Huntsman - Morgan Brice Page 0,30

there were very few folks from Ithaca he needed or wanted to talk to.

“Hello, Liam?” The voice sounded familiar, but definitely not either Russ or Jeffries.

“Who is this?” Liam tried not to sound defensive and realized he probably failed.

“Uh, this is Drew Lowe, Russ’s brother. I got your number from the auto shop. Russ was called in this morning to spell the night shift at the firehouse, so he wanted me to tell you that he can’t meet you for coffee this morning, but he’ll call to set up a new time as soon as he’s off-duty.”

“Is he okay? I heard the sirens but couldn’t see anything.”

“Yeah,” Drew replied. “He’s part of the clean-up crew to make sure the blaze is out and that there’s nothing dangerous leaking. I shouldn’t say anything else since the details aren’t public. But he made me swear to call you at eight sharp or risk an ass-whupping, so this is me, delivering the message.”

“Thank you.” Liam focused on the fact that Russ was all right. Relief flooded through him, strong enough to blunt the disappointment of the delayed date. “I really appreciate you calling—and that he thought of it, with all that going on.”

Drew gave a short, sharp laugh. “That’s my brother—he takes his commitments very seriously. So when he says he’ll call—he will call.”

4

Russ

“You’re sure it was arson?” Russ asked.

Fire Chief Saunders nodded, soot-streaked and exhausted. “Afraid so. I’ve notified the State Fire Marshal, who might send out an investigator. And I’ve got the police looking into it. I trust Sheriff Armel will get to the bottom of it. He’s got friends in Albany who can expedite the testing if needed.”

“Why would someone pick this place to burn?” Russ looked at the smoldering remains of what had been a modest summer cabin. Plenty of people came up to spend all or part of the season where cooler temperatures and a slower pace offered a chance to recharge. Around Fox Hollow, most of those people were shifters who valued being able to be themselves—their whole selves—somewhere safe.

“Don’t know yet. But, like I said, it’s got all the signs of having been set. What they did was effective—it’s a textbook case, so whoever it was either didn’t know how to be sneaky or didn’t bother.”

The chief moved on while Russ caught up with Ty, Justin, and the others who were hosing down the wreckage and checking to make sure there were no lurking hotspots or surprises buried in the rubble. He took his place on the line, falling into a familiar routine where he and his friends worked in well-practiced synchronicity.

The questions cycled in his mind. Why would anyone want to burn this place? Can’t have been worth much for insurance—and if they didn’t even bother to be sneaky about it, they won’t see any money.

Revenge? It’s a bit out of the way to make a point if someone had a score to settle. A family squabble? Someone didn’t get what they wanted from an inheritance? Russ worked through all the reasons he could come up with, and none of them seemed to fit.

When was the last time we had arson— or any kind of blaze beyond someone lighting a garbage fire that got out of control?

In the ten years he had lived in Fox Hollow, Russ couldn’t think of a single case. He knew all of the town’s police officers and heard most of the scuttlebutt since they shared a building with the fire department. Every town had crime, but most of what happened in Fox Hollow paled by comparison to the bigger cities. Partly because the year-round residents all knew each other, and also because it was difficult to get away with too much surrounded by shifters and psychics, so the town wasn’t a tempting target.

Why here, and why now?

Russ’s wolf didn’t like the possibility of an unknown danger, and his Libra nature demanded answers. He took any threat to his town and his “pack” of friends seriously.

And to our mate, his wolf reminded him.

Russ knew it was pointless to argue with his other half, especially when the wolf was right. As raw and real as his grief had been yesterday at Anthony’s grave, the sheer fury that rose inside him at the thought of any harm to Liam just confirmed that they were truly fated mates.

Then I’d better help the chief get to the bottom of this.

By noon, his crew had finished all they could do at the scene. But they had