Page 11 of His Fiery Mate

“Fire nerd it is,” he quipped.

“I think our arsonist is escalating. I guess I kind of hoped knowing there was someone here that could spot what was happening, might deter him or her.”

“Escalating? How far do you think this goes back?”

“Two years at least.”

Tanner whistled. “You must think we’re the biggest group of dolts…”

“I think nothing of the sort. I think the arsonist is good—really good—and you guys weren’t looking for a pattern. As you said, you were focusing on saving lives and preventing the fire from spreading. At first, they were several months apart…”

“Now, they’re days.”

Melisandre nodded. “Exactly. I’m hoping my presence, especially with the Smoke Warrior…” he groaned, and she grinned, “will back him or her off for a bit or at least rattle them so they make a mistake.”

“So maybe it’s not a bad thing if we’re seen hanging out at fire scenes, having a meal, and so forth.”

“Probably not a bad idea at all. Besides, if he or she comes after someone, I’d rather it be you or me.”

He nodded. “I really want to be there if the arsonist tries to hit us with fire.”

“Me too. I wouldn’t mind breathing fire in his or her direction.”

He tipped back his beer, taking a long drink. “Anyone you suspect?”

“Not really, although I did do a lot of digging where you were concerned…”

“You thought it was me?” He sounded a little insulted, which she didn’t blame him for.

“Not really. A hellhound would have a better way of terrorizing a town. But when the chief assigned you as my liaison, I thought it was incumbent on me to clear you if only in my own mind. By the way, your sister said to remind you that she loves you, and she and Andreas do not live in the Hollow.”

He nodded. “Got it. Apologize to my brother and tell him he’s right, which by the way, he will never let me live down, and contact my sister and arrange for a visit after this is over. What about you?”

“At some point I may visit Denali, but it’s no longer my home.”

“You base out of Anchorage, right?”

“For now. I’m really thinking about asking my boss if I can base out of here—only if I can talk Rick into renting this place to me long-term.”

“When I worked for him, I didn’t have the money for this. Nicole rented me a room above her warehouse. She liked someone being there off hours. I got used to it, but this,” he said gesturing to the view, “is incredible.”

They went over the evidence that Melisandre had put together thus far. Tanner expressed some skepticism about some of her conclusions but was willing to admit his criticism might be biased to a certain degree. Melisandre was surprisingly open to his ideas and assessments regarding the information she had put together. In the end, they both agreed to check their egos and work together to find the truth regardless of where it might take them.

Tanner glanced at his watch. “Shit. Look at the time. I honestly didn’t mean to stay this long. I just wanted to clear the air and see if we could find some common ground to work on.”

“I’m glad you came.” Melisandre realized as she said it that it was the truth.

She was grateful he hadn’t brought up the elephant in the room and decided to let sleeping dogs lie, as it were, for as long as she could. She did find it curious that the idea of Tanner being her fated mate wasn’t as off-putting as she might have thought it would be.

“Okay, then, how about I meet you for breakfast in the morning, and then we head over to the scene of the last fire and see what we can see before it gets anymore messed up?”

“Does seven work for you?”

He glanced at his watch. “Doesn’t leave you much time for sleep, but sure.”

“I’ll sleep when we catch the arsonist.”

“Sounds good. Can I take some of this background material on the older fires and start looking at what we have?”

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