Page 88 of Tackle

“Anything, man. What’s up?”

“Call Linc for me. Let him know what happened and that everything’s all right before he hears about it on the news. Tell him I’ll call him as soon as I get home.” Linc had enough upset in his life lately, Oz sure as hell didn’t want to add to it.

“Sure thing. I’ll call on my way to the office.” He turned to Emerson. “Sorry we didn’t meet under better circumstances.”

Emerson gave him a tired smile. “Thanks for all your help.”

They waved goodbye to Rich and then Oz picked Emerson up to carry her into the pub.

“This brace does make walking a little difficult, but I think I can manage.”

“Not on my watch, you won’t.”

“Oz, you can’t carry me everywhere.”

He stared down at her. “Watch me.”

The fireman was waiting for them once they entered. “Mr. Olson. Ms. Kelly. This is investigator Lisa Clarkson.”

Oz set Emerson on her feet and held out his hand. “Ma’am.” He dipped his head in greeting when she shook it.

She turned to Emerson. “I hope you’re doing okay, Ms. Kelly.”

Emerson gave her a small smile. “In body. Not sure about spirit.”

“I understand,” the investigator said.

“We were told this wasn’t an accident, that the fire was deliberately set,” Oz said, trying to get them back on topic. His girl had been up all night and looked dead on her feet. He wanted to wrap things up as quickly as possible and get her home.

“Yes, we found a device.”

“What kind of device?” Emerson asked.

“A digital timer attached to an igniter. We think the person who did this wasn’t looking to burn the place down. We’re still investigating, but so far we’ve only found trace amounts of an accelerant in some ash at the bottom of the bucket that was used to contain the fire. That means they probably doused a towel or cloth that burned quickly, wanting to create more smoke than fire. Unfortunately, what they didn’t take into account was the amount of combustible items in that closet.”

Emerson placed a hand on Oz’s arm and he wrapped his arm around her shoulders helping to support her. “I can’t seem to wrap my brain around this.”

Oz leaned his head down and kissed her forehead. “You’ve been up all night, baby. You’re tired.”

“I know it’s a lot to take in,” Clarkson said, “but if you can think of anyone who’d want to do this, it would help with the investigation. There’s a police officer on hand. He’ll be available to take your statement whenever you’re ready. You can take a seat anywhere in the dining room but please don’t cross the caution tape that’s blocking the hallway.”

Instinctively, they both looked over. Yellow taped crisscrossed the hall entrance.

“I can’t believe this is happening,” he heard her mumble once they were alone, her eyes scanning the room.

Nothing in the main room looked damaged, though the smoke smell was still strong.

He felt her grip on his arm tighten. “Look.”

He turned to see where she stared. Her grandmother’s tin still hung on the wall, unharmed.

She shook her head, swiping at a few tears that had escaped. “I know it’s silly to get so emotional over an object, but I’m so happy nothing happened to it.”

He scooped her up, kissing her forehead. “Not silly. Human.”

She set her head on his shoulder and he carried her to his booth in the corner, setting her down. “Can I get you anything?”

“No, I’m okay.”

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