Chapter 13
THIRTEEN
Sam focused on the orange glow through the thick, rolling smoke billowing out the windows of the flooring store.
Forearms burning, she aimed the pressurized water at the heart of the fire.
Sweat rolled down her back as the heat enveloped her.
She stepped forward, the flames hissing as the water hit its target.
She fought with all her strength until the fire was out.
“This is the fifth commercial fire.” Greer put the Halligan back in its place. “Another arson. The arson investigators need to hurry up and catch the people doing this.”
“Yes, they do.” She tossed the fire hose on top of the engine, into its spot.
“I wonder if they’ll find any spray-paint markings around this fire like the others.”
Sam stopped and turned to Greer. “Spray paint?”
“Yeah, the other four fires had spray-painted graffiti in the vicinity.” Greer slid the rolling door shut on the engine. “The investigator thought it might be connected. Don’t you read the department memos?”
“I’ve been busy.”
Liam had said that Sophia had been caught with spray paint in her backpack.
Anxiety knotted her stomach. It was just a coincidence. Nothing to worry about. Besides, the girls were with him now. They couldn’t be involved in this fire. But still. “When was the last arson fire?”
Greer looked up and to the right, thinking. Then his face softened. “The one that was the same day as the fire at your house.”
“Was there graffiti there?” Please say no.
“Yeah. Around the block from the store.”
Sam was going to be sick. She tugged her phone from her duty pants under her turnout pants. No missed calls or text messages. Her thoughts flitted from the fire at her house to the arsons and the girls. Were they all connected?
Once the scene was cleaned up, everyone loaded into the engine, and Murph pointed it back to the station.
Sam nudged Greer with her elbow. “Do you know if they found graffiti around my house as well?” Her right leg bounced on the floorboard.
“I don’t think so. You think your house might be related to the others?” He tilted his head a little.
“I don’t know. I was just curious, I guess.”
“It’s always possible they could be related, but all the others have been commercial buildings, and no one died.”
He was right. The fires were probably unrelated. “Maybe it was a copycat.”
Murph pulled up in front of the station, and Sam and Greer hopped out to stop traffic so he could back the engine into the bay.
Sam’s phone chirped from her pocket as she reentered the bay. Once she had removed her turnout gear, she dug the phone from her bag. There was a text from Liam.
Liam
The girls are fine. Call me when you get off.
Sam
Thank you.
Everything was okay for now, but would it be once she told him about the spray paint at the scenes of the arsons?
She walked through the dayroom and into the kitchen, grabbed a bottle of water, and chugged it. She didn’t need another lecture about hydration.
“Hey, Sam.” Dean joined her in the kitchen area. “Are you fraternizing with the enemy now?” He grabbed his own bottle of water.
“Excuse me?”
“I’m not sure we can keep you on the team if you’re turning into a badge bunny.” The words may have been meant as a joke, but his tone suggested otherwise.
Sam scoffed. “What are you talking about?”
But she knew exactly what he was talking about. She just needed to deflect until she could think of an appropriate excuse. Her life and Bella’s life could hang in the balance. The truth wouldn’t work.
“Deputy Marshal Liam Roberts has been around the station couple of times. Is there something going on there?”
This wasn’t like the lighthearted teasing she would have expected from him. “What if there is?”
He shrugged. “Nothing. I just don’t want to see you get hurt, that’s all.”
Was that really all?
The alarm wailed again.
Dean was saved by the bell.
They were called out for two more med calls before the shift was over.
Sam tossed her duffel bag into the back seat of her car and dialed Liam’s number.
He answered on the second ring. “Samantha.”
“Right. Is Isabella okay?” She chewed on her bottom lip.
“She’s fine, but we do need to sit down and talk.”
“How bad is it?” She leaned her head back against the head rest.
“It’s not great, but it’s not bad either.”
“Text me your address. I’m on my way.”
“Okay. I was just about to order some pizza for the girls. Any special requests?”
Depending on what he had to say, she probably wouldn’t be able to eat. “No, thanks.” The phone beeped in her ear, indicating she’d received a notification. “I got your address.”
“We’ll see you when you get here.”
“Goodbye.” She disconnected the call and looked at the address he’d texted. She needed to remind herself that it couldn’t be too bad or either he would have called her earlier, or she’d be picking Isabella up at the US Marshals office.
She pulled her car into the driveway behind the black SUV and put it in Park. Everything was going to be okay. She took a deep breath, exited the vehicle, and walked up to the front door.
It opened as she approached. Liam stood in the opening, blue jeans hanging low on his hips and a blue thermal shirt with sleeves pushed up to his elbows defining his torso, unlike the button-down shirts she was used to seeing. His hair was tousled as though he’d been running his hands through it.
Cassie was right. He was good-looking.
Her stomach fluttered. Now was not the time to be admiring this man.
It was wrong on so many levels. In another life, where he wasn’t a marshal and she wasn’t his protected witness, Sam might have been tempted to run to him and jump, see if he would catch her.
Take a chance and see what might happen in his arms.
“Good evening.” He stepped to the side to let her enter.
She ducked inside, avoiding getting too close to him. A hint of citrus and sage filled her nose. Had he always smelled like that?
The door clicked shut behind her, snapping her to attention.
“Right this way.”
She followed him into the empty kitchen. “Where’s Isabella?”
“She and Sophia are hanging out in Sophia’s bedroom.” He pulled a chair out for her. “Have a seat. Can I get you something to drink? The pizza should be here in ten minutes.”
She shook her head. “I’m fine.”
He opened the refrigerator, pulled out a bottle of water, and set it in front of her. “Just in case.”
Her knee started to bounce under the table. “What did you find out?”
He sat down in the chair across the small table from her. His gaze was entirely focused on her. “It appears that our girls haven’t been completely honest with us up until this point.”
She sat up straight and met his gaze. “I was afraid of that. What did you learn?”
“There’s a group of individuals who go to school with them called the Renegade Rebels.”
“I’ve heard of them. According to Bella, it’s a group of popular students with bad reputations.”
“Well, the girls that were in the bathroom vaping are part of that group. They spun some sob story about the leader, Sabrina, needing to sneak out of school to say goodbye to her boyfriend before he left for six months of basic training.”
He was talking, but all she could do was watch his lips move. Ugh. Why now? This was about Isabella being a dumb teenager, not Sam and her dumb teenage crush on their marshal.
“Which brings me to today.” He pulled his phone out, swiped a few times, then turned the phone to her.
A photo of a threatening text message filled his screen. Sam tried to swallow the lump in her throat.
“This is why Isabella snuck away from the fire station and ended up at my house with Sophia. This is the result of them ignoring the text message about where they went.”
Sam closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “We might have bigger problems.” She opened them and met his solemn expression with one of her own. “There was graffiti near all the arsons. I think these kids are arsonists.”
Liam knew there were so many ways this could get worse, but he didn’t know if he was prepared to hear it. “What’s that?”
“Greer told me that spray-painted graffiti had been located in the vicinity of each of the first four commercial fires. There was another commercial arson today. Greer said this was number five. The fourth one was at a store, the same day my house burned.”
Liam blew out a breath. “Okay.”
He stood up and paced the kitchen. Definitely didn’t look good for the girls.
He ran the entire conversation with the teens through his mind.
Finally, he turned and rested his hands on the back of the chair he’d just vacated. “I don’t think the girls were involved in the fires. They’re scared. This text”—he tapped the cell phone on the table—“was an eye-opener for them.”
“I think we need to tell them this new information and see what they have to say.”
“I agree.” He went to the kitchen door. “Sophia. Isabella. Can you come in here please?”
The girls shuffled into the kitchen. Their smiles faltered when they saw Sam.
Isabella wrapped her arms around her middle.
“Have a seat, please.” Sam pulled out the chair to her right.
Isabella took a seat and stared at her hands in her lap.
“Sophia, you too.” Liam eyed his niece.
Sophia took the seat on the opposite side of Isabella, while Liam took the chair to Sam’s left.
“Isabella. You’ve been lying for almost a week,” Sam told her.
“I know. I’m sorry,” Bella said to her lap.
“Look at me, please.” Sam kept her voice calm and neutral.
Her sister obeyed, eyes shining with tears.
“We can get through that. Okay?”
Bella nodded.
“It’s time to be completely honest.”
“Yes, ma’am. I will.”
“Sophia, that goes for you too.” Liam looked pointedly at his niece.
“Yes, sir. We will.” She reached over and grabbed Isabella’s hand.
“Bella, you’ve heard me mention some arsons in Renegade.” Sam focused her attention on her sister.
Bella nodded.
“Well, at every fire, there has been spray-painted graffiti.”
Bella’s eyes widened.
Sophia jerked her face to Liam’s. “It wasn’t us.”