Page 68 of Crash and Burn

Sebastian kept working, his second wind—or maybe third or fourth—giving out now that he knew his time was limited.

He and Luke had been digging trenches, hoping to stop the fire that ate dry cornstalks in a rage. The owner had passed, so the field wasn’t planted. No one had watered it. The house had stood empty until a buyer had moved in just a few months ago. The buyer wasn’t a farmer and didn’t understand the fields still needed to be tended.

So, not surprisingly, it was now fully ablaze. The families at the neighboring farms were concerned. And the new owner was frantic.

Sebastian felt the tap on his shoulder and executed a carefully choreographed handoff. As he and Luke hightailed it away from the line, he lifted the mask from his face and breathed air that was cooler and less artificial tasting. It felt like heaven, though the sweat was still running down his spine.

He positioned himself not to bump Luke in their bulky gear as they rummaged through the cooler for a bottle of water, which he gulped in its entirety. Only when he’d drunk most of it, did he realize that the sun was coming up.

“Oh, that’s beautiful,” Luke commented as he crushed the plastic of his water bottle and screwed the lid back on.

The two stood there watching—grateful to not be digging—as the sun rose directly over the flames. The fire was nowhere near under control. “We are not walking off shift at eight a.m.”

“I got nowhere I have to be,” Luke commented and reached into a second cooler for an energy bar.

Sebastian polished off the water bottle and tucked the trash into the bag that had been set next to the cooler. “I wanted to meet the neighbor who was staying with Maggie last night.”

“Don’t trust her?”

On the one hand, Maggie was excited because she felt she’d made a friend, and Sebastian loved that. On the other hand … “I’m not sure about the two of them staying in the house alone. Not because they’re women, but because I don’t know Seline.”

He had to trust Maggie's assessment of her and hedid, his concern was mostly that Seline was blond, like the Blue River Killer’s victims. “Two women in the house seems like way too much bait.”

“He hasn’t broken in again, has he?” All the guys knew what was going on, especially since Sebastian had returned to A-shift.

“No. Every noise and bump has turned out to be nothing.” Nothing he could prove at least.

Of all the people Maggie could have picked, she’d chosen the best bait possible for both predators. It made him very nervous.

Seline’s father being military and her claimed handiness with a gun was a plus. He felt better about Maggie as well after they'd been to the range several times. But he kept all of this to himself. Turning to the chief, he asked, “How much longer?”

The chief held up a finger, letting him know the man was calculating something. Sebastian reached for a second bottle of water. He’d drunk the first out of sheer thirst. The second he drank rotely, knowing that if he didn't stay hydrated, he didn't stay on the job.

His phone was back at the station, the digital world completely on hold every time they fought a fire. There was no room to be interrupted by messages and calls. The closest he could get now to messaging Maggie was to interrupt the woman from next door, who was filming the blaze on her cell phone.

But that was not allowed, for various solid reasons, and he was left trusting that Maggie was okay. He told himself that he would catch the marvelous Seline Marchand next time.

Maggie had clients this morning. And no one had broken in during the day. So, he repeated the mantra to himself,she would be okay.

He was still telling himself that at noon. When B-shift had arrived and the fire was blazing on … and his uneasy feeling about Maggie was growing stronger.

Chapter Fifty-Four

Maggie had only seen one client that morning and she was already craving a nap. She and Seline had stayed up late the night before eating ice cream directly from the carton and watching Dirty Dancing. Seline had never seen it and Maggie had decided to correct that error.

It was possible she’d made a friend for life in the process, and it felt good to be in her thirties and making new friends of her own. Seline was smart, cultured, funny, and had the worst poker face ever.

Though Maggie hadn’t slept any better than her usual, no one had disturbed the place. There weren’t even the regular bumps and knocks she and Sebastian had grown used to investigating.

She had an hour between clients and was seriously contemplating the logistics of a power nap. Since many of her clients tended to show up early and she couldn’t nap in a business suit anyway it didn’t look like it would happen.

In lieu of her much-needed nap, Maggie headed into the kitchen and poured herself another cup of coffee. Maybe the caffeine would keep her awake.

Sebastian still wasn’t home, but the local morning news told her the team was fighting a huge fire on one of the farms. So far, no one had been injured—which she expected, the guys were good at their jobs. But it was an all hands on deck situation. Another local team and a volunteer unit from Beatrice had been brought in to help.

Sitting down at the table, her shoulders slumped. She was still tired but tapped out another message to Sebastian, letting him know she’d added another client this afternoon and to let himself into the house.

Maggie had barely sat down when she realized the coffee wasn’t going to cut it. Suddenly she felt even more tired. She was going to need actual food for fuel.

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