Page 48 of From the Flames
“I wish I knew. Red and the guys will locate a vehicle if there is one and then search it. We’ll see how much we can getout of our suspect and then go from there. Maybe this is it, but I’m not particularly hopeful. It feels like an opening move to me, especially since two of the notes came to Willy’s place.” As much as Kevin hated it, he knew Carter was probably right. Still, he worried that Willy and the kids were in danger, and that sent a chill up his back. The last thing he wanted was to bring this to their doorstep. They had already been through enough.
The scent of gasoline caught in the air, and Kevin stilled. “Someone is here,” he told Carter, who got on his phone.
“Code Red,” Carter said as they hurried to the back of the house, where the scent was growing stronger. “Accelerant used. Get here now.” He turned to Kevin. “Go out the front. Somone will be here in moments.”
Kevin glared at Carter. “Bullshit. Come on. We have to get this guy before the house goes up.”
Carter pulled out his gun. “Stay behind me,” he said softly before easing open the back door. Kevin knew he was waiting for something to happen, but it was quiet… for a moment.
“Fucking hell,” someone whispered under their breath out in the yard. “Goddamn roses” followed.
Kevin motioned to exactly where he was. Fortunately the idiot had gotten caught in the wild roses that filled one corner of the yard and were covered in small thorns that grabbed anyone who got close.
Carter made his way to the corner of the house and peered around the edge of the wall. Kevin stayed still, bracing for the whoosh of ignition, his heart pounding, and yet his mind was clear and ready.
“Freeze, this is the police,” Carter said. Through the windows in the sun room, Kevin saw the red plastic can drop to the ground, spattering gasoline out of the spout.
The man took off like the hounds of hell were after him, racing for the back gate, which he might have left open afterjimmying the lock, but the thing had a tendency to close on its own because of how it was weighted. Seeing his escape route blocked, he veered to the side of the yard and then made a break toward the front. Kevin was ready for him, pushing the fleeing man as soon as he got close enough. He went sprawling through Kevin’s barberry bushes and fell against the fence. Carter was right there to cuff him.
“Jesus, this fucking yard hurts,” the suspect groused as Carter got him out of the flower bed.
Other officers burst through the gate, with two of them taking custody of the suspect and getting him out of the yard. The fire department arrived next, and they foamed the back of the house. The plants under the back sunroom windows and the siding on that side of the house would need to be replaced, but at least for the moment, everything was reasonably safe.
“How close did he get?” Kevin asked Chase, who stood looking at the foam that was absorbing much of the gasoline.
“All he needed to do was light it. But he really didn’t know what he was doing. This was no professional job. If he wanted to set the house on fire, he could have done it closer to the front. Sure, this would have gone up….”
“But it was an addition some years ago.”
Chase nodded. “Yeah. We’d have been here before this had a real chance to spread.”
“Maybe now we’ll be able to learn what was going on and more about why Willy’s building and the others were being burned.”
“I would hope so,” Carter said as he joined them. “The other suspect lawyered up, and we expect this one to do the same. But we can still pit the two of them against each other to see what we can get. Red is pretty good at that sort of thing.” He shared a smile with them. “At least we have them, and hopefully we can all sleep a little better at night.”
“I sure as hell hope so,” Kevin said. He stepped back and pulled out his phone to call Willy. “It’s over.”
“Did they come there too?” Willy asked.
“Yeah. I think they figured they needed to try for both places to be safe, but we were ready and got them. I’m safe. We did our part to help catch them, and now the police will do their bit to make sure they don’t do this again.”
“Thank God,” Willy said softly. “Are you going to come over?”
Kevin lowered his voice. “Just as soon as they’re done with me here.” He needed to see Willy and make sure he was all right. He needed to hold him tightly, smell his hair, and feel his smooth skin against his. He had to know Willy was truly okay, and he wasn’t going to be able to relax for a moment until he did.
KEVIN WOKEin Willy’s bed but found his boyfriend missing. He stretched and listened. Sure enough, laughter and giggles reached his ears. He was safe, and so were Willy, Grant, and April. He missed Willy already, but the aches in certain places reminded him that Willy had been a wild man once they had gotten alone behind closed doors. He had been very sexily insistent on who was doing the driving. Kevin smiled to himself and got out of bed, dressed, and went to join the others.
The kids were at breakfast as though nothing had happened, but Willy was ghostly white and seemed on one hell of an edge. Not that Kevin blamed him after last night. He had tossed and turned next to him for hours. “When is your first class today?”
“Nine,” he said softly. “I’ll be okay. It was a straining night, but the police got the suspects. I’m sure they haven’t learned much from them, judging by the fact that the guy here was already asking for a lawyer before they even had him in the police car.”
“Did they find their car?” Kevin asked. He had been too intent on getting to Willy to ask him last night.
Willy nodded. “It was a block away, and they already had it towed and searched it. I don’t know what they found, but Red seemed pleased, so I’m willing to bet they have enough to get tall, dark, and creepy to talk.”
“Did you see him?” Kevin gathered Willy in his arms just because he needed to hold him.
Willy nodded slowly and looked at the kids. Kevin took the hint and didn’t press with more questions. “Red says that he’ll call later to provide an update as soon as he can.”
