Burn It Down

by Jess Anastasi

  “No, Benny Sadler.” Troy drained the last of his coffee and set the empty paper cup on the ground next to his boots. “When I had that run-in with him while you guys were at the bonfire. The last thing he said to me was, ‘You’re going to regret ever laying eyes on my kid. I’ll make sure of it.’ I can’t help wondering if this—” Troy waved a hand to encompass the destruction laid out in front of them. “—was what he meant.”

  “It’s certainly a possibility.” More than a possibility. He could see how this all could have been Benny Sadler from the start—including the air being let out of Troy’s tires. But he was going to remain somewhat professional and detached about things, no matter how much he wanted to call up Sheriff Hayes and get him to arrest the asshole. “How do you feel about making a statement to the arson investigators?”

  Troy sent him a decisive nod. “It might be a coincidence, and it’s definitely circumstantial, but I think there’s one or two other things the investigators need to know about Benny Sadler.”

  JARED KNEW he was in trouble when he couldn’t stop bouncing his knee, where he sat in a small conference room at the sheriff’s station waiting for the arson investigators to finish interviewing Troy.

  He sipped the coffee he was holding and then frowned at it. Since it was his fourth cup already this morning, it probably wasn’t helping the jitters he’d developed. They were definitely getting worse the longer he had to sit here with no update on what was happening inside the interview room.

  There was no reason to be this nervous. It wasn’t like Troy had done anything wrong. He was simply giving the officers information that might aid them in their investigation and lead to an actual suspect who needed to be detained.

  Someone like Aaron or Benny Sadler.

  He wasn’t being biased because he was worried about Lewis and Aaron’s welfare or anything…. Okay, maybe just a little. But the facts seemed pretty cut and dry to him. While Aaron’s movements definitely needed to be questioned, Benny had plenty of motive, opportunity, and had made outright threats against Troy when he’d smashed in the windows of the rangers’ station earlier that night. It wasn’t a stretch to imagine he’d waited until Troy had left to set the place on fire.

  Of course, it also wasn’t a stretch to believe Aaron had done it, especially since they didn’t have any other proof than his word that he’d been at the campsite looking for the money he and Lewis had saved up. A little convenient it was supposedly gone. He immediately felt bad for thinking the thought. It was clear how much Lewis meant to Aaron. Would he really lie about their escape money to cover his own tracks? Except that was the problem—he didn’t know Aaron well enough to say for sure either way.

  If Benny turned out to be the culprit and they could get this whole thing wrapped up quickly and quietly, then maybe he’d actually be able to sleep tonight. Unlike last night. He’d tossed and turned until the early hours of the morning, going over everything in his head, wondering if he could have done things differently—noticed the fire more quickly instead of getting distracted by Troy.

  Of course, that’d just led to him wishing Troy had been in bed to distract him out of his spinning thoughts. Maybe get him off and exhaust his mind and body into a sated sleep. In the end, he’d been frustrated and restless on top of stressed over the fires, which hadn’t made for a good night at all.

  “How’s the snack situation in here?”

  Jared glanced up to see one of the civil administrators, Laura, holding a box of pastries. He then looked at the untouched blueberry muffin she’d left him earlier when she’d brought him the coffee, but he hadn’t felt like eating it.

  “Not a blueberry muffin man, huh?” she continued when he didn’t answer. She flipped the lid on the box and seemed to be considering her options. “How about something with chocolate? Or a glazed donut? Hmm, the cream puffs are pretty darn good too.”

  He was about to refuse, but then he realized his leg was still bouncing and maybe he needed something to soak up all that coffee.

  “I’m good with the muffin, thanks.” He reached over and grabbed it from the napkin on the conference table.

  Laura walked farther into the room and set the box down on the table, hopping up to sit next to it and then reaching in to grab out what looked like a brownie.

  “So, these fires are a big freaking deal.” She looked at him expectantly as she took a huge bite out of the brownie.

  “Um, yeah,” he replied, watching as chocolate crumbs and confectioner’s sugar showered down the front of Laura’s white shirt.

  She pulled a napkin from somewhere and carelessly dusted herself, somehow managing not to smear chocolate anywhere.

  “Laura! Where’s my brownie?” a voice called from outside the conference room door.

  “Uh-oh,” Laura mumbled before stuffing more of the treat into her mouth.

  Deputy Jake Perez burst in a moment later and settled an accusing glare on her.

  “Oh, hey, Jared,” Jake said distractedly, hardly sparing him a glance. “Laura Marian Clarke. You did not eat that brownie when I called dibs on it.”

  “You snooze you lose,” Laura replied, the words garbled since she’d finished stuffing her face with the pastry.

  Jake rolled his eyes and then ambled over to check what else was in the box. “Lucky you’re so good at your job.”

  “And don’t you forget it.” She sent him a sweet look and then snagged a cream puff. Where she planned on putting all that food in her petite frame, he had no idea.

  “Any word on how Troy is going with the arson investigators?” he asked, turning his attention to Jake.

  “Nope, haven’t heard, sorry.” Jake gave a quick half shrug. “It’s pretty straightforward. They should be just about done, especially since they sent a couple of guys out to pick up Benny Sadler for questioning.”

  He tried not to feel smug at hearing that. He really did. But he couldn’t help internally gloating a little, even though he worked hard to keep his expression politely interested.

  If he was guilty, the bastard was going to get what he deserved as far as he was concerned.

  “I hear tell you and Troy held off the blaze from catching the surrounding forest with a couple of garden hoses last night,” Jake continued, looking impressed. “Sounds like a hell of a thing.”

  “Not really. Conditions were calm and the grass around the rangers’ office had been kept green, so it probably wouldn’t have taken, even if we hadn’t been there,” he replied, trying to downplay it. He had just been doing his job, after all. No big deal.

  “I can’t believe someone is dumb enough to light any kind of fire when it’s been so hot and dry,” Laura put in, shaking her head. “I still get shivers when I remember seeing pictures on the news of the fires in California. All those homes and all those people who died.”

  “It’s not really about being stupid. Some arsonists are very intelligent,” he replied, catching both Jared and Laura’s attention. “It usually comes down to a couple of things: a crime like vandalism, or revenge, or concealment to cover up another crime. Of course, there’s always the ones who do it for the excitement. But in this case, it’s going to come down to power. The arsonist is demonstrating power, that they’re the ones in control.”

  “So they feel like they’ve got something to prove, and lighting a fire is their way of doing it?” Laura shook her head in dismay as she finished the cream puff. “Sounds like they need professional help.”

  “Most likely,” he replied distractedly when he spotted Troy crossing the open-plan office toward the conference room.

  He set the half-eaten blueberry muffin aside and quickly stood as Troy stepped into the room and nodded at Jake.

  It was all he could do not to rush across the distance between them and melodramatically throw himself into Troy’s arms, his relief was so great. Except he’d already told himself there was no need to get so worked up over things.

  Unfortunately, he couldn’t escape or explain the uneas
e lodged deep within him that refused to budge—this horrible feeling like Troy was in danger or something. It was ridiculous, and there was no logical explanation for it other than his own desperation not to lose the best thing that’d happened to him in a long, long time. But he just couldn’t escape the feeling something bad was going to happen to him.

  Troy, however, didn’t seem to be suffering the same conflicting emotions. He didn’t hesitate as he crossed the distance between them and caught him by the waist to pull him into an embrace, briefly cupping his face and greeting him with a quick but heartfelt kiss. He sighed and let himself sink against Troy for an indulgent moment, simply enjoying the uncomplicated pleasure of their bodies pressing against each other.

  “Sorry, that took a lot longer than I thought it would,” Troy said as he pulled back. His attention got snagged by the pastry box, and Jared found himself abandoned as Troy eagerly went over to help himself. “Oh man, I’m starving. Haven’t eaten since breakfast. You mind?”

  Laura shook her head with a smile and nudged the box closer to him. Troy took out a croissant but seemed to be eyeing the chocolate muffin as well.

  “How’s things looking?” Jake asked as Troy ate the croissant in three large bites.

  “They didn’t give much away, but I get the feeling they’re definitely forming a picture of what happened.” Troy grabbed out the muffin and then stepped away from the box, attention returning to Jared, pensiveness edging into his expression. “But they want to talk to Lewis and Aaron.”

  It shouldn’t have come as a surprise—both he and Troy had worried Aaron either had something to do with the fires directly or knew more than he was saying—yet Troy confirming the arson investigators officially wanted to interview the boys made his stomach churn. Hell, he shouldn’t have eaten that blueberry muffin or drunk all that damned coffee.

  “We’ll have to contact CPS to get someone to sit in with them,” Jake put in, voice somber.

  “Can’t I sit in?” he asked, even though he could already guess the answer.

  “The paperwork hasn’t been finalized for you to become the boys’ foster parent yet, has it?” Jake asked, glancing back and forth between them.

  “No,” he muttered as Troy swore under his breath.

  “Then I’m sorry.” Jake’s conciliatory tone was sincere, which had the inexplicable result of making him even more apprehensive about things. “CPS will probably send out their case worker for the interview.”

  He felt Troy’s hand slip into his, their fingers latching tightly together. The silent show of support was exactly what he needed. Distantly, he was yet again amazed at how adept Troy was at knowing how to shore him up and ease his apprehensions.

  “When do they want to speak with the boys?” Surely they weren’t planning on having Benny Sadler and Aaron at the station together? He could only imagine how volatile things would get if the pair saw each other.

  “As soon as possible,” Troy answered, giving his hand a comforting squeeze.

  “Well, we better go get them,” he replied, sounding far calmer than he felt. Who would have guessed he’d get attached to the pair so quickly? For better or worse, he was completely invested. And if it turned out Aaron did have something to do with the fires, it was going to hurt more than he wanted to admit.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  TROY PULLED his SUV to a stop in front of Jared’s house. He killed the engine and glanced over at his passenger as silence descended. The entire ride from the sheriff’s station, Jared hadn’t said a word, and Troy could practically see him vibrating with nervous tension.

  He wished he knew what to say or do to put Jared at ease, but since he was feeling the exact same dread over whether Aaron was involved in the fires, Troy wasn’t exactly in the right frame of mind to be comforting anyone.

  “I’d feel better if one of us could sit in when the arson investigators question them,” Jared finally said, staring at his house.

  “You’ve spoken to their case worker, though, haven’t you? She seemed nice enough.”

  Jared sighed, shifting in the seat. “Nice but very overworked. I just don’t want it to go badly because she’s in a hurry or something.”

  “I know Aaron can be prickly.” He reached over and rubbed a hand across Jared’s shoulders. “But if they didn’t do anything wrong, then it’ll all be fine.”

  “I hope so.” Jared unclipped his seat belt, a determined expression settling over his features. “Come on, let’s go see what they’ve been getting themselves into all day with Tate.”

  Troy followed Jared’s single-minded march a little more sedately into the house, finding the teens unsurprisingly camped out in the living room playing Tate’s game system on the TV and surrounded by an alarming amount of empty soda cans and junk food packets.

  “Looks like you guys have been busy.” Jared toed aside a discarded tube of Pringles, sending crumbs trickling out as it rolled away.

  “Very productive,” Tate agreed, stretching indolently in the low-slung gaming chair. “Did you go into the fire station? Thought you had the day off.”

  “I didn’t go into the station, but I went out and helped the arson investigators searching what’s left of the rangers’ station, and then I spent some time at the sheriff’s station.”

  “Sounds serious.” Tate set his gaming controller aside, but Troy’s attention was caught by the surreptitious look Lewis and Aaron shared between them, clearly uneasy with the topic of conversation.

  Was it just because they’d cottoned on to how serious this whole thing was after seeing last night’s fire up close? Or was it as he and Jared feared, and they knew more than they’d said on the subject, maybe even had something to do with it?

  He hardened his resolve. No matter how much sympathy he had for them because their situation was reminiscent of his own crappy childhood, and no matter he’d started to care deeply about what happened to them, if one or both of them were responsible for the fires, then he and Jared had jobs to do. He’d do his best to make sure they were treated fairly and got help. But trying to protect the boys from the consequences of their actions wouldn’t benefit anyone.

  “Deliberately lit fires usually are,” Jared murmured in return, turning his attention to the two younger boys. “Which is why I need the two of you to come with us to the sheriff’s station.”

  All three exploded into conversation at the same time—Tate protesting, Lewis wanting to know why, and Aaron immediately defaulting to his belligerent mask.

  Jared held up both hands and tried to settle them, but when that didn’t work, Troy stuck his fingers into his mouth and let out a piercing whistle so they’d all shut the hell up.

  “One, this is just a formality,” Jared began patiently but with an edge of steel to his voice that said he wouldn’t accept any more arguments or objections. “Two, assuming neither of you did anything wrong, then you can trust nothing will happen to you. And three, the sooner we get it over and done with, the better.”

  “So they’re going to interview us about the fires?” Lewis had his arms crossed tightly, practically hugging himself.

  “Yes,” Troy answered. “The two of you were present at both fires. They just want to know if you saw anything.”

  “Well we didn’t,” Aaron said, clear defensiveness in his tone. “There’s nothing to tell. Why do we need to be interviewed for that?”

  “This is the way things are done for this kind of investigation,” Jared said in a reasonable tone. “I wrote a report for my fire chief, and Troy’s already been interviewed by the arson investigators this morning. It was no big deal, right?”

  Jared cut him an expectant glance, obviously looking for confirmation.

  “None whatsoever.”

  Both Aaron and Lewis were studying him carefully, as if looking for the deception in the statement, but there wasn’t any to be found. He and Jared were being straight with them—probably unlike a lot of the adults they’d dealt with in the past.

 
“Will one of you be in the room with us when we talk to the detectives?” Lewis asked, at least seeming close to accepting the situation. Aaron still looked like he could go either way—come along with a few grumbles and glares or refuse outright. It was hard to say.

  Jared’s outward calm slipped for a fraction of a second. No one else probably noticed the deep apprehension flitting through his eyes, but Troy had become intently tuned to the shift in Jared’s moods, and he subtly moved closer to set a light hand on Jared’s lower back, offering support.

  “Unfortunately no,” Jared said reluctantly. “As far as I know, there’s a case worker from CPS coming to act as your counsel.”

  “No fucking way!” Aaron exploded, surging to his feet.

  “Aaron—” Lewis started, whether because of Aaron’s choice in language or the actual outburst, it was hard to say.

  “They can’t keep us here, Lewis, don’t worry.” Aaron grabbed his cousin’s arm and tugged him to his feet. “We’ll find some other way to get money for a bus ticket. But we’re not staying here and going into the system—”

  “That’s not what’s happening here.” Tate jumped up and got into their path before they could even start crossing the room. “Right, Jared?”

  “No, it’s not.” Again, Jared held his hands up like trying to calm a wild animal. “Like we told you, everything is above board and the paperwork for me to become your foster parent should come through without a problem. Trust us. CPS isn’t taking you anywhere.”

  “And if they try, they’re going to have one hell of a fight on their hands,” Troy put in, which seemed to be what Aaron needed to hear.

  “Fine,” Aaron reluctantly conceded. “We’ll go. But if CPS tries anything funny, we’re out of there.”

  “Believe me.” Jared sent the pair a conspiratorial smile. “If that happens, I’ll be creating the distraction and Troy will be driving the getaway car.”