Page 1 of Crash and Burn

Chapter One

Maggie Willis bolted upright in her bed, the sounds of the old springs squeaking obscured whatever might have woken her.

Her heart raced from a bad dream … or that’s what she told herself as she pressed her palm flat to her chest and strained to hear over the pounding of her own blood.

It’s just the old house. Old houses creaked.

She was in a new place—new town, new job, new life—and that’s all it was. All the new combined with the old—old bed, old house, old fears—was making her jumpy.

She strained again to listen for more strange noises but now, of course, everything was quiet except the wind. And no one could blame the wind for blowing.

I should have gotten a cat, Maggie told herself as she punched at the pillow again. Then any odd sounds could have easily been written off. Because,seriously?Who would even bother with this old place? It had cabbage rose wallpaper and hand cut wood floors that would have been beautiful had they not been gouged and scratched by her great aunt Abbie’s tenants over the years. The place needed enough repair that, if anyone did break in, Maggie should threaten them with a hammer and put them to work.

Aunt Abbie’s house had often felt sinister to Maggie. As a kid, when she’d first come to visit, the creaks had sounded like the house was attempting to talk. Though the house seemed large and borderline-haunted, Aunt Abbie herself had always been warm, giving, and loving. And Maggie, the oldest of her sister’s grandchildren, had been Abbie’s favorite. Thus, the old place was hers now.

The reading of Aunt Abbie’s will, had made hope bloom in her chest. This old house and Abbie’s legacy had seemed like the perfect escape from all the sides closing in on her in Los Angeles. Now, not so much.

Laying her head back down, exhausted and knowing that she would wake up again at the slightest sound, Maggie tried to ignore the noises. But once her ear hit the pillow, everything was magnified.

She heard a door creaking open downstairs, and she sat up again, stunned.

Was someone really in the house?

Aunt Abbie had always told her that her pillow would magnify small sounds into something they weren’t. But …

Her chest heaved with cold fear as she debated heading down to search—what weapon did she even have?—Maggie listened again.

Nothing.

But as her ear hit the pillow she couldn’t tell if what she heard was footsteps or just the amplified rush of her own pulse.

Chapter Two

Pushing the stroller, Maggie wheeled Hannah into the fire station and hoped the guys weren’t out on a call. Everything was going wrong today so it would just figure if she walked all the way down here and they weren’t even in. If there was a fire, they could be gone for hours.

At least she and Hannah had a good walk, and she consoled herself that she’d be done babysitting soon. Still, hanging out her shingle and trying to start up a solo legal practice in a small town was turning out to be no easy feat. She didn’t have time to wait around.

As she peered in through the bay doors, she didn’t see anyone. That wasn’t a good sign. Still she rolled the stroller past the shiny red engine.

As she reached for the door that led into the station offices, it swung wide and Hannah squealed.

“HannahBean!” Sebastian grinned at Rex’s toddler daughter as he leaned down to pick her up, his blond surfer hair trying to flop into his eyes. “How’s my favorite redhead?”

The little girl’s arms went up and the tall, broad-shouldered firefighter handily unclicked her from the seat and scooped her up, eliciting another squeal. Maggie sighed. Though he seemed to stiffen just a little as she settled in his arm, Maggie thought Sebastian was much better with Hannah than her own father was. Then again, she cut Rex a break, Sebastian didn’t have the toddler full time and out of the blue.

Without thinking, Maggie flipped her own auburn hair over her shoulder with a cheeky grin. “She’s your favorite redhead, huh?”

He grinned, and shrugged, hard to do with the toddler in his arms. “I’m open to suggestions.”

Her heart skipped a thump. She shouldn’t have fished, but she couldn’t deny the zing that shot through her.

Just before a truly awkward silence could settle in, he gave her a wide smile but asked a little more formally, “What can we do for you?”

“I have something to show Rex.” Her chest clenched just thinking about it. The box she’d found gave her very bad vibes—enough that she wanted to get some other eyes on it and … Well, there was nothing she could put her finger on, but what Maggie really wanted was someone to tell her that she was right or that she was being ridiculous.

“Rex is in a training class … we all are.”

Random afternoon trainings were normal, Maggie knew. She was both a firefighter’s girlfriend and a volunteer. She worked at the station eight hours a week, usually with A-team. But since she’d started watching Hannah while Rex was at work, she’d had to move to another shift. “So why aren’t you in training?”

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