Caught in Flames

by Lexy Timms

  “Well, she was rather large in the, uh,” he motioned to his chest, “this area. She’d been dancing. Had one of those poles installed in her home.”

  “Oh no! Did it break off the wall?”

  “Not really.” He suddenly couldn’t meet her gaze. “She apparently was trying something new. She’d been dancing with the pole and using something when she slipped. She had a, uh, appendage protruding from her, uh, dorsal side.”

  Becca’s eyebrows pressed together as she tried to imagine this strange woman with large breasts dancing on a pole. “What was she using?” And then it dawned on her. She dropped her voice to a whisper, “Did she have a vibrator?”

  He nodded and rolled his eyes. “It slipped in as she slipped down the pole. Right in. Still on. Still buzzing away.”

  She tried not to laugh. She tried really, really hard. “In her ass?” She covered her mouth with her hand.

  The corners of Sam’s eyes crinkled. “The poor gal. She was a dancer at one of those exotic clubs and was trying out some kind of new dance, I guess. I carried her out of the house, she refused to go on a stretcher. Damn thing inside of her kept vibrating, too.”

  “Was she embarrassed?”

  “Hell no! The woman kept having orgasms and thanking me for carrying her. She even sent me flowers to the station.”

  “Well, that’s a shame.”

  “Uh, why?” He gave her a crazy look.

  “She should’ve sent you a vibrator.”

  “For what?” he barked and burst out laughing.

  So did she. Laughing so hard, Becca bent over to catch her breath and give her abs a slight break. “Th-Think you might need to carry me up the stairs to your apartment, Dorsal fin.”

  He charged at her and before she could run away, he scooped her up, carrying her supine, not prone. “Watch it, woman,” he teased.

  “Oooohh.” The image of pretending to be the damsel in distress with Sam was a nice change of pace from having to be the tough girl. When he set her on her feet just outside the front door to the apartment building, she said, “I’ll take you and your sexy firefighter ways any day.”

  A single eyebrow rose on his forehead. “Any day?”

  “Any time.” Like now.

  Sam worked his security fobs to get into the building and call the elevator. Once in the elevator they stood silent and still, not even cracking a smile, which continued all the way into their apartment. Once they were inside, though, Sam did a complete one-eighty and pulled Becca against his chest, wrapping one hand around the side of her head and pulled her into a deep kiss. Becca moaned against his lips, her hands moving to grip his hips and hold her up while their tongues explored each other’s mouths. When they pulled away from each other, both of them were panting, their hands caressing along the other’s body, their minds soaring with dirty thoughts and feelings.

  “I think I’ll go get one of those bottles of wine. You go pick a bedroom.”

  “Sounds good, stud.” Becca winked at Sam and sauntered over to the couch. She leaned against the back, using her fingers to pull up the hem of her shirt just far enough to flash her tight stomach at Sam. “Or the couch is fine,” she murmured as she watched him pull his phone out of his back pocket.

  She pulled her shirt off, and leaning against the back of the couch, she opened her legs. But Sam was too distracted by his phone to respond to her. “Sam, what is it?”

  Sam looked up at Becca, his face pale and expressionless.

  “Becca, I’m so sorry.”

  “What? What is it?”

  “There was a fire...”

  “It’s ok, we’ll catch the next one.”

  “No, the fire... it was arson. It’s the same cabin where Corey died.”

  Chapter 15

  Becca put her shirt back on, trying to imagine the cabin still there. All she could picture was that day Corey died. How horrible it all was.

  She didn’t want to be in her own truck, so Sam borrowed a neighbor’s car and they drove out to the parking lot that connected to the woods. Becca was silent the entire drive, shocked that someone had bothered to rebuild the cabin. It hurt as well. Why would someone rebuild over the ashes of where her brother had died?

  Karma was a bitch. That the place would burn down again. It was all terrible. Horrible. Awful.

  Once they were parked, Becca climbed out of the car before Sam even had his seatbelt off and she bolted into the woods, following the hiker-made path to where the cabin was. She felt like a teenage kid again. As soon as she made it to the clearing, she screamed. The entire scene looked exactly like it had when Corey had died eight years ago, right down to the charred body that the coroners were hauling away in a body bag. Becca collapsed on the ground, staring at the building with tears in her eyes.

  Sam came up from behind her and was mumbling profanities as he sat down on the ground beside her. When he tried to hug her to comfort her, she shrugged off his touch and wrapped her arms around herself, shaking her head back and forth over and over again. “This can’t be happening.”

  “Becca, I’m sorry. I should have told you they rebuilt it.”

  “Why? Why would someone burn it down?”

  “I don’t know.” He sighed. “Look, I need to go over and talk to the fire crew. They are volunteers here. I know most of these guys. Let me just tell them we are here so they don’t think we’re spying.”

  She nodded and watched him go. The path on the other side of the clearing would lead toward the backyard of her old house. She refused to look in that direction. The memory of eight years earlier too much of a plague. She shouldn’t have come back to the area. It was like she had stirred up dust that had barely settled years ago.

  A limping golden retriever came up to her feet. Whining and rubbing its face against her leg, she rubbed behind its ears the way Corey had taught her to when she was very little. The dog nuzzled its snout by the back of her leg, hitting behind her knee. It buckled and she fell down laughing as the dog jumped over her and licked her face. It stood on three legs, refusing to put weight on the sore paw.

  Becca sat up and the dog stayed right beside her. “Corey?” she called out, but the dog’s bark drowned out her voice. She laughed. “Okay, okay, puppy. I’ll wait here with you. Corey’s my brother, he just rescued you. He’ll be out in a sec. He’s pretty cool... for a brother.” Her fingers stroked through the soft hair as her free hand examined the dog’s paw. It was sliced to pieces as if someone had taken a cheese grater to it. She shuddered and checked its other paw. It looked like the dog had stepped on a shard of glass. “What happened to you, pup?”

  Becca talked to and soothed the dog, being very careful not to touch its sore paws any more than she had to.

  A strange, acrid smell began to fill the air. Becca turned her head and sniffed again, still staring at Braven’s beautiful eyes. It smelled like burning toast, but worse. A few more inhales of the air around her and Becca coughed. The choking taste of smoke filled her mouth. She looked up from the dog and scrambled back in surprise. The entire roof of the cabin seemed to be caught in flames. They licked at the old, dry wood faster than the fires when they went camping in the summer.

  “COREY!!”

  Becca jumped up quickly, trying not to hurt the dog as she rushed around the cabin looking for the entrance that Corey had found. Finding it, she slammed her whole body against the side, but the door seemed stuck or maybe locked. She pounded and kicked at the door, screaming for her brother.

  She ran around the cabin trying to find another way in but soon the walls and everything inside the cabin was engulfed in flames. The heat seared against her fingers and arms. It was too hot.

  She jumped off the small, wraparound porch and rolled in the grass, scared she might be on fire. “Corey!” she cried hoarsely and coughed again.

  She couldn’t see any of the structure of the cabin itself, just oranges and yellows of the flames, white searing brightness and black smoke covering her view. Becca continued to sc
ream and cry, staring through blurry, burning eyes as the dog barked beside her.

  She screamed at the top of her lungs for help, for someone to come save her brother, but nobody came.

  Becca forced herself to stop the memory. She angrily wiped the tears away and refused to let another fall. She sat up straighter, staring at the charred pieces of wood and turned to Sam when he returned a short while later. “This cabin was new. It wouldn’t have been condemned or broken.”

  “No, it was built like five years ago.”

  “So why burn it? This wasn’t an electrical fire or a mistake.” She knew in her heart she was right. “When it burnt last time, they said it was because it was old and condemned. A terrible accident.”

  “That’s what we—they—assumed.”

  “Assumed, but never proven.”

  “That was almost ten years ago, Becks. What are you getting at?”

  “What if it wasn’t because it was old? What if it was the same person who burnt it down both times?”

  “How is that possible? That was nearly a decade ago.”

  Becca shrugged. “Maybe he never left his hometown, I don’t know. Just seems a little odd...”

  “Well, detective, looks like we have more of the case to look into than we thought.”

  “Detective?”

  “Well, you’re trying to catch the criminal instead of his flames.”

  Becca wiped her cheeks and glared at Sam. “I can do both.”

  “I’m not so sure.” Sam took a steady breath. “You come back here, first time in how long? You’ve had a few pretty stressful days.” He held his arm out to her. “You’re chasing ghosts, Becca. None of this is going to bring Corey back. I wish it could, but it won’t.” He had tears in his own eyes as he worked to swallow the lump forming in his own throat.

  Becca nodded and leaned her head on his shoulder. They watched the firefighters and police talk and scramble to pack everything back into the trucks. They were all talking, trying to figure out what started the fire.

  It was glaringly obvious. Becca knew. Shaking her head because she knew exactly what the cause of it was: the unknown arsonist. He was coming back to where he had started. No one would believe her. She needed to find proof. “Dammit! We need to catch this guy.”

  “I agree. The police won’t be happy about it, though.”

  “I don’t care.”

  “Didn’t think you would.”

  “I need to get my hands on the police files.”

  “We’ll figure out a way. Maybe you can flirt your way into the file room at the police station.”

  Becca laughed and then she stopped. “That might actually work...”

  “Becks, I was joking.”

  “Maybe, but it’s still a brilliant idea.”

  “Fine, slut yourself out for information. See if I care,” he teased.

  Becca smacked Sam on the shoulder and stood. “It’s not slutting, it’s just flirting.”

  “What’s the difference?”

  “Length of skirt.” Becca winked at Sam and sighed. She didn’t feel like teasing or laughing. She didn’t want to be here, either.

  The fire had been fully doused and the ambulance had left, as well as the firetrucks. The police drove off as well once everything was marked. Becca and Sam had arrived after everything had been contained. She was grateful no one had come over to talk to them. Everyone was clearing out from the scene and they were left by themselves staring at the carnage.

  “Can we get out of here?”

  “With pleasure. Come take my hand, milady, and we shall flee this forest.” Sam faked an accent while he spoke, making Becca try to smile, reaching out for his hand and allowing him to help her up off the ground. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and she wrapped her arm around his waist. They walked out of the forest to their borrowed vehicle.

  Sam helped her in, and while he walked around the car, she began to laugh. It went from a giggle to instant hysteria. She tried covering her mouth but couldn’t stop laughing, even when there were tears in her eyes.

  Sam opened the driver’s door and ducked down to look at her. He seemed concerned, which only made Becca laugh harder. “Someone fill the car with laughing gas?”

  “No, no... sorry.”

  “What’s so funny?”

  “Nothing. It’s probably shock.” She was laughing and crying at the same time. “I’ve cried so much these past two days. You know, after Corey died, I was so sad and when we moved, I refused to ever cry again. Then I come back here and I’m like a freakin’ wet rag that needs to be wrung out five times a day. So much for being the tough firefighter chick.”

  “You are tough.” He sat in the car and started it. “Tears and crying. They aren’t bad things. It’s been pretty horrendous for you here.”

  “Yeah, yeah it has.” Becca started laughing again.

  “Ok, what is it this time?” He looked at her, slightly annoyed.

  “At least I’ve had good sex.”

  It was Sam’s turn to start laughing, shaking his head and grinning. “Great, huh? We should take you home and get you some more of that. Seems like that’s the best kind of medicine.” He ran his tongue over his lips. “Seems to work for me as well.”

  Becca’s phone beeped at the same time Sam made his suggestion. “We both have shit. Let’s fuck till our brains don’t remember how to work.”

  “That’s my kind of girl.” He pulled out of the parking lot.

  Becca checked her phone. “Damn! Looks like that’ll have to wait a bit longer. Chief wants us.”

  “Just you?”

  “He wants to see both of us.”

  “Damn! I was sporting a hard-on already.” He sighed and shifted in his seat. “Alright, let’s head to the hall then.”

  Chapter 16

  When they pulled into the fire hall parking lot, Chief Titan was waiting for them at the entrance, his arms crossed over his chest and a glare plastered to his face. Becca and Sam hopped out of the car and walked toward the Chief, making sure to act as if nothing was going on.

  “What’s up, Chief?”

  “In my office, please.”

  Becca frowned. For as long as she’d know the Chief, he seldom asked anyone into his office. He was the most casual boss she had ever met.

  Sam seemed to be trying to make himself small as well, feeling the fear of impending doom clouding over him. “Yes, sir.”

  They moved in unison, going ahead of the Chief and heading straight for his office. Once they were inside, the Chief shut the door. He waited for them to sit down before he took a seat at his desk, leaning over the dark wood and lacing his fingers together into a single fist. “Well... do you two have something you’d like to tell me?”

  “Umm, like what, Chief?” she asked, hoping playing dumb would save a bit of reprimanding. There were a few things she wasn’t sure he might be angry at.

  “I think you know, Rebecca.”

  Becca swallowed a lump in her throat; nobody ever used her full name.

  “You see, Chief, when a man and a woman...” As soon as Sam started setting up his defense for Becca and him hooking up, the Chief looked at him confused. That stopped Sam dead in his tracks.

  Becca thought fast. This wasn’t about them getting together, it was about something else.

  “I heard you two at the cabin. What did I tell you about messing around in police business?”

  Becca went wide-eyed, she hadn’t even seen the Chief, how could he have possibly heard them talking about getting involved? “Chief. We just need a few days and I’m sure I can...”

  “Can what? Catch an arsonist who has been plaguing Phoenix for months? Not likely. I told you two to stay out of it. I can’t protect you from the police chief if you meddle in their affairs.”

  “I don’t need protecting.”

  “Oh, yes, you do. That police chief is ruthless and won’t hold back if you piss him off.”

  “I can handle my own.”

  “
Enough, Rebecca.” He banged his fist on the table. “Stop thinking that this is all about you! This is not your town, not your problem, and damn well not your fire station!”

  Becca blinked in surprise. “I never—”

  “Yes, you did!” He cut her off. “Maybe not in words, but since you rolled in, you’ve caused nothing but trouble. Step back and let the people of this city do their job!” His voice softened, “I know you grew up close by and there are memories, but you have to let us take care of things. Stirring the pot isn’t going to get just you in trouble. Please remember that.” He glanced pointedly at Sam. “Don’t risk a friend’s job or status because you think you can solve something that is a police matter.”

  She wanted to argue, tell him they were missing right was in front of them, but realized she wasn’t going to get anywhere. She didn’t want Sam in trouble.

  In the end, Sam and Becca walked out of his office feeling defeated. The Chief had not only made crazy accusations about the police chief, but he also threatened their jobs if they messed in things that didn’t concern them.

  Becca sighed and headed to the overnight room. She wanted to catch the arsonist, just not at the risk of Sam’s job or the risk of ruining the fire department.

  Sam patted her on the back and followed her into the room.

  “I’m so sorry, S—”

  His lips cut her off as he closed the door and locked it. He pulled on Becca’s arm until she was pressed against the wall next to the door. Sam made sure to pin her there, lifting both hands above her head and clasping them within one of his. He pressed them hard against the wall, while his other hand explored the side of her body.

  “Sam...” she whispered.

  “Shh, nobody’s going to come in.”

  Becca moaned as Sam’s hand found its way to her breasts, massaging one and then the other, swapping back and forth until her nipples were stabbing through her shirt.

  “You look so good in my clothes.”

  Becca was grinning, but Sam couldn’t tell until he pressed his lips softly against hers. She could feel his grin as well after he began to kiss her, slowly at first and then harder once his tongue was gliding across her lower lip. She opened her mouth and hungrily accepted his tongue, sucking on it and dragging her teeth along the top of it as she tried to push her body forward, wanting to touch him as much as he was touching her.