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Drew focused on putting his own things away. “Do you know if Romeo’s made it in yet?”
“Looking for me, Cap?” Eddie Romero—otherwise known as Romeo—strolled into the locker room right on cue.
“Put your things away, and then grab your gear. We’ve got to go relieve Shawn’s crew.”
“Fire?”
“It’s already been put out, man,” Baily said.
Since Drew had an SUV, they all piled in and drove over to the scene. The mood was a lot more somber than it would have been had there still been a fire to fight. As it was, all they would be doing was standing around twiddling their thumbs.
The warehouse was less than five miles from the station. A lot had changed in the area over the last ten years. Most of the old warehouses had been converted into apartments and storefronts. Drew supposed they were lucky the building the arsonist chose was still abandoned.
He parked along the curb behind the truck. His buddy and fellow captain, Shawn, and his crew were lounging against the side, waiting. When he saw Drew pull up, he pushed off the truck and sauntered over to meet them. “I was hoping you’d be the inspector.”
“Any idea what’s taking so long?” Drew asked as he rounded the vehicle to unload their gear from the back.
“Not a clue. Dispatch said they were on their way, but so far nothing.”
With their gear unloaded, Drew handed his car keys over to Shawn. “I guess we wait, then.”
Thirty minutes later, they were still waiting. Drew was about to radio dispatch again to see what was going on when a dark blue sedan pulled up in front of the fire truck. A woman exited the vehicle, her head tilted down looking at something. He began striding over to her, not sure who she was or what she was doing at the scene.
She looked up, and Drew nearly tripped over himself. It was Nicole from the club. Beth’s friend. And someone he knew for a fact was a Domme. From the way her eyes widened, Drew guessed Nicole was as shocked to see him there as he was to see her.
Nicole recovered quickly and walked toward him. “Good morning, gentlemen.”
His crew mumbled hello while Drew got his bearings. He wasn’t sure what to say or how he should handle the situation, so he decided to play dumb, remembering what Mistress Katrina had told him about the privacy of the club’s members. “Can I help you, ma’am?”
Drew didn’t miss her smirk. “Nicole Owens. I just transferred to the Fire Marshal’s office. I understand we have a suspected arson.”
“You’re the fire inspector?”
Amusement lit Nicole’s eyes at his question. “Yes.”
“Okay.” Drew was still shaken, but he knew he needed to buck up and do his job. “Baily, Irwin, stay with the truck. Romeo, you’re with me and the inspector.”
They spent the next few hours combing through every inch of the building. The pictures, or what he could see of them through the digital camera Nicole was using, downplayed the damage, in Drew’s opinion. It looked as if the building had been in the process of being remodeled. All the new internal structure was ruined. The building was only safe to be walking around in because of its brick exterior and the quick reaction time of the responding stations.
Nicole followed them down, out of the building, and back onto the sidewalk. “Thank you for going over everything with me. I think it’s safe to say this was arson. I’ll get this turned over to bomb and arson so they can take it from here.”
Romeo smiled, and Drew realized his friend was smitten with the new fire investigator. Too bad he was married and Nicole was currently spoken for. “It was our pleasure, ma’am.”
During their walk through the building, Drew and Nicole had done their best to keep things professional. They spoke when needed, but that was where it ended. It was for that reason the next words out of her mouth stunned him. “I’m starving. What would you guys say to some lunch? I know a little place around the corner.”
Before Drew even had a chance to respond, Baily was answering for all of them. “Sounds great. Lead the way.”
***
Beth had been running around like a mad woman all morning. She hadn’t gotten nearly enough sleep, and Tommy showed up late. Of course, the lack of sleep was entirely her own fault. Beth should have left the club well before midnight. She didn’t want to dwell too much on why she’d stayed until almost one.
It was a little before noon and the Saturday lunch rush was already in full swing. Half the tables in her café were occupied and they had several patrons at the counter waiting on their orders. What she wouldn’t do for a break, or even better a nap, right about now. Too bad that wasn’t likely to happen in the next two hours. Lucky for her it wasn’t a weekday. They were so busy sometimes during the week that she didn’t make it home until almost dinnertime.
She piled the roast beef on a slice of still warm rye bread. Most of Beth and Tommy’s customers were locals. They were lucky. Even on Saturdays they were usually busy. With the revitalization going on in the area, they were hoping to stay that way for many years to come.
The bell above the door jingled announcing another customer, and Beth tried to hurry. Getting behind would only make it worse.
“Hey, B. You have a visitor,” Tommy yelled.
