Page 96 of Heating Up (Nugget)
Dana caught his eye and held his gaze, dubious. He hadn’t fooled her.
“Can I talk to you for a minute?” He hooked his arm in hers and walked her to his truck. “I thought I asked you to wait in the Expedition.”
“The fire is out,” she huffed.
“The only reason you’ve been allowed to stay inside the yellow tape is because you came with me. I don’t want you in harm’s way, you understand?”
“Carol gets to stay.”
“Carol owns the property. I can’t focus on my job and worry about you at the same time. In fact, why don’t you take the truck and go home? I’ll text you when it’s safe to come back.”
“I thought you said you’d let us know how bad it is when you go inside.”
“Will you promise to go home?”
She took some time to consider and finally nodded. He swiped the helmet off his head and kissed her.
“I’ll let you know,” he said. “I left the keys in the ignition.”
“Okay. You’ll be careful, right?”
“I’ll be careful.”
As soon as she drove away he called his sister, who he knew was off duty. “You hear about the fire at Nugget Realty?”
“Yep. I volunteered to come in, but Rhys said he had it under control. Is this related to the other two?”
“I think so, but I’m not sure yet. Do me a giant solid, would you? Dana just went home. I don’t want her there alone.”
“Sure. But why?” Sloane asked. “Are you being abundantly cautious because it was her office?”
“Yes. I don’t have time to go into it now. I’ll talk to you later.” He clicked off before she could pelt him with a million questions. More than likely he was overreacting, but when it came to Dana he wasn’t taking any chances.
“Hey,” Rhys called to him from the back door of the realty office. “Take a look at this.”
Aidan trotted over. On the ground was a melted blob of bright orange plastic, possibly a lighter. Next to it was a large boot print similar to the one he’d seen at the sporting goods store. He hunkered down to examine both. There were words on the plastic—Aidan suspected a company name and address—which, for the most part, had been obliterated by heat. The font, still decipherable, rang a bell, though. He scrutinized them until his eyes went blurry.
“I know where this came from,” he said.
* * *
Dana and Carol spent much of the next day cleaning up the mess. Although they hadn’t lost their files—they’d remained protected in metal cabinets that had turned out to be fireproof—their kitchen, bathroom, and conference room had been destroyed. And they now had a sunroof where the firefighters had opened up the ceiling for ventilation.
Carol glanced up. “I hope it doesn’t rain.”
“Pat’s sending a crew over to at least cover the roof.” First her house, now this, Dana thought to herself. At least they could salvage much of the front of the office, which had suffered significant water damage and was covered in ash and filth. “We’ll have to replace the carpet and some of the furniture up here.”
“I always wanted to do hardwood anyway,” Carol said. “Vance is on his way to Reno to buy the new computers. Thank God we backed everything up. What the heck is taking the cleaning team so long?”
A representative from the insurance company had met them first thing in the morning and cut them a check for the repairs. Unlike with Dana’s house, they needed to get the place up and running ASAP. Carol and Dana didn’t want any disruptions to their business. In the Sierra Nevada, spring and summer were their best seasons for selling real estate. Typically, in winter, when snow covered the pass, sales slumped to nothing.
“These desks are probably savable,” Dana said. “Let’s carry them outside so they can dry and air out.”
They each lifted a side and started to carry out the first desk when a pair of strong hands took the bulk of the load.
“What are you doing here?” Dana asked Aidan, pleasantly surprised. When she’d left the house that morning, he’d said he was going to spend the day working the case.
“I have some time on my hands.” He bussed her lips right in front of Carol. “Where do you want this?”
