Page 31 of Scorched Secrets

“Yes, I do now. When I first moved out of the homestead, I shared a place with one of my colleagues.” He grimaced. “That was fine when we were in our early twenties. John liked to party, but that grew old after a while. John kept bugging me to go out, to be his wingman. I wasn’t that interested in the bar scene, so I saved up until I could buy a place of my own.”

“You’re not lonely? I mean, you grew up with eight siblings. It must be strange living alone.”

“I’m not lonely at all. I spend enough time at the firehouse with the rest of the team.” It dawned on him what she was really asking. “I had a girlfriend for a while, which was nice, but Luanne decided to move south. I didn’t want to leave my family, so we parted ways amicably.” He held her gaze. “What about you?”

“You know about my failed marriage. I don’t mind living alone. Now my house is gone...” Her voice trailed off.

“Hey, I’m sure your insurance company will come through for you. On both your house and your car.”

“I hope so.” She turned to glance out the window. He heard the car engine, too, and was silently relieved to know Mitch had arrived. He went over to peek through the curtains to verify his assumption, then opened the door for the arson investigator.

“Hey.” Mitch pulled a laptop carrying case from the front seat, then opened the back to remove a pack of bottled water. “I was able to get here sooner than I thought.”

“Perfect.” The less togetherness with Faye, the better. “Did you find anything new?”

“I got the list of terminated firefighters.” Mitch grinned. “I think Faye is onto something with this being an attempt to lash out at her father through her. The three of us need to review the names together.”

“Better than doing nothing. Come on.” He stepped back to give Mitch room to enter, then grabbed the water from him. “Make yourself at home.”

“I can’t wait to look at the list of terminated firefighters.” Faye’s eyes lit up with anticipation as she accepted a bottle of water from him. “I’m sure our guy is on that list.”

The three of them crowded around the small table. Mitch tapped his finger on the first name. “Jayson Sanders is the top suspect, of course. But there are six others who were let go over the past six months.”

“Only six, or rather seven?” Colin found that low number surprising. “For the entire city?”

“And the suburbs, too, since so many of us work for more than one station.” Mitch had once been a firefighter paramedic just like Colin. “Honestly, I expected more names as well. Then again, I’d like to believe firefighters are in general honorable men and women. If we go back further, say a year, there would likely be more. But the judge didn’t like that idea and only gave us permission to get the names of those who were let go in the past six months, that was all he approved for Faye’s patient complaints, too. If we can get evidence that indicates for sure this is the work of a former firefighter, he agreed to expand the subpoena.”

“Any women on the list?” Faye asked.

“No.” Mitch tilted his head. “Why, are you thinking the perp is a female?”

“Not necessarily.” She grimaced. “The camera footage in the parking structure wasn’t much help. It could have been a larger woman or a smaller man.”

“All six are men,” Mitch said. “And other than Jayson Sanders, the remaining five men are in their midtwenties, which is interesting as far as a firefighter turning arsonist. Jayson at thirty-four is a bit older than the usual firebug.”

“But he has the biggest motivation,” Colin argued. “A personal grudge against Chief Dorian Kimble.”

“Yep. But we should look at these other guys too.” Mitch pulled the computer out and opened it.

“Is there a reason attached to the termination?” Faye asked. “That may help.”

“No, unfortunately. Most are simply listed for cause,” Mitch explained. “We only know the reason for Jayson’s termination because your father filled us in.”

“Seems like we’re working blindfolded,” she muttered.

“This from a woman who didn’t want to breach patient privacy,” Colin teased.

“We already have the cops looking for Jayson,” Mitch said, getting back to the subject at hand. “If we search their social media sites, we may find a reason to move one of these other guys higher on the suspect list.”

“The glory of arson investigation,” Colin said with a sigh.

“Tell me about it.” Mitch shook his head. “The scene outside the courthouse didn’t give me anything useful. The restroom fire was interesting since the accelerant was paint thinner, not gasoline, which was the substance used in the Molotov cocktail.”

“What about my car fire? Which accelerant was used there?” Faye asked.

“Paint thinner as well. Could be that this guy is trying to switch things up to keep us off balance. Typical arsonists use the same signature for each fire, this perp isn’t doing that. Unfortunately, I don’t know enough about your house fire yet because the scene was still hot when I went by on my way here.” His expression darkened. “I know this much: an accelerant was used, and the fire was likely started in the basement. I think the perp must have chosen to place the blaze close to the gas line, hoping for an explosion.”

The explosion that had caused Larry’s death. If that was the goal, it certainly worked. In fact, it was nothing short of a miracle that the blast hadn’t killed more of them. Colin clenched his jaw, then tried to let go of the anger. They’d find this guy, and when they did? He’d spend the rest of his life in prison for murder.

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