Page 40 of Fatal Deception
Copeland had worked with Hawk a handful of times, didn’t have any negative impressions about the guy. He had a reputation for good work.
Which was a positive, because Copeland didn’t need to know anything about fires to know that this one had been set on purpose.
Hawk probably wouldn’t want to divulge much before he could do a more thorough examination in the daylight. Run tests on whatever he found, but Copeland hoped he’d be able to at least get confirmation of some things he was reasonably sure were true.
Both men approached the porch.
“The fire is fully out,” Kline said. “No danger of it spreading. Steele here will go over with you what needs to be done to keep the scene from being contaminated for his investigation. Any questions or concerns, you’ve got my number.”
“I’ll want a copy of the report.”
The firefighter nodded. “You’ll both get it.” He turned and headed for his truck, but Hawk took the stairs.
“I’m going to need to speak with Audra.”
Copeland nodded, opened the door and gestured Hawk inside. “She’s in the kitchen. You know Audra? One of those Bent-County my-cousin’s-wife’s-sister’s-aunt’s-stepmom-changed-my-diaper things?”
Hawk smiled. “I didn’t grow up here, Beckett. But my wife works at Fool’s Gold with Rosalie. I don’t know Audra that well, but our paths have crossed.”
“How much have you heard about what’s been going on here?”
“Bits and pieces,” Hawk confirmed. “Property damage. Death threats?”
“Sort of. I’ll send you my reports on it, if it’ll help your case.”
“Can’t hurt.”
When they stepped into the kitchen, Audra had a full pot of coffee and some mugs out on the table, along with a small carton of cream and a little bowl of sugar.
“Hawk,” she greeted and gestured at the table. “Coffee to warm you up? I made decaf, but I can put together a pot of—”
“Decaf would be fine,” he replied easily. “Why don’t we all sit down and talk?”
Audra nodded and moved for the table. She didn’t limp, and Copeland knew it cost her. Just like he knew shelookedcalm and collected, but there were nerves in her eyes, if you knew where to look.
It was a little concerning that he knew exactly where that was. But that was a concern for a much different time.
She poured coffee for all of them, let everyone doctor their own mugs. Hawk took a sip. His nose and cheeks were red. No doubt the warmth was welcome, but he didn’t waste any time. He got right to it.
“I’m going to want to take a look again once I’ve got more light, maybe collect a few more samples, but I got the overallgist. It wasn’t hidden or sneaky. Someone deliberately set that fire to your shed.”
Audra swallowed as she nodded. “Yeah, that’s about the only way I could have seen this going.”
“I’m not fully familiar with the other trouble you’ve been having here, but Detective Beckett is going to share the case information with me, and I’ll take it into consideration as I run some tests and see if we can figure out who did this.”
Audra blew out a breath. “It’ll be whoever is doing all the other things. And they haven’t been too great at leaving us evidence to go on.”
Hawk nodded. “It might be difficult, but fire’s a bit more volatile. Harder to keep a distance from. We’ll see what we can find, and I’ll work closely with Detective Beckett since it seems likely it’s related. That being said, and I hope you’ll agree, Detective, Audra, you shouldn’t stay here overnight. It’d be reckless to be alone out here at all, any time of day, until we know who’s targeting you.”
Audra opened her mouth, no doubt to argue because she was still the same infuriating woman, but before Copeland could tell her to knock it off, Hawk continued in his calm, even way.
“I know enough ranchers to understand it’s a tall order to ask you to leave. You’ve got animals and a business to take care of, and I get that. But this is not a safe space until we know who’s doing this. Fire is dangerous. Maybe they only meant to burn down that shed, but it was the closest structure to the house. Had the weather been dry, things could have ended up much worse. Just because no one’s specifically tried to hurtyou, doesn’t mean you won’t find yourself in the crosswind.”
When Audra looked at Copeland, the pleading in her eyes about took him out, but he wouldn’t relent. Couldn’t when her safety was on the line. “He’s right. You know he’s right. You’ve been lucky so far.”
“Lucky,” she said disgustedly, pushing away from the table, coffee mostly untouched.
Hawk rose as well. “I’m going to head into the office, handle a few things, then I’ll stop by once it’s light. I’ll keep you both updated.”