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“Get a K-9 here. Get everyone here now,” I bark at the men walking up. Brian looks at me with surprise. “She said it was Ray.”
Brian’s eyes shutter immediately, and I can see him process exactly what I said and come to the same conclusion I did.
A firefighter killed one of my best friends.
And he almost killed Margot.
If we don’t find him, he’s going to do it again, and next time he won’t stop at setting fire to an elementary school.
We need to catch Ray before he can disappear.
While I watch the paramedics revive Margot and load her into the ambulance, Brian’s on the phone with dispatch, making sure that there will be units looking for Ray. He won’t be able to hide at the fire department, his apartment, or anywhere else that he might show up. Every law enforcement officer in the county will be looking for him in a matter of minutes. Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if other agencies in the state will be looking for him too. He tried to hurt children.
And Margot? That just makes it personal.
As men fill the parking lot of the school while the fire is put out, I know that my brothers will help me catch the man who had almost taken everything from me.
“He’s not at home or work. And none of his friends have seen him since they got off shift yesterday.” Logan gets out of his truck, a look of pure rage on his face.
“We’ve got to try and track him from here. It’s the only way,” Brian says. “As soon as Remy gets here with Daisy, we’ll get started in the woods. You staying or going?” Brian eyes the ambulance, flashing lights and siren, as it leaves the parking lot, and I’m torn.
I should be with her, but sitting in the waiting room while they save her life would make me useless.
Here? Here, I stand a chance of helping find the monster responsible for this.
“Staying.” So much anger courses through me, and I’m determined to find the man responsible for causing it.
Remy appears almost out of nowhere, his truck pulling into the already full parking lot, and he’s out of the car in the next instant.
Daisy’s already sniffing the air, and it’s like she’s trying to differentiate between the different smells. She’s a beautiful purebred German shepherd that came home from the Marine Corps when her handler died.
“Okay, guys. What are we dealing with?” I look at the other man, just as tall as I am and completely solid.
A former Marine, Remy signed on with Birch PD after he got out. He’s still rough around the edges, but one hundred percent committed to wasting his life on the job like the rest of us. He spends his days working for whatever agency needs him, and his nights trying to drink away the past and the woman who broke his heart.
More than once, we’ve closed down Lucy’s together, living in misery while the world passes around us.
“Raymond Jones is a firefighter, and he’s the one who killed Dustin. Margot said that he’s the one who started the fire.” Shifting out of the way, I take a look at the burned-out building, still spitting smoke into the sky.
Brian hands him a shirt of Ray’s that came from the fire truck for Daisy to get his scent from. Honestly, I don’t remember who brought it or why he had a shirt in the rig in the first place. And I don’t really care.
Everything moves quickly after that, into the woods behind the school. Remy and Daisy lead the way while we all follow a hundred yards or more behind them.
We follow Remy through the woods for what feels like hours. We’re plodding through the underbrush, and every minute that passes is another minute that I don’t have any news about Margot.
“There’s a building up ahead,” Remy says suddenly. He stops, Daisy at his side, and waits for the rest of us to catch up. “I can see something through the window, but I’m not sure if it’s a person. We’re going to approach quietly. Jake and Brian, you stay with me. Logan, take Dom and Travis and go around to the back. Stop him if he tries to get away.”
“I hate this shit,” I mutter.
“I know exactly how you feel. I don’t know why they take off into the woods,” Brian says. “Remember the shit we went through to try and catch the asshole who took Maya?”
I remember, alright. It was after that chase that I finally admitted I needed Margot and showed up on her doorstep for the first time.
The building Remy found is nothing. I would barely even call it a building. It’s just a run-down cabin without any electricity or wiring on the outside. It looks as though no one’s used it in years. The shingles are falling off the roof and the log siding is covered in moss.
Remy nods to me and Brian, then creeps up onto the rickety steps as silently as possible. Thankfully, they don’t make a sound as we follow him up onto the porch and take positions on either side of him.
The single window that stands in front of us isn’t covered by anything, and we move so that someone looking out from it won’t be able to see what’s going on. Once we give the other men enough time to get into place, Remy kicks in the door.
