She watched him walk out, then she closed and locked her door, sighing deeply. She had been ready for sex and her body was humming with anticipation. Flipping off the lights, she walked to her bedroom, knowing that her battery-operated-boyfriend was in for a workout.
Sighing, she thought, but it’ll never be as good as the real thing!
15
“This is a fuckin’ way to end your date night, isn’t it?”
Sean looked at his partner, barely able to hold in his growl. “It was absolutely perfect and was not over when the call came.”
Shaking his head, Jonas mumbled, “Jesus, sorry, man. I’m glad for you, Sean, but sorry as fuck it ended this way.”
The two men had parked outside the empty store where the fire had occurred. The building was in an older section of town where a number of businesses were no longer operating. Standing at the front, if it had not been for the fire trucks with their lights flashing as the firefighters moved around and the front windows now broken out, it would be hard to tell that anything had happened. The building was still standing. The brick front was still red, not blackened.
Glancing at the sign leaning against the side of the building, he read the words Wilson’s Tire and Auto. He shook his head in awe. “With the traces of oil and gasoline that must be inside, it’s amazing the whole building didn’t become engulfed.”
When they approached, the firefighters were finishing, and the Fire Captain was waiting for them. The older man walked to the side, pulled out a handkerchief, and wiped his brow as he slid his helmet off his head.
Nodding to the older man, he greeted, “Chief Evans.”
Shaking his hand, he acknowledged, “Detectives McBride... Miller. We called it in once we determined this was suspicious. I know you’ll be doing your own investigation, but from what we can tell there are multiple places at the back of the building where this got started. It’s weird because this is a brick building, and we got to it before much has burned, although the roof is gone.” Shrugging, looking every bit his age, the fire chief added, “You know where to find me if you have other questions.”
Sean and Jonas walked around the building, seeing the dark, gaping hole in the back. His gaze dropped to the asphalt at the back, now naturally searching for… And there it is. You were here, you fucker. A small pile of gravel sat near the back and he immediately pulled out his phone to take pictures as Jonas jogged back to his vehicle to get a camera. Squatting next to them, he stared. Talk to me. What the fuck do you mean? What possible significance can you have? He willed some recognition to come, but the small pile of rocks remained silent.
Standing, he pursed his lips, now focusing on the building. Snapping on gloves and placing their hardhats on their heads, they stepped carefully inside. There were two firefighters inside the building, still checking for embers. Both looked up and tossed nods of greeting their way as they walked in.
Jonas moved toward the front, chatting with one of the firefighters as they discussed burn patterns along the inner walls. Sean stood in the middle of the charred, blackened building, and remembered something that Harper had said. It’s like each fire represents a death. Whether it’s somebody’s business or their home, it was once a place filled with people. Laughter, and joy, and life. And now, it just seems dead.
The countertops and benches near the front were still intact, but the tools and equipment that would have lined the sides and back were gone. The floor was concrete, another reason the entire building was not engulfed. The darkness made it difficult to be able to discern much, and he and Jonas would need to come back in the light of day.
Sliding his evidence bag off his shoulder, he pulled out a cardboard container of small glass jars. Hoping to make a match or give evidence as to who started the fire, he moved along the back and collected some of the burned material. Stepping outside, he moved to the multiple points of origin, snapping pictures and collecting more evidence. Once the lids were screwed tightly on the jars, he placed them back in the cardboard container and then slid the entire box into his evidence kit.
Still difficult to see with little light, it appeared there were three different places of origin. Yeah,