Page 14 of Rescued Heart

Eddie’s phone vibrated again in his pocket. “A dress a mannequin wore.”

Gregory’s brows pinched together. “Was it the red or black dress?”

Bianca’s dress had been a deep red. And for some reason, that was the only color that popped into his mind. “Uh…I’m not sure which he lit first…” Eddie’s phone buzzed another time, and he slid his hand into his pocket and rejected the call. “How much of the auction donations were damaged?”

Gregory’s face went slack. “Nearly half. The rest, we’re waiting to see if they have smoke or water damage.”

Which meant less additional money for the children of the town. The grant would cover the remaining down payment, but they’d need more.

Someone hollered from the driveway, and Conroy’s radio crackled on his belt.

Conroy lifted his chin. “My team has been dealing with the movie protestors, and we’re seeing if this has anything to do with the Jane Doe body your team found earlier in the week. But I promise, Mayor, that we’ll get to the bottom of the fire and?—”

“Still no information on the Jane Doe?” Gregory shifted his feet. “A murder really doesn’t help my reelection campaign.”

Pulling up the woman’s body flashed in Eddie’s memory. Rescue squad had been called out to where a couple of hikers had found a dead body in a ravine. The forest surrounding Last Chance County had not appeared postcard worthy on that morning.

Conroy gave Eddie a look. “Like I said, anything else about the arsonist could help give closure to the woman’s family if they’re connected.”

Eddie slid his hands into his pockets. “Square and dimpled jaw. Probably around five ten. Masked. Black suit. Walked with a bit of an uneven gait. But I stopped focusing on him when Ms. Pearl got hurt by the suspect.”

Gregory shook his head. “The poor dear. The news didn’t get her story right either. I never should have okayed that film. I thought I was doing the town good. Hoped to lower the townspeople’s taxes. But now I’m not sure the added revenue is worth it if it brought in criminals. The sooner they wrap up the filming, the better.”

Conroy stepped closer inside of their formed semicircle. “Sir, so far none of the protestors have done anything except picket. We have no evidence this was about the movie.”

“Then you haven’t seen all the litter that had the environmentalists knocking on my front door,” Gregory mumbled.

Macon motioned for Eddie to continue.

Eddie’s phone vibrated in his pocket for the millionth time. Probably the kids on his baseball team. They were going to have to discuss what waiting patiently meant again. “The smoke got thick fast. That’s when I made the decision to get Ms. Pearl out and worry about the fire later. I hit the door handle with some kind of axe that had been in a crate.”

A gasp flew from Gregory. “Not the hammer replica signed by Chris himself? It could have brought in close to a million.”

Macon placed his hand on Eddie’s shoulder. “Famous signature or not, it seems to have saved Eddie’s and Ms. Pearl’s lives.”

Gregory paled but had the decency to paste on a smile. “Which I’m entirely grateful for. Things would have been far worse if Bia Pearl had died on my watch.”

Only the movie star matter, it seemed.

“Thankfully, nobody died.” Conroy gave the mayor’s bodyguard, waiting a few paces away, a chin nod. “Sir, the sun is hot. Would you like a drink?”

“Excellent idea.”

After Gregory was escorted inside, Eddie followed both chiefs into the house.

Eddie pulled out his phone. Twenty-two messages and five missed calls. A few from rescue squad members, but most, like he’d thought, from his youth baseball kids. One from his mother?—

He stopped. What in the world?

He swiped past her message and opened the one from Zack Stephens, his closest firefighter friend, who had sent him a news link. It was a picture of Eddie and Bianca. The two of them staring into each other’s eyes. It had been cropped in a way that hid her wound and their location. And reality.

With the mayor’s fountain spraying behind them, it almost looked like a romantic getaway postcard picture with her hand in his. All the blood and smoky ash had been photoshopped off her face.

Another message popped up on his phone from Scout, one of the boys on his ball team.

Scout

Scarlette says you’ve got some explaining to do at practice.

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