Smoke And Ashes

His handset sat in the window, and he stared at it for a moment before deciding to leave it there. He wasn’t a real firefighter; nothing he did was an emergency. As Hiller was more than happy to point out, his job rarely made a difference. He was little more than a glorified desk jockey, filling out paperwork and teaching kids about smoke detectors.

He stepped out of the truck and slipped into his bunker gear and boots, making sure to grab his investigation kit and helmet before he made his way toward the house.

There was less than an hour before Colter’s practice was over. He had to make a pass through the scene and take some notes, but then he could get across town to the high school to catch the tail end. If he hurried, Colter wouldn’t notice he’d been missing. Maybe he would even get a chance to talk to Heather and thank her for her help.

Perhaps he could convince her to come to the barbecue. She always looked beautiful at those things—her naturally tan skin finally exposed after a winter hidden away. Last year, she’d worn her dark hair down. It had looked so soft, so touchable, just like her lips.

Those lips. He’d love to make those lips his.

He laughed at himself. Those lips, just like the rest of her, could never be his.

The only thing he could ever be to her was a friend, and that was only if he hurried.

He made his way around the back of the house, taking pictures every few feet. The door to the garage was unlocked and, as he opened it, the smell of burnt chemicals swirled around him. Thick black residue coated everything, including the woman’s car, but nothing was burned.

On the wooden steps that led to the house, there was a pair of discarded women’s flip-flops and beside them was an oily black shoe print. The print had a star pattern at its center and rectangular squares around the sole’s edges. He snapped a picture. It was probably a leftover of someone walking through the oil slick in the garage while they’d made their way inside. He took a swab of the substance and tagged it as evidence to be sent to the crime lab.

The whole downstairs dripped with water and his footsteps sounded like suction cups as he made his way through the kitchen. The small rectangular room was typical of a low-income home, linoleum on the floor, cheap oak cupboards and an apartment-sized refrigerator.

In the living room, there was black, sticky ash on the walls where the smoke had billowed through the house. A thick layer of oily soot covered every surface making it impossible for him to be able to lift fingerprints.

He followed the smoke pattern up the stairs, and the acrid smell grew stronger. In the center of the hallway, between two bedrooms and in front of the burned-out bathroom, was a black circular pattern.

Another V-shaped pattern started at the floor, and at its center was an electrical outlet. He looked up. The light had melted and it pointed like a finger to the blackened circle.

There was no doubt about it, he’d found his ignition point.

He crouched and wafted the air toward him as he took in a long breath of the oily, dirty smoke. It had a faint chemical smell.

Around the edges of the charred circle was a ring of white powder. He took another picture. Opening his bag, he pulled out an evidence can and scooped some of the white residue into it.

This fire was no accident.

An event like this, one started with chemical oxidizers, wasn’t the work of a novice. This was someone who knew the chemicals required to start a fire. Plus they likely knew most chemical reactions took several minutes to ignite—giving them enough time to flee the scene.

If he had to bet, this was a person who would do it again.

According to the notes, Elke had been in her bedroom at the time of the fire. If the perp had wanted to kill her, they would have built a fire that she couldn’t escape, yet they had kept it small, manageable.

He turned to his clipboard and wrote: Suspect may not have meant to kill victim.

He glanced down at his watch. Fifteen minutes before the end of practice. He was never going to make it to the baseball field in time to see Colter.

He put away his clipboard, labeled the evidence and dropped it into his kit.

The burden his job put on him was fine, but bit by bit and day by day, he could see Colter pulling away. It was even evident in the way his son walked, no longer the fumbling steps of a boy, but the saunter of a young man. Every time Kevin had a call lately, he had watched as Colter used this newfound gait to walk as far away as possible. After today and his broken promise, it would only get worse.

Chapter Three

David stomped into the house and slammed the door, the sound making Heather jump. The sweat on her palms made her hands stick to the edges of the kitchen counter, and they peeled off with a wet sound as she stood up to greet him.

His dark hair was perfectly shaped and his eyes bright, as if he hadn’t had the same trouble she had sleeping last night. The only thing that gave away his anger was the slight tic of his lip, as though he was holding back a snarl.

“Hi, David,” she said, trying to sound cool and indifferent but failing as fear and desperation crept into her voice.

“Don’t talk to me. Don’t think I came home for you.”

“Are you going to come to the barbecue with me?”

“We’ll both be there. I would hardly say we’re going together.”

Heather glanced over her shoulder toward Lindsay, who was sitting on the couch weaving thread around her bracelet.

“You look like crap,” David said as he walked to the fridge and grabbed the unopened bottle of Perrier.

She closed the door to the kitchen. Lindsay didn’t need to hear anything David had to say right now. She would get the wrong idea. David wasn’t a bad man, just stressed. Stress always brought out the worst in people.

“I should’ve known you would go to seed without me around.” He smirked as he looked at her. “I don’t know what you’re going to do without me.”

His words were like a fist slamming into her gut, but she tried to ignore the pain. She needed to fix this and get him back. She couldn’t let herself fall into the same cycle her mother had—a life built around a husband who only came home when it was convenient and who was more than happy to use her love as a tool to manipulate her. She was better than that.

For a moment her mind moved to Kevin—he had never treated Allison the way David treated her. Yet that was in public. Who knows what happened behind closed doors. Perhaps all marriages were the same—one person always bending to the whims of another for the sake of commitment.

“I don’t understand this, David. I don’t even know where this is coming from.”

“Do I have to remind you about Andrew?”

Heather flicked a glance over her shoulder. “Don’t. Lindsay’s here.”

“You afraid she’s going to find out what you’ve done?”

“I didn’t do anything.” The second the words fell from her lips, she wished she hadn’t spoken back. Her insolence would only make things worse, and she needed him back—she needed to hold her family together.

David glowered. “I don’t care what you say anymore. You’re a liar and a cheat.” He slammed the bottle on the granite countertop so hard Heather couldn’t believe the emerald-green glass hadn’t broken.

She slumped onto the stool as tears welled in her eyes.

David pushed back from her in disgust. “Save the waterworks for someone who gives a damn.” He strode out of the room. “Lindsay, when you grow up don’t be like her,” he said as his heavy, angry footfalls thundered through the living room.

Heather moved to follow him, but stopped in the doorway. Lindsay glanced over at her but looked away when she met her gaze.

Heather wiped away her tears. “Don’t worry, Lindsay.” She tried to smile, but the simple action pained her. “David’s just upset.”

Lindsay just nodded.

“Really.” The lie made her voice quake. “Everything will be okay.”

“Okay, Mrs. Sampson.” It was clear from Lindsay’s averted eyes that there was no way to make her feel better or forget what had happened.

“Can you do me a favor, Lindsay?”

She finally looked up. “What?”

“I don’t know what you heard, but can you please not tell your dad anything? I don’t need him to...” She paused. He had so many things in his life that needed his attention. She couldn’t let him sacrifice his time by helping her to deal with the storm in her personal life. No doubt, this storm would pass, just like the others that had preceded it.

“You don’t need him to what?”

“I don’t want him to worry.”

Lindsay shrugged. “Okay, Mrs. Sampson.”

The pipes clanked as David turned on the shower in the master bathroom.

“How’s the bracelet coming along?”

“Fine.” Lindsay lifted it for her to see. “You know, if you wanted, you could come with me and Dad to the Millers’.”

Heather’s smile came a little easier. “That’s really nice of you, but you don’t need to worry. I’ll have to go up and talk to David, but I would guess that we’re probably going together. Fighting is just what married people do.”

* * *

KEVIN MADE HIS way toward Heather’s house where Lindsay waited. David’s Porsche was in the driveway. Hopefully everything was going okay. Every time he was around, David treated him like the village idiot, and he always wrapped his arm around Heather as if she was some high school conquest rather than his wife.

He had always hated men like that.

There was no reason for two people in a healthy relationship to hover and mistrust one another. When Allison had been alive, he’d never needed to claim her. No. Anytime they had been together it was like they were magnetic. It hadn’t mattered whether they were alone or in a room filled with people, he only saw her.

They had fit.

It was dumb luck he had found such a once-in-a-lifetime love.

Maybe it was stupid of him to compare what he and Allison had to anyone else. Maybe they hadn’t had just a simple once-in-a-lifetime love. Maybe they were soul mates, their love created by the gods.

Either way, he appreciated Allison way more than David seemed to appreciate the special woman he had found in Heather. His neighbor didn’t deserve such a woman—a woman so beautiful that the first time Kevin had met her she’d taken his breath away, a woman who put up with David’s possessiveness, a woman who accepted the hours that a cardiologist worked. Who knew what else she was forced to accept. Bottom line—Heather deserved better. Whether she knew it was another thing.

Regardless, it was none of his business. And he shouldn’t be thinking of his neighbor and his daughter’s babysitter this way. Though, truthfully, she’d been in his thoughts way too often lately.

He parked the truck and walked toward the house. Every bush along the walkway was perfectly shaped into a little sphere—it was like a trail of bombs just waiting to explode.

He knocked on the door.

It creaked open. Heather’s long brunette hair was pulled half up, making her look like one of those models from the Victoria’s Secret catalogs that he kept hidden in his bedroom like a teenager. Quickly he envisioned her in the skimpy lingerie and his gaze drifted to her breasts, but he wrestled his attention away. He hardened at the thought of her undressed.

What was wrong with him today? There were so many other things he needed to be worried about besides how a friend looked naked.

“Hey. I’m glad you’re here.” She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. Something was wrong.

“Lindsay good?”

Heather’s face tightened.

At the sound of his voice, Lindsay poked her head around the corner and smiled. “I gotta grab my backpack.”

He turned back to Heather and looked into the darkness that seemed to fill her hazel eyes. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. Really. Just tired,” she said, maybe a little too insistently.

“I appreciate your taking Lindsay, but if you have other things that you need to take care of, I can find something else to do with her. Colter’s sixteen—he could be helping.”

Heather leaned in close. “No teenage boy wants to babysit his sister. I’m sure he has other things on his mind.” Her breath brushed his cheek. He breathed in, trying to control his body, but she smelled like flowers and the scent only made him harder.

“Yeah. Other things on his mind,” he said, stumbling through his words. He tried to take that advice and thought about baseball and who won the 1996 American League pennant.

“Are you okay, Kevin?” Heather frowned.

“Yankees,” he blurted out, trying to look anywhere but at her.

“What?”

“Nothing.” He leaned in, through the open door, brushing lightly against Heather and her not-to-be-noticed-by-him breasts. “Lindsay, let’s go!”

“Coming!” Lindsay said in a sing-song voice.

David came down the stairs and stopped beside Heather, barely giving her a sideways glance. He smiled. His teeth were straight with long, oversize canines. “Hi, Kev, how’s it going?” He slapped him on the back. “Heading to the Millers’ tonight? It’s going to be a good one.”

“Thought I’d pop in. Probably won’t stay too long.” The lust he had been feeling disappeared as he stared at David’s predatory smile.

“Long day?” David wrapped his arm around Heather, but she seemed to freeze under his touch.

“Brutal.”

When Lindsay made her way to the door, David turned and gave her a warm smile. “Thanks for coming by, hon. Great to have you here keeping the old ball and chain happy.”

Lindsay stared at David, a confused look on her face. “Sure, Dr. Sampson.” She slid past David, giving him plenty of space. “Bye, Mrs. Sampson. See you soon.” She rushed to the car.

From Lindsay’s befuddled look, he couldn’t help wondering what he had missed.

He turned to Heather. “Everything go okay?”

“Of course. Always.” Heather looked to David as though she was checking to make sure she was saying the right thing.

“We have a few things to discuss.” David pushed Heather back and moved to close the door. “Talk to you later, Kev.”

“It’s Kevin.”

David didn’t seem to notice; instead, he turned toward Heather. As the door closed, Kevin could swear his face was contorted with rage.

Chapter Four

The teak chair pinched Heather’s leg as she perched on the edge trying to make her legs look sexy. David wasn’t even looking at her; instead he stood chatting away with Heather’s beautiful friend Brittany. He brushed back Brittany’s blond hair and whispered something. Her laughter cut through the air.

The grill sizzled and smoke poured into Heather’s face, making her look away. A group of teenage boys were splashing around in the pool as the teenage girls sat on the side whispering behind their hands and texting on their bubblegum-pink phones.

Life had been so much simpler at that age. Days consumed with flirting and laughter. Nights filled with dreams of things to come. When she was close to that age she had been consumed with thoughts of the charming, too handsome, college-aged David—the man who had started their relationship with flowers and love notes and now couldn’t even look her in the eye.

She walked over to him, but only Brittany looked at her. “Hiya, Heather. David was just telling me about his day. He’s so funny!”

He hadn’t been funny with her in a long time.

She suffered through a smile. “Yeah.”

Brittany turned to David and laid her hand on his shoulder. “Did you tell her what happened?”

David finally bothered to look at her, but his eyes were pinched into a glare. “She doesn’t like to hear about my job.”

“What? Really?” Brittany giggled, the sound mimicking the titters coming from the poolside. “I think it’s fascinating.” She ran her finger down David’s arm. “You have such a noble job—saving lives.”

Heather couldn’t stand the way David’s face transitioned from a glare to a smile as Brittany touched him.

“I need a drink,” Heather said.

Everything would be okay. She just needed to fake it and get through this day without breaking down and having everyone find out about her failing marriage.

“I’ll go with you. Nathan’s made the best strawberry margaritas.” She looped her arm through Heather’s and made her way toward the tiki bar.

Heather glanced back at her husband, but he’d already started to talk to another woman. Across from her, poolside, was Kevin. He sent her a sexy smile as he waved.

“Two margaritas, por favor!” Brittany called to her husband.

The winter-pale Nathan had on a coconut bra T-shirt, red hibiscus-covered Bermuda shorts and a party store straw hat. “Coming right up.”

He shook his chest, making the coconuts jump. “Where’s the smile, Heath?”

“I...uh...”

“She just hasn’t had a drink yet. That’ll make everything better. Isn’t that right, bestie?” Brittany giggled and pushed her into a seat.

“Lime in the Coconut” came on the speakers and Nathan did his best impression of a hula dancer as he flipped on the blender. But not even the goofy Nathan could make her laugh today.

He poured the mix into a bowl-sized glass. As he sat the glass in front of her, the scent of tequila was strong in the air.

“Little heavy-handed with the tequila, huh?”

Nathan laughed. “I just want you to get to feeling better. Remember, it’ll be better tomorrow.”

She doubted it.

One of her neighbors, the woman from three doors down who always walked her Pomeranian in the mornings, stepped to the bar and drew Nathan’s attention.

“So what’s going on?” Brittany asked.

“Huh?” Heather took a long sip from the delicious, strawberry drink.

“You’ve barely spoken to David all day.”

Brittany thought that his avoidance was her fault? Brittany was her best friend, but if Heather told her what was truly going on and how close she was to divorce, the gossip would fly faster than cottonwood fluff in spring. Then again, if she didn’t explain, Brittany was likely to assume something far worse than the truth.

“We’re going through a rough patch.”

“I got that. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you look at David like that before.”

“Like what?”

Brittany chewed on her lip. “Well... You looked desperate.” She said the word as if it left a foul taste.

She could hardly admit that she was desperate, or Brittany wouldn’t just carry the foul taste for the word, she would have a foul taste for her, as well. She couldn’t lose her only girlfriend.

“It’s hard, Brittany. One minute I can’t imagine my life without him, and the next I’m so angry. I’m so confused.”

“What do you want?”

“I don’t know, but I can’t give up.” She may not love him at the moment, but her mother had always told her that love varied in marriage—now was just a low.

Heather took a drink, letting the tequila soak into her tongue. “How can I get him back?”

“You’re talking to the right woman.” Brittany wiggled her finger. “I’ve got just the thing.”

* * *

“HAVE YOU SEEN COLTER?” Kevin asked, handing Lindsay a juice box.

She shaded her eyes as she looked up at him from beside the pool.

“Uh-uh. You think he’s still at practice?”

Kevin glanced down at his watch. “He should’ve been done an hour ago.”

“He’s gonna come. It’s okay, Daddy.”

He nodded as he took out his cell and called his son. It went straight to voice mail.

“Colter, this is Dad. Sorry I missed your practice. I had a thing with work. Lindsay and I are at the barbecue. Where are you? Give me a call. Love ya, bud.”

He slid the phone into his pocket and walked toward a long table filled with food. He popped a stuffed mushroom into his mouth, savoring the flavor as Bob Marley & the Wailers sang in the background.

His phone buzzed. “Colter?” he asked without looking at the screen.

“No, Kevin. It’s Detective Lawrence. I got your message.”

“Thanks for getting back to me. Did you get a chance to run by the house?”

“Yeah, your guys showed me around. Thanks for waiting.”

“Sorry. I had a meeting.”

“A meeting where they play Bob Marley?” Lawrence sounded annoyed.

“You know how it is,” Kevin answered with an awkward laugh. He didn’t need Lawrence to think of him as anything less than professional, and he was already on his last leg after leaving in the middle of an investigation. “Did you get a chance to pull up Goldstein’s record?”

“She has a few citations, but nothing major. Certainly nothing that would make me think she would be behind an arson. Then again, it’s the ones you don’t see coming...” Detective Lawrence sighed. “You got any suspects?”

“I’m looking into it.”

“You haven’t spoken to Goldstein yet?”

“Not yet.”

Kevin’s breath caught in his throat as Heather made her way out of the back door of the Millers’ house with Brittany close at her heels. He couldn’t help notice she’d changed clothes. A pink miniskirt now hugged the round arch of Heather’s hips and she wore a white shirt with a cut so deep that it exposed her navel. For a moment, everything and everyone at the block party went silent. The only sound was the lapping of the pool.

Lawrence said something, but Kevin couldn’t make out his words.

She was so beautiful standing there with curves he never knew she had. The wind fingered the edge of the V-neck top, exposing the roundness of each of her breasts.

What would it be like to kiss that skin—that gorgeous, fresh skin? His mouth watered as he imagined running his lips over her body.

“Kevin, you there?”

“Huh?”

He tried to look away.

“Are you listening?”

“Sorry, what did you say?”

“I said let me know if you need anything.”

“Sounds great. I gotta run,” Kevin said, forcing himself to stop staring.

The woman was his neighbor. She was married. No matter how badly he wanted her, she was off-limits.

Chapter Five

Her mind swam in the relaxing surf of her second margarita. The world around her had mellowed; there were no more harsh whispers or judging stares. Just a hot pink miniskirt and Brittany by her side.

“You have this,” Brittany whispered.

“You think he cares?”

Brittany rolled her eyes. “David’s going to eat this up. You look beautiful.”

Heather reached down and tried to inch the skirt lower. David always gawked at the women who wore this type of thing. Hopefully he’d be just as happy to see her in such an outfit.

“Here he comes.” Brittany nodded toward David, who was staring wide-eyed at her. “I told you this would get his attention. From the looks of things, you got everyone else’s, as well. I wish I got that kind of reaction.” She giggled and gave Heather a quick side hug and then walked away. David strode over.

“What in the hell, Heather?” he seethed through a smile of gritted teeth. He grabbed her by the back of the arm and moved her so their faces were concealed.

She looked back over her shoulder. Every adult was staring at them—even Kevin. His mouth was open, as if he wanted to say something, but she quickly looked away.

“Don’t I look nice?” she said loudly, hoping David would catch the hint that they were on display.

“You look great,” he said, but the way his fingers dug into her soft flesh said exactly the opposite.

He turned and nodded toward Nathan. “Thanks for dinner. We have to be going.”

Nathan nodded and waved with a paper umbrella in his hand.

“What in the hell do you think you’re wearing?” David dragged her out of the gate and toward his Porsche.

“You’re hurting me. Please, let go,” she said, her drink-slowed words coming out of her lips as though they were coming from someone else, someone bolder.

“I’m hurting you? Do you know how much you just embarrassed me?”