Page 36 of Scorched Secrets

“Well, that’s reassuring, I guess.” She didn’t seem convinced. And he didn’t blame her. Not after the past few hours of nonstop danger.

“They’ll also get the phone records from the carrier if needed.” He glanced at his watch, wincing when he saw it was well past business hours on a Friday night. “But that may take time.”

“I know.” Faye finished the last of her tacos, pushing her plate away. “Thanks, Colin. That was good.”

“Mine too.” He pulled out some cash to pay their tab. He wouldn’t have minded lingering at the restaurant, but when Faye yawned, he decided it was better that they both try to get some sleep.

As much as he hated to admit it, he didn’t think Mitch would make much progress on the case yet tonight. Especially if the BOLO didn’t pick up the half-brothers’ vehicle. Without the phones themselves, Mitch would have to wait until morning to get the upper brass to convince the phone company to provide records on a Saturday.

No easy task. But he had no doubt that with Chief Kimble’s daughter at the center of danger, Mitch would get what he needed.

Once the bill was paid, he led the way outside. Just like on the ride here, he took a moment to survey the area, searching for anything suspicious.

With the sun dipping low on the horizon, the air wasn’t nearly as hot and thick with humidity as it had been earlier. Fighting fires in the summer was never fun; the heat became that much more intense when you had scorching temps to deal with.

Once they were settled in Mitch’s SUV, he headed back out on the highway, in the opposite direction from where their motel was located. Faye didn’t complain about the extra drive. She stared out the window, seemingly lost in her thoughts.

He wanted to ask more about her failed marriage but forced himself to hold his tongue. Her personal life wasn’t any of his business. Not to mention, he had his own failed relationships too. Luanne had accused him of putting his family first, and truthfully, she’d been right. Looking back, he could see where he’d gone wrong. And maybe he hadn’t cared about Luanne enough to make her a priority.

Yet Faye’s ex-husband’s cheating wasn’t her fault. And if the idiot wasn’t involved, then it was best to let it be.

“I don’t think Claire likes to see me because I’m a reminder that my father had loved someone else.” She turned from the window to look at him. “I guess I didn’t push for a closer relationship either, although I did try to keep in touch with Annie.”

“The age gap between you and Annie must have made that difficult.”

“Yes. It was great when she was a baby, and I helped take care of her a lot. But over time my undergraduate studies, medical school, and residency schedules made our gatherings less frequent. I barely make half the holidays.”

“But you see your dad more often, don’t you?” He couldn’t imagine not being close with his family.

“Yes.” She broke into a wide smile. “He’s dropped by to have dinner with me at the Trinity Medical Center cafeteria. How’s that for dedication? The hospital is nice, but they don’t serve gourmet food by any stretch of the imagination. After working there through my three-year residency and now three years as a physician, I can barely eat there. I bring my lunch most of the time.”

“No one goes hungry at the firehouse,” he joked. “Sometimes the food is cold by the time we return from a call out, but there’s always food available.”

When he was certain they weren’t followed or drawing any curious attention, he turned and doubled back toward the motel. He planned to park in the trees behind the building again, just to be on the safe side. Hopefully, by this time tomorrow, the half brothers would no longer be a threat.

The more he thought about his time with Faye ending, though, the more tempting it was to ask her out once this was over. Would she be interested in a guy like him? She probably made more than triple his salary.

Money didn’t buy happiness, and truthfully, the Finnegan family was living proof. It had taken hard work from both Rhy and Tarin to hold the family together. The life insurance was enough to cover most of the mortgage on the house, but that didn’t account for daily living expenses for a large family or annual property taxes.

No, money couldn’t bring their parents back. And he’d learned from his older siblings who’d all found their better halves over the past year that love and family trumped everything.

He drove past the motel once, noting that some of the cars parked out front had changed. New guests arriving for the weekend most likely. After circling around, he drove around to the back of the building.

Darkness had fallen now that the hour was past eight o’clock. It wasn’t as easy to see without streetlights or illumination from the motel windows. That didn’t prevent him from parking in the same spot he’d used earlier.

After sliding out from behind the wheel, he ducked beneath the low-hanging branches and went around to take Faye’s hand.

“The ground is rocky back here,” he warned.

“I figured.” She let him help her cross the uneven terrain. Then she stopped to stare up at the starlit sky. “It’s pretty.”

He fought the urge to kiss her again. “Yeah, it is.”

They headed around to the front of the motel. He noticed there was a car parked in front of Faye’s room, but since there was loud laughter coming from the room beside hers, he wasn’t alarmed.

“We may have to swap rooms.” He nodded at the partially open doorway of room seven. “Sounds like they’re not going to sleep anytime soon, and you need your rest.”

“So do you.” She sighed. “Hopefully, they’ll call it quits at a decent hour.”

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