by Geri Krotow
“It says you’re a free agent, Abigail.”
“I am. I told you, I’m a contractor. And it’s Abi.” No one called her Abigail. Except Dad, when she was a kid, and she’d left home almost fifteen years ago. And even he called her Abi these days.
“I didn’t realize SVPD employed contractors, especially ones as prepared as you are, Abigail.”
He was clearly who he said he was and, as she looked past him, she saw the fire trucks, the firefighters hosing down the house.
“I don’t know many fire chiefs who’d leave a fire to run after a suspect. Where I’m from, you leave that to law enforcement. Unless you have a problem with SVPD? Don’t you trust them?”
His eyes narrowed and she thought he was going to either throw her ID on the ground, spit at her or turn and leave. He looked pretty pissed off.
Instead he laughed. A lot. Not a snort or chuckle, but a warm, rich sound that seemed to roll over and around her, squeezing her tight, cutting off her breath. If he hadn’t already turned her on, this would have done it.
“I’ve got a job to do, Chief Paruso.” She held her hand out to retrieve her ID. He ignored it.
“The ‘job’ you have is a case I’ve been working intensely on, along with SVPD, for over three months, and it’s affected my job for over a year. A case that could have resulted in us catching the bad guy. Since your weapon was drawn and you were at least a quarter of a mile ahead of me, I’m thinking that you had a decent chance to catch the loser. Instead, we’re here exchanging pleasantries while the dirt bag’s free to light up his next target. So forgive me, Abigail, if I’m not too impressed with how you do your job.”
* * *
How the hell had SVPD Chief Colt Todd found this one? And why hadn’t he been informed that someone else was working this case? Keith made a mental note to see how much Rio knew about Ms. Abigail Redland. Thank God he knew Rio well enough to ask him, since Rio and Keith’s sister Kayla were a couple. He was supposed to meet them for dinner tonight. Soon enough.
“I’m not being paid to impress you, Chief Paruso.” Her eyes glinted with the morning sun and her chest moved with the deep breaths she drew—was she trying to calm down? Was he making her angry, too? Not that he was looking at her chest. Although...
“You have leaves on your, um, Kevlar.”
She looked down and brushed off the dried oak leaves that were ground into her vest. Her hands were small but capable, and he imagined they’d be the perfect size to fit around his—no. He was not going there, not while this investigation was open, not with some pseudo-law-enforcement agent who probably didn’t know the difference between arson and a bonfire.
“Interesting that you have such keen observation skills, Chief Paruso. I’m curious as to why your talents haven’t caught this criminal yet.”
Anger dowsed the searing line of awareness between them, his focus no longer on his crotch but her snide comment. “How I run my investigation is none of your goddamned business, whether you’re working for SVPD or the CIA. In case you missed it, I’m the chief of the fire department. In reality, it’s law enforcement’s job to get the criminal, as you pointed out.” Who the hell did she think she was?
“Trust me, I know what your job is, Chief.” She said it as though she really did understand firefighting, and it made him even hotter under the collar. Unless she’d had firefighting training herself, she had no business saying she knew his job. None.
“What’s the problem, folks?”
Keith all but jumped at the familiar voice behind him. He’d been so wrapped up in his emotions he hadn’t heard the approaching steps.
Way to go, Keith.
“Hey, Colt.” He held out his hand to the Superintendent of the Silver Valley Police Department, Chief Colt Todd.
Colt gripped his hand firmly and gave it a quick shake before he grinned and nodded at Abigail. “Glad to see you two have met. Abi’s new to SVPD, working with us to fill in the gaps around the arson case.”
“So she said.” Keith wasn’t budging.
“Yes, we’ve met. Speaking of the case, Chief Todd, I need to get back to headquarters and compare notes with Rio and the team. If you’ll excuse me, gentlemen.” Abigail walked off as if she owned the entire field they stood in. As if she was in charge of the case.
“Those weren’t nice words I heard you two exchanging, Keith.”
“Damn it, Colt, we need to be working together on every single aspect of this case or we’re never going to get the dirt bag. Not to mention bring down the cult, if they’re truly connected. Why didn’t you tell me you had a contract employee working this? And how is it that a civilian is carrying a weapon and wearing Kevlar as if she’s more than a contractor?”
Colt’s eyes narrowed but he maintained a neutral expression. “We have several civilian staff members, Keith. Take Claudia Michele, for example. She runs our social media efforts but she’s also been intrinsic to solving a few cases.” Colt spoke about the woman Keith suspected was involved with, if not in charge of, the kind of undercover ops he suspected went on in Silver Valley. He knew that Silver Valley’s status as a quiet small town was at times lost because of the major highways that ran through the outlying area. A state turnpike and three interstate routes, heavily traveled, made Silver Valley attractive to criminals of all types. Criminals that committed crimes that required LEA ops to counter their stinging effects on the population. Ops he wasn’t privy to, not officially, but it was difficult to work as closely as he did with SVPD and not notice that some of his LEA colleagues appeared to be involved with more than local operations. And since his sister had become romantically involved with Rio, he’d had his suspicions validated by Kayla’s obvious avoidance of him when Rio was working “on a confidential case.”
“So who is Abigail Redland, Colt? Is she FBI? ATF?”
Colt shook his head. “It’s not important. And I’m not blowing you off, but just as I can’t always discuss all aspects of any one case—it’s the same with SVPD employees. I know you understand, Keith.”
Keith watched the older man’s face closely. Colt ran a tight ship over at Silver Valley PD and never let the backlash of public opinion or fellow law-enforcement officers keep him from doing his job. Clearly he wasn’t going to budge on the Abigail Redland issue.
Keith relented and let his shoulders drop.
“Sorry, Colt. It’s been a long night, a fruitless morning, and we still don’t have the arsonist. I’m not convinced it’s just one person any longer, either.”
Colt’s eyes lit up. “Yeah?”
Keith debated how much to tell Colt. Because he wanted to nail this fire starter himself. He had to. To repair the damage to his professional reputation, which had been crushed under the lies and corruption of Silver Valley’s most recent administration, including an outsider mayor who was now behind bars in the state prison at Camp Hill. Worse for Keith, a couple associated with the cult had falsely accused him and his fire department of negligence at the Silver Valley Community Church fire two Christmases ago. It had cost Keith his job; he’d been placed on administrative leave for several months. Even though the charges had been dropped, thanks to Rio’s hard work, Keith felt the cloud of judgment that hung around his neck like a lead weight.
“There have been a few signs that the fires are being set differently. Same propellant, gasoline, but with different starters. This house reeks of chemicals from fireworks, and I heard two large explosions before the flames started. My firefighters staged a mile away heard them, too. Yet we saw nothing on our walk-through inspection last night.” He wondered if Abigail had heard those explosions, if that was what had alerted her to the assailant. That must have been what had prompted her to take off after him, at least.
“The first few were definitely started with matches. Maybe one was a butane lighter,” Colt mused aloud. “It’s not
unusual for an arsonist to change starters, is it?”
Keith looked up at the blue sky, watched two red-tailed hawks circling each other. Freedom. That was all he ever wanted. Freedom to do his job in peace, knowing he was serving the citizens of Silver Valley, enabling them to sleep at night, knowing that if the worst happened and a fire broke out in their homes, SVFD would be there and all would be okay.
Home fires and car fires from accidental means were one thing. Pursuing an arsonist was another.
“They can, and do. But this guy seemed so methodical with the first two fires. And we’re lucky he’s stuck to unoccupied structures so far, Colt. I don’t have to tell you what’s at stake with his growing number of fires.”
“No, you don’t. I know he or she is escalating. At least that’s what Abi—” Colt pursed his lips, sized up Keith’s demeanor. “All right. I’ll tell you that she’s former FBI. And that her specialty is arson.”
“She’s just ‘former,’ huh?” Keith had never seen Colt lie, but people in law enforcement often had to play their cards close. Very close.
“Yes, definitely former. Enough said. Abi has a crap ton of experience in the analysis and psychological profiling of arsonists. And her observations are scaring the crap out of me, Keith.”
“How so?”
“We’ve seen the amping up of the frequency of fires, and the structures are getting more valuable.”
Keith had noticed that, too. It was one thing to burn down an old barn that should have been razed years ago, to set fire to it in the dead of night with little or no risk to anyone. But abandoned farm structures like barns and sheds had given way to empty commercial property, to historical homes that were awaiting refurbishment and empty homes like this morning’s farmhouse. From uninhabited dwellings to places where people lived or would be able to live soon.
The arsonist was escalating, even if it wasn’t a straight-line progression.
“What are we going to do about it, Colt?”
Colt’s eyes reflected surprise at Keith’s admission that they had to work together before he allowed a reluctant grin to cross his face.
“We are going to put our heads together and use every tool we have at our disposal to catch the bastard.”
Keith nodded. “What next?”
“Can you spare some time down at police headquarters this morning?”
“Sure. My firefighters are on this, and the station’s fully staffed.” He referred to the current fire, which his team had already radioed they’d put out. He had his full roster on 24/7 schedules. Thankfully there was no injury or family leave scheduled for the next month. “What time do you need me there?”
“Call Rio and ask him. You’ll meet with him and his team.”
Colt didn’t have to say who was on Rio’s team. Keith already knew he’d have to face Abigail Redland for the second time this morning. And while his head knew he should be more detached from her, or even annoyed at her involvement, he couldn’t ignore the anticipation he felt at the thought of having another chance to see her.
Chapter 2
Abi still wanted to scratch someone’s eyes out an hour after leaving the stakeout. An hour after meeting Silver Valley’s fire chief. She poured herself a cup of the awful SVPD coffee and waited for the rest of the case team to get their notes together for the wrap-up meeting. And of course they had to wait for the Silver Valley Fire Department officials to show up.
Which would bring her face-to-face with Fire Chief Keith Paruso again.
It’d been a couple of hours since she’d met Keith Paruso and her body had yet to stop humming from the immediate attraction he’d lit in her. It was as real, as strong as her certainty that not only was he a fire chief, he was a dog. As in capital-H hound dog. He had the bod and smile to get a lot of women in his bed, for sure. She almost giggled, thinking about how puzzled he’d appeared that she hadn’t fawned at his every word.
Focus, focus, focus. She was undercover as a Trail Hiker agent, but outwardly a special advisor to SVPD. That made any kind of romance with other LEA off-limits until this case was solved, especially with another Silver Valley public official who didn’t know what she was really doing. Who didn’t even know about Trail Hikers. There was at least one if not more arsonists to apprehend. In fact, after today, Abi was certain there was more than one and that the fires were being set individually.
So her love life had to take a backseat—nothing new. The case stretched before her as none other, however. Even with all the twisted cases and sociopaths she’d analyzed for the FBI, she had to admit the Silver Valley fire starter had even her stymied. It was a first for her in a long career of catching arsonists. A career she’d committed to while still in high school, when she’d been brokenhearted at the accidental death of her classmate in a house fire. Don’t go there. She tore her thoughts from the dark memories.
Making her way through the break room and down the corridor of the medium-size station, she stuck her head in Rio Ortego’s office.
“Hey, Rio.”
“Abi! Come on in for a bit.” He didn’t look as tired as she felt, yet he’d been up all night, too.
She sank down in a worn leather chair and took in the framed photo of Rio and his girlfriend, Kayla, that rested near his monitor. Why did everyone but her seem to have a life partner? Would a move to Silver Valley bring her love life back in line? After this case was closed, of course. Not one minute sooner.
She’d been recruited for the secret government shadow agency when she’d left the FBI after ten years of honorable service. The offer had been too good to be true; she’d work contracted missions that paid enough to maintain her Old Town Alexandria town house while traveling the world to complete missions her FBI training seemed perfect for.
Except going “home” to DC had gotten harder. The town house was nice and its location prime—for a commuter, which she no longer was. The days and weeks in between Trail Hiker missions felt longer and, in fact, boring. She’d been toying with making a move to somewhere free of DC’s political pressure, away from the abysmal traffic, away from the city life she was ready to leave behind.
“Good work out there this morning, Abi.” He didn’t look up from the report he studied, and he waved at his coffeepot. “Don’t drink that crap from the break room. Have some real joe.”
“Thanks, this is fine for now.” They had to be in the briefing room in less than twenty minutes and she needed a comfortable spot to sit more than she needed a cup of better brew.
Rio and Abi were the only Trail Hikers on the case at the moment, if she didn’t count the police chief. As such, they took pains to keep to the storyline that Abi was a contractor hired to help with the arson cases. Her prior experience as FBI wasn’t a secret and served her alibi well, as she posed as simply an arson expert. As the case was almost certainly entwined with the cult, it made her presence more validated. Since the FBI was being called in to work with SVPD to take out the True Believer Cult once and for all, no one questioned Abi’s role. And better, no one suspected she was part of anything clandestine.
“Close the door for a minute, will you?” Rio spoke quietly and she knew he needed to talk about something Trail Hiker–related.
“Sure.”
Once the door was closed Rio leaned forward, his forearms on his cluttered desk. “I can’t afford for you to be exchanging barbs with Keith Paruso. I’m pretty sure he’s aware of Trail Hikers, abstractly, but he doesn’t have any official knowledge of the agency. As much as this case may necessitate the need to pull him into TH, with his compliance, we’re still obligated to maintain our cover story.”
“I get that, Rio.” She tried to not let him see how stung she was by his statement. Did he think she was going to jump in the sack with him and tell Keith whom she really worked for? “I understand what a security clearance is.”
“Understood.” She dug her bottom teeth into the foam cup. It felt like her father, lecturing her for dating the wrong kind of boy. And she wasn’t considering dating Keith Paruso—she didn’t know the man.
“Abi, I’m not saying this as any kind of reprimand. You’re the perfect Trail Hiker agent—Claudia doesn’t hire deadweight.” Claudia Michele, the former US Marine Corps General who was the Trail Hiker CEO, had been a tough sell when Abi had reported for her initial interview. Even though Abi had been recruited for the interview by the government shadow agency, she’d still had to prove her worthiness to Claudia, both in the field and at the desk.
“I didn’t take your comments personally, Rio. You’re not the first alpha male I’ve worked for, you know.”
He smiled. “Alpha male? What the hell does that mean? Is that like some kind of millennial code for ‘dickhead’?”
She laughed. “God, I’ve missed laughing with teammates since I left the FBI. It was the best choice for me, to make a change and come here to Silver Valley, but this kind of camaraderie is rare in the civilian world.”
Rio grunted. “I’ve found it to be nonexistent, frankly. Law enforcement is a family, for sure.”
“Working for Colt Todd has to be enjoyable at times, doesn’t it?”
Rio’s eyes flashed. “Chief Todd’s the best, hands-down. And you know he’s fully invested with the Trail Hikers, too, but more on a need-to-know basis.”
Abi grunted. “From what I’ve seen, he’s more than interested in Claudia.”
Rio’s eyes sharpened. “Don’t be so quick to judge, Abi. All of us in Silver Valley end up working very closely together. It’s inevitable that the dangerous circumstances and heroics required to keep Silver Valley safe lead to deeper relationships off the clock.”
