Crave the Heat

by Marnee Blake

  “You’re trespassing, Special Agent Sinclair.” His father looked each of them over, passing equal levels of scorn to them all. “If any of you have any other questions for me or my family, I’d suggest you not come back unless you have a warrant.”

  Heidi stilled, her eyes widening before his father shut the door firmly.

  Dak gritted his teeth. “Well, that went as well as I expected it to.”

  Next to him, Jesse snorted.

  With nothing else to do, they sauntered off the porch, down the walkway, and paused in the driveway by their cars.

  Still staring at the house, Jesse asked under his breath. “Is he right? About the fire in Washington?”

  “Yes.” Dak’s mouth thinned. “My brother—”

  “You can see how this information would have been helpful to me, can’t you?” Jesse grimaced. “He’s right. The arsons have only been occurring the past three months. Since you came back.”

  Dak put his hands on his hips, his head dropping. Why hadn’t he seen this coming? If he had been smart—no, if he’d thought like his father did—he would have recognized that the older man would have worked through any possible outcomes of involving him.

  Manipulative dick. He’d probably only come in search of Dak after thinking through how he’d throw him under the bus if he didn’t stay in line.

  “It wasn’t me.” His voice was low, firm, but it did nothing to conceal his outrage. Heidi rested her hand on his arm, and the simple act of support soothed him. He squared his shoulders. “I don’t even know the dates of the arsons, but I’d imagine that if you give them to me, I can give you lists of where I was. I’ve worked a lot this summer. I’d imagine the logs at the air center could sort most of this out.”

  “God, what a mess. I don’t think that you were involved, but if he pushes, there are those in the department who will want to question you. It’s bound to tie up resources and waste time that we don’t have.” Jesse ran a hand over his hair. “Honestly, I’d hoped this was a misunderstanding. That if we talked to Mikey, he’d be able to clear this up, what he knows, where he was.” He glanced toward his police cruiser. “Now I’ll need to go, sort through paperwork, get search warrants, chase my tail. All with Dusty Kirk breathing down my neck.”

  Heidi crossed her arms over her chest. “My soil tests came back that there was accelerant on the ground at the campsite where the fire started last week. Coupled with the rest of my photographic evidence and testimony, the case for arson is pretty strong. I can see what I can do on my end, with the Forest Services and the other federal agencies, the Bureau of Indian Affairs. I’m supposed to meet with an FBI agent today.”

  She’d mentioned that a special agent was coming in to help investigate the explosion of her car.

  “Keep me posted.” Jesse waved as he headed for his car. As he pulled away, Dak opened the driver’s door of her rental and she slipped in. He would have smiled at another time. For a woman who hadn’t liked him fussing over her when they first met, she’d grown accustomed to his small acts of gentlemanly kindness.

  But, his amusement was halted when he glanced back at the house and saw an upstairs curtain fall away.

  His mom.

  His chest hurt. He wondered what she was making of all of this. Undoubtedly, she would know something about what was happening. Protecting Mikey was one thing but covering for him while throwing Dak to the wolves was another. Was he so far removed from her that she would choose one son over the other?

  He swallowed the lump in his throat as he hurried around to the passenger side.

  He didn’t know.

  * * * *

  “Parrish,” Rock, one of the other first-year jumpers, called to him from the loft. “Mitch wants to see you.”

  Dak gave him a thumbs-up as he walked to his cubicle. Thanks to his detour to see his father, he was late for work. Mitch probably wanted to chew him out, though he doubted that he’d do anything serious. In all his months there, it might be the second or third time ever Dak had been late. Way better record than a few of the other guys.

  Still, Mitch wouldn’t want to give up a chance to bitch at him anyway. That was part of his job.

  He tossed his bag into his cubicle with more force than necessary, still pissed about how things had gone at his parents’ house earlier.

  The farther he got from the reservation, the angrier he had become.

  All this time, all he’d wanted was to reconnect with his mother. Why did everything in his family come with some ultimatum or hidden agenda? Why couldn’t he have a normal relationship with them? Instead, his father did things like show up and drag him into an investigation he hadn’t wanted anything to do with so that he could use him as a scapegoat.

  He’d stayed away from Oregon to avoid all this, to find healthy relationships. Instead, he’d jeopardized all of that with Heidi because his first instinct hadn’t been to be honest with her.

  All of it was so fucked.

  At the base manager’s office, he rapped his knuckles on the door. “Mitch? Heard you wanted to see me.”

  The older man leaned back in his chair, nodding. “Come in, Dak. And close the door.”

  Dak paused, his hand on the knob, before shutting the door with a soft click. This was odd. Mitch never closed the door to his office. When he harped on guys about being late, he usually did it so everyone could hear. “What’s up?”

  “I got a call today. From the main office.”

  “The main office, as in the main Forest Services office?” He sat in the chair in front of Mitch’s desk. “Why?”

  “They’re sending someone out to talk to you.” Mitch folded his hands in front of him. “About the arsons on the Warm Springs Reservation.”

  “I don’t think I understand. Special Agent Sinclair is already looking into them. She’s working with the reservation police—”

  “They want to talk to you. It’s someone from Internal Affairs.”

  Dak snapped his mouth closed. Internal Affairs? They were sending someone to investigate him? “This is my father’s doing, isn’t it?”

  “Maybe you might want to clue me in on what the hell’s going on here, son.”

  He inhaled, and the story came out. About how his family moved to the reservation after their home burned down, how he’d left twelve years ago because of a disagreement with his father. How he returned so that he could make amends and reconnect with his mom, plus all the sordid details of the past weeks.

  He left out his relationship with Heidi, though. He doubted she would appreciate him dragging her into it, or anything that would make her look less than professional. That he had to worry about that—his new relationship being sullied by scandal like this—made him even angrier.

  When he finished, he waited quietly while Mitch processed.

  “Well, that’s quite a huge mess you made.”

  “It’s not all—”

  Mitch lifted his hand. “You’re right. It’s not all your fault. I had no idea of all the animosity when I agreed to let you work on this investigation. If you’d said anything, gave me any indication that your relationship with your family or with the community on the reservation was so broken, I would have intervened.”

  Dak clenched his jaw. “I’m sorry I didn’t say anything.” He’d spent his life keeping his mouth shut, keeping his life at home a secret. After he left, he’d believed that he’d outgrown that. He’d told himself that he’d never be manipulated to do something he didn’t agree with again.

  Yet, there he was. And not only had he been played, he hadn’t spoken up when he should have.

  This was his fault. He shouldn’t have trusted his father.

  “I’m going to have to take you out of the rotation, until they clear this up.”

  “Mitch, come on—”

  “Dak, you should be glad that’s all I’m
doing. They need to make sure you aren’t involved.” Mitch leaned back. “And I need to remind you where your loyalty should be.”

  “No one here works harder than I do.” Dak couldn’t hide how much this stung.

  “That’s true. But we need to trust each other. You go up on that plane and the others need to trust you. I understand that this has to do with your family, but I’ll be frank. I don’t care how fucked up they are, and it seems like they might be pretty fucked up. No matter what, you’re part of our family here.”

  Mitch was right. Since returning in the spring, he’d found people he could depend on. Lance and Meg. Mitch and his colleagues there.

  Heidi.

  Yet when the time came to actually lean on them, he hadn’t. He’d fallen back on his fears and his dysfunctional family. Now, he was suspended, being investigated by an officer from Internal Affairs, and potentially having to deal with the police department looking into how he might be involved in the arsons on the reservation.

  All the while, another fire could be started. A fire that might get someone hurt.

  “I know, Mitch. I’m sorry.”

  Mitch waved him off. “I know. It shouldn’t take long, maybe a few days. I’ll let you know when the officer from Internal Affairs comes in. Hopefully it’ll be an easy fix, and this will be all behind us.”

  “I hope so, too.” Dak tapped his knuckles against Mitch’s desk, attempting a smile. “I’ll see you soon.”

  As he got up, trudging for the door, Mitch stopped him. “Hey Dak?”

  “Yeah?”

  “It’s going to be okay. We’re here for you.”

  That was exactly it. He believed that. These people he’d let down still had his back. It was humbling. Unable to speak around his gratitude, he nodded.

  As he left Mitch’s office, he didn’t stop to talk to anyone as he grabbed his bag and left. In the parking lot, he tossed his things into the passenger seat of his truck.

  Banging his palm against his steering wheel, he clenched his jaw to keep from screaming.

  Since leaving home, he’d believed he’d made all the right choices. He’d worked hard to become an elite firefighter. Firefighting had been his salvation.

  Now, his father had taken that away from him, too.

  No way. He needed to talk to Heidi. Together, they’d be able to figure it out.

  Chapter 15

  “I spoke with the family.” FBI Agent Hernandez, from the field office in Portland, dropped the file she’d been sifting through onto Heidi’s desk. “Lyle and Melinda Parrish claim they were home on the night your car exploded.”

  “I bet they do.” Heidi’s mouth thinned. She figured that Melinda Parrish would agree with whatever her husband told her happened, even if she had firsthand knowledge otherwise.

  “So tell me, do you really think that these are your suspects?”

  She leaned back, studying the FBI special agent in front of her. She didn’t look much older than her, but Heidi could already see the aura of experiences she carried. She’d worked with the feds plenty of times at the DEA, and she remembered the battle-weary look of them, especially the more seasoned agents. By and large, they were the most service-oriented, honorable people, but their eyes showed what watching awful things happen did to the soul.

  Especially the ones who worked with children.

  She admired them all, and this woman was no different.

  “I’m not sure.” She hadn’t spoken of her own suspicions or doubts until then. While Dak was convinced that his family was involved, she couldn’t find any concrete evidence to support that. Nothing at the arson scene near Camp Sherman suggested it, and none of the files Jesse had sent her pointed to them.

  In fact, the other arsons on the reservation were all the same, empty canisters of lighter fluid near easily flammable material. Two sheds, two barns, the dumpster at the casino, and an outcropping of brush near a gas station. There were no sightings of any of the Parrishes at any of the sites, no footprints or fingerprints, no evidence at all.

  “I think it’s strange that Lyle Parrish wanted the son he hasn’t seen in years, a son he harbors a world of bitterness toward, to be involved in my investigations. Further muddying that plot, I think it’s weird that he’s got Dusty Kirk eating out of his hand.”

  Hernandez shrugged. “Small towns, man. Kirk probably doesn’t want to upset a wealthy local businessman, in case he needs something, someday. And I don’t know about the son thing. Maybe he did want you to get acquainted with the area.” She snorted, waving toward her file. “You’re new, right?”

  “Yeah. I transferred from DC last year. Used to work for the DEA.”

  “Huh.” Hernandez nodded, as if processing. “My gut about Parrish is that he’s hiding something. But I can’t tell if it has anything to do with fires. And I can’t see anything that supports that it has anything to do with the bomb on your car.”

  “Did we subpoena any computers?”

  “I did, but it’s taking time.” She offered her an apologetic grin. “And, I’ll be honest, I doubt we’d be able to get anything on them. Can you think of anyone else you’ve upset here?”

  “No. Not at all. I haven’t worked on much that is controversial.” Heidi stared out the window. “Do you think it could have been random?”

  “Maybe. But I doubt it. Your car wasn’t parked near anything, and you were the only one around. It feels like you were targeted, but I could be wrong.” Hernandez ticked off things on her fingers. “I spoke with the local police, and they haven’t had anything else like that. Bend isn’t a large town. No threats or hate crimes like that lately.”

  “So, you think it was me, too?”

  She nodded. “I do. I just can’t figure out why.”

  That made two of them, and having the special agent confirm that someone was gunning for her didn’t ease her mind at all. “Someone at the Warm Springs Police Department? I definitely think Kirk doesn’t like me.”

  Hernandez shook her head. “None of the officers in the department like him much, so I doubt that’s an issue.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah.”

  That was good to know, if not a little surprising. Everyone she’d worked with there, besides Kirk, had been great to her. She thought they might have only liked her because of Jesse. Apparently not.

  “I’m not sure what’s going on.” Hernandez stood, gathering her things. “I’m on my way to the Redmond Air Center, to talk to the base manager and check things out. I’ll keep you posted.” As she headed for the door, she paused. “You worked for the DEA, huh? In DC?”

  “I did.”

  “I was in DC until a year or so ago. I’m surprised we never met.”

  “I moved here, to do something quieter, last year.” Heidi’s slick palms pressed against her desk. For some reason, the turn in conversation set her on edge. “I was involved in an operation that didn’t go well. I got hurt. Recovery was…difficult.”

  “Wait. Last year?”

  Heidi nodded, her throat tightening. She didn’t know if she could keep talking about this.

  “I’m sorry. I’m sure you don’t want to talk about this, but you were…Heidi Poole, weren’t you?” Her eyes softened in sympathy. “You got injured in an explosion. My friend is dating—” She stopped, as if she’d said too much.

  Heidi’s eyes widened, her fingers gripping the armrests of her chair. She didn’t know what Hernandez planned to say next, but she found herself bracing for it anyway. “Your friend?”

  She shouldn’t have asked. As soon as the words were out, she wanted to call them back.

  Hernandez nodded, the apology so stark in her eyes it almost hurt to see it. “My friend, an acquaintance really, she’s, well, dating your ex-husband.”

  There was no oxygen left in the air. Heidi found herself gasping. She opened
her mouth and closed it twice before finally offering a soft reply. “Oh.”

  That’s all she could work up?

  She didn’t know why she was surprised. Jeff was smart, good looking and charismatic. There was no reason he wouldn’t start dating again. They’d been divorced for almost a year.

  He’d moved on. Of course he had. There was no reason to think she would have heard about it. She had fallen out of touch with most of her friends in DC, not returning calls very quickly for so long that they stopped calling altogether. It wasn’t a surprise that none of them would want to tell her something like this.

  Besides, hadn’t she moved on, too?

  She forced a smile. “That’s wonderful. I’m incredibly happy for him.”

  “Right.” Hernandez nodded, obviously uncomfortable. She squared her shoulders, her smile too bright as she offered a wave. “I’ll keep you posted on my questioning at the air center.”

  Heidi nodded. “Thanks. That’d be great.”

  Hernandez left so fast Heidi was surprised she didn’t leave a cartoon shaped dust cloud behind her. All she could do was sit, staring at the door.

  She’d moved there to start again, leaving Jeff and her memories behind. A new life, away from DC, away from the DEA.

  Except she’d had difficulty meeting new people. Why, exactly? She wasn’t shy. In fact, she was an extrovert. Yet, she hadn’t reached out to anyone, tried to find friends anywhere. She’d buried herself in her work, spending the remaining time at home, knitting, watching movies she’d missed for the years she’d worked at the DEA. She’d told herself she was catching up on her me-time but now she wondered if she wasn’t hiding.

  Her efforts at dating? Nonexistent until she’d met Dak. She hadn’t even wanted to give him a chance.

  Look how that had turned out. She’d been so clueless she hadn’t realized he’d been keeping things from her. And her distraction with him might be keeping her from figuring out the case.

  Even Hernandez didn’t see the connections with the Parrish family. It had been so long since she’d been in a relationship that maybe she had forgotten how to keep her business and personal life separate.