I was jostled out of the way as paramedics quickly surrounded the tiny form I was kneeling over. I watched closely as they took Aspen’s vitals, and all of us jumped as a loud crack suddenly filled the quiet night air. Several heads swiveled and watched in stunned silence as the entire upper level of the Craftsman caved in and collapsed in on itself. Fire shot into the sky, the red and orange glow illuminating the scene. I sucked in a breath as I watched the spot where the woman at my feet had been balanced mere moments ago turned into nothing but fuel for the hungry flames. It looked like taking a leap of faith might’ve been Aspen’s best bet after all. And I was back to being impressed by her quick thinking instead of being angry at her risky behavior.
The noise and the heat from the reinvigorated blaze were enough to get the nosy neighbor to finally back off. He muttered something about being worried about his own home and family, scuttling across the lawn with the ties of his robe dragging on the grass and flashing a pair of very unflattering pink boxer shorts. With a raised eyebrow, I watched him go, pondering his statement that there had been no warning signs that the house was on fire aside from the smoke.
I didn’t know much about the unconscious woman in front of me, but I did know Aspen Barlow was diligent, precise, and always prepared. She didn’t strike me as the type of woman to let something like low batteries in a smoke detector slide. The entire neighborhood should’ve been woken up from the shriek and wail of the smoke alarms the minute the fire started. Not to mention Aspen should’ve had plenty of time to get out of her home. Combined with the earlier break-in, I had a really bad feeling. And not the normal kind I got when I had to deal with the feisty attorney.
I glanced at the paramedic closest to me and asked, “Is she going to be all right?”
The young guy looked over his shoulder at me and gave a half shrug. “She’s definitely dealing with some severe smoke inhalation, but her lungs haven’t collapsed. We all saw her take a header off the roof, so I’m sure she’s probably got a concussion. Can’t get a good look at the cut on the back of her head because of all her hair, but I imagine it needs to be stitched up. The ankle looks sprained, not broken. I would guess second-degree burns on her hand. She’s not in great shape, but nothing fatal as far as I can tell. Her blood pressure is a little bit low, which could be an early sign shock is setting in. That’s the most concerning thing going on right now. We’re going to take her to the emergency room over at Memorial. You can call them for updates on her condition.”
I nodded absently and looked back toward the now engulfed upper-level of Aspen’s home. There were several fire hoses turned on the blaze, water knocking the flames back and keeping them safely out of the reach of the other homes nearby. I saw the fire captain talking into a handheld radio, directing several of his men around the nearly destroyed home.
Picking my way across the now soggy and torn-up lawn, I headed to where the captain was staring at the wreckage through narrowed eyes. I’d worked with Warwick Nelson on more than one case over the years. He’d studied to be an EMT around the same time I was in the police academy. He’d also been promoted to fire chief right when I’d taken over the office of sheriff from my father. His promotion was one my father tried and failed to sabotage, simply because Warwick was biracial. There was no end to my old man’s prejudices.
I respected Wick. He was never one to look the other way when my father was running roughshod all over the citizens of Loveless. And I trusted him implicitly when it came to dealing with anything having to do with fires. Those that were intentionally set, and those that were not.
“The upper level is a total loss. I think my boys managed to save most of the main floor, minus the living room, where the master bedroom landed when it collapsed. She didn’t have any pets, or anything in there did she?” He cocked his head to the side and gave a questioning look.
I rubbed a hand over my mouth and shook my head. “I don’t think so. She said something about being glad she never got a cat right before she passed out, but the paramedics think she probably has a concussion.” Who knew if she was making any sense or not?
“The boys smelled an accelerant as soon as they went through the front door. If they had to guess they would point the finger at common gasoline. We’ll have to run some tests to be sure. I’m going to have to call in a fire investigator for this one, since it seems it was deliberately set.” He frowned as he said the words. “Don’t know who would want to hurt Aspen. She’s a nice gal. A little high-strung, but she offered to help my cousin out for practically nothing when she found out his ex-girlfriend took their baby during a scheduled visit and ran off. Don’t know if my family would’ve ever had a shot at seeing little Camilla again if it wasn’t for her.”
I grunted so I wouldn’t have to comment on Aspen being nice. All that mattered was her being a victim of not one, but two serious crimes in such a short span of time and while under my watch. It was my job to protect her and make sure she received justice for the crimes commited against her. Whether I liked her or not was irrelevant. “Her office was broken into earlier tonight. She couldn’t pinpoint a reason, but now I’m wondering if she kept a spare key to her house somewhere on the premises. Maybe they broke into her work space, so getting into her personal space wouldn’t be as difficult.”
“Can’t believe she didn’t hear the fire alarm. Jumping off the roof like that…” He shook his head and sighed. “She’s lucky she didn’t break her neck.”
“The neighbor in the bathrobe said there was no noise. The smoke detectors didn’t go off, so Aspen probably didn’t have any warning until she smelled the smoke as well.”
“Even if someone was moving around her house? They had to have doused the upper level. I mean soaked it down to the damn studs holding the house upright. That’s where all the damage is located. The rest of the house is barely touched.” Wick frowned and looked down at the radio in his hand as it squawked to life.
A disembodied voice declared, “We’ve got one hundred percent containment, Chief.”
“That’s good, Barnes. Get your crew out of there.” His attention shifted back in my direction, but I barely noticed.
I was thinking about someone moving through Aspen’s house with enough familiarity to know not only where her bedroom was located, but also where the smoke detectors were. The lady lawyer was in some deep shit. I could feel it.
I pushed a hand through my hair. It was rare I left the house without my Stetson, but the middle of the night emergency call, combined with an unwanted shot of panic when I heard who the victim was, meant I wasn’t firing on all cylinders when I ran out the door. None of the patrol units I sent to check on her house earlier in the night reported anything out of place or amiss. So the late-night call was unexpected and jarring. Luckily I’d remembered to leave Hayes a note at the last minute just in case I didn’t make it back before he had to get up and head to school.
I clapped a hand on Wick’s beefy shoulder and inclined my head in the direction of where I’d parked my SUV. “I’m gonna swing by the hospital and check on Ms. Barlow. Maybe she’s awake and can give me more to go on than she did for the office break-in. Give your investigator my number. I’m gonna have questions after he goes over the scene.” I was going to have lots of them.
“Case.” I paused midstep and looked back at the fire chief. “The girl just lost everything. And I do mean everything. All her personal effects are ash. Maybe take it easy on her for once.” Dark eyes assessed me knowingly, and I pushed down the urge to flinch. I’d been civil to Aspen all throughout the day, but our animosity toward each other was well known. “I don’t think she had any family in town aside from her ex and former in-laws. She could use a friend when she wakes up.”
I stiffened and narrowed my eyes. “I’m going to find out who’s harassing her and I’m going to make sure she’s safe. Both of those things are my job. But I will not be Aspen Barlow’s friend.” I barked the words with more force than necessary. However, there was a smal
l, sneaky part of my brain trying to ask why I was so determined to keep on loathing her.
Wick chuckled and used his elbow to nudge me in my ribs. “Didn’t say it had to be you. Give your sister a call. She’s the nicest out of all you stubborn Lawtons. I’m sure Kody wouldn’t mind taking a ride over to Memorial and giving the poor girl something to wear. I’m not kidding when I tell you everything she had in that upper level is gone.”
I grunted again and nodded absently. Wick was wrong about my little sister being the nicest Lawton. She was wild, fierce, mouthy, bossy, and a total pain in the ass. She had to be while living under Conrad Lawton’s roof. She was also unwaveringly loyal. My baby sister knew I put a lot of the blame on losing Hayes directly at Aspen’s doorstep. She’s always made it a point to dislike the woman on principle alone. Plus, they ran in very different circles. Aspen owned the courtroom while dressed in designer pantsuits and sky-high heels. My baby sister owned a dive bar and wore cutoffs and battered boots to work. I wasn’t sure Aspen would appreciate the hand-me-downs, even if I could convince Kody to play nice.
“I’ll try Kody first, and if she tells me to go to hell, I’ll ask Crew if Della left anything at their place before she went to Paris.”
My little sister was a wild card, but my younger brother’s girlfriend was as predictable as they come. Della Deveaux was as far from the type of woman I’d ever expected my reckless, careless, slightly broken little brother to settle down with. The woman had class through and through. She was stunning in an expensive and practically untouchable way. She was also a bona fide city girl, one with a high-paying, high-class, high-profile job. She was often jetting off to places like Paris, London, and Milan, but for some reason, she was stuck on my kid brother and seemed happy enough to call Loveless home when she wasn’t on the go.
Della was also much nicer than Kody, on any given day, even if she came across as ice-cold upon first impression. If my little sister didn’t want to be charitable, I knew Della wouldn’t mind sacrificing some of her stuff for the greater good.
Wick nudged me again and offered a lopsided grin. “You got a good family, Case. Don’t know how you kids made it into decent human beings growing up under Conrad’s thumb. But you did, and you should be proud. You might wanna remember how hard you worked to be seen as more than Conrad Lawton’s boy. I think our local lawyer might know a little something about trying to be accepted.” He walked away with a promise to put the fire investigator in touch.
Grumbling under my breath about never being able to catch a break. I called my sister. It was a little past one in the morning, so I knew she would still be at the bar, getting ready to shut things down. Kody loved that dive more than she loved me and Crew half the time. When our mother passed away, she left each of us a small inheritance. Kody used her share to open the bar. She claimed it was the one thing she had that kept her close to our mom, since our dad had all but banished mom from the house as soon as her headstone went up.
“Hey, big brother. Why you callin’ so late? I haven’t broken any laws…today.” Kody was always quick with a joke and with her temper. Sometimes I wondered if she had more of our father in her than she wanted to admit, but then she would do something totally selfless and kind, and remind me she was without a doubt our mother’s carbon copy.
“I have a situation and I was hoping you could help me out.” I wasn’t one to reach out. I tended to believe I could handle anything coming my way on my own, but I had no idea how to handle Aspen Barlow. The damn woman had had the upper hand since I met her.
“Case Lawton asking for help? Has hell frozen over?” Kody pulled the phone away from her mouth before yelling, “Last call, losers. Drink ’em up!” There were groans and some complaints in the background, and I could perfectly picture my sister rolling her expressive green eyes. She was the only one who inherited our father’s penetrating green gaze. When we were little, she begged our mom for blue contacts so she could match me and Crew. Now that we were all grown, I often wondered if her desire was more about not looking like Conrad than it was about looking like us. “What’s going on, Case? You never call out of the blue asking for favors. That’s much more Crew’s thing.”
I sighed and rubbed my tired eyes. “There was a fire tonight. Aspen Barlow’s house went up, and she lost everything. They sent her to the hospital unconscious and bruised from head to toe because she jumped off of the second story to escape. She could use a helping hand, and I was hoping that hand might be yours.”
There was a moment of silence before Kody let loose with a long line of swear words. “Aspen Barlow? We hate her. She ruined your life. She took Hayes away from you. Why on God’s green earth would you be worried about helping her out? She married rich. Let the Barlows figure it out, we have more important things to worry about than some rich bitch lawyer.”
I sighed again and tried not to picture my very comfy bed and a full night’s sleep. “I have my reasons to hate her. That doesn’t mean you have to. Plenty of people in this town seem to have nothing but good things to say where she’s concerned, and she sure as shit didn’t do anything to deserve what happened to her house tonight.” I climbed into the SUV and dropped my forehead down so I could rest it on the steering wheel. “And I worry about her because I want to be better than Dad was. Ignoring someone who lost everything just because we have bad blood in the past is exactly what Conrad Lawton would’ve done while wearing this badge. I refuse to be like him. I refuse to let you or Crew be like him.”
Kody went quiet for a long minute. I really wasn’t sure which way she was going to go. Sometimes her hotheaded stubbornness got the better of her, but I liked to believe her huge heart would always win out. Luckily my faith paid off because after another swearing jag Kody growled, “Fine. Let me kick the last few holdouts outta the bar, and I’ll run home and throw together a bag to get her through a few days. I doubt anyone with the last name Barlow has ever worn clothing bought from Target, but beggars can’t be choosers.”
“She wasn’t always a Barlow. I’m sure she’ll be grateful for whatever you come up with. She might not even be awake yet. She smacked her head pretty good when she jumped. I’m not sure how badly she was injured. I’m on my way to the hospital now to check up on her and see if I can ask her some questions.” There were so many questions. “Thanks, Kode. I knew I could count on you.”
She snorted. “No, you didn’t, which is why you pulled the ‘don’t be like dad’ card. You’ve always been really good at playing dirty without anyone realizing it, Case. But I can see right through you.”
She really could. Through both me and Crew. She was the only one who really understood either of us.
“I appreciate you playing nice. I’ll see you in a few.” I hung up the phone after a quick good-bye and started the SUV. I could feel exhaustion tugging at me, but I didn’t have time for it. I was going to have to swing by the twenty-four-hour diner on the way to the ER and grab the biggest black coffee they made to go. The stuff at the hospital was only a step above the crap we made at the station. I had no idea how long I was going to be hanging around, waiting for Aspen to wake up, or even if she was going to be able to talk when she did. Smoke inhalation was a real bitch, and she’d barely been able to speak when she was mumbling about the cat.
It looked like I was in it for the long haul.
Chapter 5
Aspen
There you go. Get those eyes open, Sleeping Beauty.” I wasn’t sure why, but I wanted to obey the command. “In my experience, there are no princes wandering aimlessly around Loveless. And honestly, if some dude is trying to kiss you while you’re unconscious, you should press charges, not fall madly in love with him.”
I didn’t recognize the voice. But that might be because my head felt like it was going to split into two. The second I tried to peel an eye open, a whimper of pain ripped out of my sore lungs. I hurt all over, my entire body aching. I was miserable and still didn’t know who was in the room with me, but she was fun
ny. I agreed with her about the lack of princes in Loveless. I could hear someone moving around, and there was a faint scent of wildflowers mixed with something darker and smoky, like expensive booze. I didn’t know anyone who smelled that way, or who spoke in such a brash, flippant manner.
“Seriously, wake up. I don’t think my brother has been home in over forty-eight hours. He looks like shit, and he’s going to crash and burn any minute if you don’t open your eyes and tell him you’re okay so he can get back to his kid and regularly scheduled life. I get that having your house go up in flames while you’re inside of it makes for a really shitty night, but sooner or later you’re going to have to open your eyes and get to work on cleaning up the mess.”
The voice got closer, and I felt the brush of cool fingertips against my forehead. “I think it’s pretty badass you dived off the roof and saved yourself. I think I would’ve done the exact same thing in your shoes. Case insists there was a better way, one that wouldn’t have landed you in a hospital bed, but he always thinks he knows best. I call it big brother syndrome. I’m surprised he’s as worried about you as he is. I mean he’s a good sheriff and gives his all to his job, but he really doesn’t like you.” A soft laugh tugged at my consciousness, and I struggled to look at the woman with the soft drawl who was currently my only link to reality. “Case likes everyone. He always has. I think he tries to make up for Dad pretty much hating everyone who was even slightly different. I guess that makes you pretty special.”
Finally, I managed to pry my eyelids open a slit. The light burned its way into my skull and the pain radiating all over my body intensified by 100 percent. When I moaned in complaint, my throat felt like it was doused with acid. I was a mess, but eventually, the woman leaning over the bedrail swam into focus.
Justified Page 6
