Page 29

But were those old?New?
“Hey, buddy, you shouldn’t be back there!”
Eb turned toward an approaching firefighter.“Did any of your crew open this door?”Maybe he was just being a suspicious SOB.
“Hell if I know,” the firefighter replied.He lumbered toward Eb.“You need to get away from the structure.The scene isn’t secure yet.Incident Commander hasn’t given the all clear.”
A young guy.Barely looked twenty-one.One long and bushy mustache covered his upper lip.A very impressive mustache.The kid still wore his full gear, minus the helmet and face mask.
“I need to check the smoke detectors inside,” Eb explained.The faulty detectors were his red flag.The detectors, and, of course, the big red flames that had burned in her den.
“What?”The firefighter hunched his shoulders.
“The smoke detectors.I need to check them.They didn’t go off.Either let me in to check them or you go and check them.Find out why the hell they didn’t work.”
Because Eb had a very, very bad feeling about this scene.
Someone could have slipped in the back door.Set the fire…
And waited for Naomi to burn.
If she’d been alone, without the smoke detectors to alert her to the fire’s presence, shewouldhave burned.She would have died.
Naomi didn’t knowwhat she was supposed to do with a hero.
One who’d literally given her the shirt off his back.
Her arms remained crossed over her chest as she waited for the cops to close in.Familiar figures.At this point, most of the police department members were familiar to her.But it wasn’t the officers in uniform who had her tensing.It was the detective who walked behind them.The man who’d pulled up in his predictably dark SUV.A guy in jeans and a half-buttoned shirt who’d clipped a badge to his belt and had a holster beneath his left arm.
Detective Clark Anderson.He’d been particularly driven to get her locked away for the little matter of her husband’s murder.
“Naomi.”A shake of his head.“Causing trouble again, are you?”
Henry remained sitting at her side.“If by causing trouble, you mean…did a fire break out and nearly destroy my home?Yes.That did happen.But I’m safe.Thanks for your concern, Detective Anderson.Always glad to know you are looking out for my well-being.”
He stopped a few feet away.His gaze raked over her.And, yes, fine, she was suddenly grateful for the double shirts.It took all she had not to dramatically call out…Who does a woman have to kill in order to get full clothing around here?But, no, that question would not be appreciated.She got that.Her dark humor would be inappropriate.
Still…
She was so on edge that she almost blurted it out.Almost.
“What happened?”Clark asked.The two uniformed officers flanked his sides.
“A fire.”Shouldn’t that be obvious based on the fire truck at the scene?And the firefighters?But then again, she hadn’t found him to be the sharpest tool in the box during all of their previous interactions, either.
He’d been too intent on locking her away.Or, even better…as he’d once told her…getting her the death penalty.A life for a life.Naomi swallowed.“Why are you even here?I get the firefighters.I even get uniformed cops.However, I hardly think a detective should be at this scene in the middle of the night.”
“Heard the call go out.Recognized the address.”His hands went to his hips.“Knew I had to come immediately.”
How wonderful.Not.
“You start it?”Clark asked.
Her gaze narrowed on him.“Are you seriously asking me if I just tried to burn down my own home?”
“Well, only fair, isn’t it, given that you murdered your own husband?”
She took a lunging step toward him.