Page 124 of Burning For You

Rory smiled. “Gale is the one who shot Rocco to get him to let go of me.”

Skye hadn’t known that. It wasn’t in anything she’d read.

She turned to Ash. “Why didn’t you tell me that?”

He shrugged. “It didn’t seem important.”

Things weren’t great with them right now.

She knew it. She felt it. And it was frustrating.

They hadn’t really made up, but they weren’t pissed either.

Ash storming out to the front porch at her parents’ hours ago had startled her. She’d never seen him lose his cool like that.

Then to find out that he’d fought a coworker because of her.

She’d known he was protective. That was a given.

But she’d never thought he’d be violent. That he’d go to the lengths he had.

Keegan? Sure, that brother would in a heartbeat. Even Tate. And looking around this room, she was positive Clay and Ford would be the first in line here.

But Ash—he’d always been the one laughing and joking. Never really standing on the serious side of anything.

He’d changed. Not just recently, but somewhere along the past several years and she had to remind herself that she had too.

“It’s not,” Gale said. “But let’s change it back to you. Have you heard anything since you released that yesterday?”

She sighed. “No. I’m surprised too. It doesn’t make sense. I literally insulted this person in the article. Told him he’s not very original, that he can’t make up his mind. There are no traits there making him memorable.”

“No need to rehash it,” Ash said. “We all read it, right?”

Skye looked around the room and saw the nods.

“There are no leads at all?” Clay asked.

“One that turned into nothing,” he said.

“I heard,” Ford said. “And some aren’t happy Alan isn’t being thought of seriously?”

She frowned. “I didn’t hear it like that. What aren’t you telling me, Ash?”

Ash was staring at Ford as if he’d just let the biggest cat out of the smallest bag. “There isn’t anything to tell that you don’t know. I said it. Alan explained why he was at the fires. He’d pointed out that he’s been to a lot of them. Most of them.”

“Which makes no sense for a guy who is married with kids at home.”

“That’s not my life,” he argued.

“Maybe he and his wife don’t get along well,” Brooke said, coming into the room, her apron off, and everyone taking a seat. Skye had a full audience now and it was the last thing she wanted.

“Enough to leave in the middle of the night when the scanner goes off?”

“Alan brought up Skye as a suspect,” Ash said.

“That’s bullshit,” Gale snapped. “He’s grasping and it’s defamation.”

“Easy, counselor,” Rory said, laughing and patting her hand.