Page 41 of Arsonist’s Match (Blaze and Badge #1)

A s Athena studied the information Shoops unearthed, her plans changed. She ordered Howard to stay at the hospital with Campbell while the rest headed back to headquarters. Stuck in a traffic jam, she phoned the bureau. Of all people, ASAC McCulloch picked up instead of the switchboard operator.

“ASAC Bouvier, what a pleasant surprise,” McCulloch drawled. “Figured you’d be hunkered down with a Mai Tai watching Casablanca , thanks to that ever-ready generator.”

“I’m working, same as you, it seems. Listen, this is important. I need you to do something for me,” she demanded, devoid of humor.

“Oh, so now you need me?” he ribbed.

“Just pass me to the operator.” The urgency in her voice must have gotten through to him. He sobered up.

“Sorry. Rough day around here. What do you need?”

“Agents to pick up a suspect.”

“Now?” McCulloch’s pitch rose an octave. “You’ve got to be kidding!”

“No, I need them now. Here’s the name and address, plus his work address if he’s not home.” Athena rattled off the information while her co-worker wrote it down.

“What, you’re afraid he’ll disappear?”

“Very likely once he discovers we’ve arrested Simon Neel for the fires,” she replied. “Thank you, McCulloch.”

“You can pay me back by letting me in on the interview,” he said. “It’s the least you can do after you horned in on my cryptocurrency theft case.”

“Sure, if it’ll m ake you happy.” Athena hung up the call to focus on trying to see through a solid sheet of water slapping the van’s windshield.

“You know I could be wrong,” Shoops mentioned timidly.

“Don’t apologize.” Athena’s tone was sharp, but steady. “Mistakes happen. Own them. But when your gut speaks, listen—and make others listen too. Better to inconvenience a person of interest than to sit back and let an accomplice get away.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“And Karen?” Athena’s eyes flicked to the junior agent for an instant. “You’re getting the hang of this. Keep up the good work.”

It was 8:00 p.m. before Athena and Agent McCulloch walked into the interview room. Everyone had grabbed something to eat, taken quick showers, and changed clothes. Flash sat in the booth with Paulson and Shoops. She deserved to be here.

“What was so urgent you had to haul me in here during a freakin’ hurricane?”

Lieutenant Christopher Edwards was dressed in casual civvies for his day off, now wet from being shuffled in and out of an FBI vehicle. Athena wasn’t sure if he was more confused, angry, or scared as his eyes darted and his knee bounced.

“Lieutenant Edwards, is it possible you omitted some vital information the last time we spoke with you?” Athena, in a bold red dress with a daring neckline, tilted her head and arched a brow.

“I, I don’t think so,” he answered, attempting to appear innocent. But the beads of sweat and throbbing neck vein begged to differ.

“Allow me to jog your memory.” Athena opened a folder and referred to notes from the initial joint task force meeting.

“At first, you stated that you didn’t believe anything at the Synergy Warehouse fire pointed to arson.

You later amended your testimony to blame your disapproval of women operating as firefighters.

Finally—and I quote—’How will they ever respect me if every time I turn around, I’m being shown up by a woman—a girl, practically?

’” She lifted her eyes from the paper to stare at him.

“That’s right.” Edwards shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

McCulloch couldn’t just sit there and be quiet. He had to grab some of the glory for himself. “Are you acquainted with a young man named Simon Neel?”

“Simon Neel …” He cupped his chin, attempting a look of concentration.

“Yes, your neighbor and best friend’s son, Simon,” Athena prodded, shooting McCulloch a perturbed look. “You and Patrick Neel grew up together, were in the same class, played Little League. You were the best man at his wedding.”

“Oh!” Edward’s expression perked up. “ That Simon Neel.”

As if Simon Neels grew on trees. “Yes, that Simon Neel.” Athena resisted an eye roll.

“I lost track of him after Patrick and the kid’s mother divorced. Then Patrick joined the Army and …” He hesitated, lowering his face in genuine-looking sorrow. “He didn’t come back from Afghanistan.”

“And you never once checked in on his boy?” McCulloch’s tone was dark and accusatory, putting Edwards on the defensive.

“I figured he was OK. His mom had remarried, and he had a father figure in his life. He didn’t need me poking around.” His guilty expression didn’t match his excuse.

“So, you haven’t seen or talked to him since he was a kid?” Athena proposed.

She watched as Edwards formulated a response, his expression pensive, jaw ticking. “I might have run into him a few years ago when he entered the fire academy training program. Didn’t recognize him at first. Why are you asking about Simon?”

Claiming not to have seen Neel for over fifteen years would have been too easy to disprove—especially with what Shoops had discovered.

“Might have?” Athena questioned doubtfully. She took out a roster from five years ago. “In November of 2019, you did a rotation teaching a class at the fire academy. Hazardous Materials Awareness. Neel was a student in your class—the year he washed out. Ringing any bells?”

“Oh, yes, that’s right.” Edwards ran a hand over his bristled hair, shaking it off with a nervous laugh. “I’d forgotten about that.”

“That’s surprising,” McCulloch interjected.

He’d studied the file. “Since you went to bat for him, argued with the academy chief to give him another chance, even though he clearly l acked the skills or discipline for the job. Is that because you felt guilty for abandoning him to his fate with an abusive stepfather and alcoholic mother when he was a little boy?”

“Hey, wait a minute here.” Edwards’ muscles tensed as he glared at McCulloch, a man around his same age who’d risen higher in his profession. He might have been old school when it came to women serving in the bureau, but Athena had to admit her peer was a solid agent.

“I didn’t abandon Simon,” he declared.

“What would you call it then?” A disdainful frown appeared beneath McCulloch’s mustache, and his bushy brows narrowed.

Edwards’ chin jutted up in defiance, and his nostrils flared. “I didn’t have the slightest idea what was going on in that house. They presented as a perfectly normal family.”

“Abusers usually do,” Athena commented, drawing his attention back to her. “So, after you couldn’t keep him in the program, where he might have followed in your footsteps, what’d you do? Promise you’d be there if he needed you in the future? You had to feel like you owed the kid something.”

“I don’t understand. What do you think Simon did?” Edwards searched Athena’s eyes before shifting to McCulloch.

“It’s not what I think,” Athena laid out, “it’s what I can prove, some of which he’s admitted to already. Six counts of arson, three homicides, and the attempted murder of three federal agents and one Houston Firefighter.”

“What?” Color drained from an astonished face.

“He sent me a frantic call, just before the alarm bells went off. Said he was trying to vandalize the office at Synergy because they fired his girlfriend and sent him away with a scathing rebuke when he applied for her job. He swore the fire was an accident—begged me to cover for him.”

“Then you’re as gullible and stupid as you are misogynistic and incompetent.

” Athena unleashed her contempt, her blazing glare enough to burn a hole in him.

“A little over a week ago, he struck again at Lone Star Manufacturing, where two employees were killed. He cut off the sprinklers and disarmed the fire alarms. It’s a miracle more people didn’t fall victim to his rampage.

Your friend’s son is a pyromaniac, Lie utenant Edwards, and this afternoon he lit himself on fire.

If it wasn’t for Flash, he’d be in the morgue instead of a hospital.

Is that how you help a disturbed young man—by lying to keep him out of trouble?

If you’d come clean, two people would be holding their loved ones close during this hurricane, and Simon would be receiving treatment in a psych ward instead of a burn ward. ”

Athena watched Edwards break, transitioning from astonished disbelief to agonizing grief in an instant. He buried his face in his palms and wept.

“I didn’t know,” he sobbed. “I swear, I didn’t know.” Glancing up through tear-streaked eyes, he ventured, “is he …?”

“The doctor expects him to recover from his burns,” she answered, sparing no sympathy for the firefighter who broke his oath.

“As for the rest, time will tell. As for you .” She leveled an icy glare at him, sharp enough to slice through steel.

“Chief Burks has relieved you of your post for gross misconduct, criminal activity, and violation of department policy. Furthermore, I am placing you under arrest for aiding and abetting a felon, obstruction of justice, and lying to federal agents. Your attorney can explain these charges to you and help you mount a proper defense. If you don’t have your own lawyer, the courts will appoint one for you at no cost. McCulloch, would you please finish Mirandizing this …

” She waved a disgusted hand at him. “Person. If I stay in here any longer, I risk losing my temper, something I pride myself on not doing, regardless of how much the criminal deserves it.”

“Sure thing,” McCulloch answered. “Although I’m as disgusted with him as you are.”

Before Athena vacated the interview room, she whipped around to face Edwards once more, with a contemptuous sneer.

“You, who acted so superior, ordering seasoned firefighters about, micromanaging their every move, aren’t fit to polish Flash Cash’s boots.

She’s got ten times your courage and dedication and is a hell of a better firefighter.

And, to think, if you hadn’t ridden her like an insecure imbecile, we might never have even known about Neel’s serial arsons, never caught him, never stopped him from killing more victims or himself.

If you’d been a decent human being, she might never have come to me about what she saw at Synergy or ta ken it over your head to Captain O’Riley.

In essence, you’re going to prison for being an asshole. ”

With that, she spun on her three-inch heel and stormed out.

“Wow, Athena!” Flash met her in the hallway. “You torched him.”

Athena sighed, offering Flash an apologetic expression. “I try not to let emotions play a role. It will be easier with Neel in the morning. He’s our perpetrator, but he’s a victim too. This guy? No excuse.”

“Amen to that.” With the hall vacant so late on a stormy night, Flash kissed Athena’s cheek. “I’m on shift in the morning, and I’ll bet this news beats me there.”

“Probably,” Athena agreed. “I’ll be tied up all day tomorrow too, but when you get off?” She flashed her most seductive smile. Flash’s eyes lit with delight.

“The mansion?”

Athena grimaced. “I keep telling you, it’s not a mansion.”

“OK.” Flash brushed her bare arm with a considering look. “Our getaway then.”

With a laugh, she consented. “ Our getaway—not my mansion. Deal?”

Flash grinned. “Deal. Swimsuit or no?” She quirked a suggestive brow.

Athena lowered her voice to a hush. “There’s a privacy fence and hedge, so …”

Agents Shoops and Paulson exited the booth, chatting excitedly, while McCulloch left the interview room with miserable Edwards in cuffs. Duty called. Again.

Flash’s cheeks flushed. “Day after tomorrow. Our place,” she whispered. Then long legs carried her out of sight.

Our place, Athena mused. I like it.