23. The Hot Seat
THE HOT SEAT
“You didn’t tell me it was a full house,” Ash said on Sunday. “How come?”
Skye closed her eyes, her head hitting the back of the seat in Ash’s truck. “Because no one told me.”
She wasn’t sure why she was so surprised though. Her mother would use any excuse she could to get everyone together.
What she didn’t know was if it was the fact that she was coming with a boyfriend when she’d never done that before, or her being caught up in this fire mess.
Most likely both, which meant it could go either way.
He put his truck in park and shut it off behind Corbin’s.
She supposed it could have been worse. They could have gotten here first and then been blocked in, not letting her and Ash leave.
“Why are you nervous?” he asked when she was still sitting there looking at him rather than getting out. “You’re not the one in the hot seat.”
She unbuckled her seatbelt. “Really? Don’t bet on it. You’ve been in this house years longer than me.”
“Doesn’t mean I might not be ambushed,” he said, his voice so sarcastic she burst out laughing.
“Come on. No one is going to do that to you. You’re like the fifth son.”
“Don’t be so sure,” he mumbled.
She reached for his hand when they were out, threaded their fingers together for just a second and then let go.
“It’s going to be fine.”
“It will now that everyone saw that,” he said cheerfully. “So, thanks.”
“Saw what?” she asked, turning to see what he was talking about.
He pointed to the top of the front porch, just around the eaves. “That camera. The one on the back porch crosses over. Wave. They are watching now.”
Her jaw dropped, then without thought, she lifted her hand and flipped them the bird. “I didn’t know about them. How long have they been there?”
He laughed. “A few years.”
When they walked in the back door, Corbin was standing there waiting for them, the grin on his face. “Whose side are you on?” she asked her brother.
She could see he was struggling to answer. “Both of yours.”
“Don’t make him pick sides,” he said. “That’s not fair to anyone.”
“Ash is right,” Corbin said. “I don’t want to pick sides. I told Mom this might be too much having us all here, but she wasn’t going to pass up the chance to do it again.”
“So you’re warning me before we go in there?”
“I don’t know what I’m doing,” Corbin said, looking back and forth between his sister and his best friend. “I really came in here for a beer and then heard Brenna yell you just flipped off the camera. Dad has his laptop up watching you come in.”
She groaned even louder.
One reason she’d never brought a man home.
She always thought it’d be hard with brothers, but it was really Jim Lancaster she was worried about.
The guy always wanted a daughter to spoil. He got two of them later in life, but she never wanted to be spoiled.
She never felt she needed to be watched over that much either.
It never sat well with her as much as it did them.
Corbin pulled out a bottle of iced tea and tossed it to Ash, not even asking him about the beer.
Then she remembered he’d said he didn’t drink before a shift. He was going in in the morning.
“What about mine?”
“You can get your own shit,” Corbin said, tugging on her ponytail and walking out.
“Might as well get it over with,” Ash whispered and followed her brother to the front of the house.
“You should have seen your face,” Brenna said, wiping the tears from her cheeks. “The minute Ash pointed out the cameras.”
“Brenna, leave your sister alone,” her mother said. “I found it very sweet that we caught Skye in a moment. And a soft one at that.”
Her lips twisted, her nose scrunching up, which only resulted in more laughter around the room. “It’s the only one you’re going to get,” she said.
“Don’t be that way,” Brenna said. “We are only picking on you.”
“Have a seat, Ash,” her father said.
She lifted her eyebrow at the tone of voice.
Ash looked around and saw the loveseat was open. Two people could fit there and it was like the hot seat for them that she’d feared.
She grabbed his hand and yanked him closer, the rest of the room laughing again, her hands going up in the air. It didn’t matter what move she made, she was being judged.
“I want to enjoy this meal and now I’m questioning coming back at all because you’re all going to make me and Ash feel uncomfortable.”
“Don’t worry about me,” Ash said, opening his tea and taking a drink. He was much more relaxed than her, which didn’t make sense that he worried he’d have to be on the defensive.
Unless he was right, and that little “soft” move of reaching for his hand when she thought no one was looking all but put him in the clear.
She turned to look at him. “What does that mean?”
“I can handle myself and rarely feel uncomfortable. So I’ll start. You all know how I’ve felt about Skye for years, right?”
She looked around the room and saw several heads nod. “We know,” her mother said, elbowing her father.
“I’m not going to hurt her. You should be more worried she’ll hurt me. So if that is what you’re concerned about, don’t be. That’s all I’ve got to say.”
When her brothers were nodding, even her father, she couldn’t contain her shock. “That’s it? He can say that little bit and it’s over? Then why did you all have to come today?”
Not one lick of this made sense.
But it seemed nothing in her life the past few months had. What was one more thing?
“Because there is more shit we want to know about,” Keegan said, staring her down.
Yep, this brother always made her step falter.
Not that he’d hurt her, but she didn’t know who he’d hurt for her.
“Tate has caught me up. The county is caught up also and on the lookout and asking questions. I should have known earlier.”
She turned to Ash. “Did you know this?”
“Yes, I talked to Ford a few days ago.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because there wasn’t much to say. I was talking to him about us. Not the fire shit, but us. You know I told my family too.”
“Do you think this person will just stop? It’s been a few days,” she said. “Maybe they will know everyone is watching.”
“That most likely increases the appetite for it,” Tate said. “Right, Keegan? That’s what the talk at PD is. How about the Sheriff’s Department?”
“This shit doesn’t go away on its own and it’s ridiculous for you to think otherwise, Skye.”
Nothing like putting it out there and scaring her.
“I hate to think they are only getting started,” Tate said, “but it looks that way. They are smart enough to use burners. Turning them on, sending an email, then turning them off. Who knows, maybe disposing of them after.”
“So no hits since the last email a few days ago?”
“Not that I’ve heard. You haven’t gotten any other emails either, right?” Tate asked.
“You’d know if I did,” she said sarcastically.
There was a tiny part of her that was happy she hadn’t.
This wasn’t about a story for her. Maybe in the beginning she was going after it for that, but now that she was personally thrown into it, she wanted it over.
And maybe when it was done, she’d have to decide if she really wanted to continue with this freelance stuff, but her reasons for wanting it, just didn’t feel right anymore.
She’d been spending more time the past week on her real job. The one that paid her bills and was boring but predictable. And wasn’t that what she really wanted in her life?
Something that helped her maintain control when so much prior to her new life with the Lancasters gave her none of that.
And in her free time... she outlined the start of her book.
Not that she told anyone that. Not yet.
Then they might ask more questions. And with questions came judgment in her mind.
Or doubts.
Was she good enough to write an entire book? Would anyone want to read it like they were her last few stories?
Those were brief newsworthy things people were interested in. The story about a girl whose house burned down when she was a teen and escaped with only a broken leg? Where was the crime in that?
But she was going to turn it into one. She had to for crime fiction.
It was just getting it all lined up the best possible way to make it make sense.
And her excitement over all of that—it was feeding her more than anything else.
“Don’t be that way, Skye,” Holden said.
The one who spoke the least. She was surprised he was now. He’d always been the one who sat back and listened more than anyone.
“What way is that?”
“We just care,” Holden argued. “And maybe we’re all worried.
I am. I’m sure everyone else is too. You’re going out at night and could get in an accident on the way.
Or now that this person has reached out to you, how do you know he’s not watching you show up at these fires? You wouldn’t even know if he was.”
She didn’t need that pointed out.
What she’d been thinking of herself.
“I’m careful,” she said. “And I said I’d help catch him, so that means I’ve got to go if there is a fire. I’ve got to give the story. Report the facts. It’s what he wants.”
“Maybe if you don’t go to the next one,” her mother said. “He’ll know and say something. Then you’ll know for sure if he’s there. Do you think?”
“I don’t think she needs to go to any of them,” Tate said. “But it’s over my head making the calls. Everyone knows to watch out for her. She’s got her orders to get her butt right to the line where the officers are.”
“That makes me feel a little better,” her father said. “Not that any of this does.”
“I’ll be there if there is another one,” Keegan said. “Whether I’m working or not.”
“We all should,” Corbin said.
“No,” Ash said, putting his hand up. “We don’t need more people there. We are doing something dangerous. It’s putting more people in harm’s way. I don’t want Skye there either, but I can keep an eye on her.”
“No, you can’t,” she argued. “You’re doing a job and you can’t afford to not focus on that or you or someone else on your team is going to get hurt. Do you all hear yourselves? This is crazy.”
“We’re worried. Don’t get mad over that,” Brenna pleaded.
It was hard to when everyone in this room was supporting her...in their own way. Maybe not the way she’d like, but it was something she’d never had before she stepped foot into their world.
“I’m not mad. It’s just... just uncomfortable to have so much attention on me. I never wanted this. I don’t like it.”
Ash slung his arm over her shoulder and tugged her closer. “You’ll get used to it.”
“That’s because you always like to be the center of attention.” She wanted to fling his arm off but wouldn’t in front of everyone. His smirk said he knew exactly what she was thinking too.
“I do, but I’m not an ass over it. I’m not reckless with it either.” Ash looked around the room at her family. “It’s better if everyone knows she’s being watched. If someone is going to make a move, there are eyes everywhere on her.”
“But if it’s who I brought up, would it even matter?” she asked.
“Who do you think it is?” Keegan demanded.
“Yeah,” Tate said. “I haven’t heard anything.”
Ash almost snarled next to her.
“I’m sorry,” she said, patting his leg. “I’m going with facts.”
“They are loose facts at that.”
“Someone tell us what is going on,” Keegan said, his voice harsher.
“It doesn’t leave this room,” Ash said. “We don’t need this out and ruining a good man’s name because he was at all of these fires.”
“But it should be looked into,” Tate argued. “You damn well know it. Who is it?”
“Alan Mitchell,” Ash said. “A fellow fireman. And he’s had a good explanation for being at them all and at one he was fighting right there with me when he was called in.”
There was silence in the room to that statement. “Tell us your reasons,” her father said. “Just so we know.”
“I noticed him at the first two fires I was at,” Skye said. “The car fires. He was talking and I went to introduce myself and when he said who he was, I asked him more questions.”
“Did he want to talk about it?” Keegan asked.
She frowned. “No. He said he had no answers. He was almost annoyed over it all happening.”
“That’s right,” Ash said. “Because we know what it means. We are putting our lives on the line every call we get.”
She didn’t need that reminder.
Nor Tate and Keegan nodding their heads because they went through the same.
“Keep going,” her mother said. “Why do you suspect him other than that he’s been there for every fire?”
“That’s really all I’ve got,” she said. “I wasn’t at the first one. I asked Ash to find out if it was Alan’s shift or not because it wasn’t Ash’s.”
“Was it?” Tate asked.
“No. It wasn’t. And I don’t know if he was even at it and I can’t very well ask him or anyone else working that day.”
“No,” Keegan said. “Don’t do it. Did you tell your chief?”
“Nope. Again, I’m not putting the suspicion on someone else.
Do you know how many times a firefighter shows up at fires they aren’t fighting?
Just to help. It got me thinking and Alan is at a lot of them when he’s not working.
His father and his uncle were firemen too.
He has a long family history there in the department.
I’m not putting a mark on a guy’s name because he’s loyal and wants to help. ”
“I don’t think Skye is trying to do that, are you?” her mother asked.
“No. I was asked if I had seen anyone there all the time. Ash asked me and I answered him. No one else has asked me yet.”
“The fire chief and the detective on the case haven’t?” Keegan asked, his head tilted. “That doesn’t seem right.”
“Yeah,” Tate said. “It doesn’t. I can fix that.”
Ash ground his teeth. “If you do that, then Skye has to give Alan’s name.
I’ve known this guy for years. I don’t see it.
The car fire on Halloween wasn’t far from where he was out trick-or-treating.
He brought his kid home, heard it on the scanner and walked over.
The car catching the house on fire, was he there, Skye?
Did you see him? No. Because he was fighting it right by me, so he couldn’t have been there watching it. ”
“Ash has a point,” Tate said. “How quickly did he get there?”
“I don’t know,” he said. “I wasn’t paying attention, but he came in on a truck with others. I busted his ass about that, being at the fire and not tucked in bed, but the truth is, if I wasn’t working, I would have raced there too when the call went out. It’s our job.”
“And the building fire last week?” Keegan asked. “He was there?”
Her brother was looking at her. “Yes. He didn’t look happy and talked to Ash when it was done.”
“I asked what he was doing there,” he said. “He’s looking for answers like the rest of us and thought maybe he could see if there was anyone in the crowd that was always there also. He was up with a cranky kid and I got the feeling he was just as happy to hand him off.”
“I won’t say anything,” Tate said. “But I’ll be watching and if I see him at the next fire, if I’m working, I’ll be talking to him.”
“You can bet your ass I will be too,” Keegan said.
At least someone was listening to her.
But by that happening, she’d just pissed off her boyfriend.