As soon as I stormed inside, I heard voices, one loud enough it caught my attention. Not my business, but when I passed by the captain’s door on the way to take a shower, a couple of words caught and kept my attention.
“Arson. We just went through a serial arsonist in town,” Captain Daughtry said.
I pushed myself back against the wall and from where I stood, I could see one man and one woman, neither of whom I recognized.
“That was targeted arson before,” one of the two others said. I had a feeling by her uniform she was the fire inspector.
“Isn’t that what we’re talking about now?” the captain continued. “Look, Jane. You’ve worked on more arsons than I have so you know what you’re talking about, but I’m still unsure what it has to do with the Zullies.”
The man cleared his throat. “There’s been some suspicious sightings in and around the campgrounds.”
Now the captain laughed. “Jesus, Kyle. You’re a park ranger. I’m sure you’ve seen thousands of people on the mountain since May. It’s the summer tourist season. People are camping. We’re busier this summer with the heat wave than we’ve been in years.”
“Yes, but a few reports have included a man with what has been described as an assault rifle. And carrying suspicious-looking equipment. Now, every report we’ve gotten I’ve sent to the chief of police, but after the fire at the Monroe place a few months back, there have been a few other suspicious fires.”
Whoa. Hold on. Monroe. Was he talking about Grace’s place? I inched a little closer, holding my breath. Maybe now I knew why she was so terrified.
“And since the person responsible was never found, we remain on high alert. Unfortunately, we were trying to keep it a secret that the sporting goods store fire was also arson, but someone got ahold of it and it’s all over the press.”
“Any other fires that seem suspicious?” Captain Daughtry pushed.
“One more but I haven’t finished the investigation,” Jane told him.
“What do you need from me?” he continued.
“Have your jumpers keep an eye out. If there is any thought of a suspicious fire from your vantage point, call the police.”
The captain whistled. “That I can do.”
I could tell the meeting was about to be concluded so I moved away, heading directly to the lockers, tossing my pack in the appropriate location before yanking off my shirt.
When I hit the showers, I was hopeful I could lose the anger. I even tried some mental exercises I’d learned while in prison. They’d helped me control the range of emotions that could have easily gotten me into trouble. With my hands planted on the wall, I took several deep breaths, hanging my head low and allowing the water to cascade over my head to the drain.
That I stared at.
Maybe this gig wasn’t the best fit after all. But where in the hell could I go? I had a damn ironclad contract that had nothing to do with business. It had been a get out of jail early card. A bitter laugh surfaced, enough anger I smashed my fist against the tile. All that did was jar the hell out of my hand.
Footsteps and chatter didn’t alter my stance. The fuckers could say anything they wanted to me. To hell with them.
I don’t know if the bastards hadn’t expected I’d take a shower, but a few of them stopped as soon as they walked into the room.
After a quick, angry glance in their direction, I moved under the showerhead, opening my mouth and collecting a throat full of water. When I spit it out, I purposely glared at them.
If they wanted to fuck with me, they’d find themselves in a bad way.
Rock had the nerve to come closer, the huge man easily able to crush most men with his hand. He moved to the shower next to me when all the others were open, waiting until he turned on the water. “Good jump today. Damn good time. I’ll have you on my team any fucking day. Any day.”
The last two words were said for everyone else to hear.
“Me too,” Raptor said. “Teach me that jump. You’re a daredevil. I didn’t think you were going to manage to pull the chute.”
I chuckled, nodding to answer that I would. A few other jumpers piled in except for Axe and a guy called Firestarter.
What the hell? I was finished with my shower. If they wanted to continue, they’d need to pick the fight. I wrapped the towel around my waist, thinking about when Grace had watched me doing so. The look in her eyes had been… delicious.
I found Axe and Firestarter after they’d opened my locker, grabbing the jump bag I’d brought with me.
There were no words said, just laughter from the two of them as they picked through my items. Nope. I hadn’t spent a fortune on the items because I didn’t have the money set aside, but I knew what to do with every piece inside.
