Page 390 of Cold Case, Warm Hearts

Addie sighed.

Jacob glanced between them. “It could’ve been anyone?”

Hank frowned. “If you had security, we’d have his face on camera.”

Jacob tried not to feel that as a jab from his best friend, but it stung anyway. “Someone tried to kill us. Pretty sure it’s not my job to figure out who that is. I’m not the one who’s a cop.”

He meant Hank, but Addie reacted as well. She handed the oxygen mask back to the EMT and stood. “Guess I should get to work, then.”

“Addie—”

She walked off and didn’t look back at him.

Hank shook his head. “You’re out of practice.”

Jacob had his backpack. He didn’t need to get in the studio until tomorrow when the scene would have been cleared. “I should find out if I can go home.”

Hank held up a hand. “Hold up. The captain isn’t going to let you leave.”

“That guy who stood in my living room and asked me for an alibi on Celia Jessop’s time of death when the investigation had barely begun?”

“Why do you think he did that?”

“Because I might incriminate myself by answering wrongly?”

Hank motioned Jacob to go with him, away from Addie’s direction. It was the last thing he wanted to do but followed anyway. One glance told him she was talking to the fire chief. Hewas still worried about her—even if he wasn’t a first responder. It wasn’t like he’d ever be the one responsible for her safety, though he could help.

“Jacob.”

He turned to Hank and realized Captain McCauley stood there. Beside him was Alan Lachlan—lieutenant when they had been kidnapped, now the police chief. “Gentlemen.”

“You need to come with us,” McCauley said. “We have something we need to talk to you about.”

Jacob gritted his teeth. “What’s going on?”

The chief’s expression hardened. “In the car, Wilson.”

CHAPTER NINETEEN

The fire chief’s attention drifted over her shoulder.

Addie turned and saw two uniformed cops usher Jacob into the back of their car. He wasn’t cuffed, so clearly he wasn’t being arrested. Giving him a ride? She frowned. Something was going on, and she had no idea what it was. Addie wasn’t used to being out of the loop. Which begged the question of how long it was going to take for her to feel like she was part of law enforcement here instead of being an outsider.

She was guessing about twenty years. Even with her having grown up here.

Too bad she wasn’t planning on staying anywhere near that long.

She turned back to the fire chief. “I’d love to see the source of the fire.”

He nodded. “Let’s take a look.”

Addie followed. As they walked, she said, “I haven’t worked really any fire investigations. Not my wheelhouse, I’m afraid. But since someone tried to burn me alive in this studio, maybe I should get familiar with it.”

“I understand.” He gave her a look she often gave victims. Not that he was placating her, but she was processing what hadhappened and he’d give her some time to work out how she felt about it.

There was still the question of if he would try to manage her, or if as soon as the call was over, he would go back to his firehouse and never think on this scene again—once his report was written.

Getting to know people here would take time. For now, all she needed was a functional relationship that meant she could do her job without roadblocks popping up in front of her every time she needed something.

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