Page 33 of Scorched Secrets

“This connection is impossible to ignore. And it would explain the different accelerants used in the fires.” Mitch tapped the screen. “As far as I’m concerned, Daniel and Jayson are both at the top of our suspect list.”

It was a good lead. These two men needed to be found before they had a chance to strike again.

Chapter Eight

Faye felt sick to her stomach. It was horrifying to think about the way these two former firefighter brothers had targeted her to lash back at her father. She sent up a quick prayer that God would keep Annie safe from harm. Better for her to be in danger than her younger half sister.

She watched as Mitch brought their photographs up on the screen. Both men were muscular, from what she could see while they wore their firefighter uniforms, but Daniel, the younger of the two, seemed heavier than the person she’d seen on the hospital video.

“I’m calling this in,” Mitch said. “I’d like proof that Jayson and Daniel are in fact half brothers. From there, maybe we can get a search warrant for their phones.”

“Sounds like a good plan,” Colin agreed. He flashed her a reassuring smile. “Your life will get back to normal once we have these two in custody.”

She nodded, even though her new normal meant having no house and no car. Obviously, her life was more important than those two things. Colin’s life was too. And she still had her career as a physician, so there was no reason to feel sorry for herself. That said, she truly hoped Mitch could get these guys’ phone records. If they had coordinated a planned attack, surely they’d have texted or called each other to pull this off.

Mitch stood and walked outside to make his call, leaving her and Colin alone. She gestured toward the computer screen. “What do you think? Should we update my dad on this latest information?”

Colin considered that for a moment. “Not yet. Let’s wait until we have something more concrete. It’s okay for us to jump to conclusions and investigate these two as our top suspects, but they are both innocent until proven guilty.”

“Yes, you’re right.” She understood his reluctance. It would be better for Colin to call her dad with a specific lead rather than supposition.

“Are you hungry?” Colin asked. “When we’re finished here, we can grab something to eat.”

“I’d like that.” She had enjoyed their lunch until the Molotov cocktail had nearly hit them. “As long as you think we’re safe.”

“I’m fairly confident we weren’t followed.” He jerked his thumb to the door where Mitch was still in deep conversation with whoever would be getting the subpoena for their suspects’ phone records. “He’s armed.”

Faye wasn’t a big fan of guns. Working in the ED meant having patients rolling through with various gunshot wounds on a regular basis. Sometimes they had several patients in one shift. Yet she had an appreciation for those who protected the public. Her father and Colin had taken the path of fighting fires, but she’d cared for enough police officers to have the utmost respect for them too.

“I’m not worried.” She did her best to smile. “I have confidence Mitch will find those responsible. And he may want to join us for dinner too.”

“He’s more than welcome, but I suspect he’ll want to head back to Milwaukee to serve the warrant.” Colin glanced over as Mitch returned.

The grin on the investigator’s face was a good sign. “We got the approval for the warrant. I hate to leave you guys here, but I need to get back.” He looked at her. “Are you sure those who lodged patient complaints shouldn’t be investigated more thoroughly?”

“We can look at their social media sites.” She shrugged. “It will give us something to do, but I do not believe they’re involved. It’s too big of a stretch that one of them would use fire to strike out at me.”

“I tend to agree,” Mitch said. “But maybe dig a little deeper just in case. Maybe one of them has a connection to a firefighter. Stranger things have happened.”

“We’ll do that.” Colin stood. “After dinner. Would you like to join us?”

“I wish I could. I’ll grab something along the way.” Mitch arched a brow. “No time to linger, Chief wants results.”

Faye wanted to point out that her father wasn’t such a hard taskmaster that he’d expect Mitch to skip dinner but sensed that was just an excuse. Mitch clearly wanted to hit the road with this new information and to impress her father. She couldn’t blame him. Obviously, her father’s opinion carried a lot of weight throughout the department.

“Will you keep us updated?” Colin asked.

“Of course. You’ll be the first to know if we make an arrest.” Mitch hesitated, then bent over to tie his shoe.

No, that wasn’t what he was doing. He straightened holding a gun and ankle holster in hand. “I know you don’t have a carry permit, but I think you should be armed.”

“I do have a permit,” Colin corrected. “But I don’t carry a gun.”

“Take it.” Mitch pressed the weapon into his hand. “For my peace of mind, and Chief Kimble’s too. You and Faye are in danger. At the very least, you can use the gun to scare them off.”

With a sigh, Colin accepted the weapon. “Okay, for Faye’s sake, I’ll take it.”

His comment made her feel guilty. She didn’t want him to carry the gun unless he was comfortable with it.

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