Page 3 of Scorched Secrets

A spurt of anger hit hard. She didn’t need the hassle of calling her insurance to report the fire and shopping for a new car.

If Rory was the mastermind behind this fire, she hoped Mitch found and arrested him very soon.

Colin hustled back to the hospital, glad to see Faye was standing near the front entrance to the emergency department. He pulled up alongside her and rolled down the passenger-side window of his Jeep. “Faye? Can I drive you home?”

She looked up in surprise. “Aren’t you still working?”

“Nope. Our tour ended at eight. I knew you’d need a ride.” He smiled reassuringly. “Come on, let me give you a lift home.”

“Okay.” She hit a button on her phone, likely canceling the rideshare she’d called, then opened the passenger door. When he pulled away from the curb, she sighed and rested against the seat. “Thanks, Colin.”

“Anytime.” He’d known Faye for years, but their paths had taken them in different directions. She’d graduated early from high school to attend college. He’d always known she’d end up doing great things. “Rough shift?”

“No worse than usual.” She yawned widely. “I just finished five twelves in a row.”

He whistled. “Sounds rough. Especially since I know you don’t get much downtime.”

“Not like you firefighters do, right?” She flashed a teasing smile. Her dark hair was pulled back in a ponytail, but strands had escaped and framed her face. “I hear you’re all about the cooking.”

“Hey, a man has to eat.” He was used to the jokes about firefighters spending their time cooking and eating. He came from a family of nine kids. Two of his older brothers were cops, as was his older sister. He also had a brother in the FBI, a brother with the Coast Guard, and a brother with the National Guard. His sister Alanna was a nurse, and the youngest sibling, Elly, was an EMT.

Most of the time, he liked being the only firefighter in the family.

“I live along the Sunny Creek Parkway,” she said. “I have a small house there.”

“Okay.” He glanced at her. “I didn’t realize you had been married.”

She wrinkled her nose. “As I said, I’m not anymore. And it was a mistake.”

“Hey, we all make mistakes, Faye.” He smiled reassuringly. “His loss.”

“Yeah.” She stared down at her lap for a moment. “I should have listened to my dad. He never liked Rory.”

Colin nodded thoughtfully. He admired Fire Chief Dorian Kimble very much. The guy had been one of the reasons Colin had decided to study firefighting. Becoming a paramedic was part of the deal, and he’d found that aspect of the job interesting too. Truth be told, he preferred firefighting to taking care of sick people. “Your dad is a pretty good judge of character.”

“Yeah, well, not when a girl thinks she’s in love.” She tucked a wayward strand of hair behind her ear. “That reminds me, I should call him. He’ll hear about the car fire soon enough.”

“I, uh, already let him know.” Colin winced when she shot him a narrow look. “Come on, Faye, he’s ultimately my boss. It’s not like I could ignore the fact that the chief’s daughter was targeted by an arsonist.”

She groaned and closed her eyes. “Great. He’s probably waiting at my place now.”

“No, he’s not. He mentioned heading into a meeting with the mayor, so that will keep him tied up for a while. He asked me to let you know that he’ll swing by later.”

“Of course, he will,” she groused. “I’m fine, nothing that a solid eight hours of sleep won’t cure. His time would be better spent with his family.”

“His family?” Colin frowned at the term. “You don’t get along with your stepmother?”

“Yes, Claire has always been wonderful. Their daughter, Annie, is great too. She’s had a few boyfriend issues that has caused our dad’s blood pressure to spike, but that’s part of being a teenager.” Faye waved a hand. “I was twelve by the time he and Claire were married, and Annie was born two years later. She’s sixteen now and giving my dad more than a few gray hairs by rebelling against his house rules. She’s driving now, too, which is giving my dad fits as well. Better that he’s home with them than worrying about me.”

“Checking on you is what any father would do.” He thought about how his own family had grown closer over the more than ten years since their parents were killed in a terrible car crash. The oldest brothers, Rhy and Tarin, had moved home to help raise their younger siblings. The twins, Alanna and Aiden, had been seventeen at the time, and Elly had only been fourteen. Even now, all these years later, Rhy still checked in on them, especially if one of them tried to duck out of family dinner.

“Checking on me via phone is one thing, but there’s no reason to stop by.” She shot him a glance. “You did tell him I was fine, right?”

“Yep.” Hearing fire truck sirens, he glanced around for the source of the blaze. “Wow, strange that they’ve gotten another call out so soon. Two fires in the span of a few hours is unusual.”

“Colin?” Faye reached over to grasp his arm, the other hand pointing toward her passenger-side window. “Is that smoke?”

A curl of dark smoke lifted toward the sky. “Yes.” They were too far away to pinpoint exactly where the smoke was coming from, but the general area was residential.

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