“It seems that way, doesn’t it? So many different accelerants, each with different flashpoints.” She raked her fingers through her hair in frustration. “You’ve pulled in every arsonist you’ve got in your files and you said none of them even had a tiny bit of knowledge about it. Are you sure about that? Not even one of them made you suspicious of them?”
“I wish.”
“We’ve talked to all the owners, or at least their representatives. That got us no place fast.” She frowned at him. “Although, didn’t they all seem a little too practiced to you? Too rehearsed?”
“Sort of. Not enough to trip any warning signals, though.” He sighed. “Different corporations for each one, different corporate reps handling things.” He glanced over at her. “Maybe we’re just looking for shadows where there aren’t any. Maybe we’ve just got a new firebug in our city who’s thing is burning down apartment buildings.”
“If only.” She was silent for a moment, letting the day’s results process in her brain. “Dan, there’s something here that doesn’t pass the smell test, and I’m not talking about the debris at the burn sites. I gave the lab all the new samples we collected the other day and asked them to do another full analysis. I took more pictures with my cell, too.”
“You went back there without me?” He gave her a disapproving look. “We’re partners, Randi. We do things together.”
“You were busy and I wanted to get this done. No biggie.”
“What if the arsonist saw you and decided you were too big a risk to him? That you were getting too nosy? That he needed to do something about you?”
“Aren’t you being a little melodramatic?” she asked. “All anyone would see is me doing my job.”
“Maybe a little too thoroughly,” he pointed out.
She flapped a hand at him. “I was very careful and paid attention to my surroundings, Anyway, I haven’t had a chance to download those pictures yet. Tonight when I get home I’m going to print them out on my laptop and set up a new diagram board.”
“Don’t you think you ought it give it a rest tonight? You’ve had a hard day after a hard week. Give yourself a break. We could turn out to get really lucky here and it’s all a big coincidence.”
“I don’t believe in coincidence much. We’ll see.”
“Truth to tell, I’m about ready to leave it an open file for the moment. We don’t have a trace of the arsonist and the chemicals are a mishmash. We’ll never get whoever this is.”
“Yes, we will.” She folded her arms and jutted her chin. “I never give yup.”
“You may have to this time. We’ll see. But we’ve been over this stuff so often I can see it in my sleep.”
“That’s when you know it’s time to take a step back.” Dan pulled into the curb and turned off the engine. “Sure you’re up for a party?”
“I really ought to just go home and tuck myself into bed with a glass of wine and a good book.” Randi climbed out of Dan’s car and blew out a breath. “I’m exhausted and I think I smell like every kind of accelerant made.”
Dan laughed and took her elbow, steering her across the sidewalk to the door of Jeff Nagle’s townhouse.
“Wouldn’t you feel a lot better if you jumped into bed with a hot hunk?” he teased.
“Are you applying for the job?” she joked back.
“I would if I thought I had a chance of being accepted.” He stopped on the sidewalk and turned her to face him, the look he had totally serious. “I think we’d be good together, Randi. I have plans for the future and I’d love it if they could include you.”
She sighed and fond a smile somewhere inside. “We’ve been over this before, Dan. We make a great professional team. I’d hate to ruin that with meaningless sex.”
His laughed was slightly tinged with sarcasm. “I’d like to think sex with me is never meaningless.”
She jabbed him in the ribs. “You now what I mean. We’re good friends and partners, Dan. I’d drive you crazy if we got together personally.” She wrinkled her forehead. “What plans?”
“Excuse me?”
“You said you have big plans.”
He shrugged. “You know. The usual. Marriage. Two point five kids.” He grinned. “Typical ten thousand square foot house.”
“Now I know you’re kidding. Come on. Let’s go inside.”
They walked up the two steps to the little stoop and she rang the bell. The door opened and she came face to face with Noah. It was hard to say which of them was more stunned.
Of course. The perfect end to the perfect day.
She wasn’t aware they were just standing there, staring at each other, until Dan nudged her forward.
“Think it’s okay for us to go in?” he joked. “Or you can just let me by and go back to gawking at each other. Or ogling. Or whatever the hell you two were doing.”
The edge in Dan’s voice pierced Randi’s consciousness and she took a step forward. Noah moved back just enough for Dan to get by her, then closed the door but didn’t move away.
“Jeff didn’t mention you’d be here,” he said in a raspy voice.
“He didn’t tell me about you, either.”
“Fool me once, shame on me.” She was only partially joking. “Fool me twice, shame on me.”
She should move, but her feet seemed glued to the floor and her gaze locked with Noah’s.
“I’m not fooling, Randi. Not a bit.”
She had no idea how long they would have stood there like that except Dan returned carrying two bottles of beer. He nudged her and held one out to her.
“Jeff said it’s okay for you to come in and play with the rest of the kids,” he joked.
