Up in Flames (Firehouse Three Book 1)

by Sidney Bristol

  Arthur glanced at Hunter. The detective was a cool cucumber. He had to be in this part of Dallas, but shit, Justin wasn’t making friends.

  “I’d like to get Ms. Durcell’s official statement on the theft, if you don’t mind, gentlemen?” Arthur turned toward Jesse

  “Hold up, this is my company,” Justin whirled around, phone pressed to his ear.

  “Our company.” Jesse glared at her brother. “It’s not Justin’s construction. It’s Durcell Construction, and it’s my ass on the line.”

  “Jesse—” Justin growled her name.

  “Detective? It’s cooler inside. I’d also like to see the damage to the locker.” Jesse gestured to the trailer.

  Arthur took the lead and Hunter followed, shutting the door before any of the brothers could assist in the walkthrough.

  Once they were inside, her posture changed. Her shoulders slumped and she flopped into a rolling desk chair. Her face creased to the point that she looked to be in pain.

  “I’m sorry about my brothers. They take overprotective to the next level.” Jesse tossed the ice pack onto a desk.

  The interior of the trailer was dusty, but neat. The laminate floor was in good condition, though the wood panel walls showed their age.

  “This where you keep the explosives?” Arthur strolled toward a metal wire door. Some of wires had been snipped and pried back with force. Damage like that would take time, which meant whoever was behind this knew when to hit the trailer.

  “Yes. And our safe.” Jesse rubbed her head. “We’re building a permanent office in bits and pieces. Until more of the structure is up, we have our safe, the explosives, everything of value, in there.”

  Hunter crowded up behind Arthur. The back end of the trailer had been reinforced with metal plates and a metal wire fence welded into place. The only entry was through a metal grate door with what appeared to be two locks.

  “Only one of these locks is broken.” Arthur had on gloves and used his fingertips to shift the door.

  “Makes sense.” Jesse pushed up to her feet and stepped closer. “You need two keys to open it. Justin has one, James and I have the other. Then the demo locker has a different one that only I have a copy of.”

  “How many know about the keys?”

  “Everyone knows I’m the only person who can get into the demo locker. I’m not sure who knows about the two-lock system. We don’t exactly talk about that a lot, and no one has keys to the trailer besides the three of us.” Jesse stared at Arthur. “You think it’s someone on our crew?”

  Arthur made a humming noise.

  Jesse’s gaze slid to Hunter.

  She wanted answers.

  “Most crimes aren’t random.” Hunter grimaced. Being a firefighter put him on the front lines of a lot of crimes. He wasn’t a cop, but he’d learned enough about criminal behavior to recognize a few, important factors. “A theft like this? They’re someone you know, or someone who knows a man on your crew.”

  “Shit.”

  “Okay,” Arthur turned to face them, “let’s start with yesterday. Can you walk me through from the moment you got to the fair till now?”

  “I…I got to the fair and parked way in the back.” Jesse sank back into her desk chair, elbows on her knees and smoothed a hand over her hair. “It’s a big, one-ton truck. I paid for two parking spaces so I wouldn’t be a dick. Everly was busy so I walked around a while. A couple of the construction guys were there with their families. We got vouchers for the beer garden and gave them out to whoever wanted them, so I knew some of the guys would be there.”

  “Can you remember who?” Arthur had his phone out, stylus in hand, jotting down notes.

  “Uh, yeah. I stopped and hung out with them before the auction. Shit.” Jesse pressed her fingers to her forehead and pressed her lips together. “Oscar, Ryan, Juan, Sean, PJ, John, Steve, Joe and…Will.”

  “Oscar, the same Oscar who found the locker broken into?”

  “Yes. Those are all good guys. They wouldn’t do something like this.”

  “Good people do a lot of bad stuff for good reasons.” Arthur shook his head. “What happened after the beer garden?”

  “I went to the auction. I was looking for the dog Everly told me about, met Hunter and after the auction we hung out.” She stared at the desk, her expression weary.

  Arthur’s gaze flicked from Jesse to Hunter. Somehow Jesse wasn’t blushing, which was a bit of a surprise.

  “And last time you saw your truck was…?”

  “When I paid for the parking. It was twenty-four hour parking. I would have been back in time.”

  “It’s okay. Let’s go over it again.” Arthur sat down and Hunter dragged a folding chair closer to Jesse. It was going to be a hell of a long day.

  She glanced up at Hunter, then Arthur. “I still need to inventory what’s there and…”

  “Not yet.” Arthur smiled, but it was sad. Someone had betrayed her, and he was going to expose them. It wasn’t a fun position to be in. Hunter sure as hell didn’t want to be Arthur right now. “I want to go over the events of last night one more time, then bring the guys in to do their thing.”

  “Christ, this is going to be a lot of paperwork.” Jesse scrubbed a hand over her face.

  “It always is.”

  7.

  Jesse felt as though more than her head had taken a pummeling today. The way Justin had so easily slipped back into treating her like a child really stung. Granted, he was always treating her like a kid, but sometimes it was worse. The micromanaging, the lack of faith. What was the point of all this if she couldn’t count on her family to have her back? Hunter had been more help with inventory and the paperwork than her crew. Granted, the crew had to go through questioning and the headache of turning their lives inside out, but still. Justin’s attitude set the tone, and not even James was speaking to her. They were her brothers. They should be there for her. Instead, she had a hunky firefighter feeding her pain killers and chocolate. Literally. He’d made her lick it off his hand when the candy bar got all melty.

  Hunter turned the Jeep down the long drive headed toward her home.

  The lights in the great house were on, which meant Justin, James and Nicholas were probably brainstorming ways to fix what they’d dubbed “her mess.” Once again, she was on the outside of her family circle. It felt like this was how it would always be with them. The boys and her. Alone.

  “Sorry about today,” she mumbled.

  “What’s there to be sorry for?” Hunter eased into one of the pseudo parking spots in front of her barn-house and shifted into park.

  “You did not sign up for this. I owe you.” It might be selfish, but hell, she’d needed someone around to lean on. She hadn’t been able to even suggest Hunter leave her alone with her own family, though it would have been the right thing to do. He’d gone from her hot hook-up to…she didn’t really know what he was to her. But he was more than a one-time thrill. More than an itch to scratch.

  “Look at it this way. I have a vested interest in helping you. I’d rather us find the thief than have to put out whatever fire they could start by using the explosives.” He turned toward her and reached into the back seat for Elsa.

  “I just…I can’t believe this, you know?” She stared off past the barn, into the night sky. Out here, it was easy to feel small with the stars stretched out so big overhead.

  If they didn’t find the explosives, if someone used them…

  Jesse swallowed.

  “Hey, come on. Arthur is going to find whoever did this and it’s going to be okay. Come on. Dinner’s getting cold and I’m sure your pack is ready to eat.”

  “Oh, shit. How’s Elsa with other dogs?” She grabbed the plastic bag of Chinese food they’d grabbed on the way home. So much for a date-date.

  “Really good. She’s probably going to pee herself from the excitement of having so many friends to play with. I don’t get her out enough with other dogs her size.”

  “Why�
�s that?”

  “The two closest dog parks banned pit bulls.”

  “Shit. Well, the only one of mine that might be a problem is Dumbledore, but he’s all bluff and no bite.”

  “Dumbledore? Sirius?”

  “What? I like Harry Potter.” She’d needed something to read while answering phones for her brothers, and what could be better than a kid out of place just like her? If only she’d had a cool wand and a vault full of money.

  “I guess finding a dog named Sirius was kismet?”

  “No, Everly said his papered name is something long and silly, so she picked a Harry Potter name I haven’t used yet so she can say she named him. We’ll have to see how Sirius and Elsa do with everyone.”

  They gathered their things and Hunter let Elsa off her leash so there wouldn’t be any tangle incidents. Jesse hoped the pack decided to behave tonight. She rarely had issues introducing new dogs. There’d be nothing but bad moods if she had to make them all sleep downstairs, but she didn’t have the patience to put up with their antics. Not after today.

  One by one, Jesse let her dogs out of the kennels, starting with her most docile furbaby. There was a bit of doggie side eye from Dumbledore and Lupin, but Elsa’s sweet nature won them over in a matter of moments.

  The real test was Sirius.

  Elsa didn’t have an aggressive bone in her body, but the new boy was the wild card.

  What would the pup with few manners do with so many new dogs around him?

  Jesse snapped a leash on Sirius just in case, then let him lope out to the end of the line. He came to a stiff, locked legs pose in front of Dumbledore, a burly, large black Labrador mixed with something that had to be related to a sasquatch. He wasn’t a pretty dog, but he had heart, discipline and a great desire to please.

  Dumbledore cocked his head sideways.

  Jesse held her breath.

  Sirius’ nose twitched.

  Come on, boys…

  Lupin crashed into Sirius and the two tumbled sideways while Elsa swooped in to tag the leggy Lupin. Jesse yelped and danced out of the way, her heart in her throat. Dumbledore joined in, planting a paw on Sirius’ shoulder and licking the pup’s face before bolting after the others.

  That was a good sign.

  “Come on, everyone. Who wants food?” Jesse slapped her thigh and tugged on Sirius’ lead.

  The mention of the F-word was enough to send the other five shooting up the stairs, Elsa following in their wake.

  It took a good twenty minutes to get all the dogs into the apartment and situated with their own bowls, plenty of water and enough toys on hand so the four-legged children wouldn’t have to fight over who got what squeaky ball. By the time Jesse collapsed onto the sofa Hunter had already reheated the food, kicked off his boots and made himself at home in her living room.

  “I’ll give you the nickel tour later. I’m starving.” She snagged her dinner and tucked in.

  Usually she’d be ten kinds of nervous about having someone new in her home. About the only people who ever came up here were Everly and James. Whenever Justin wanted to see her, he summoned her with a text, and Nicholas avoided her outright since…yeah. She didn’t want to think about that.

  Tonight she wasn’t concerned about how the place looked, which was saying something. Her decorating style could be called dog chic. Most of her stuff was covered in hair, slobber or fenced off to keep the pups away from it. Her furniture was all second-hand, because why get something new when a bored dog was going to chew on it anyway?

  “Your brothers going to show up again to try to kick my ass?” Hunter asked between bites of food.

  “I have a baseball bat and a hatchet near the door. I call dibs on Justin.”

  “Deal. James didn’t look too tough.” Hunter cocked his head to the side. “Do I want to know why you have a hatchet near the door?”

  “Nope.”

  “Okay, then.”

  “It’s not James you need to worry about. It’s Nick.” She rolled her eyes. “Nick and Justin used to get pissed at each other when they were teens and then they’d brawl all over the place. Mom would start howling for Nick’s dad and then it was trouble.”

  “What’s your dad do? I imagine he’s a lot like James and Justin.” Hunter grinned.

  “Dad died.”

  “Shit. I’m sorry. Open mouth, insert foot.”

  “It’s okay. I was pretty young when it happened.”

  “Mind…if I ask?”

  “Sure.” Jesse shrugged. Her heart hadn’t ached in a long time when it came to talking about Dad. She even liked pouring over what she remembered, except she was the only one. Neither of her brothers would speak about it, which left her once more at odds with her only remaining family. “I was…eight? Maybe seven. Dad was working in the oil field. There was some sort of accident and he was killed. We never really got the details from mom. She never could talk about it. James was thirteen, Justin sixteen. Mom went to work for Nick’s dad’s roofing company. She worked the office and Justin got paid under the table to make end’s meat, and when James was old enough he joined the crew, too.”

  “Wow, your mom must have been something.”

  “Something else.” Jesse chewed without tasting her food. Ah, there it was, the familiar flavor of bitterness. Where the memories of Dad were a warm balm, talking about Mom still stung. “I have a theory the guys don’t like to hear that Mom and Nick’s dad were having an affair. Justin yelled at me when I asked them about it, but Nick didn’t deny it. Mom stuck it out for…five years. I was about to turn thirteen when she…just left.”

  “What?”

  Jesse shrugged. It was a sad story, but there were dozens more like it in the world. The only remarkable thing was that it didn’t bother her as much anymore. Yeah, they’d had a lot of hard years but Justin and James had stepped in, and it wasn’t like Nick’s family had let them out of sight, which only reinforced her theory that Nick’s dad felt a huge load of guilt where they were concerned.

  Human relationships were complicated. The loss of her father had devastated four lives, and many others connected to them. Jesse wasn’t going to fault her mom or Nick’s dad for what might have happened. Hell, if he’d helped Mom, she might even thank him. Though in the end it hadn’t changed how things went down, and inevitably, maybe it secured her brother’s jobs with the roofing company. Guilt was a powerful motivator, as she was learning first hand.

  “That—that sucks. Where’d she go?” Hunter wasn’t eating anymore. He’d put his fork down and turned to face her. Jesse was too hungry to give up food even if she wasn’t tasting it, so she did her best between bites.

  “Justin looked her up a few years ago through a PI guy. Between us? He was always a momma’s boy. When dad died, he idolized the way she took care of us, so…to him she’s still this saint. James and I have a little different view of her because we were younger.” She shrugged and took a drink.

  “Best we can tell without talking to her—I have no interest in talking to her at least—is that she got on a bus to Tennessee, checked herself into a hospital and stayed there for six weeks for observation in their psych ward. My memory from back then is fuzzy, my brothers did a lot to keep me in the dark, but I’d guess she was depressed. None of us had the luxury of grieving Dad. He was just gone and we had to make do. I think it was too much for her, and if she was having an affair with Nick’s dad, it didn’t help things, you know? He had a wife and a kid, too.”

  “Shit. I could see that.” Hunter grimaced and pushed his food around. “You wouldn’t want to see her to…I dunno, tell her how she made you feel? Get some closure?”

  Jesse considered it for a moment. She’d spent half her life figuring out her complicated feelings for her mother and she still didn’t quite have a handle on them.

  “No. She was messed up and hurting. We were hurting. Maybe if we’d found her earlier I’d want to talk to her, but she stopped being my mom long before she left. A part of me will always lo
ve the woman I remember, but that’s not who she is now, you know?”

  “Yeah.” Hunter stared at the pile of race on his plate. “I get that.”

  Did he?

  Jesse slowed her chewing and studied Hunter for a moment. She’d been so wrapped up in her retelling she hadn’t noticed how…still Hunter was. It was a different stillness from when he’d pounced on her. A sort of sad resignation hung on his shoulders. She could see herself in his posture, the way he stared off at nothing.

  What was his story?

  Who’d done him wrong?

  Her heart ached for him, for the pain he’d gone through. She wouldn’t wish her hell on anyone, least of all Hunter. He might play at being a devil may care kind of guy, but his still waters ran deep in a way she recognized.

  “What’d she do after the hospital?” Hunter asked after a pregnant pause.

  “Not sure, but the PI was able to dig up some information on her living in Kentucky and South Carolina for a while. She’s in Georgia now with a new husband.”

  “And…she doesn’t even call or talk to you or anything?”

  “No, never, and you know what? That’s okay. I was pretty fucked up for a few years because I felt like I was the baggage being passed around. I could have done with closure then. Now I don’t think it would matter. I did what I could to help out, but it was never enough. Justin and James were old enough to work and do something about it, but I was Mom and Dad’s happy accident and still a kid. The only thing I could do was screw up.” She set the food down and leaned back, staring up at the ceiling.

  Hunter shifted to sit next to her and laid his hand on her knee. This was who he was. The tattoos and flirting didn’t define him. That was for show. Like how the guys on her crew liked to tell dirty jokes and laugh too loud at obnoxious jokes. This? The quiet show of support, the guy willing to take a punch for her and hang out in a dirty, hot trailer all day—that was who Hunter really was. And she liked him. She wanted to understand him better. Get to know the type of guy who tattooed his arms, named his dog after a cartoon character and volunteered to help a rescue.