Page 12 of Hot Zone

“I can’t say officially until we get all the tests back, but it looks like an electrical fire that started in the laundry room.”

I let out a sigh of relief. “So not our guy then?”

“No, this was an accident, no doubt. Were you worried?”

“Not really, but Mars did come to the softball game with Steven, and they’ve been friends since they were in high school. We don’t really know anything about this guy or how much he knows about us. I didn’t really think there was enough of a connection, but I had to ask.”

“He’s a pretty little thing,” Fox said.

“Who? Mars?”

“Yeah, Mars. Is he seeing anyone?”

“I honestly don’t know. I don’t think Steven’s ever said.” I seemed to remember running into him a year or so ago, and he was with some guy, but I didn’t know if he was a boyfriend or just a friend or what.

“But he’s gay, right?” Fox asked.

“Oh yeah.” I chuckled. “He came out when he and Steven were about fifteen, I would say.”

“And they’ve stayed friends all this time?”

“Yeah, they’re as different as night and day, but they’ve managed to remain friends.” I smiled to myself. Saying Steven and Mars were as different as night and day was an understatement. Steven was steady and reliable, and Mars was… well, Mars. He ran a shop that specialized in magic or something. He read tarotcards and believed in all kinds of out-there stuff. But somehow, the two of them fit. They had from the first day they met.

“I think that’s cool. I’m not really friends with any of my old buddies. We kind of all just drifted apart.”

“I hear you. Life happens that way sometimes.”

As soon as we got back to the station, I made sure the shift captain knew how to contact me and knocked off early. I was hoping to make it to the house before Mars arrived. I wasn’t sure how long it had been since anyone had stayed in Steven’s old room, so I figured the least I could do was check it out. I knew Mars had been hesitant to take me up on the offer to stay at my house, and I figured he would feel awkward about arriving there with no one home.

When I got there, I sent Mars a text letting him know that I was home and that I would be there for the rest of the afternoon. I’d brought my work laptop and the stack of time-off requests home with me. Since the guys worked 24 hours on and three days off, for the most part, they just tried to schedule things during their time off. But not this time of year. The holidays were approaching, and that meant a lot of people were putting in for vacation time, which meant a lot of schedule juggling.

I figured that while I waited on Mars to arrive, I’d get some work done. I was a little worried about how I was going to make it all work since this was my first holiday season as the station chief, but it wasn’t as bad as I’d feared. I’d almost found a way to honorall of the vacation requests when I heard a knock on the door, and it opened.

“Honey, I’m home,” a voice called out, and I chuckled. That was classic Mars. His home had just burned down, and here he was making jokes. It had been that way when they were kids, too. When anything bad happened, he was the one trying his best to cheer everyone up.

“Oh wow,” he said. “At least I think I’m home. I barely even recognize the place.”

I took off my readers, laid them on the stack of papers I was working on, and stood up to greet him. “Yeah, I’m working on it, but I’m not completely done yet. Let’s get you settled, and I’ll show you around.”

I reached out to take the cat carrier out of his hand. “Who do we have here?”

“This is Kismet.”

“Kismet? Does that mean you two are fated?”

“There’s a long story behind that, so remind me to tell you someday. I do appreciate you letting me bring her, and I hope she won’t be a problem.”

“I don’t see how she would be. I’ve always liked cats.”

“Good. I need to get the rest of the stuff out of my car—not that I have much. I went to the store and bought the essentials. A couple of changes of clothes, some toiletries, and supplies for Kismet.” For just a minute, the weight of the day showed on his face, but then he took a breath and grinned at me. “I needed to update my wardrobe anyway.”

“Yeah, pretty sure you didn’t want to do it this way. It’s okay if you’re sad, Mars.”

“I know. I just don’t want to dwell on it right now. I figure I’ll save that for another day, like tomorrow when I go to the house and try to see what can be salvaged.”

“So they’re going to let you back in tomorrow?”

“Yeah, I had a call from someone from the fire marshal’s office—I think his name was Fox. He said it had been cleared and that I could go and see what I could salvage, although he didn’t sound hopeful that there would be much.”

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