Up in Flames (Firehouse Three Book 1)

by Sidney Bristol

  Jesse muttered a, “No problem.”

  She had a bad feeling about this meeting.

  No one spoke while the waitress sat them in a corner table, away from the handful of patrons at the café this early.

  “Should we order first?” Arthur asked.

  “Yes, please, I’m starving.” Hunter stretched his arm across the back of her seat.

  How could he look so…relaxed? She hadn’t yet found her center after their not-really-a-shower event this morning. Still, no one seemed to notice anything but her.

  In short order, they were served their drinks and made their selections from the menu. Jesse could hardly sit still. She wasn’t hungry. She didn’t know what she was, or what she could do to fix things. And…had she left the coffee pot on at the barn? Shoot…

  “How much do you know about Nicholas Salazar?” Arthur steepled his fingers, his gaze sliding from Hunter to her.

  “Nick?” She blinked. That was…unexpected. Why did Arthur want to know about Nicholas? “I’ve known Nick my whole life. What about him?”

  “Are you familiar with his cousin? Benjamin?” Arthur tugged an eight-by-ten mug shot from the folder and slid it across to her.

  Jesse gaped at the picture. The resemblance between Nick and Benjamin was uncanny. At least in the face. It’d always unsettled her out how similar they looked. But below the surface the two were different. There was no recreating Nicholas. Despite the way he emulated Justin, he was a great guy. Loyal. Hard working. Kind.

  “I’ve met Benjamin a couple of times, mostly when we were kids. Or at least…I was a kid. He stayed with Nick’s family now and then over the years because things got difficult with his parents. He worked on our crew once, but Nick fired him pretty fast. I…I don’t really know him or why he was fired, if that’s what you’re asking.” She pushed the photograph back toward Arthur. It was so weird seeing Nicholas’s face on another person. They had the same eyes, the same nose, even the same scowl, but Nicholas’s expressions were…kinder.

  “When’s the last time you saw Benjamin?” Arthur nudged the mug shot back toward her.

  “Not recently.” She sat back, wanting to get as far away from Nicholas’s doppelganger as she could.

  “Think about it. Any time last month? The last six weeks? Year?”

  “I don’t know,” she snapped. Jesse winced and massaged her temples. “I’m sorry. It’s just…he looks like Nick, and Nick’s family.”

  “Which is why he could come and go without you recognizing he wasn’t who you thought he was. Think about it. Has there been a time when Nick was acting funny? Didn’t respond right?”

  Jesse stared at the table, mentally flipping through the last few months.

  “No.” She shook her head. “He’s been normal. My brothers are more likely to know something about Nick than I am.”

  “Why’s that?”

  “Because…” She sighed and glanced at Hunter. “Because Nick’s had a crush on me. It makes things a little awkward because I see him as an older brother. My brothers think it’s the perfect solution, us being together, and…I love him, as a brother though. It makes things weird sometimes, you know? Everyone else wants us to be together and…I’m not on board.”

  “But you work together?”

  “Not really. We’re around each other.” She shifted, wanting this line of questioning over with already. “Nick is more like a project manager. He works with James a lot, seeing things through to the end product. I work primarily in demo with my oldest brother, Justin. We tear stuff down, clean stuff up, and James and Nick build on top of it.”

  “I see.”

  Hunter squeezed her knee under the table.

  Had he known? Was it something he’d picked up on? She hadn’t pointed it out because she didn’t want to. Going there was the worst. Nicholas might as well be her blood-brother. That’s how she felt about him.

  “What’s Benjamin done?” Hunter asked.

  “He’s part of a radical separatist group. It’s unclear if they’re racially or religiously motivated. My take has been that they’re unhappy young adults trying to be heard, but…” Arthur scrubbed a hand along his jaw.

  “But you’ve heard things? Is something happening?” Hunter asked.

  “It’s hard to say. How much credit do you give rumors? When is it not a rumor? We’re still getting the facts straight. I’d appreciate it if you’d keep me informed if you hear from or see Benjamin.”

  “Sure,” Jesse said. She hoped she didn’t, though. That somehow this whole thing was one huge misunderstanding.

  “I need you to be on Oscar.”

  Benjamin scrubbed a hand across his face. This? Again?

  “Why?” Ben was exhausted. Parts of him were sore that he didn’t even know could be sore. They’d cleared out Dion’s cache and moved it three times since then. This was bullshit.

  “Because he’s having second thoughts.” Terry sighed into the phone. “You’re an asset to us, Ben. We’re counting on you.”

  “Damn straight.” Ben sat up a little more. ‘Bout time they realized how much Terry and the guys behind him owed Ben.

  “Look, Oscar’s working on the device now. All I need you to do is keep him on task. Use the bracelet if necessary. We can send someone after his kids but…”

  “That’s going to get messy. Soon as you make a move on the kid, the wife squeals.”

  “Exactly. You’re a smart man.”

  “What do you need me to do, boss?” And how long before Terry was calling Ben boss?

  “Hang with him. Keep him on task. We’re going to ask him to drive the van into downtown during the rally. You get out, tell him you’re going to scout out a spot and we can remote activate the device. Just get him into position. We’ll have someone who will pick you up, get you out clean.”

  Ben rolled the plan around in his head.

  “I don’t know about this,” he said slowly. He’d seen four lackeys at the fire, guys perfectly capable of doing this job.

  “I’d get someone else, but Oscar knows you. If we have to apply some pressure, he’ll never see it coming if it’s you.”

  “Yeah, I see what you mean.” Ben didn’t have to like it. “Where am I going?”

  “Oscar’s house. We moved everything into his garage.”

  Great.

  Suburbia.

  Ben was allergic to subdivisions.

  Hunter held Jesse’s cold, clammy hands in his while she stared at the wooden table. They’d moved outside after breakfast. Arthur was gone, and it was just them. And Jesse’s thoughts.

  This business with the theft didn’t really involve him, and yet he wanted to help. To make it better. He just didn’t know what to do. If he could find Benjamin, he would, but Arthur was better suited to that job than he was.

  “Want to talk about it?” Hunter asked.

  “What if it is Nick? What if it’s not Ben?” She lifted her gaze to his face, so much worry in their depths.

  “Has Nick seemed off lately?”

  “I don’t know.” She let go of his hands and leaned back.

  “Well, think about—”

  “I stay away from Nick, Hunter. He’s…he’s like Justin, just… Shit.” She leaned her elbows on the table and picked at her nails.

  “Just—what? He likes you?” Yeah, Hunter hadn’t missed the dirty looks or what Jesse didn’t say.

  “Yeah. Or something.” Her mouth twisted up. “I don’t think it’s me, I think…” She sighed.

  Hunter took her hands in his. This business between her brothers, Nicholas and their parents was a complicated mess, decades in the making. Hunter could see how it could create the perfect storm.

  If Nicolas were involved, if he resented Jesse or maybe her brothers, it could be a powerful motivator. If it was his cousin, Benjamin, it could simply be a crime of opportunity. Either way, Hunter had a gut feeling they were getting close to the real issue.

  “I feel like… Nick wants to be with me so he
’s finally, really family. His dad died not long after I was out of high school, his mom remarried pretty quick and he put the roofing company into Durcell Construction. I just…sometimes it seems like he wants to make us his family. But we already are. I don’t know, Hunter. I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t know.” She wiggled out of his grasp and covered her face.

  “Do you love him?”

  “What?” She started and stared at him. “Like a brother. Not like…love-love him. He’s been with us through so much, when I wasn’t here, he could never do something like this.”

  “But—Benjamin?”

  “I would rather it was Ben, and that makes me feel like a terrible person.”

  “You aren’t.”

  “It’s just…Nick’s parents took Ben in over and over again when he needed help. And every time he’d do something he didn’t have to, and they’d give him rules. Ultimatums. Ben’s just…always looking for something to do that he’s not supposed to.”

  Hunter took her hands once more in his. They were going to talk in circles, saying what they already knew.

  Jesse’s relationship with her family—related and chosen—was a complicated web.

  Someone close to her was likely responsible for the theft.

  And she wasn’t in love with another man.

  “Thank you for coming with me this morning.” She squeezed his hand.

  “No problem.”

  “You don’t make a habit out of rescuing girls like this, do you?” She chuckled.

  Hunter knew she meant it as a joke, but it left a sour taste in his mouth. He didn’t want to think about another woman, anyone he’d been with before, and he sure as hell didn’t want to talk about her previous relationships. All that mattered was this. Them.

  “What’d I say?” Jesse’s eyes were wide, focused on him.

  “Nothing. Sorry.” He patted her hands and buried that new nugget down deep.

  “Hunter…” She scooted forward, their knees bumping under the table.

  “I’m being a possessive dick. Don’t worry about it.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be.”

  “What did I say that was wrong?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Hunter.”

  She wasn’t going to drop it.

  He scrubbed a hand over his mouth. It was his turn to stare holes into the table.

  “You know…when you asked me, how long I’m going to be here?” He glanced up.

  “And you said, how long was up to me.”

  “I’d like…to revisit that.”

  “Okay.” She shifted. “How long…do you want to stay?”

  “I just want to stay.” This was not going well. It wasn’t what he meant, he wasn’t a damn dog, no matter how much he loved Elsa. “I mean, I like what we have. I like you.”

  “I like you, too.” She tipped her chin down, still not totally comfortable with an admission like that. But she was trying.

  “So…we’re good then? We like being together, and that’s it?”

  “Well, what do you want me to say?”

  “Is that an invitation?” He grinned, so many ideas coming to mind.

  Jesse glanced around, her eyes wide. How she was still this…innocent, was beyond him. He shouldn’t be allowed near her. He would take great joy in corrupting every bit of her.

  “Want to talk about earlier?” He watched her face closely, the slight tensing around her eyes, the intake of breath.

  “What about earlier?” She drew circles on the wood.

  “You okay?”

  “Sure.”

  “Jesse.” He hadn’t pushed her earlier, because she’d still seemed pretty shook up. Not that he’d been any better.

  “What do you want me to say?” She shrugged and glanced up.

  “Are you still…sensitive?”

  “Oh my God.” She covered her face with her hands and muttered, “Yes.”

  Hunter chuckled and reached across to take at least one hand back. She’d done a very tantalizing shimmy, getting ready and muttered something unflattering about him.

  “It’s like…someone zapped me right in the crotch.” Her cheeks weren’t quite tomato red, but they were close.

  “So, you get hypersensitive. Good to know.”

  “Is that normal?”

  “Fuck if I know, but I’ll remember it.”

  “I can’t believe we’re talking about this.”

  “What are we supposed to do? Not talk about sex? Ever?”

  “Yes. Like normal people!”

  “You think it’s normal for people to just…get in bed, bump uglies and that’s it?”

  “I don’t want to have a detailed critique.”

  “I’m not critiquing anything. I just wanted to know if I should take us back to my apartment or not.”

  “Hunter Shaw—you are terrible.” She wagged her finger at him, but she didn’t say no.

  Jesse made a face and dug her cell phone out. He never wanted to junk a phone so bad as he did right then.

  Her frown deepened.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked.

  “James is asking if I’m going to be home at all today… I think I need to get back.”

  Damn.

  Sometimes he missed family. Now was not one of those times.

  Jesse’s stomach churned. She was really regretting those crepes now. Hunter turned the Jeep down the long drive back toward her place. But it wasn’t her barn she was looking at.

  There were five other vehicles parked between Justin and James’ houses that she could see. She recognized every damn one.

  Had Justin waited until they’d left to call a meeting? Were they looking for a way to give her the boot?

  “We miss a memo?” Hunter asked.

  Jesse didn’t reply. She was waiting for the stab of betrayal. The pain. Something. But the truth was, she’d always suspected that Justin would try to squeeze her out. This just gave him the opportunity to put the world in order according to his views. She squinted, trying to see through Justin’s house to the little parking space behind it.

  Oh, no…

  “Something wrong?” Hunter asked.

  “Nick’s here.” She swallowed, the dread giving her heartburn now.

  “Jesse, it’s going to be okay.”

  She couldn’t make her mouth work. Hunter eased the Jeep to a stop in front of her barn. The dogs barked inside, their voices echoing louder thanks to the tin walls.

  There was no doubt in her head this meeting was about her. About how to leave her out. Did she want to go in there? If she did, it’d be a showdown. If Justin, James and Nicholas got together, they could vote her out. Or something. Justin owned forty-nine percent. Nicholas ten. She and James both owned twenty-point-five percent. They could force her out.

  This company might be Justin’s baby, but it didn’t belong to just him. What did it say about their relationship if deep down, Jesse had always suspected they’d betray her like this? And they’d succeed if they really wanted to.

  The way she saw it, she had two options, go upstairs with her tail between her legs and let them decide things, or go toe-to-toe with them and force her brothers to fire her to her face, with an audience.

  Justin didn’t get to make the rules.

  Jesse took a deep breath and headed for the house.

  “Jesse? Jesse.” Hunter kept pace with her, staring at the side of her head.

  She should talk to him. Tell him her world was about to be ripped apart, but she couldn’t. If she paused, she’d lose her nerve.

  Every person she’d thought was family, that she sweated and bled with, was in that house.

  Maybe she was making up problems, but her gut said she wasn’t.

  Fuck.

  She didn’t see any of this going well, but she couldn’t roll over and let Justin dictate the rest of her life. If things went badly, well…maybe she’d take a page out of Hunter’s book and move to a different state. Start over. I
f he could do it, so could she. It wasn’t like she was without friends or options. But it would hurt.

  Jesse stepped up onto the porch. She couldn’t hesitate. She couldn’t show fear. She had to be better at this than they were.

  All conversation ceased the moment she stepped through the door. Ten pairs of eyes blinked at her. The top tier of management in their company. Minus her. Eleven was a rather odd number, but they’d always made it work. Until now. Their open-mouth stares were all she needed to tell her that her gut had been right.

  “Afternoon,” she said with a nod of her head. That’s what Justin used to do when he came home and caught her and James sneaking cookies when they weren’t supposed to. It was his you’ve-been-caught look.

  “Jesse, we thought you were gone for the day. Have a seat.” James jumped up, vacating a chair at the table for her.

  She didn’t move for a moment, and neither did anyone else. The long table was scattered with notebooks and a few tablets that were slowly making their way into their work processes. Not enough to tell her what they were discussing.

  She slowly walked around the table to the now-empty seat. From the way the ten men shifted and pointedly didn’t look at her, there was little doubt in her mind that things were bad. For her.

  Well, if they wanted to get rid of her, they’d have to do it with her watching them.

  How many of these men had she given a chance when her brothers wouldn’t? As the low person on the managerial totem pole between James, Justin and Nicholas, it fell to her to conduct initial interviews. She’d never picked the most qualified. She’d gone with the people who wanted it most. The ones who had something to offer.

  Single fathers. Former addicts. Bipolar and manic depressive. She knew their secrets, the things most others didn’t, and she’d believed in them.

  This was how they’d repay her?

  Hunter was a strong, silent presence at her back. He didn’t sit, he just stood there, her silent protector.

  “What’s on the agenda?” She couldn’t keep the frost out of her voice.

  James rushed to fill her in, pointing out the new gig and playing peacemaker. The rest didn’t even try. They sat in stony silence, glancing Justin’s way most of the time.

  If at all possible, the blood in her veins turned to ice. She was cold, despite the sweltering, Texas heat.