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“Hi, Thatcher. Good to hear from you. Any idea why Cap’s concerned?”

“Not a clue. He says something isn’t right, and he has as good an instinct as you when it comes to fire. Can you come out?”

I ended the call and hurried to Penny, my vintage Pioneer. My other set of turnouts were in the back of the vehicle, so I hopped in and headed to the scene. I had no idea what Cap found that seemed suspicious, but I was damn well going to offer whatever assistance I could.

When I pulled on scene and bailed out of my vehicle, I hurried to the back to pull on my bunker gear in case I needed to help out. Team Three was working to contain the fire, and they were as good as Team Two, my crew. I was proud of both teams. All three teams had cross-trained together many times, and I knew all of Station 2’s firefighters were solid.

“Cap. I’m here. Cooper is on the way.”

Blake turned to me and nodded. “This whole thing is off. That’s the fuse box, and all the breakers are off except the one for the basement light, which has a broken bulb.”

I turned to him. “How do you know that?”

“I busted the basement window and shone a light before I went to the electrical box. And worse than that, the fire didn’t start down there. The primary blaze started in the kitchen over the basement where the gas line was cut. The basement was a secondary blaze. It wasn’t a spontaneous fire, Ember. This was intentional.”

“Captain Blake, I’m here. What do we have?” Max Cooper rushed up in a pair of tacky gray slacks and a white shirt with a green, fluorescent vest that would blind anyone walking by. At his side was a black-and-tan bloodhound who appeared in need of a nap more than sniffing out a crime scene.

“First floor contained. Heading up to clear the second floor.” It was one of Team Three’s members, and it sounded like a bad idea.

“You need me to go in? Is he alone?” We never went in alone. That was a fucking hard rule in our business.

“Reiser, where’s Newton?” Cap asked over the comms.

“I’m here, Cap.” Clint Newton responded. “Second floor clear. Actually, Cap, the second floor is empty. No furniture and no personal effects.”

“What do you mean? Copy.”

Newton responded. “I mean, it appears the house was empty except for a table in the kitchen.”

“Copy,” Cap responded.

He turned to Max Cooper. “Do we have an issue? This house is owned by a prominent lawyer in town. What do you need us to do?”

Max grinned. “Just put out the damn fire. Don’t destroy the scene any more than you have to so I can try to collect some evidence. I’m going to need to analyze the scene when shit cools down.” He looked at his dog. “Blaze, honey, we’ll have to put on your boots.”

Blake chuckled as the dog pranced with her tongue hanging out. “Got it. We’re nearly one hundred percent contained. We’re looking for hotspots right now. Give us an hour, Max.”

The investigator laughed. “You could have called me yourself, Mark. You could have called and said you had to go out to a call. I had a meatloaf ready to go into the oven, and…” Max hissed as he walked away.

Max Cooper had an attitude, for sure. I wasn’t certain why, but it wasn’t my business, really.

“Yes, and I texted you that there was a call, but you didn’t respond, did you? Now, let’s move on.” Cap sounded pissed, and I wasn’t sure why.

I was fucking lost as the two of them played out some sort of weird hateful scenario I couldn’t understand. I wanted to sort of drift away to allow them to shout it out, but I was already sucked in.

Max crossed his arms and stared at my boss. “It’s a shame someone lit up a house and kept you from getting off duty on time. Give me an arsonist, and I’ll apologize.”

Was that code for something? I could only imagine.

I was able to get to Century City on time, and I sent JD a text that I was there.

JD, I’m outside. I’ve got my phone, and I’ve got time to spare. Let me know if I should stay or go.

The sweet guy responded quickly.

Do you mind coming inside? Tell the guard you’re wanted in studio 4.

I hopped out of the Pioneer and locked the Jeep before I went to the door and pushed the speaker button.