15. Care About You
CARE ABOUT YOU
What did you think of that? Her email was flashing at her when it pinged. Her eyes were glued to the screen, her body still, but her fingers flexed, not believing what she was actually reading. I gave you one hell of a story, didn’t I?
“What. The. Fuck,” Skye said out loud to her empty living room. It didn’t stop her from looking around to see if she was being pranked.
Then she looked up at the name on the email. Fire Man.
This had to be some sick joke.
Her fingers hovered over the keyboard and then pounded right away. Are you the one starting the fires? Are you looking to claim them as your handiwork?
She hit send before she could change her mind.
Before she could stop and think what a foolish thing it was to engage with someone who most likely was just spoofing her.
Her email address was listed on her articles. People reached out and asked her questions all the time.
Even other media outlets had been contacting her for more stories.
She was loving what should have been something small that could turn into something big.
But this she wasn’t loving so much.
When her door buzzer went off, she nearly fell out of her chair, her heart shooting right out of her chest as she gripped her desk.
She made her way to the intercom. “Yes?”
“It’s Ash. Let me up.”
Not who she thought it’d be.
She was going to get yelled at. She knew it.
He wasn’t so thrilled she’d made an appearance there last night, but damn if Kyle and her contact at the Times Union weren’t loving it when she emailed them that story before they even got out of bed, with more to follow.
And follow-up she did.
Got exactly what she was looking for. The same car fires as the other three. Not the electric car, but similar, making her wonder if there was some inspiration there.
She opened her door, went down the stairs, let Ash in, then turned to climb them again.
No way she was giving him a chance to start in out in the hallway where others could witness it.
But the minute her door shut, he lit right in.
“What the hell is wrong with you?”
“Some might say it’s a lot,” she said. “But what this time?”
“You know damn well. That was reckless. You shouldn’t be out at night alone.”
“I was hardly alone,” she argued. “There were tons of people around.”
“Don’t be cute.”
He ran his hands through his hair. He looked tired. Exhausted, actually.
He hadn’t shaved, but she knew he did when he was working at the firehouse.
“I had a story to write,” she said. “It’s mine now. I’ve been covering it and covering it well. The people have a right to know what is going on.”
“Yeah,” he said. “I saw that when I woke up. That it’s the same person and we’ve got an arsonist on our hands. All the more reason you need to back off.”
“Whoever it is won’t come after me. Give me a break. They don’t even know who I am.”
Which was a lie because of that email. And her picture next to her name in each article.
“Bullshit,” he said. “Is a story that important to you? That you have to get out of bed in the middle of the night for it? It’s not even your full-time job. I thought you had a good job. Or is this about money?”
“No,” she said. “I told you what it was about.”
“Helping for your book. I get it. Some of it. But it’s like you’re only writing about the fires now.”
“Not true,” she argued. “I went to an accident the other day, and talked to someone in the community about a business growth opportunity, but my stories weren’t bought.”
“Huh?”
She marched over to her laptop and pulled it out to show him.
First the accident came up. “See. But they didn’t think it was newsworthy enough.
They just pulled it from the police blotter rather than pay me for it.
” She hit a few more buttons. “The one on the business. Someone else beat me to it. They had more information. Again, wasted time.”
“So you write this and don’t get paid?”
“That’s how it works. If it’s not good enough, I wasted my time. But this, I’ve got the lead for it. And as long as I keep getting there first, they will keep paying me.”
“Then it is the money?” he asked, the frown filling his face.
“No. It doesn’t pay that much. I just kind of feel... invested now.”
Maybe a tad bit important when so much of her life was spent thinking no one cared.
“I looked at the report of your parents’ fire yesterday. It’s exactly what you were told.”
“What? Seriously?”
“Yes. The cause of fire was a cigarette on paper. That’s it. It was ruled an accident.”
Her shoulders dropped. “I should have figured. I mean, Sean was right. I’m overthinking it. Maybe my memory has just weakened over time.”
“Or you’re looking for answers you might not get?” he asked softly.
“Probably that too. So no mention of other people around that night?”
“No. Neighbors were questioned and they said though they often saw cars coming and going late at night they didn’t remember anything. Didn’t mean it hadn’t happened, but no one said they saw anything.”
She put her laptop down. That had to be the end of it now. “Thanks.”
“You don’t look the least bit tired,” he said. “I’m assuming you came home and wrote your article.”
“I did, then I got some sleep and started making calls first thing.”
“What about your other job?”
“I don’t really deal with anyone. I get jobs in a queue and have a timeline to complete them. They don’t care when I work as long as I get my forty hours in.”
If that meant she was doing it at ten tonight to catch up, that would be what she was doing.
It wasn’t like she had much of a life outside of work.
But pretty soon she was going to have to decide how much she wanted to chase stories and waste her time.
“I guess that’s something.”
“Why do you care?” she asked.
He gripped her arms and pulled her close. “Maybe I care about you. Did you ever think of that? That it never went away. That it’s always been there and been put on hold. Then here you are, back in town and doing stupid shit on top of it.”
“Whoa.” She slapped his hands off her. “That’s a good way to turn something sweet to an insult.”
He dragged his hand through his hair again. Something she noticed he did when he was frustrated.
It only made him sexier.
Which was a pretty pathetic thought that her mind was going there.
“It wasn’t meant to be either. I’m just speaking from the heart.”
Which caused her heart to race for another reason.
“Sorry. I’m not used to anyone caring about me other than my family. My second family.”
“And it doesn’t sit well with you, does it?”
“Not always.”
Because it was unfamiliar for so long. Then hard to accept once it was being handed to her.
Running away to college hadn’t lessened it though.
Carrie and Jim, they were still there for her.
Not pushing. Not pressuring. Just offering.
It was amazing how easy it was to accept a hand when it came with no strings.
Her email dinged and she rushed to see it.
When it was a reply from the Fire Man, she knew she had to let Ash know.
He was going to lecture again and she braced for it.
Especially when she read, Of course it’s my work. But you don’t think I’m telling you who I am, do you? That would be too easy.
“You just paled. What’s going on?”
“I think your arsonist has contacted me.”
“What the fuck!” he shouted and yanked the computer out of her hand, his hand going over the pad to scroll to the first message, her reply, then the next email. “Were you even going to tell me this? If I hadn’t stopped over? Or tell Tate at the very least?”
“I would have,” she said. “But you’re here. I mean, for all I know this is just a spoof and it’s someone playing with me. It happens all the time.”
“Call Tate right now,” he said. “Let the police know. I can call my chief.”
“Slow down,” she said, taking her laptop back and setting it down.
“No. This is serious. Skye, two people could have died if the neighbor’s dog hadn’t woken them up. They were older, had taken their meds and were in a deep sleep. They didn’t even know their house was on fire.”
She hadn’t realized any of that. She only knew both were released and staying with family.
“I’m sorry. But maybe this can help catch the person.”
“No. It won’t. Whoever it is, they are going to play with you and you’re falling right into their trap.”
“You don’t know that,” she said, crossing her arms.
“I bet I’m right. Call Tate and we’ll find out.”
“Who would have thought playing with people’s minds could be such fun?”
His fingers moved over his phone, waiting for Skye to reply to his last message. Not that he was going to send anything back.
Nope. Not yet. But he wanted to see what she said.
What her reaction was.
He was too far away for them to ping the location. Nothing that would tie it to him. He’d delete the account next. Didn’t mean he had to change his name though.
Had a nice ring to it in his mind.
Knowing her, and her family connection—yeah, he was fully aware of that—she was probably letting someone know now.
He’d give it ten more minutes. If she didn’t reply, he’d have to wait until next time. It wasn’t worth his ego just yet.
She could wait for him.
The traffic on the thruway was flying by him as he sat in the rest stop outside of town. But he was getting impatient, and deleted the account, then shut his TracFone off for now.
There would be time enough to reach out again.