Page 83 of Heating Up (Nugget)
He put on a pair of latex gloves, collected the branch, and used it to sweep the ground near the spot where he’d been hunkered down. “See?” The marks were identical. Aidan walked a few feet away. “But here we have tread marks that look similar to the footprints we got at the sporting goods store.”
With Rhys’s help, they photographed the impressions next to a ruler and marked the area so Aidan could make casts of the prints. Afterward, he made his way to the burned-out hull of the unit.
“He knew pine oil was in here and used it as his accelerant,” Aidan told Rhys.
“You keep sayinghe. How do you know our suspect isn’t a woman?”
“Arson is predominantly committed by males,” Aidan said, searching through the debris for the lock Donna had told him about.
Eureka. He found the metal padlock lying in a pile of ash and rubble. “Can someone move that light closer?”
Rhys went and did it himself while Aidan studied the lock under a flashlight. It had been slit open, probably with bolt cutters.
“Whoever did this came prepared,” Rhys said, clearly coming to the same conclusion as Aidan.
“Is it common knowledge what the Thurstons store in this space?” he asked Rhys.
“I don’t know about common knowledge, but all it would take is someone to be standing around when an employee opened it. At one time or another half the young adult population in Nugget has worked here.”
“And you definitely don’t like Trevor for this?” To Aidan, he was the only one with a financial motive because he owned both buildings.
“Stranger things have happened, but I don’t see it. This is his wife’s pride and joy.”
Except the equipment was old and in many instances outdated. Aidan had noticed that right off when he’d done his inspection. With enough insurance money she could go state-of-the-art. Aidan walked around the rest of the building, Rhys following. Other than the storage-unit side of the restaurant, there didn’t appear to be much damage.
“Who made the 9-1-1 call?” Other than the inn, which was across the green, and the apartment above the Ponderosa, the square was dead after eleven o’clock.
“Anonymous.” Rhys sighed. “We’re trying to trace it.”
Aidan would bet money their firebug made the call on a burner and tossed it.
“Hey.” Sloane came trotting up. “Come see what I found in the Dumpster.”
Aidan hadn’t seen his sister since the Fourth of July and wanted to give her a hug. Probably not a good idea because they were working the case together. They followed her, and all three of them climbed up on the trash bin and flashed their lights inside. On top sat a work shirt that looked vaguely familiar.
Rhys hopped down, found a branch, and fished the shirt out of the garbage, careful not to touch it without gloves. Aidan, who still wore his latex, took it off Rhys’s hands. A patch across the front pocket read “Rigsby Electrical.”
Chapter 16
Dana had already showered and dressed and was in the kitchen making coffee when Aidan slipped into the house. He’d been gone all night and much of the morning. She heard him come through the door and greeted him in the living room.
“How did it go?” His eyes were bloodshot, he smelled like smoke, and he was so delectable she couldn’t believe she’d been in his arms just a short while ago.
“Not too good. Duke, one of our guys, suffered smoke inhalation and had to be taken to the hospital.”
“I saw that in Harlee’s story. Will he be okay?”
“Yeah. But it could’ve been bad.”
“It could’ve been you,” she said, the thought making her queasy.
“Nah.” He pulled her into his arms. “Duke’s not the sharpest tool in the shed, and he’s a show-off. I’m not saying it doesn’t happen to the best firefighters, but in this situation it could’ve been avoided.”
He stopped talking and stared at her with a goofy smile on his lips.
“What?”
“It’s just nice of you to be concerned. Don’t take this the wrong way, but it sort of reminded me of my mother and father. He’d come home after a big fire and she’d get on his case about the dangers of his job and then they’d wind up kissing.”
