Secret Agent Under Fire

by Geri Krotow

  “I bought this house from the original owner, who was using it as an arts and crafts store for all kinds of hobbies. I never liked putting sequins on jeans and such, so when the knitting craze hit I took full advantage. Some years have been leaner than others but I never hoped to make a killing—just enough to not go bankrupt. I figure I have another two to three years before it’s time to sell.” Esmeralda, who’d told Abi to call her Ezzie, tilted her head. “You’re sure you wouldn’t be interested in buying the shop, would you?”

  Abi grinned. She’d thought her dream was crushed but now it had hope again. “I’m going to start an Appalachian adventure company. I’ve been a backpacker and camper for years, and I’m happiest on a river in my kayak or on a lake with a paddleboard. I’d love to make the nature surrounding Silver Valley more accessible to locals and tourists alike.”

  Ezzie clapped her hands together and hooted. “That’s perfect! Did you have an office or storefront in mind yet? There are a couple for sale downtown and, of course, as you said, plenty on the pike.”

  “I haven’t got that far—I won’t need much. Most of my resources will be other people. Tour guides, ski instructors. Drivers for picking up the kayakers.”

  Ezzie leaned forward in a conspiratorial manner. “Did you notice when you walked up that this is a duplex of sorts?”

  “I saw that the porch wrapped and the other front door. I thought it was all connected.”

  “It is, in that I own the entire building, but originally this was the home of twin sisters who settled in Silver Valley after the Civil War drove them north of the Mason-Dixon Line. They were originally from Emmitsburg, Maryland.”

  “Who lives on the other side?”

  “No one at the moment. I live upstairs, over this shop, and the apartment over the shop next door is empty. It used to be a dentist’s office. I’ve had offers from folks who were interested in opening tattoo parlors, hookah bars, bakeries, beauty salons. But their funding never came through.” Ezzie leaned over and stared at her. “You have the seed money?”

  Abi laughed. “Yes, indeed I do. Financing to start isn’t a problem. I’ve been single forever and have saved a reasonable amount.” She was stretching the definition of “reasonable,” especially if she hoped to also buy the farmhouse, but optimism was a trait she’d inherited from her mother.

  “We can help give your shop a boost by advertising it among our knitting groups. We’ll start with Fred.”

  “Fred?” The familiar name shot a jolt of surprise through her. But, unlike before, when she’d always bemoaned the loss of her last serious boyfriend, she felt more detached from her grief.

  Maybe time and distance, and a major job change, did heal wounds.

  “He’s the chef over at Silver Valley Europa Café.” Abi knew the place—it was labeled as a café but was more along the lines of a très chic, very expensive European restaurant on the pike. She loved their marinated octopus, a favorite dish she’d first enjoyed when in Italy on an investigation for the FBI.

  “He’s a knitter, too?”

  Ezzie nodded. “He’s into Fair Isle and intertarsia.” She referred to two complicated methods of working multiple colors into a pattern. “He has so many contacts in this town, it’s insane. And quite a devoted following of empty nesters, who are always looking for new things to do. They’ll love signing up for your adventure hikes!”

  “It’s a deal. When can I look at the place next door?”

  “Is right now soon enough?”

  Abi laughed. “Don’t you have to watch your shop?”

  Ezzie smiled, obviously enjoying their conversation. “Does it look like I do? Besides, my customers know me and the shop well. If anyone comes in while we’re next door, we’ll probably hear them, and they’ll wait for me. Come on.”

  Abi followed Ezzie through the back of the shop to where living spaces must have once been but was now stacked with cartons and bagged skeins of yarn. “I can’t believe you have inventory back here with all that’s out front.”

  “Most of these are custom orders. I ship all over the world. You saw the website? My granddaughter designed it. She helps me in her spare time.” She peered over her glasses at Abi before opening the door to a small hallway that appeared to have one exit to the backyard. “Okay, so don’t worry, you will be able to lock your house door just as I do mine.”

  As Ezzie turned the key in the lock for the empty store’s door, Abi felt a sense of déjà vu. She took it as a good omen.

  “And here you go.” Ezzie stood aside and swept up her arm. “Your new business.”

  They walked through the space and it was perfect. Between this as her storefront and the barn to store any extra supplies, it was as if she’d planned the entire venture. And she had; she’d been mulling it over for the past couple of months. Claudia’s prodding to “get a ‘real’ job other than Trail Hikers” had pushed her to act.

  After they finished the tour she and Ezzie went back to the yarn shop. Abi told Ezzie she was contracted with SVPD and currently in the midst of a big case, so her timeline to actually have a grand opening would have to be flexible.

  “Is it okay if I sign now but don’t open for a while? I don’t know my exact start date. I’ll have to talk to the bank, too, for a business loan in case I need it.”

  “No problemo! Our local credit union is your best bet. I’ll give you the loan officer’s card that I’ve used. She’s a doll.”

  “Is there anyone or anything you can’t help me with, Ezzie?”

  Ezzie ignored the compliment. Abi sensed that Ezzie probably helped everyone out that she crossed paths with.

  “So what kind of grand opening do you envision, Abi?” Ezzie poured her more tea and Abi couldn’t help wondering if she were sharing tea with some kind of angel. Because she certainly felt as though fairy dust had been sprinkled over her dream.

  Silver Valley was interesting, all right. So far not one person had looked askance at her as the “newcomer.” Except for one.

  Keith Paruso.

  * * *

  Abi arrived at the farmhouse as dusk was settling over the valley. The green grass that had blazed emerald in the noon sun appeared blue as the sky turned from peach to violet. She let herself in and dragged along several bags of housekeeping supplies she’d bought on the way home. Her furnishings in Alexandria would have to wait until she had time to set up a move—and put the town house up for sale. Because even if she didn’t stay in Silver Valley, after all—if for some reason adventure tourism didn’t pan out—she wasn’t going back to DC.

  Pennsylvania was her home state, and being only two hours from Philly was a nice benefit come holiday time, when her family threw huge celebrations. Her father had transitioned from firework to insurance claims after the debacle when she was in high school. He’d told her time and again that he’d been planning to leave the firefighting force, anyhow, but Abi had never believed him. He’d left the department in shame after Abi’s classmate and best friend had died in their family home, at a party Abi had thrown without her parents’ permission.

  Abi had worked through the pain, worked through the guilt over what her mistake had cost her father. Which was nothing compared to the tragic death of her best friend. Still, the nagging feelings were always there, berating her to solve the next case.

  Enough. She was in Silver Valley to start over, to move on.

  As she blew up the new inflatable mattress with the battery-operated pump, she was grateful she’d splurged on the deluxe queen size and new soft organic cotton bedding. It was one thing to sleep on the hard earth while hiking or camping, but this was her first night in her new house. It deserved to be special. In one day she’d gone from being in Silver Valley only because of her Trail Hikers involvement and contractor-for-SVPD cover, to renting a storefront for a business that might turn into her ne
w “vocation,” as Claudia had referred to it.

  The sun set over the farmlands as she prepared her simple dinner. The alpaca and sheep were gone from the landscape, in for the night in the gray-stone barn she’d driven past on the way in. Would this be her place, where she set down her roots? Would her future children and grandchildren see her as a woman who’d owned an adventure business her entire life, never as the agent she was?

  It seemed unfathomable but if luck was on her side, maybe. Maybe Abi would settle down and have a family of her own. Of course, not now and not in the near term. First, she had an arsonist, or two or three, to nab. Second, she didn’t have anyone on the horizon to start said family with. Not even a twinkle of a new romance.

  Because Keith Paruso wasn’t anything resembling a twinkle. More like a lightning bolt—the man was a bull.

  Who was she kidding? The dude was getting under her skin. She’d only just met him, yet it felt as if she’d known him much longer. Always the first sign of a crush! Her secret Trail Hikers position meant her feelings, whatever they were for the guy, had to remain secret, as well. Besides, he was so guarded, so very much the professional. Hell, she didn’t even know if he’d ever been married or engaged. She’d never thought to ask him.

  Now that was a first. Abi never forgot to ask a man or anyone about themselves. And as much as she’d been ready to leave her past behind—she’d resigned from her job at the FBI, after all—she hadn’t been as eager to move on and settle into Silver Valley until she’d met its enigmatic fire chief.

  Something about Keith Paruso made her want to see how much settling she could do. Who she’d become if she were free of her past and able to follow her heart.

  A heart she might be willing to put at risk again. For the right man.

  Chapter 7

  Keith thought that shadowing Abi as she retraced every fire site was going to be easy—boring, even. He’d never expected to be turned on from watching a trained arson forensic specialist do her job.

  “Can I carry anything for you?” he asked her for the sixth time in two hours as she juggled her bag and phone while capturing photos of the dilapidated commercial building they inspected.

  Her sharp gaze softened as she stopped and looked up at him from her squat on the cold concrete floor, next to a burned-out wall in a large abandoned warehouse. It had been one of the first fires after the Christmas church blaze.

  “I’m sorry, Keith. I tend to go into a kind of trance when I do this work.”

  “I understand.” He stepped forward and reached for her shoulder bag on the floor next to her. “Which is why I’m happy to let you work away as I go over everything I remember from each fire. I’ve brought all of my original written notes and printed the computer files. Let me get this out of your way and take some notes. Between the two of us, we might come up with something.”

  “You were at each and every fire?”

  “Yes.”

  “I thought you were on administrative leave for several months?”

  “True. And, officially, I didn’t step foot near a Silver Valley blaze during that time.” He waited for her eyes to again seek his. Even in the pale light that slanted through the shredded roof, he saw the spark of light that was uniquely Abi. “Unofficially...”

  She laughed. “I’d have done the same.”

  “Would you?” He leaned over to see what exactly she was taking photos of. Shards of glass, wood?

  “If it were my territory and I felt I’d been wrongly removed from duty, absolutely. I’d make sure I didn’t put anyone or any evidence at risk. And I’d probably not draw attention to myself.” Her gloved fingers plucked up what she’d been photographing and she placed it in one of the plastic evidence bags that seemed to grow out of her pockets. “I’m thinking that maybe you weren’t so big on the ‘staying in the shadows’ part?” She stood and drew to her full height. In running shoes and blue jeans she was a full head shorter than he was, but her aura seemed to fill the huge space. What was it about Abi?

  She coaxed a laugh out of him. Since he’d met her, his chest felt as if it had expanded from the way she made his sense of humor come to life. It’d been too long.

  “I didn’t get caught. Colt saw me a few times at a scene but pretended he didn’t. The town, my friends, they all knew it had been some kind of a setup—the charges against me.”

  She considered him, her dark eyes missing nothing. “Why don’t we take a break? I’ve got ice water in my car, and I think I might still have some coffee in my thermos.” She pulled off her latex gloves and shoved them in her jacket pockets. They walked side by side to her car where she opened up the back door and pulled out two water bottles. “I usually use refillable only but I keep spares for when I’m going to be traveling all day.”

  He took the bottle, wet from the cooler she’d kept it in. “Thanks.” After they gulped for a few minutes, Abi leaned against her car and shielded her eyes from the sun as she looked at him.

  “Tell me what happened last year, Keith.”

  For the first time ever, besides talking to his sister or Rio when he was investigating the case, Keith opened up.

  “You’ve read the reports. The Silver Valley Community Church was set on fire a year and a half ago, right during their biggest event of the year.”

  “Yes, the Christmas pageant. Is it true they even had real farm animals?”

  “Yes. That sounds strange to you, I’m sure, since you’ve lived your life in cities. But out here, folks wait all year to bring in their farm animals. Just like the Bible story, there were oxen and donkeys and a goose or two.”

  “I’ll have to make it a point to see that this year.” She laughed and took another sip of her water. “Go on.”

  “We put the blaze out. There was a big brouhaha afterward, even though SVPD caught the arsonist red-handed after he’d tried to kill more than one person. It’s natural for a community to inquire about how such a potentially catastrophic incident could occur in the first place. Understandable. Expected.”

  “But?”

  “At the same time, Silver Valley was going through political upheaval. The mayor was indicted for felony charges of embezzlement and it allowed an outsider to slime into the campaign and get elected. The outsider, as I’m sure you’ve read, was an embezzler and possible front man of the cult.”

  “I read that.” She listened without any hint of judgment, simply taking in his words as if he held the answer to the entire case. Keith loved how Abi gave her total attention to the job at hand, and liked it even more when that attention was on him.

  “Out of the blue, a couple who were long-time members of Silver Valley Community Church filed charges against Silver Valley, the fire department and, in turn, me. They had survived the fire, as had every other church member. They hadn’t sustained any injuries, either. Their claims of my negligence were patently false, and the couple clearly had been coached.”

  “As if a special-interest group or lobbyist had got to them?”

  “Exactly. But this isn’t the nation’s capital, and I’m not some representative whose constituents want answers. I’m a paid Silver Valley employee, and the lawsuit mandated that the town had to place me on administrative leave.”

  “Which was later rescinded when the couple dropped the suit.”

  “Yes, but...” How could he tell her what it had really cost him?

  Abi nodded. “But the damage was done. To your reputation. Even though the paper ran those feel-good articles on you. And the local television station did an exposé on the out-of-town mayor. People hear what they want to hear.”

  His stomach sank. “You looked me up online.” He felt like a damned fool. “You’ve just played me when you already knew the story? When you’d said you’d read about it, I thought you meant in the police reports or the local paper’s archives
.”

  “Give me some credit, Keith. I’m former FBI, and I’m still in investigator mode working this case. Of course I looked you up.”

  “Colt or Rio vouching for me wasn’t enough?” He didn’t really know if they’d done more than confirming his identity, but they were his friends. Rio seemed destined to become his brother-in-law. He sure as hell hoped they’d stood up for him.

  She tugged at her blond ponytail. “Of course they’re supportive of you. Neither of them told me one iota about what you’ve been through with your job and the false charges.”

  Satisfaction wormed its way back into his self-esteem. Rio had the right to tell anyone he wanted to about the case; he’d been the one to get the charges against Keith dropped.

  “I’m being a bit defensive, I suppose, but can you explain to me why we’re having this conversation? It seems you’ve already made your mind up about me.”

  “Chill out, dude. I hardly know you. You sure as hell don’t know me. I get the feeling you’re used to women falling all over you. I imagine my lack of interest is annoying.” Only when she looked at him did he see the humor in her eyes.

  “My ego’s not that easily bruised, trust me.”

  She toed the graveled parking lot in between sprouting weeds. “From what I read, you took a sucker punch for the team.”

  “I had no choice.”

  “You did. You could have countersued the town and taken the couple who charged you to court. They lied under oath. That’s perjury, Keith.”

  “And slander. But all’s well that ends well.” It didn’t sit well in his gut, but that was his problem.

  “You just let that couple go free, no repercussions for what they’d done?” Her perplexity was palpable.