Page 2 of Scorched Secrets

“Sure.” She offered a wan smile. “What’s a few more minutes tacked on to the end of a long shift?”

He frowned. “If you’d rather go home, I’m sure Mitch can meet you there.”

“No.” She waved a hand. “I’m hoping to get some sleep when this is over.” Although the more she thought about someone, maybe even Rory, setting a fire in her car on purpose, the less likely it seemed she’d be able to sleep.

Her divorce from Rory had been finalized well over a year ago. Despite Rory’s cheating on her, he’d tried to convince the court that he should get ongoing financial support to the tune of half her salary. Since their marriage had only lasted two years, the judge did not grant him a dime of alimony. Especially with Rory’s infidelity. They did split the equity in the house, which considering she’d made all the payments while Rory struggled to hold down a job, was enough of a gift.

While she had no doubt Rory still harbored a grudge against her, she had trouble imaging him sneaking into the parking garage to break her car window and start a fire. He’d be more of the type to take a baseball bat to the Chevy, smashing it to pieces. If he bothered to do anything at all.

“Oh, I almost forgot, there are cameras down here.” She touched Colin’s knee. “Calvin the security guard asked the hospital to save the video. That should help with Mitch Callahan’s investigation.”

“That’s great news.” He smiled. “We’ll get you out of here ASAP.”

She nodded, still ruminating over the fire. Maybe this wasn’t anything personal. It was possible a couple of teenagers with too much time on their hands had come down here and picked a car at random.

But setting it on fire? That wasn’t a typical prank. Stealing the car or simply vandalizing it was something that had happened before. This level of the parking garage was clearly labeled physician parking, which may have contributed to a teenager’s rationale. Most people thought doctors were made of money, and while it was true that she was paid a nice salary, she also had student loans to pay off. Not to mention a mortgage on her small house. Her undergraduate degree had been mostly covered by her scholarship, but medical school was expensive.

Hearing footsteps coming down behind her, she pushed herself to her feet to move aside. A tall, blond-haired man nodded at Colin, then glanced at her. “I’m Arson Investigator Mitch Callahan.”

“Faye Kimble.” She shook his hand. “It’s my car that was targeted.”

“I heard.” Mitch and Colin exchanged a long look. “Give me a minute to look at your vehicle, then I’ll ask you a few questions.”

She tried not to sigh. Colin followed Mitch to the vehicle. They spoke for a moment, then Colin joined his fire crew as they began winding up the hose and carrying it back up to the main level.

Since there were more people going up and down the stairs, she abandoned the steps to lean against the concrete wall to alleviate the pressure in her aching feet.

The firefighters disappeared, leaving Mitch Callahan to inspect the fire damage. Calvin came over to hold out his phone. “Dr. Kimble? We have the video feed here.”

She took the device and pushed the play button. The parking garage was fairly well lit, but it still took her a minute to see the figure dressed in black from head to toe, a hoodie pulled up to hide his or her features. The figure darted toward her car, lifted a brick with a black-gloved hand, and smashed the window. Then the person set something in the car before turning and leaving.

She glanced up at Calvin. “Did you follow this person across the campus?”

“Yes, but he was on foot and disappeared out of range.” The security guard grimaced. “I was hoping we’d get the guy’s vehicle or his license plate number, but no luck.”

“Thanks, Calvin.” Other than the fact that the person who’d done this had gone straight to her car, the video wasn’t helpful. The guy had his face covered, his head covered, and his hands covered. All they knew was that he was slender and roughly five feet, nine inches tall. “Will you send me a copy of the video? And you’ll need to show this to Investigator Callahan.”

“Will do.” Calvin took his phone back and went over to join Mitch. Faye shifted her weight from one foot to the other, irrationally missing Colin’s reassuring presence.

It was nice to have a familiar face nearby during a crisis. But of course, Colin was already heading out, returning to the firehouse with the rest of his crew. Besides, a damaged car was hardly life-changing.

After going through the video with Calvin, Mitch came over to ask her the same questions Colin had. “The only person who has been upset with me is my ex-husband, Rory Owen. But as I told Colin, he’s not the fire-setting type of guy.” She thought about the video, then added, “I guess the guy in the video could be him, but only if Rory had lost about thirty pounds.”

“When did you last see Rory?” Mitch asked.

“At our final divorce hearing, just over a year ago.” She shook her head. “It seems odd he’d come after me now, a year after our divorce.”

“Weren’t you recently featured on the local TV news?” Mitch asked. “Dana mentioned you were working the night of the gas leak when five patients were brought in after suffering carbon monoxide poisoning. We saw a clip where you were interviewed on Monday.”

“Yes, that’s true.” She frowned. “You really think Rory saw my brief moment of fame and thought, ‘Hmm, I think I’ll burn her car’?” She scoffed. “I doubt he even saw it.”

“I’m open to other possibilities,” Mitch said.

Her shoulders slumped. “I don’t have any other ideas. Or enemies that I’m aware of. Maybe my dad has made someone upset?”

“It’s possible. But then again, this arsonist has targeted you, not your dad.” Mitch’s expression gentled. “Go home to get some rest. If I have more questions, I’ll call you.”

“Okay.” She gave him her personal cell number, then trudged back up the concrete stairs to ground level. Heading over toward the main emergency department doorway, she used her phone to access a rideshare. She was tired, hungry, and now she didn’t even have a car to use on her three-day weekend off.

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