Page 69 of Heat Advisory

I knew it was likely directed at Trent and not me, as I’d heard through the grapevine that Thompson wasn’t happy with what he’d said to Nicole. Trent had been given a five-day suspension—without pay—for his comments, but some people felt even that punishment had been soft. Thompson included.

“In this case,” Thompson continued, “the direction of the tracks is unusual. The vehicle also didn’t park far away. In fact, it pulled right up to the origin site, meaning they knew exactly where they wanted to start the fire every time and weren’t worried about having enough time to get out.”

I’d wondered about that, too. It was cocky to be that way, thinking you could outrun a wildfire that close. But oftentimes, cockiness led you to making stupid decisions out of either pride or sheer stupidity. Our arsonist likely fit the mold for both of those.

“Anything else you two pick up on?” Thompson asked.

I didn’t know if it meant anything, but I figured at this point, anything could be mentioned.

“The tracks angled in from a service road,” I told him. “A service road that most people likely don’t know exists.”

“Because it isn’t on most maps, which means our arsonist is familiar with this area,” Thompson confirmed. “Good work, Rainer.”

I nodded at his compliment, feeling good about how I was fitting into this new potential role.

“That should be it for today,” Thompson said. “There’s a chance of thunderstorms, and I see some storm clouds off in the distance. I don’t want to get stuck up here once it starts raining. Plus, we all need to get going for the firefighters’ shindig, anyway. Let’s pack up.”

I looked back once more at the twin grooves pressed deeply into the earth. Whoever had done this hadn’t panicked. Hadn’t raced out of here. They’d taken their time. And that was what unsettled me the most.

“Hey, man, what happened to your car?” Blake yelled as I walked back into the station.

Thompson had just dropped us off, and I was going to grab something out of my locker quickly before heading home.

“What do you mean?” I asked, thoroughly confused.

“You’ve got a fuck-load of scratches all over the side of your car,” Blake said, and my eyebrows shot straight up. “Looks like you got into a fight with a grocery cart and lost. Badly.”

“No, man. I had no idea.” I shook my head, wondering how I could have missed those. I grabbed my bag and walked quickly to the parking lot to see what he was talking about.

Sure enough, there were long scratches all along the passenger side of my truck. Three of them, in a perfectly straight line. If I’d driven too close to something and scraped it up, I would have known.

Shit. That wasn’t going to be cheap to fix. I sighed, realizing there was nothing I could do about it at this point, and I needed to get home to get ready for tonight.

Despite the discovery of the damage to my truck, my entire drive home was actually spent thinking about the new evidence in the arson case. Would it be enough to catch this person? Would we catch them before another fire was started?

I sure hoped so. It wasn’t just about the people who were killed, but also the damage that was being done and the resources these fires were eating up.

It was tough to shut my mind off when it came to cases like this. It was why I wanted this job so badly. It combined my love for firefighting, helping people, and also solving a mystery.

Once I was home, though, I tried to clear my mind. The ball was tonight, and I wanted Cora to be front and center for my attention for the entire evening and to not have to worry about work. I knew some work-related conversations would be inevitable since this was a work event, but most of us tried to avoid the heavy-hitting topics.

But this was going to be our big test. While some of my coworkers had already met Cora, the vast majority would be meeting my fiancée for the first time at the ball. I knew Cora was nervous because she didn’t want anything to go wrong that could affect my job or my chances of getting my new role.

For me, though, tonight would be easy. There would be no faking on my end. I knew from the moment I saw her at that event in Vegas several weeks ago that I wanted to ask her out and get that second chance I had been dying for.

I may not have intended to propose to her the way I did, and part of me regretted not making it more special, but I didn’t regret asking her. I knew with every fiber of my being that I wanted her to be my wife—to make a life with her.

In the two weeks since the wedding, Cora had traveled to Vegas, and we had both been busy with our jobs, but we’d made a little time every day to at least talk with each other.

Even if it was only for fifteen minutes in the morning, I would swing by her apartment to say hi and make out with her for a few minutes before she left for work. Just being able to see her face and hear her voice put a smile on my face.

I wanted this inspector job because it was what I wanted to do with my life, but it would also give me a bit more normal hours. More time to spend with Cora was a huge appeal.

I realized I had showered and changed in record time, which meant I had two choices. I could sit on my couch at my apartment until it was time to leave, or I could go over to Cora’s and sit on her couch while she got ready. Both options involved a couch and waiting, but the latter included Cora.

It was a no-brainer.

As I grabbed my tie, I looked around my room, realizing how empty this place was. For months now, it had been a place to sleep and eat, and I’d obviously treated it as such, having barely furnished it.