Collette’s house now. Kind of like you should stop calling where you live your grandmother’s. Speaking of which, Paloma seemed disappointed I was leaving. I feel bad about that.”
“We’ll have lunch with her on Saturday to make up for it. How does that sound?”
“Normal. I’d love that.”
“Then we’ll make it a date.”
8
When Gemma and Lando finally went to bed that night, they were both bone tired.
“What a day,” she said as she pulled the covers back on the bed. With great care, she crawled between the sheets. But when she realized Lando wasn’t doing the same thing on his side of the bed, her head popped up again. “Why are you not getting ready for bed? What’s wrong?”
“I just got a text from Jimmy. He spotted someone hanging around Ben’s place.”
“And what I’m hearing is that there’s no way Jimmy can handle this on his own, right?”
Lando cocked his head to study her. “As much as I’d like to crawl in beside you, I do have to go check on one of my officers. It’s about backing up your own.”
“Just like backing up family,” Gemma repeated. After snuggling in, her shoulders slumped as she grudgingly kicked off the blanket. “As mayor, I should go with you.”
“Nope. Not necessary. I’m the police chief, and as such, I’m the one who goes out in the middle of the night. If there’s a problem, then I’ll text you.”
“Fine. But I won’t sleep until you get back.”
He skirted the bed to place a kiss on her forehead. “Go to sleep. I’ll try not to wake you when I get back.”
“I won’t be asleep,” Gemma muttered, pouting in a way that made him smile.
“Sure, you will. You’re practically slinking down in the covers now. Look, I gotta go.”
“Text me,” she said, shouting after him as he rushed out of the bedroom.
The dogs took the opportunity to leap on top of the bed to burrow next to Gemma. She took the comfort but reached for the TV remote. If Lando thought she’d fall asleep, she’d show him she could wait up. After spending a few minutes flicking through the channels, Gemma settled on a rerun of Golden Girls. Bored silly with the outdated plotline and old jokes, she was asleep in a matter of minutes.
While Lando droved over to Ben’s house, he knew there were times the job called for late nights and sacrifices. He’d made it a rule a long time ago that he would never ask his officers to do any kind of work or show up for any shift that he himself wouldn’t do.
Tonight was one of those times.
He pulled up to Ben’s address, parking his cruiser in the driveway behind Jimmy’s. He spotted one of his best friends standing outside on the walkway leading to the porch waiting for him. “Whatcha got, Jimbo?”
“At ten-thirty-five—some eight minutes ago—I walked the perimeter and noticed fresh footprints at the side of the house. They weren’t there yesterday. Since we just had that heavy rain, it’s not difficult to see that someone was walking around here within the last hour or so. The impressions are that recent. But as I headed back inside, I caught movement. No doubt someone is out there. You told me not to leave the house unguarded no matter what, so I couldn’t follow. That’s when I called you.”
“You did good. Stay put. Protect the integrity of Ben’s office no matter what. I’ll walk the neighborhood and see if I pick up on anything.” Lando took out his flashlight and headed around the house toward the backyard. But when he reached the corner, he spotted a shadowy figure standing thirty feet away from the patio. Before he could take off after the hooded figure, he heard glass shatter. A whoosh of orange flames shot out from the bedroom window at the back just a few feet in front of him. A series of loud pops and bangs ensued.
Coming from the front of the house, Lando heard Jimmy shout, “The house is on fire!”
Lando’s first thought was to make sure Jimmy didn’t do anything stupid. But when he rushed around to the front, he reached the porch just in time to see Jimmy dash inside to try and put out the blaze himself.
Against his better judgment, Lando darted inside amid black smoke. But it wasn’t as thick as he’d first thought. Charging down the hallway, he found Jimmy in the rear bedroom slapping blankets and bedding down on the floor to smother the