by Sharon Dunn
It might have been a long time since he last saw her, but he knew Claire couldn’t have changed that much. She’d always been the toughest person he’d ever known. She’d chosen a field that was difficult for men, and even harder for women. Requirements were the same no matter who you were. Lifting heavy equipment, climbing huge ladders and working long shifts, you had to be strong. Strong enough to keep up both physically and emotionally. And yet Claire had excelled, despite the fact that there were few women in her field. The road hadn’t always been easy, but her determinedness—and stubbornness—had pushed her toward the top. He wasn’t surprised at all she was now an investigator. That was what she’d always wanted.
But something was definitely wrong.
It was dark when he strode into the sheriff’s office where his brother Griffin was on duty at the front desk at half past five.
“Hey...” Griffin got up out of his chair to greet his brother. “I wasn’t expecting to see you until dinner tonight at the ranch. Something wrong?”
“It is, actually. You heard about the fire at the B&B?”
“I did. Sounds like the damage is pretty severe, though I was told no one was hurt except for one guest who was trapped in her room and suffered from smoke inhalation.”
Reid leaned against the front counter. “That someone was Claire Holiday.”
Griffin’s eyes widened. “Your Claire Holiday?”
“She’s not my Claire, but yes.”
“Is she okay?”
“Yes, but it could have been a lot worse.”
“What’s she doing here?”
“Apparently there are some who believe that the fire at the Reynolds farm might be connected to the Rocky Mountain Arsonist.”
“So an arson investigator comes to town and is trapped in a fire?” Griffin frowned. “I’m sorry, but that sounds extremely off to me.”
“Yes, it does. I heard they think it might have been started by an electrical fire, but why couldn’t she get out? It doesn’t make sense. According to her, she was trapped in the room. I know Claire, or at least I used to, and she’s not the kind of person to panic in a situation like that. She’s trained to know exactly what to do. It just doesn’t make sense.”
“That does seem to be a pretty odd coincidence. Have you talked to her at all?”
“I’m the one who pulled her out of the fire.”
“But have you talked to her?”
“Not really. Just to make sure she was okay.”
“I know this has to be awkward for the two of you, but you’re probably going to be working with her.”
“She’ll be working with the captain. Not me.”
At least that was his plan.
“I always liked her—”
“Don’t even go there.” Reid pushed down the rising irritation, knowing exactly where his brother’s train of thought was heading. “Just because I’m the last of the O’Callaghan brothers to either be married or engaged, doesn’t mean that’s going to change.”
“That’s not what you thought a few years ago.”
Reid shoved his hands into his front pockets. “We were different people back then, and I’ll be the first to admit that I made a lot of mistakes. I tried to make things right after breaking up with her. She’s the one who never responded.”
His mother would have called him the prodigal son. She’d told him once that she’d prayed night after night that he’d get his life together, hoping God was working even when she couldn’t see it.
Eventually he’d done just that, and never turned back.
“To be fair, you did break up with her,” Griffin said.
“I think it’s time to drop the subject.”
But it was a subject that was hard to forget.
They’d spent their day off skiing in Loveland, then had driven down to Silverthorne where he’d planned a romantic evening at a cozy restaurant. But instead their perfect day had ended in a fight and subsequent break up. Maybe he should have seen it coming. She’d been hinting for weeks that she wanted more out of their relationship. That it was time for them to talk about settling down and getting married. But as much as he’d loved her, back then marriage had terrified him. He just wasn’t ready. So instead, he’d panicked and lost her.
“I stopped by because I need your help with something,” Reid said, pulling his thoughts out of the past. “I need to listen to the 911 recording of her call.”
“That can be arranged. What are you looking for?”
“I’m not sure. I’m hoping I know when I hear it.”
A minute later, Griffin had the audio of the call set up at an empty desk. Reid listened to the entire recording, then listened to it a second time.
Ma’am... I’d like you to go try the door again.
I told you it’s locked somehow. It won’t open.
I understand, but I’d like you to try again. It’s easy to panic in a situation like this—
I’m not panicking. It’s jammed.
“I don’t know.” Reid pulled off the headset he’d been wearing, then turned back to his brother. “Something isn’t adding up. Claire insists that her door was jammed, as well as the window, and that she couldn’t get out. Normally, I’d say it was panic, but she’s trained as a firefighter, Griffin. We need to figure out what happened in there.”
He didn’t want to jump to any conclusions, but what if Claire had been targeted?
Copyright © 2020 by Lisa Harris
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ISBN-13: 9781488061547
Alaskan Christmas Target
Copyright © 2020 by Sharon Dunn
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
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