Page 61 of Scorched Secrets

He didn’t look at her, his gaze trained on his brother. “I’m not a cop, Rhy. I’m not sure what we should do.”

“I know of a safe house you can use for the rest of the weekend,” Tarin said. “I’ll call to make the arrangements.”

“Is that going to cause trouble for you with the upper brass?” Colin knew his brother was likely taking a risk. Milwaukee PD safe houses weren’t for general use.

“I’ll be okay. This is a relatively new place that was set up for a particular case. It’s perfect for this.” Tarin waved aside his concern. “It’s obvious you and Faye need to be safe.”

“How about we all head to the safe house together? Tarin and Joy can drop us off at the homestead afterward. I have the weekend off, so we don’t need to use the car.”

Colin was humbled by how readily his family rallied around them. “Thanks, Rhy, and you too, Tarin.”

“Let’s hit the road, then.” Aiden looked impatient. “The truck is saturated, much of the paint bubbled from the heat. The tires were slashed too. I’ll have to get it towed to the closest garage once this is over.”

“I’ll pay for the damage,” Colin offered.

“It’s okay. I’ll take care of it.” Aiden grinned. “Rhy and Devon will just have to put up with me for a while longer.”

“That’s not a problem,” Devon spoke up. “You can help with the baby.”

Despite the seriousness of the situation, the look of horror that crossed Aiden’s features made Colin laugh. Aiden and a baby, that was a good one.

They split up, Aiden driving Tarin’s car, with Tarin and Joy in the back so Tare could make the safe house arrangements. He and Faye hitched a ride with Rhy and Devon.

It was a long drive back to the city, but when they finally reached the safe house, Colin had to admit being impressed. The nondescript brick house had a security system, and the windows were made of bullet-resistant glass.

He exchanged a glance with Aiden who nodded in silent agreement. They were both thinking the same thing. This was the perfect place to use as a trap for the arsonist. He silently prayed that doing so wouldn’t put Tarin’s job on the line.

His family had done so much for him. He didn’t want to cause any more trouble for them than he had already.

Yet if they didn’t grab this guy and soon, he feared they wouldn’t escape the next attempt.

Chapter Fourteen

The safe house looked innocuous from the outside, but Faye was glad to find the interior neat and clean. Bare, without much decoration, but that wasn’t a problem. The air was a bit stale from the place being closed up, but that was the least of her worries. She was impressed by the security system and the bullet-resistant glass.

This was probably the safest place they’d been in the past forty-eight hours. She couldn’t simply stay here forever, but the secure feeling was nice.

“I want to look at your arm again.” She gestured for Colin to take a seat.

He did so, and she unwrapped the arm she’d covered in the car on the drive back to the city. The burn cream she’d liberally applied coated his arm. Looking at it more closely, she could see there was only one small area that appeared to be a second-degree burn. The rest of the skin was still red, but she deemed that area to be only a first-degree burn. “Looks fairly good, but we’ll need to change the dressings at least twice a day.”

“Thanks, doc.”

She glanced up at him. “How is your pain?”

“I’m fine.” He shrugged off her concern. “I’m just glad it’s not worse.”

“Me too.” She hated knowing he’d been hurt at all. “I’ll take another look at it tomorrow. We may need more supplies, though. I could only take so much from the EMTs on scene.”

“We’ll work on that later.” He didn’t appear concerned. “Thanks, Faye.”

Her body craved sleep. Her mind, however, whirled like a tornado. Her adrenaline had been up and down so often she could understand why it was difficult to relax.

“I like this place,” Aiden said. “It’s a nice option.”

“Agreed.” Colin glanced around. “I just hope Tarin doesn’t get in trouble for allowing us to use it.”

“He won’t.” Aiden sounded confident, while it was obvious Colin didn’t agree.

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