After I’ve filled my cup, I take a sip of the bitter brew, and make a face before tossing it out. Seems that I’ll have to use willpower to stay awake for the rest of the night.
Once I’m back in my office, I sit down and take the Polaroids that I requested, jog them into place, then set them down and begin to go through each one with a fine-tooth comb.
There has to be a hint in these somewhere.
Something has got to fucking give eventually.
Although, until I can find that one thing I know exists but isn’t really visible to anyone, I know I’ll be able to give the information to Dom to make an arrest.
While I do my hardest to figure out the pieces of the puzzle, I’ll have to do what I do best and stomp the fires out almost as soon as they start.
I place the pictures in a neat stack to the side of my keyboard, stifle a yawn, and keep typing up my report. A few more hours and I’ll be able to go home and forget about this fire.
Until the next one—because there’s always a next one.
Chapter 4
I’m standing in front of my television, tossing an apple back and forth between my hands, and rocking from side to side. The news is boring for the most part, but I need to see if there’s anything about the symphony I conducted last night.
I wonder if I’ll see her face on the news this time, I muse as the edges of my mouth begin to curve up into a smile.
I’ve never found anyone more beautiful in this world to behold than Makena Washington.
I haven’t felt the simple euphoria of her touch in so long. I haven’t been given the opportunity to inhale the majestic scent of her warm, brown sugar colored skin for over a decade and a half. I’ve been deprived of the absolute pleasure of running my hands over her black, curly hair for longer than I care to recall.
I may not be a good man, but good men never get what they want, and I want—no, I need Makena.
She’s the only one that’s ever been able to quell this monster inside of me, though I doubt she knows it. I’ve done a good job of keeping it bottled up for as long as I could, but when I first saw her picture in the newspaper and the announcement of her being the new fire chief, it nudged the beast that I thought was long since dead.
“Come on, come on,” I mumble impatiently. As the news cuts to a commercial break, I let out a loud sigh and walk toward my couch and sit down in a huff.
The waiting is always the hardest part.
The wondering if we’ll have our small segment for the county to watch, to know that I’m still out there, is what helps me get by from time to time.
I take a bite of my apple, using the palm of my free hand to wipe away the juice that begins to run down my chin.
If all goes according to plan, the taste of Makena will be the next thing I’ll be wiping away from my mouth but until then I have to bide my time and be patient.
I have to watch for the perfect targets, start the brightest of fires, and hope that she’ll see what I’ve left for her at each tomb of ashes.
Orange.
Yellow.
Red.
The simplest of colors that hold so much meaning.
Chapter 5
Ugh.
I wake up with a sore body, still feeling tired. Glancing at the clock, I see that it’s half past noon and feel slightly guilty about sleeping for so long.
I got home at five in the morning and didn’t even bother changing out of my clothes. I walked straight to my room and dropped down onto my bed, face first, falling asleep almost immediately.
Lucky for me, it’s my first day off in weeks.
Not that it’s how the department is run, but with the sudden uptick in arson in the past few weeks, I’ve had to work longer hours than normal. Granted, I could have easily passed this off to D since he’s the Deputy Fire Chief, but I’d rather not get him into more hot water with his wife.
I turn my body toward the window, close my eyes and smile tiredly as a breeze begins to drift into the room. Oxnard is a beautiful city to live in, and since I’ve always had a love for the ocean, I decided this would be the place to plant my roots when I moved out of my parents’ home.
Unlike my frenzied firebug that I can’t quite seem to catch, I think with a sigh as the smile leaves my face.
I don’t want to think about him today but because I have no idea what he’ll burn down next, he always sits in the back of my mind.
Taunting me—tempting me to catch him, yet always being one step ahead.
I think he likes this game he’s roped me into and doesn’t really care about what consequences will fall onto his shoulders when we catch him.
If we catch him.
I’ll do my best not to think of my nuisance today since I want to enjoy my day off. I’ll get up, make some coffee, sit on my deck outside, and watch the seagulls flying high above the ocean while I sip away and wonder where in the world I’d like to visit next.
Traveling is something that I’m quite fond of, but only reserve as a reward for myself after I’ve figured out a particularly difficult case, and this one is going to be like hitting the lottery.
I head into the bathroom, lift the toilet seat and sit down with my panties just below my knees. Closing my eyes, I rest my elbows against my thighs and drop my face into the palm of my hand.
With as much as I
