Page 38 of Never Too Late

I look at him and realize that some might call him attractive. He has light-brown hair that is cut short and a few day’s growth of stubble on his face. He’s lean, with haunted eyes that some other woman would fall head over heels for.

“So, Dustin calls me and tells me that he’s pretty sure he’s in love. I ask him what he’s talking about. As far as I knew he wasn’t seeing anybody. But I was working in Portland, so I hadn’t been around for a bit. He tells me that he just saw the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen parked next to him at the bank. I asked him if he got her information, and he said no. I told him to get it from her. But he was on duty. So I told him to pull her over if he found a reason to. I think he kept me on the line while he followed her through town, hoping that she would break some sort of traffic law. I’d never heard him act that way before. But when I met Nikki, I knew exactly why he did it. He loved her from the very first glance.”

“Well, that was the most expensive first date ever, I’m sure. I fought that ticket and when I lost, I dropped it off to him and told him he was responsible for it.” Nikki laughs at the memory, and everyone shares a drink.

Smiling to myself, I know that this is exactly where I want to be. Then multiple pagers start going off at the same time and everyone freezes.

“Attention, Birch Harbor Fire Department. Please respond to 812 Range Road.” Margot’s heart stops. It is the address of the Lincoln Biomedical Laboratory. “Reports of an industrial fire. Again, Birch Harbor Fire Department. Respond to 812 Range Road for a report of an industrial fire. Caller reports the building is fully engulfed.”

Before the page has even finished, people are already rushing out of the building, hurrying to get to work. The officers in the room who are on call haven’t been drinking, and the firefighters will need all the help they can get. Nikki looks at the men leaving, and I realize that she is terrified. Instead of leaving with the others, I make my way through the nearly empty bar to the other woman’s side.

“Nikki,” I say, “I’m here. Don’t worry. Let’s go. I’ll stay with you until they get everything figured out.”

“It’s another one, Margot. Someone else is going to get hurt. I… I just know it.” Nikki wrings her hands and starts to hyperventilate.

“Breathe, mama. Our guys know what to do. Don’t worry. They’ll catch him.” I grasp the other woman by the shoulders and have Nikki mimic my breathing patterns until she calms down.

“God, I hope so.” She folds in on herself and collapses into a chair.

Jake walks back into the bar, and the look on his face tells me everything that I need to know. It is arson.

“Lilly-girl. They’re going to need you to coordinate this. They’ve already got over a dozen people injured.”

Switching myself to work mode, I know that I’m going to have a long night ahead of me.

“I’m sorry, Nikki. I’m going to have to go. But I’ll get Aaron and the rest of Dustin’s brothers for you. I don’t want you to be alone.” I start walking toward the door until Nikki says something that makes me pause.

“Margot, be careful. I don’t want to lose anyone else. Be safe out there.”

Before I can chicken out, I walk out through the doors.

19

JAKE

I watchher walk with confidence through the dissipating crowd in the parking lot of Lucy’s, but I won’t let her go to the scene. When I heard those tones go out, my heart stopped in my chest. The last time I had been to the scene of a fire, I had lost one of my best friends. There is no way that I’ll let the love of my life anywhere near it. Just in case the man who started the fire is there. There is no doubt in my mind that this is arson. It is too coincidental.

“Babe. Wait up. I’ll take you to the office.” I jog to where she made it to the truck.

“Jake. I can’t. I have to go to the scene to coordinate and help however I can.” She turns away from me and grabs the handle to the driver’s side door, but I reach it first.

“You’re not going to the scene, Margot. It’s not safe. And I’m not going to let anything happen to you.” I try not to express the fear I’m feeling, but I know that she will sense my hesitation.

“I have to do my job, Jake. You know that.” She sighs and rests her hands on my body, stepping in close enough for me to wrap her in a tight embrace.

“Well, you also have a responsibility to stay safe. I don’t think it’s the best decision for you to go to the scene.” I try to reason with her, knowing that it probably won’t work. Damn it, I don’t want to lose her.

“Look, Jake. This is my job. I have to do it. Do I want to? No. But it’s something I have to do. So you can either go with me, or you can stay here and I’m taking the truck without you.” She steps away from me.

“Over my dead body you are. Get in, I’ll drive.” I pull on the handle to open the door and climb into my seat.

“Good. Let’s go.” She walks around the front of the truck and climbs up into my rig.

“Just promise me that you’ll stay in the truck until I can clear the scene as much as I can, please.” I compromise with her, hoping that she’ll listen to me for once.

I can’t lose her.

“Yes, I can do that. But I have to be there to judge what we’re going to need.” She then turns to her phone, typing furiously.

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