Page 22 of Forged By Fire (Danger in Destiny #9)

Chapter Twenty-One

L eslie tossed the last bite of toast in her mouth and put the plate in the sink.

She’d slept better last night than she had in days.

Maybe part of it was because the body could only carry on so long on stress and chocolate.

She wasn’t na?ve, though. She knew it was mostly because Clint had been sleeping in the living room.

Knowing he was out there, and that she wasn’t alone, was enough to put her completely at ease.

They’d both spent the morning bustling around her house getting ready for the day. He touched base with his brother. She called Cindy to see how the girls were doing. They’d fixed a simple breakfast of scrambled eggs and toast that was wolfed down in record time.

Clint ended his call and gave her an apologetic smile. “I had no idea that would take so long. We’re trying to get things planned for our parents’ anniversary in the spring. We were hoping for a cruise to Alaska. They’ve always talked about going.”

“Wow, that’s amazing. Are they going to be completely surprised, or do you guys normally get them larger gifts like that?”

He laughed, and she loved the way the sound filled her kitchen. “We’ve never done anything like this before. I think they’ll be completely shocked. But it’s their fortieth anniversary, and we wanted to do something special.”

“Well, I’m sure they’re going to love it.”

Leslie opened her large backpack to make sure she had everything she needed for her twenty-four-hour shift. She always kept some necessities in her locker there, but the clothing she took back and forth, as well as any specific snacks she wanted to have on hand.

When she looked up, she caught Clint watching her, his expression somewhere between worry and admiration. She immediately knew what he was thinking about.

She finished zipping the backpack closed. “I can’t sit around here all day just doing nothing. Waiting for news about Danny or the case is slowly driving me insane.”

“I know.” He took several strides forward until they were toe-to-toe. He slid his fingers into her hair at the base of her neck, sending shivers racing down her spine. “Promise me you’ll be careful.”

“I promise…”

Her words, spoken barely above a whisper, were cut off when he kissed her with an intensity that had her grasping the fabric on the front of his uniform with one hand to steady herself.

He poured his worries, along with a myriad of unspoken promises, into the brief kiss that left her catching her breath when he pulled back.

Leslie’s mind swirled with questions and uncertainties, but the affection and heat in his gaze quieted them all. They had a lot of things to figure out—about the case and what was going on between them—and they would. But this morning wasn’t the time.

“We’d better get going, or we’re both going to be late.” His voice was gruff as he reached for her backpack with one hand and lifted his duffel bag with the other.

They got everything loaded into his squad car and headed for Station Two.

“If I get any updates on the evidence or if we can speak with Ortiz’s old roommate, I’ll let you know.

I’m hoping we can get some answers today.

Goodness knows we’re due for them.” Clint stopped at a red light and turned his head to look at her.

“It’s going to be weird not to see you for a full twenty-four hours.

Especially after spending so much time together the last couple of days. ”

“You could come eat dinner with us.” As soon as she extended the offer, she second-guessed herself. Not because she didn’t want him to, but because it wouldn’t come without a price.

“Wow, that sounded convincing.” He hiked an eyebrow but was forced to change his focus back to the road when the light turned green.

Leslie groaned. “Sorry. I would really like for you to come eat dinner with us at the station. It’s not unusual—friends and family drop by all the time. If you do, though, I guarantee there’s going to be some teasing from the crew.”

“They’ll be teasing me or you?”

“Yes.”

Clint laughed. “Well, that’s good to know. Would that bother you?” He hazarded a glance in her direction.

“No. It wouldn’t.” Because she truly didn’t care if her co-workers thought she and Clint were together. They kinda were, even if it wasn’t official. At least she thought they were.

She found herself holding her breath as she waited for Clint’s reaction.

“Then it doesn’t bother me either. I’ll do my best to be there. What time do you all usually eat?”

“Six. It’s Bryce’s turn to cook, too, which means you’re in luck since it almost always involves barbecued meat of some kind.”

That brought an appreciative smile to Clint’s face. “Then I’ll definitely be there.” He winked at her. “I’ll touch base around five and let you know for sure. But barring a lead or complication with the case, you can count me in.”

He pulled into the parking lot of the fire department and slowed to a stop. “Remember, reach out if you need anything.”

“I will.” Tears pricked her eyes, which was super annoying because she was going to see him later that evening. She swallowed hard and blinked them away before he noticed.

They both got out, and he popped the trunk so she could grab her backpack. With a final wave, she went inside to start her shift.

Clint studied the whiteboard that’d been set up in the conference room.

They had a timeline written out, starting with the attempted theft of the turnout gear two years ago, the missing retired gear nearly a year ago, all the way up to last night when someone broke into Leslie’s car and left that threat.

The problem was, they had a lot of information, and very little of it fit together. They were missing a big piece of the puzzle, and possibly more than one at that.

Detective Paris led the morning’s update on the case, and even Chief Dolman was in attendance. It wasn’t that unusual, but more than ever before, it was evident that all hands were on deck.

Paris pointed to Logan Alcott, the precinct’s IT specialist. “Where are we in locating Rick Castor, the man who rented the apartment with Domingo Ortiz?”

“I found no record of a Rick Castor in Destiny. I searched for Richard Castor and Patrick Castor as well, but came up empty. I tracked down the apartment that Ortiz was renting. Turns out, he was the only official renter on the lease. I spoke with Ortiz, and Rick paid him in cash, and it was Ortiz who wrote the monthly check to the landlord. As far as the apartment complex goes, there never was a Rick Castor.” Logan leaned forward and looked at the laptop sitting on the table in front of him.

“Ortiz mentioned he heard someone refer to Castor as Jake. But you’d be surprised how many Jakes and Jacobs there are in Destiny.

Without a last name, I’m not sure how much luck we’re going to have.

I’m going to keep trying to find a connection, though. ”

Paris acknowledged his report and turned his attention to Officer Josh Carrington. “Did we hear back from the lab concerning the casing found at the scene of the shooting or the bucket and digital scanner found at the warehouse?”

Carrington stood and raked his fingers through his brown hair that always looked like he needed a trim. “Yes, the lab did find a partial fingerprint on the casing. It was enough to run through our database, but we didn’t get a hit.”

“That’s rather unusual.” Paris frowned. “Most criminals don’t go from no offenses straight to attempted murder.”

“Agreed. As for the bucket,” Carrington continued, “there were multiple sets of fingerprints obtained, which tracks since we found it in a janitorial closet. However, there was only one set of fingerprints on the digital scanner that was also on the bucket. They belong to Christopher King. He works security at the warehouse and was there the night of the fire.”

“Wait a minute.” Clint held up a finger to interject. “Wasn’t Leslie Granger’s company sent in to look for two potentially missing employees? I thought one was named Chris.”

“You’re absolutely right.” Carrington nodded to Logan, who brought up a picture on his computer, which was connected to the TV in the conference room.

“This is Christopher King. Firefighters Keyes and Cho eventually located him on the other side of the warehouse from the closet where the bucket and scanner were found. And as expected, the scanner was tuned to listen in on the fire department’s communications. ”

Now they were finally getting somewhere. After all the dead ends they’d been hitting, at least this was something. Clint prayed it would lead them in the right direction.

“Nicely done,” Chief Dolman spoke up from the far end of the table. “I want King brought in for questioning as soon as we’re done here. Logan, what do we know about him?”

Logan pointed to the TV where King’s picture was still up.

“Christopher King was born in Alabama and moved to Texas with his family when he was fifteen years old. He graduated from high school and got his first job at a local pawn shop. Eventually, he became the security guard there. He started working for the paper company at the warehouse two years ago. Of course, being in security, his prints are on file.”

“He has no priors,” Carrington added.

“Pull his financial information,” Paris instructed. “I want to know everything we can about this guy.” He looked over at Clint. “Baker, do we have any updates on firefighters Bracken and Granger?”

“As of last night, Bracken is fighting an infection. The doctors are treating him with antibiotics, which will hopefully be enough to re-stabilize his condition. Granger’s insurance company is supposed to send someone today to replace the window in her car.

She’s on shift until eight tomorrow morning, but I’ll be touching base with her this evening.

If she runs into any trouble, she knows to contact me or the precinct. ”

“Is there anything else?” When no one replied, Paris put his hands on the table and stood. “Then let’s find King and hopefully get some answers.”