are additional ones, showing Raif hacking through crates on fire, moving through the building.
There are two zoomed-in photos, though, one of the hole in the arm of his jacket and one where his aspirator is off his face.
“These pictures are very interesting, Mr. Henderson. Do you know why?”
Raif shakes his head no and flips back through the pictures again.
“They are all of you. Do you know Juniper Springs and the nearby towns are calling you a hero? That’s a lot of attention for a volunteer firefighter. It’s nice to be known as a hero, isn’t it? It feels good to finally be recognized.”
Raif can feel the irritation bubbling under his skin. “What are you getting at?”
“What I’m getting at, Mr. Henderson, is that all these pictures are of you.
You, the nobody maintenance man, turned recent volunteer firefighter.
If the press were to get wind of these pictures from the fire, then you would be a legend in all of Montana.
It’s enough to make a man rich, enough publicity that you could go places, do things. ”
Raif can feel this is turning and not in his favor.
“Now you hold on there just a minute,” Chief says, wagging a finger at Jeff.
“This man here is a hero, he saved his own people, and I won’t have him be scrutinized for it.
He ran into a building when the others hadn’t come out.
He knew full well he might not come out as well, and he did it without hesitation.
You know as well as I do, Jeff, that this wasn’t started by Raif and that he had nothing to do with it.
You said yourself before he came in here that the accelerant had been placed within thirty minutes before the fire started, and Raif was here at the station, he couldn’t have started the fire. ”
“There are ways,” Jeff starts, but Chief cuts him off.
“Don’t be an S.O.B. about this, Jeff. I know you’re up for promotion, but this isn’t the way to go about it. We both know Raif wasn’t involved.”
“Very well then,” Jeff sniffs and gathers together papers on the desk, “Mr. Henderson, from what I have been told, your bravery in this situation has led the fire department to extend an award. You should be receiving it shortly. Nothing big, mind you, just a letter of recognition.”
“And?” Chief says, hands on his hip, glaring at Jeff.
“And we thank you for your dedication to this fire station.” With that, Jeff stands and extends a hand towards Raif. Raif takes it, and they shake quickly.
“You can go, Raif, keep up the good work,” the Chief tells him.
Raif nods at the Chief and is out the door.
He is relieved that the fire inspector seems to no longer consider him an arson suspect, but he needs to talk to his brothers.
Harvey Group is clearly behind the arson and getting photos of Raif, but why?
Did they want to capture him using supernatural abilities to out him?
That’s what he and Axel assumed. But what if it was to put the blame of the fire on him?
What is their angle? Still wanting to buy the lodge and the land? Or more?