“Thanks.” Jack waved and turned around in the neighbor’s driveway, then drove out of the neighborhood. He wasn’t wild about going to see her, but there was no way around it. They were as good as partners on this case. Even if Jack had argued about it, he would’ve been shut down.
Fire deaths were worked by both homicide and the fire investigator. He’d probably have to explain to a few people they interviewed that partnering up on this investigation was not only legal, but necessary. In cases like this, a fire investigator’s knowledge was invaluable in asking all the right questions. Jack had already been told by the captain that the victim was the mayor’s uncle. Mayor Griffin had called. He expected everyone to work in whatever capacity was needed. And probably twice as fast.
The more information Jack had, the quicker this case would be solved. Right now, Terra August had information. Regardless of the way she’d intruded on his thoughts all night and day, this was a job. His job. The one thing he could always count on.
Cool air streamed in from his open window, clearing out the cobweb of thoughts he’d been unable to escape all day. He was curious about her; that was all. Of course he’d known Presley’s fire investigator was a woman, but if he’d heard anything about her, he sure didn’t remember it.
Her picture could’ve been plastered on every billboard in town for the past three years running and he wouldn’t have even noticed. His job commanded all his focus. In the first six months after his wife’s death, his world had narrowed to minutes—making coffee, putting gas in his car, mowing the grass. Eventually, he functioned day by day, lead by lead, case by case.
Dating was a distant memory, just like sex. He knew what that said about him, but he didn’t care. His attitude drove his sister crazy, but Jack had found a place where his head—and his heart—weren’t stuck in the past.
He needed to get back on track. Once he interviewed Terra and got caught up on her investigation, he’d be able to go about his business, alone again.
He might admire the way she’d sucked it up at the crime scene, but that didn’t mean he liked this new awareness sizzling in his blood. Still, he’d worked with dozens of women over the years, a few of them very beautiful. There was no reason he couldn’t do it this time.
Jack pulled up in front of Presley’s original fire station, which now housed the fire investigator’s office. The redbrick firehouse, antiqued from years and wind, had held one fire engine and one rescue truck. A weather-scrubbed metal sign hung over the door identifying the old building as the Fire Investigator’s Office. Newer, crisp black lettering repeated the same on the glass front door.
When the city had experienced a population explosion ten years ago, the fire investigator’s office had been moved into the sturdy, but outdated, building. Recent renovations included new electrical wiring and plumbing, but no facelift to the exterior. Now Presley boasted four fire stations complete with engines and trucks.
Prodding himself to get out of his pickup truck, Jack gave himself a mental shake. Regret still flared that he’d made the crack about her reaction to Vaughn’s body. Jack shouldn’t have said what he did to her—he probably had less experience at fire deaths than she did—but she’d looked so out of it. Her peachy velvet skin had gone ash-white, making her green eyes even more vivid and huge.
He rubbed the taut stretch of muscle across his nape. There he went again. Thinking about her when he should be thinking only about what she could bring to this case.
Patting the pocket of his khaki sports jacket to make sure his notebook rested in its usual place, Jack pulled open the creaky glass door. The smell of chemicals and scorched air hit him full on, not overpowering, but strong and steady. The empty desk outfitted with a phone and neatly stacked files caused him to look at his watch. A little after six.
“Hello.” His voice echoed off the flat concrete floor. He let the door shut behind him and moved past a worn oak secretary’s desk.
Separated from the front area by glass walls was a small office. It was crammed with a squat oak desk, files piled ten-deep on its scarred top. Fresh, ruby-red roses spilled from a vase at the desk’s center. The flowers looked frivolous and out of place in the midst of records and a computer. Two wooden armchairs faced one side of the desk and a stuffed leather chair sat on the other. Scratched gray filing cabinets lined the wall adjacent to the desk. Photographs, some framed, of fires and ancient fire engines covered the wall above the files.
Opposite the open door stood a dry-erase board on wheels. He stepped over to study the pictures stuck there in meticulous precision and recognized them as being from Harris Vaughn’s bedroom. “Anyone here?”
When he received no answer, he whistled. Still nothing. He heard a muffled thud and peered down a short, dark hallway to a metal door. Seeing a thread of light beneath it, he made his way there.
A loud pop sounded, causing his pulse to spike. The burn of smoke filled the air. Panic stretched across his chest as he rushed the door and slammed down the metal tension bar. He sprinted inside and stopped dead in his tracks.
Terra August, wearing a turnout coat and hard hat, stood several feet away over the scorched base of a lamp. Jack could also see she had on safety goggles and gloves. Flames raced in a vee pattern up a large section of Sheetrock attached to wood, which was propped against the brick wall. As the fire spread, she made notes. Notes, for crying out loud!
Why would any man want to be involved with a woman in a job like this?
“What the hell are you doing?” he yelled. He couldn’t help it. Just standing this close to flame caused his entire body to pucker, even if he wasn’t about to become barbecue. A wave of heat rolled past him.
Terra jerked around at the sound of his voice. Grabbing an extinguisher from somewhere near her feet, she doused the fire.
Relief seeped through him. He hadn’t been in danger, but he felt better with the fire out.
She set down the extinguisher, scribbled more notes on the yellow pad she held, then turned to him as she pulled off the hard hat. She wore the same ponytail she had at the crime scene. “I was right in the middle of something.”
“I noticed.” He’d forgotten that her gaze was nearly level with his, how long her legs were. “What happened?”
She frowned as she removed her goggles. “Nothing. I was testing my theory about how the fire started at Harris’s.”
“You’ve already figured that out?” The admiration he’d felt earlier slid up a notch.
She shrugged, sliding off the turnout coat and draping it over the back of a chair he only now noticed. A red-hot sweater snugged her full breasts, disappeared beneath the trim waistband of the faded blue jeans that gloved her long, lean legs.
Well. Presley’s fire investigator could start a few fires of her own. His gaze tracked over the curve of her breasts and the sleek flare of her hips. Jack knew now why a man would be drawn to a woman in a dangerous job. Terra August had the kind of shoulda-been-a-stripper curves he’d seen only on the wrong side of a badge. Hell, a man could get whip-lash trying to look twice at her.
At his scrutiny, her chin lifted slightly. Her warning stare snapped him back to the job at hand.
Shake it off, man. He cleared his throat. “You have a theory about how the fire started?”
“Maybe.”
