Page 40 of Ink and Ashes

Holland

“ C olson,” I call as I make my way down the hallway of the hospital. Cass called me on her way here to let me know what happened and asked me to get here as soon as I could. Without thinking twice, I grabbed the keys to Colson’s truck and rushed over.

He’s pacing the waiting room, but when he hears my voice, he turns around, a grief-stricken look on his face. I know the moment I meet his eyes that the news isn’t good.

I pick up my pace and rush over to him, wrapping my arms around his waist the second he’s within reach. His body relaxes as he wraps his around me too, leaning down to bury his face in my hair. I squeeze tighter and stand there, holding him for as long as he needs.

When he pulls away, I glance up at him. His jaw is tense, and though I don’t think he’s cried, I can tell he wants to.

“Are you okay?” I reach up, pressing my hand to his cheek. “What happened?”

“I’m okay.” He swallows, letting out a sigh as he prepares to fill me in.

“Chief had sent Ollie, Finn, and me inside to vent the windows and check for bodies. I thought I saw one, so they continued while I went to check it out. Before we could make it out, a beam fell, and…” He pauses, clearing his throat.

“It was gonna fall right on Ollie. Finn saw it, and I heard him call out. I’m not sure what happened next, but when I found them, Ollie was unconscious, and Finn was stuck underneath it. ”

I inhale sharply. “Is he…?” I trail off, knowing he understands what I’m asking.

Colson just nods, and tears sting the backs of my eyes.

My lip begins to quiver. “And Ollie?”

Colson shakes his head. “He’s pretty badly injured. He was thrown from the force of the beam falling, and he has some burns. He hasn’t woken up yet.”

I blow out a breath, trying to process everything he’s saying, and wrap my arms around him again.

“It was a practice dummy, Rhodes,” Colson mutters into my hair.

I glance up at him. “What was?”

“The body I thought I saw. It was a practice dummy.” His throat works. “The arsonist put it under a pew so we would get separated. He set us up. He wanted someone to get hurt.”

Colson’s voice cracks on the last word, and I squeeze tighter, willing myself not to cry right now. This isn’t about me.

“We were running drills earlier, before we got the call. Ace was cleaning up from one of them and noticed that a dummy was missing. I mentioned it to Beau and Dom, and neither of them thought much of it, so I didn’t either.

But now I do.” He leans down so his lips are next to my ear, keeping his voice low as he continues.

“You were right. The arsonist is a firefighter. And it’s someone at our station. ”

A shiver runs up my spine at those words. Before I can respond, a doctor walks through the doors, and the entire team is on their feet the moment they see him.

“Hey, guys,” the doctor says. He clearly knows everyone here, which isn’t surprising .

“How is he?” Chief Whitlock asks.

“He’s alive. He has second-degree burns up the right side of his body, and his left arm is broken. All things considered, it could’ve been much, much worse. He’ll need time to heal, but he should have no problem returning to work in a few months, should he choose to.”

Everyone in the room lets out a collective sigh of relief.

Colson’s chest rumbles against my back as he speaks. “Can we see him?”

“Just two of you right now. We’ve got him on painkillers, so he’s in and out.”

Colson looks at Chief Whitlock, then down at me.

“I’ll be back.”

I nod, then he and Chief Whitlock follow the doctor back through the doors.

I turn, making my way over to Cass, Liv, Dom, and Beau.

“Hey,” Cass says first, her eyes rimmed with red. She pulls me in for a hug as I approach. “Thanks for coming.”

“Thanks for calling.” I turn to Dom next. “I’m so sorry about Finn,” I say as he wraps his arms around me too.

“Thanks,” he mutters sadly.

The five of us take a seat, Cass resting her head on my shoulder. I lace my fingers with hers, hoping to provide a semblance of comfort for her.

The whole team is here. I scan the room, watching each of them for any sign of guilt, but all I see is a group of people who just lost one of their closest friends. They all look distraught, and I can’t imagine any of them being responsible for this.

Which means whoever it is must be a damn good actor.

Until now, Ollie was my top suspect, but he’s currently laid up in a hospital bed.

I can’t officially clear him unless another fire happens seventeen days from now, but as I glance around the room, I can’t help but wonder if there’s something I’m missing.

Because although he fits every other aspect of an excitement arsonist, Ollie isn’t the type to intentionally try to injure his crewmates.

Not when his motivation revolves around impressing them .

Whoever did this did so on purpose. They knew the conditions of that church, and they chose it anyway. On top of that, they placed a dummy under a pew to throw us off. They wanted someone trapped inside. They wanted someone hurt.

This is a total shift from everything we know about the arsonist so far. Arsonists don’t typically set out to injure people. Fire is their muse, but they don’t set them in hopes someone will get hurt—they set them for attention. That’s why Ollie initially seemed like a perfect fit to me.

But knowing what I do now about today’s fire, all signs suggest that this arsonist isn’t just setting them for attention anymore. Which means they aren’t just an arsonist anymore. They’re a murderer, and their weapon of choice just so happens to be fire.

I swallow roughly, my mind racing.

This changes everything.

My knee bounces as I sit in the waiting room, nerves rushing off me knowing any one of the ten men here right now could be responsible for this.

Twenty minutes pass before Colson and Chief Whitlock return, and everyone is on their feet again the moment they do.

“How is he?” Jess is the first to ask.

Chief Whitlock blows out a breath, his eyes glassy. He’s a tough guy, never letting anyone see him down, so I know based on his response that this is hitting him hard.

“He was groggy, but all things considered, he seemed okay. We didn’t tell him about Finn, though. We decided to hold off on that news until he’s a bit stronger,” Colson tells the crew when Chief Whitlock struggles to find the words.

Jess nods, and the rest of the crew retakes their seats. I squeeze Cassidy’s shoulder before making my way back over to Colson, lacing my fingers with his.

Colson’s dad William shows up a little while later with Finn’s wife and daughters in tow. Whitlock must’ve asked him to break the news to them, which makes sense since he was fire chief when Finn started with the station and knows the family well.

A doctor comes out to talk to them while the rest of us hang out in the waiting room, a silent show of support for the Finnegans. When the doctor takes them back to discuss some things, Colson makes his way over to his father, his hand still tangled in mine.

He only releases it to give his dad a hug, a silent conversation being had between them. When he pulls away, he immediately takes my hand again.

“Dad, this is Holland Rhodes,” Colson says, gesturing toward me. He gestures to his dad next while looking at me and adds, “Holland, this is my dad.”

I reach my hand out in front of me. “Nice to meet you, sir.”

Colson’s dad doesn’t hesitate to take my hand too. “It’s great to meet you too, Holland. Been wondering when we’d finally meet. Too bad it’s under these circumstances.”

“It is,” I say back. There’s an air of awkwardness in the room, no one knowing what to do or say next. We continue to wait around until visiting hours end and the nurses have no choice but to ask us all to leave.

We say our goodbyes to the rest of the team, Colson leading me out to his truck. His dad follows closely behind, inviting us over for dinner. Colson agrees easily, and even though the idea of officially meeting his parents terrifies me, I don’t protest. I get the feeling he needs this.

His dad leaves and we follow suit. Colson runs a hand through his hair, focusing on the road as we drive. I wish there was more I could do to comfort him right now, but I feel in over my head here. So I simply take his hand in mine again, letting him know that I’m here for whatever he needs.

“I don’t think Ollie’s the arsonist, Rhodes,” Colson finally breaks the silence to say.

I exhale deeply. “Neither do I.”

He glances at me with confusion. “You don’t?”

I shake my head. “Not after this. I can’t clear him for sure until the next fire, but Ollie’s motivation wouldn’t include intentionally harming the people closest to him, especially not if it means he could get injured too.”

Colson’s grip on the steering wheel tightens. “I never thought anyone at the station would do something like that.”

I squeeze his hand tighter. “I know. And that makes it harder to figure out who it is. They’re good at putting on a show so no one suspects them.”

“How the hell are we going to catch them then?”

I really wish I had an answer for him, but I don’t. “I’m not sure yet. But we’ll figure it out together, okay?”

Colson’s jaw flexes as he squeezes my hand. “Okay.”

A few minutes later, we pull into Colson’s parents’ driveway behind his dad.

The rest of the full-timers were invited over too, but according to the text I got from Cass a little while ago, they’ve all opted for drinking their sorrows away at Wildfire Bar and Grill instead.

So it’s just Colson and me here tonight.

The moment we make it to the front door, the woman I can only assume is Colson’s mom meets us in the foyer.

“Hi, baby,” she tells Colson as she pulls him in for a hug. “I’m so sorry to hear about Finn.”

My chest clenches at those words. I’m guessing William filled her in on everything before he came to the hospital.

She releases her son a moment later and turns to me.

“You must be Holland,” she says as she wraps me in a hug. “I’m Stacy. It’s so lovely to finally meet you.”

I’m a bit taken aback at first, but quickly relax into her, hugging her back. “It’s nice to meet you too.”

She pulls back with a smile. “We’ve heard a lot about you.”

I huff a nervous laugh. “All good things, I hope.”

“At first, I’ll admit you had this one”—she hikes her thumb over her shoulder toward Colson—“crawling up the walls. But more recently, yes. All good things.”

My lips quirk as I glance up at Colson, who’s shaking his head with a smile behind his mom. Then the four of us make our way deeper into the house.

“How are you holding up?” Stacy asks Colson.

Colson shrugs, and she pulls him in for another hug. He doesn’t need to use words for his parents to understand how he’s doing. After all, I think aside from his sister, they’re the two people who know him best.

Conversation flows lightly as we take a seat around the table for dinner. Stacy serves up a massive platter of tacos with all the fixings, and we don’t waste any time digging in. The food is delicious, and hanging out with Colson’s parents is a nice distraction from everything going on.

But even still, I find myself sneaking glances at him all throughout the meal. He’s trying to put on a brave face, but I can tell he’s off. I’ve gotten good at reading his body language over the past few weeks, and Colson is so far from okay right now.

I don’t blame him. I just wish there was a way for me to help him.

But save for finally catching the arsonist, I don’t think anything is going to take the weight off his shoulders. And no matter how many times I tell him we will catch this guy, he’s not going to believe me until we actually do.