Page 78 of Scorched

“What about friends or girlfriends? Did he mention either of those?”

“No. Wait. While we were at the bar, I asked him if he saw anyone he liked. He shrugged and said one or two. But he was dismissive almost. He just shrugged it off like he didn’t care. I asked him if he had a girl waiting. He said there was someone once, but it didn’t work out, and he wasn’t ready for another relationship.”

“His file says he’s from Cheyenne,” Declan said. “Is that what he told you?”

McPherson nodded.

“I’ll check it out,” Jace said. “Maybe I can find someone there who knows him. Find the girlfriend, too.”

“You mean maybe Seb can. You’re leaving for two weeks tomorrow, remember?”

Jace cursed. “Yeah.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I’m tired, sorry. I’ll pass along all the info.” He sighed. “Can you think of anything else?” he asked McPherson.

“No, but if I do, I’ll call the sheriff.”

Declan scanned the room. “Anyone else know anything that can help us?”

There was a chorus of no’s.

“Why are you looking for him?” Stickley asked.

“He’s the one who tried to barbecue us tonight,” Jace replied. “Come on, Deck. Let’s go check out his apartment and hand this off. I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to go to bed.”

He definitely was. This day felt like it would never end.

“You know, I’ve been thinking,” Declan said as they walked back to his office to find Seb. “I’m not sure Gehring acted alone.”

Jace frowned. “What makes you say that?”

“Because he was with me at the first fire. And he was at the station all day before that. Our shift started at seven that morning. None of us left the station unless we were on a run.”

“You’re sure about that? He couldn’t have run out for a bit and no one noticed?”

“Theoretically, he could have, but I don’t think he would have chanced it. If he left, and we got a call while he was gone, it would have led to questions about where he’d been. He would have wanted to avoid suspicion.”

“Dammit.”

Seb stepped out of Declan’s office. “Why are you cursing? What happened?”

“Declan made a good point. Gehring has a partner.”

“What?”

Declan explained his theory.

Seb groaned. “Yeah, that makes sense. Okay. Jace, text me what you got from the firefighters. I’ll give it to Gentry and Wilder in the morning. Let’s get over to Gehring’s apartment. I have patrol units enroute to set up a safety perimeter and the bomb squad’s on its way.”

The three of them filed out of the building, climbing into Seb’s truck. They crossed town in just a few minutes, pulling into the complex as the first cruisers arrived on scene. Declan ran to Gehring’s door while Seb and Jace started evacuating the building.

Crouching, Declan shone his penlight at the doorknob, looking for wires. It looked clean. He rose and perused the doorframe, but nothing looked amiss. That didn’t mean there wasn’t something inside. He wasn’t going to open it. He’d let the bomb squad use their scope to look behind the door first.

The noise around him grew as families streamed out of their apartments. Declan stepped away from the door to look at Gehring’s front window, checking for more signs it was booby-trapped. Again, it all seemed fine, but the blinds were drawn, so he was limited to what was visible from the outside.

A loud engine broke through the voices. Declan turned to see the bomb squad tactical vehicle roll into the parking lot. He jogged away from the building to meet them.

“What have we got?” their commander asked when Declan reached them.

“Possible explosive device. Single entry point. No visible tripwires.” He turned and led the man toward the apartment building. The rest of the team followed with their gear.

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