Crash and Burn (Wildfire Hearts Book 1)

by Savannah Kade

  “That sounds wonderful!” Maggie felt the relief slide through her whole system. Sebastian could go to work. “We can have a movie night.”

  Seline was still grinning as she reached for a third slice of pizza. She was smart, and apparently handy with a gun. Maggie thought it was great, but what would Sebastian say?

  Chapter Fifty-Three

  “Kane, Hernandez, fall back.” The words were like music in his ear.

  The struggle against the corn field fire had been epic and exhausting. It had started with the alarm hours ago and was nowhere near being contained.

  Sebastian and Luke offered each other a subtle nod, acknowledging that they were getting relieved. They had, after all, been on the line the longest.

  The Chief’s voice came through the comm again. “Kelly, Smith, you’re in.”

  Sebastian kept working, his second wind—or maybe third or fourth—giving out now that he knew his time was limited.

  He and Luke had been digging trenches, hoping to stop the fire that ate dry cornstalks in a rage. The owner had passed, so the field wasn’t planted. No one had watered it. The house had stood empty until a buyer had moved in just a few months ago. The buyer wasn’t a farmer and didn’t understand the fields still needed to be tended.

  So, not surprisingly, it was now fully ablaze. The families at the neighboring farms were concerned. And the new owner was frantic.

  Sebastian felt the tap on his shoulder and executed a carefully choreographed handoff. As he and Luke hightailed it away from the line, he lifted the mask from his face and breathed air that was cooler and less artificial tasting. It felt like heaven, though the sweat was still running down his spine.

  He positioned himself not to bump Luke in their bulky gear as they rummaged through the cooler for a bottle of water, which he gulped in its entirety. Only when he’d drunk most of it, did he realize that the sun was coming up.

  “Oh, that’s beautiful,” Luke commented as he crushed the plastic of his water bottle and screwed the lid back on.

  The two stood there watching—grateful to not be digging—as the sun rose directly over the flames. The fire was nowhere near under control. “We are not walking off shift at eight a.m.”

  “I got nowhere I have to be,” Luke commented and reached into a second cooler for an energy bar.

  Sebastian polished off the water bottle and tucked the trash into the bag that had been set next to the cooler. “I wanted to meet the neighbor who was staying with Maggie last night.”

  “Don’t trust her?”

  On the one hand, Maggie was excited because she felt she’d made a friend, and Sebastian loved that. On the other hand … “I’m not sure about the two of them staying in the house alone. Not because they’re women, but because I don’t know Seline.”

  He had to trust Maggie's assessment of her and he did, his concern was mostly that Seline was blond, like the Blue River Killer’s victims. “Two women in the house seems like way too much bait.”

  “He hasn’t broken in again, has he?” All the guys knew what was going on, especially since Sebastian had returned to A-shift.

  “No. Every noise and bump has turned out to be nothing.” Nothing he could prove at least.

  Of all the people Maggie could have picked, she’d chosen the best bait possible for both predators. It made him very nervous.

  Seline’s father being military and her claimed handiness with a gun was a plus. He felt better about Maggie as well after they'd been to the range several times. But he kept all of this to himself. Turning to the chief, he asked, “How much longer?”

  The chief held up a finger, letting him know the man was calculating something. Sebastian reached for a second bottle of water. He’d drunk the first out of sheer thirst. The second he drank rotely, knowing that if he didn't stay hydrated, he didn't stay on the job.

  His phone was back at the station, the digital world completely on hold every time they fought a fire. There was no room to be interrupted by messages and calls. The closest he could get now to messaging Maggie was to interrupt the woman from next door, who was filming the blaze on her cell phone.

  But that was not allowed, for various solid reasons, and he was left trusting that Maggie was okay. He told himself that he would catch the marvelous Seline Marchand next time.

  Maggie had clients this morning. And no one had broken in during the day. So, he repeated the mantra to himself, she would be okay.

  He was still telling himself that at noon. When B-shift had arrived and the fire was blazing on … and his uneasy feeling about Maggie was growing stronger.

  Chapter Fifty-Four

  Maggie had only seen one client that morning and she was already craving a nap. She and Seline had stayed up late the night before eating ice cream directly from the carton and watching Dirty Dancing. Seline had never seen it and Maggie had decided to correct that error.

  It was possible she’d made a friend for life in the process, and it felt good to be in her thirties and making new friends of her own. Seline was smart, cultured, funny, and had the worst poker face ever.

  Though Maggie hadn’t slept any better than her usual, no one had disturbed the place. There weren’t even the regular bumps and knocks she and Sebastian had grown used to investigating.

  She had an hour between clients and was seriously contemplating the logistics of a power nap. Since many of her clients tended to show up early and she couldn’t nap in a business suit anyway it didn’t look like it would happen.

  In lieu of her much-needed nap, Maggie headed into the kitchen and poured herself another cup of coffee. Maybe the caffeine would keep her awake.

  Sebastian still wasn’t home, but the local morning news told her the team was fighting a huge fire on one of the farms. So far, no one had been injured—which she expected, the guys were good at their jobs. But it was an all hands on deck situation. Another local team and a volunteer unit from Beatrice had been brought in to help.

  Sitting down at the table, her shoulders slumped. She was still tired but tapped out another message to Sebastian, letting him know she’d added another client this afternoon and to let himself into the house.

  Maggie had barely sat down when she realized the coffee wasn’t going to cut it. Suddenly she felt even more tired. She was going to need actual food for fuel.

  She shouldn't be this bad. Sure, she and Seline had stayed up late, but …

  Maybe she was just getting old. Maybe Aunt Abbie and her old woman ways were wearing off on Maggie. Then again, maybe she simply hadn’t slept well in several weeks and her body decided that this was the last straw.

  But the fun night of movies and hanging with Seline had been worth it.

  Heading into the kitchen, she opened the pantry and stuck her head in. Potato chips? Given the junk food she and Seline had eaten last night, she knew she should find something better. She closed the pantry and heard a creak behind her.

  Strange, she thought. The idea had barely registered before she had turned around and spotted the man standing in front of her fridge. He leaned back against the appliance, arms crossed, baseball cap pulled low.

  Everything in her froze. She should have screamed bloody murder, but she was too startled.

  She should have had her gun on her, but it was broad daylight and she was seeing clients.

  She should fight, but he wasn’t fighting her. Just looking up, kind face and clear blue eyes. Maybe this was just someone who wanted legal services? Was this Merrit Geller? Maggie couldn’t tell.

  So she stared at him.

  He was grinning, but then he tipped his head as though to examine her and everything clicked. This was Merrit Geller.

  For half a second she had the very odd reaction of wanting to pump her fist in the air and yell, yes, we were right. But it wouldn’t be a victory if he got hold of her.

  “Hello, Geller.” She said it in her best unafraid voice, but the fact was she was petrified.

  “Hello, Magdalyn,” he repl
ied.

  Shit. Anyone guessing would have called her Margaret. He knew who she was. Though she hadn't voiced her thoughts about this to Sebastian, she’d known that Merrit Geller would kill her if he found her. He had to.

  She could now definitively link him to everything in the house. His fingerprints would match everything else. Now that she’d seen him, she could ID him to the police. She didn’t need anything more than she already had right now to confirm he was the La Vista Rapist.

  But as her eyes darted downward, she saw that he was wearing thin, leather gloves.

  Shit, she thought again. She blinked as he held up his hand and smiled, seeming to catch on to what she’d been thinking. How had he read her so clearly?

  He was making no move to launch at her.

  Maggie thought for a minute about what her next move should be. If he wasn’t actively attacking her then she could think of an escape. She stayed still, not quite able to put her thoughts together. The fear was far more overwhelming than she'd expected it to be.

  “Where's my list?” he asked.

  The public didn’t know that it was anything more than just a piece of paper, as far as Maggie knew. His words meant the list was, in fact, his.

  “The police took it,” she replied though, in her fear, her words ran together.

  As she watched, his features contorted to rage, his fists clenched in the thin, evidence-concealing gloves. But he didn't move from where he leaned against her refrigerator.

  Maggie hadn't moved from in front of the pantry. In fact, she realized she was leaning back on the door.

  She would get out of this. He might know the house, but she did, too.

  She'd been practicing what she would do if he got in. Here was her chance to make it pay off. She could run to the front door, but she’d have to be faster than him. She could run to the back door, but that would put her in the back yard, and further from help or anyone who could likely see her.

  But running to the back of the house would mean she could get the gun she’d left on the shelf … easy to grab, but hard to spot.

  That plan would still leave her at the back of the house. The neighbors wouldn’t see what was happening. They might not even hear if she screamed. She’d bolted the back door, since that was how he’d been coming and going at first. It would take too long to go out that door if she was being chased.

  Maggie was on her own, so she made the decision to run through the back room, loop to the front door, and shoot if she had to. Now all she had to do was make a break for it without looking like she was getting ready to bolt. And she probably already did … he’d read her clearly when she looked at his gloves. Maggie tried something else.

  She looked Merrit Geller dead in the eyes and asked, “How did you get in?”

  He laughed. “I walked right through the front door.”

  Her stomach rolled. She hadn't even locked it behind her clients. He smiled again. He could probably read her stunned recognition of her own error on her face.

  “But,” she started to speak, the anger at herself leaking out around the word even though her mouth felt cottony.

  Once again, he grinned. “Feeling a little sluggish, Magdalyn? That was some really good coffee …”

  Holy shit. He’d drugged her in her own home. She looked down to her hand, where she could barely form a fist. All the things she planned and practiced—punching him, grabbing her gun, running—none of it mattered.

  Because she was moving through jello.

  There was nothing she could do. Sebastian wasn't home and Merrit Geller was right in front of her and she couldn’t fight.

  Chapter Fifty-Five

  Sebastian was exhausted, but he found just enough energy to make a necessary run by his place first.

  He was running out of clothes. He needed a second bottle of shampoo from his cabinet. He wanted the number of a florist so he could get flowers for Maggie. Her birthday was coming up.

  All the things he needed were still at his place. He climbed the steps and fit the key into the lock. The apartment felt empty now. Aside from a few nights here with Maggie, he hadn’t lived in his own home in a while.

  So he gathered the things he needed and checked his phone.

  Though Maggie had kept him up to date on her extra meeting and such, she hadn't replied to his previous message. But that was probably because she was still with her client.

  Or maybe she was out to lunch with Seline. No, he thought, scratch that. His tired brain rolled over. Seline had left early to work in the city or something. That was why he wouldn’t get to meet her today.

  He headed back down to the garage, his bag now heavy in his hand. He aimed automatically for his bike before deciding on the car. Most days the bike was a great idea. But days like today, when he was completely exhausted, simply keeping it up right for the short ride was too much.

  Waving to his neighbor as he pulled out, he waited on the gate that was so slow he might just fall asleep. Luckily, the drive to Maggie’s was short and he parked next to her car in the driveway.

  His heart loosened at the sight of the car, relieved that she was still here.

  He headed through the side gate and walked the short stone path to the laundry room door. Sebastian entered the house trying to make as little noise as possible, something about the backyard bothered him, but he’d ask Maggie later. He just needed to see her.

  Hoping not to disturb her with whatever clients she might be seeing, he didn’t yell a ridiculous, Hi, honey, I'm home. But he felt like it. They almost felt like an old married couple to him, and he liked it. Knowing that he was in the right place and that she wanted to be with him as much as he wanted to be with her was freeing.

  Once he saw her office door was ajar, he headed upstairs to drop his bag on the bed. But as he came back down the steps, he realized that he didn’t hear her speaking to anyone. And there wasn’t another car parked out front.

  Sebastian began calling for her through the house.

  But Maggie didn't answer.

  He was a firefighter, he looked for kids who were hiding under beds while their house blazed around them. Though the image of the last child he’d found rushed back into his mind, he didn’t panic.

  He checked everything before he got worried.

  But when his first sweep didn’t reveal Maggie, he ran back through the house. He looked in every room and even knocked on the closed upstairs bathroom door and opened it when he got no answer.

  “Maggie? Maggie, I'm home!”

  Heading into Sabbie’s office, he unbolted and opened the door to the balcony in case she’d decided to sit out in a chair and enjoy the sun. But Maggie wasn't there either. He ran back down the stairs and checked the front patio, still calling for her.

  This time, there was no child under the bed to save. He was starting to get that sinking feeling he had as he handed Tyler Miller’s limp body to his mother. The one that told him the child had been alive moments before … and how had this happened?

  He dialed his friend. “Kalan, I can’t find Maggie. Have you heard from her?” He almost hung up when the answer was no.

  Sebastian regretted not making Maggie check in everywhere she went. It was daytime and all the break ins had come at night. He told himself she was safe. She was probably just running an errand and giving him a heart attack in the process.

  He did have Seline’s number. So he called her next. The sweet lilt of her French accent colored her words as she answered the phone. “Hello, Sebastian.”

  “Do you know where Maggie is?” He couldn’t help the harsh tone in his voice.

  “What? No. I left at seven-thirty. I’m in Lincoln, teaching. I had classes this morning.”

  Yes, he thought. That was exactly what he’d understood. School had recently started up again. He told himself that Seline was in the right place and everything was okay. Everything was fine. Maggie would be in the right place, too. But his racing heart didn’t agree with the bullshit his head was pedali
ng. “Did she go somewhere for research? Her car is still here.”

  Many things were close by in Redemption. Had she walked?

  “Maybe she hit the library, or the county clerk for records. She said one client was trying to divide some land …?” Seline offered and he felt his chest loosen from where it had tightened down to a pebble. That was a valid point. Chances were Maggie had simply gone somewhere. But she had to know she would petrify him if he didn’t know where she was.

  “Thank you, Seline. I'll check,” he said, trying to keep his voice light and his worry from bleeding into someone else's life.

  Sebastian bolted out the front door not sure which way to head as both directions lead back to the main street. He made a loop, trying not to look frantic, he ducked into storefronts, checked the library, and dialed her phone repeatedly.

  When he’d completed his panicked search, he was back at her house, but hadn’t found her. He went in through the front door again, checking rooms when he heard her phone beep.

  Thank God, she was here. “Maggie!”

  She didn’t answer and he headed toward the sound. It beeped again, and this time he followed the noise to the kitchen. He turned the corner, concerned again when she wasn’t there. When he saw her phone, unattended on the counter next to the pantry every cell in his body went rigid.

  Why was her phone here if she wasn’t? “Maggie?”

  He practically screamed it as he ran around to the back of the house and out the back door. He knew, he just knew, she was gone.

  He bolted across the yard almost missing the trail of footprints in the grass. The morning had been humid, which helped them fight the fire. It also made the grass more likely to leave tracks, and Sebastian didn't like what he was seeing.