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Lia leaned into Joe with a sigh. “I don’t understand why anyone would want to hurt Doc’s. It’s going to be a medical centre to help people. It should be good for the town. Even if they hate me, there’s no need to hurt the building.”
The defeat in her voice pissed him off. Only an hour before, she’d been bouncing with excitement about her new venture.
Marcus’s voice was firm. “Your medical center is exactly what this town needs and wants. Which still makes me think this isn’t a local, but someone who has targeted one of you.”
Joe nodded. “Have there been other random arsons lately?”
Marcus shook his head. “Not even one. Bella’s collecting the evidence she needs but we’re all thinking this is probably connected to the other incidents.”
He felt Lia’s shoulders sag even further. He squeezed her tightly. “We’re going to figure this out. The security equipment Sam and I ordered should be in tomorrow. We’ll get it installed on the building and that should help.”
She nodded but didn’t smile. “This is a great town. I’m really sorry for bringing trouble your way.”
Marcus grinned. “Not your fault. We’ve always managed to find a bit of trouble on our own. The positives you and your crew have been bringing to our town far outweigh any of the jerks who’ve tried to screw things up. We’ll figure this one out, too.”
Lia nodded again, but still didn’t smile.
Marcus walked over to speak with Bella and Mitch, but Lia didn’t show any desire to move, so he stood with her tucked into his side and waited.
They watched their friends walk through the space and talk to anyone who passed by. He knew his buddies would be talking to anyone in the surrounding houses as well. It wasn’t the kind of neighborhood or town where people would have security cameras, but he knew they’d ask. Maybe they’d get lucky.
Unable to take her sadness and silence anymore, Joe squeezed Lia’s shoulder. “What are you thinking?”
She sighed. “I’m not sure. I’m angry at whoever is doing this. And I’m sad that I seem to be the trigger for whatever is happening. Mostly, I’m feeling confused. None of this makes a whole lot of sense.”
He had his team digging back at his FBI office but so far nothing had come up on his end. “It’s definitely odd. There is still no chatter from any of the people I’ve put in jail or their families.”
She straightened to look at him. “What about the victims or their families? Has your team looked into them?”
Hell. “I don’t know. I’ll ask.” Usually the hostages and their families were more relieved than anything, but there had been a few situations that hadn’t turned out well.
Like the one in Ann Arbor a few weeks before.
Why hadn’t he thought of that right away? He hoped someone on his team had.
If this was a symptom of his burnout, it was a clear indication his head wasn’t in the game the way it needed to be. Each of his buddies had said they’d been thrown off by big emotions as well.
Big emotions. Love. They’d all been falling in love and because none of them had experienced it before, they’d been thrown off. Even when the most important person in their worlds had been in danger. Was the same thing happening to him?
He pulled out his phone and texted a buddy in the Sacramento office. On it was the simple reply.
With a grin, he looked at Lia. “I’m glad one of us is using their brain properly. I should have thought of that earlier. Thankfully, it doesn’t happen often, but I have been involved in a couple of bad cases where the victims were seriously injured or killed. In fact, when I met you at the airport in Burlington, I was coming in from a case that involved the death of a hostage.”
Her eyes got wide. “I’m so sorry. That’s horrible.”
“It is. The shot happened before I was involved in the case, but it was still a death.”
“Wouldn’t the families be angry at the hostage taker and not you?”
He shrugged, knowing it wasn’t that simple. “Grief is hard and emotions aren’t always aimed with any logic.”
Her eyes filled with tears and she wrapped her arms around him. “That’s so true. I’m sorry you had to learn that at such an early age.”
She blew him away. Joe held her tightly. “You too, Lia. We’ve both been through some shit.”
She laughed and he was glad to see a little of her sparkle return. “We have indeed. Okay, time to suck it up and get back to work.”
He leaned down to kiss her. “Lead the way.”
