“You put me in jail to keep me safe?”
“Trust me, it made sense to me. Look, I know this has been hard on you.”
“Yes,” she agreed blandly. “It’s been hard on me having my brother blamed for something he didn’t do. It’s been hard on me knowing that all his friends, his coworkers,
“You don’t understand.”
“Then help me to.”
He opened his mouth, and then shut it. “I can’t.”
“Would you like to know what the hardest thing of all is?” she whispered, her throat tight with a sudden need to cry. “I know he’s innocent and I know that you believe it, too.”
“Kenzie-”
“You can’t talk about it, I get it. But I think I saw Blake alive. Can you talk about that?”
He stared at her.
“I think I saw him at the docks, in the parking lot.”
Tommy sank to his chair. “What were you doing at the docks?”
“Blake.
His eyes filled with sympathy. “Kenzie-”
“No.” She let out a low laugh. “Listen to me.
“What kind of clues?”
“I don’t know, that the key is in the demos, which I don’t get. And that blood is thicker than water. I don’t get that either, honestly.”
Tommy went pale. He came to her, taking her arm and leading her to the door. “I need you to listen to me, okay? Listen very carefully. Go back to Los Angeles. I’ll call you-”
“No.” She pulled free. “I’m not leaving.”
“Yes, you are. If I have to have you arrested again-”
“On what charges?”
“I’ll find something.”
She looked into his face, where his emotions were clear. “Okay, you’re scared for me. I get that. I’ll stay back, I’ll stay clear.”
She took a long look at him. “What did I say? Was it the blood is thicker than water thing?”
“Promise me.”
“I promise,” she said very quietly. “Now you promise me this. You’ll come to me as soon as you can with answers.”
“Deal.”
DURING THE SUMMER MONTHS, Santa Rey swelled to upwards of three times its normal population, which was reflected in the increased volume of calls the fire station received. In the past twenty-four hours alone, Aidan had fought a restaurant fire, a storefront fire, a car fire and two house fires, each caused by human stupidity. Then, it happened.
Another explosion.
It thankfully occurred in an empty warehouse this time. No one was injured, except Cristina, who fell off a ladder and hurt her ankle.
Dustin wanted to take her to the E.R. for an X-ray, but in typical Cristina fashion, she wanted to tough it out.
Aidan left them alone to their silent battle of wills, and let himself inside the burned shell of a warehouse.
Tommy was there, with his bag of equipment, his camera out. When he saw Aidan, he jaw ticked. “I’ve got it from here.”
Aidan’s eyes went to the wall in front of Tommy, where the burn marks on the wall indicated a hot flash, and most likely, the point of origin. “I never did get onto
Tommy clearly fought with himself, and then finally sighed. “Look, I’m not going to insult your intelligence the way I insulted Zach’s, okay? That was a mistake, shutting him out, because it only made him all the more determined to prove he was right-”
“He
“Yeah, but I was on it. I told him that, but he didn’t listen, and then he dug harder and got himself targeted by the arsonist.”
“The arsonist? I thought you were so sure it was Blake.”
“I’m not going to insult your intelligence,” he repeated tightly, “by letting you think what we want the general public to think. So know this. I’m going to nail this guy. So when I say back off,
Aidan stared at him. “You know there’s someone else.”
“I’m close.”
“You’ve always known.”
Tommy acknowledged this with a slight nod. “So now all you have to do is stay out of my way. And keep Kenzie out of the way as well. No one else dies.”
“Blake’s innocent.”
“That’s one theory.”
“Is it the right theory?”
“Jesus, Aidan.” Tommy scrubbed a hand over his face. “Are you just playing with that girl?”
“No. And how is this any of your business, anyway? A few days ago you were arresting her.”
“Just don’t hurt her. You hear me? Don’t even think about it.”
Aidan let out a low, mirthless laugh. “Trust me, if someone’s getting hurt, it’s going to be me.”
THE MINUTE AIDAN GOT OFF WORK, he went straight home, hoping Kenzie would be there waiting for him. It was with great relief that he pulled in next to her car. Letting himself in, he called out her name.
No response. Dropping his keys on the small desk in the living room, he moved through the house and heard the shower running. Things were looking up if he had a naked, wet, hot woman in his shower. And at that realization, all the myriad things he’d wanted to say to her flew out the window, replaced by memories of how she looked standing under a stream of water.
She hadn’t left…
Weak with relief, he knocked on the bathroom door. “Kenz?”
When she still didn’t respond, he cracked open the door and found her sitting in his shower, face to her knees, arms wrapped around herself.
“Kenzie?”
“I’m fine.”
She lifted her head when he opened the shower door but didn’t say a word as he stepped into it with her.
“You’re dressed,” she finally said, inanely.
Yeah, which sucked. “Tell me what’s wrong.”
“You’re not going to like it.”
He already didn’t like it, or the clothes now sticking to him like a second skin. “Try me.”
“I saw Blake.”
He blinked away the water in his eyes. “You…saw Blake.” He crouched before her. “In a dream?”
“No.”
“You saw Blake,” he repeated, trying to understand, and failing. “Not in a dream. What does that mean?”
“It means he’s alive.”
