Page 4 of Big Timber

“Don’t blame ya,” he says. “The closest one kinda sucks. The one near your studio is better, but let’s see what we’re looking at first.”

I side-eye him at that comment.

“You tattooed my partner and me a few weeks back. Solid work,” he says, answering my silent question. “Everyone calls me Nesbo, by the way.

“Big Timber,” I grunt out as we finally make it to the wagon and I sit down heavy on the back end. Nesbo kneels in front of me and just as he’s about to unzip my boot, I stop him.

“I need to check if it’s broken,” he tells me.

“Nah, I just twisted it when I hit the ground. If you take my boot off, I probably won’t be able to get it back on, so how about you pass me a couple of ice packs and an ACE bandage? I’ll deal with it later.”

“I’m going to take your boot off and if it isn’t broken, you’re going to elevate your leg until the cops clear you to go home.” This time his voice is firm, no signs of the easy-going man he’s been up to now.

“Jenna’s dropping the kids off.” Declan suddenly appears from around the open door, having heard everything. “She’ll come back to pick you up when you’re allowed to leave and you can stay with us for a while.”

“Are you the president?” Talia asks him, turning from a drawer inside the ambulance with a handful of supplies. “My captain’s going to want to talk to you.”

“Sure, bring me to him,” he replies, looking between us as she hands me the supplies I asked for.

“Son of a bitch!” I yell out as Nesbo pulls my boot off.

“Thought it would easier be to do it when you were distracted,” he says with a shrug. Pulling a knife from his belt, he slices through my sock before prodding at the obviously swollen joint.

“I’ll be fine, Prez,” I reassure Declan. “Just give me a day or two.”

We both ignore thehumphthat Talia lets out, but I don’t miss the expression on his face as he looks between her and me again.

“My lawyer won’t be here for a while,” he tells her. “But I’ll—"

“Excuse me,” a cop in uniform says, approaching us with two plainclothesmen and a firefighter behind him. “Are you Declan Church?”

“You know damn well I am, Robby,” Declan says, pulling a laugh from Nesbo and Talia. Even I recognize the guy from the money he throws the girls at The Office. He continues, turning his gaze from the uniform to the detectives who are enjoying a laugh at Robby’s expense. “I understand someone died. Have you been able to identify who it is?”

“We were hoping you could help us with that,” the older of the two men responds. “The coroner will have to look for ID, but the bike had Utah plates.”

“Fuck,” Declan growls the word out. “Can I see the body?”

The detective looks over to the fire captain, who holds up an iPad before scrolling through pictures that I assume he started taking after they put the fire out.

“We can’t let you that close to the scene, but maybe this will help,” the captain says, turning the screen so we can see it. As he slowly flips through a few, I suck in my breath when he shows a picture of the teeth; there’s an odd gap that I know I’m seen before.

“Goddamnit.” Declan releases the word in a hushed breath before turning to look at the men being held at the gate. Making eye contact with the largest one, he points and waves him forward. “Your dead guy is Parker King; his roadname is Me’ansome. That big guy over there is his son-in-law, if you could let him through the gate. Parker’s daughter’s birthday is tomorrow, and they were expecting him tonight.”

When the cop would ask another question, Declan holds up his left hand, using his right to make a phone call.

“Tin? Are you on the road?” Declan barks out, speaking to Me’ansome’s best friend—and the man I’m assuming he called in as our lawyer. “Yeah, it’s bad. I’m going to need you to pull over and call me back.”

“Mr. Church,” the detective tries to refocus Declan’s attention back to him. “I’d like to walk the property with you. We’re not cleared to go into the structure yet, but I want to see if you notice anything out of the ordinary.”

“Like the fact that someone tore our gate off and burned a friend of mine in our front yard? Yeah, I’ve noticed a few things. Now give me a moment.” This last part is said as Axel approaches and Declan moves to intercept him.

Chapter 2

Talia

Ever since I was a little girl, I knew I was going to be a firefighter. Just like the three generations of Workman before me.

My older brother, Rick, took that to a whole other level by becoming a smokejumper. Crazy, lovable asshole that he is. In another year or two, my younger brother, Tanner, will hopefully be riding alongside me.

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