Jonas called out. “Does Carter want any?”
The two detectives hustled toward the portable lights being carted over. “Thanks,” Carter said, shaking Jonas’ hand in greeting.
The lights were divided between the two townhouse units, and with a nod toward Carter, Sean moved back to the origin of the fire. Not wanting too many footprints around the scene, Sean and Jonas took charge of the lights, carefully setting them on the dirt floor of the crawlspace, angling them around the inside of the unit. Once illuminated, it was much easier for them to see the pattern of the fire along the outer brick wall and the charring of the wood wall between the first and second unit.
“This building was probably built in the mid-1800s,” Sean said. “It was never brought to code, and there’s no brick or firewall between the units.”
“If there had been, the victim might have lived.”
With the extra lighting, they continued to collect evidence and take pictures. Moving to the outside, Sean carefully scanned the area at the base of the end unit with his flashlight. The illumination caught on a small pile of rocks. Bending, he noted they were not in the neat pile that they had found others, but with the footprints all around from the firefighters they could have easily been disturbed. Jonas came out and headed directly to Sean, peering over his shoulder. Snapping more pictures, he then collected the rocks into an evidence bag.
Calling for assistance to remove the lights, Sean collapsed his ladder and they walked back around to the front. The fire department had long since left, the medical examiner had taken the body away, and the police were all that remained. Until the medical examiner could give a definite cause of death, the area would remain a crime scene and would be treated as such, with a constant vigil of police presence.
Carter was still on the site but walked over to say goodbye to Jonas and Sean.
“Good luck,” Carter said. “I know you’re under the gun to get the arsonist.” He tossed his hand up in a wave, stalking back to the townhouse.
Sean glanced toward his SUV, seeing Harper’s head leaned to the side in slumber. Glancing at his watch, he realized that over three hours had passed.
Chuckling, Jonas said, “I can’t believe she’s here. If she’s sticking with you through all of this, she’s got to be pretty special. Most women would be avoiding this like the plague.”
“We were having dinner with my family when the call came in. I should’ve taken her home first.”
“Dinner with your family? How was that going?”
Dropping his gaze to his boots, he admitted, “She didn’t know about it ahead of time. We were going to go to my house for dinner, but as soon as Mom heard that, she wanted us to come over. Turned out, all the McBrides and Mr. and Mrs. King were there to check her out.”
Eyes wide and jaw dropped, Jonas stared. “She didn’t know about it ahead of time? Jesus, Sean, even I know that was a dumb fuck mistake.”
“I thought it was just going to be my parents there. Looking back, it probably wasn’t my best move—”
Jonas barked out a laugh, slapping Sean on the shoulder. “No, your worst move was scaring her so that she fell and broke her arm.”
“Fuck, man. Am I ever gonna live that down?”
The two partners chuckled and then Jonas added, “I’m glad you’ve got someone like her, Sean. You deserve that.”
They reached Jonas’ vehicle first, and Jonas put the evidence kits in his back seat. “I’ll drop everything off at the lab. Tomorrow’s Sunday so there’s nothing we can do unless we get called in. I’ll see you Monday morning.”
Nodding his agreement, Sean stalked over to his SUV and lifted the back door as quietly as he could. Placing the collapsible ladder in the back, he shut it but could immediately see that Harper stirred. Hustling to the driver's side, he climbed in as she straightened, blinked sleepily, and looked around for a few seconds as though uncertain where she was. As soon as her gaze landed on him, she smiled, and he felt the ache in his chest ease.
“Do you want to go home, sweetheart?” She nodded, and he hated the evening had been ruined.
“I’ve wanted to see your home since this afternoon.” She tried unsuccessfully to stifle a yawn.
She straightened her back, stretching, an action that thrust her breasts forward, and he could not help but notice. Eyebrows lifted, he