bedroom, because he knew the coroner and the fire investigation team wouldn’t want that space disturbed.
He made his way into the smaller bedroom. Nothing in there, and he breathed a little easier.
They finished their walk-through, then Rafe notified Jackson.
“Noted,” was all Jackson said. “Is it clear up there?”
“Yeah.”
“Coroner and fire investigation team are on their way up to you.”
Rafe waited for them. He led them to the bedroom where the body was located, then waited to make sure no new fires broke out while they did their jobs, listening in as the coroner indicated it was a smaller adult body and likely female.
Damn.
She’d been all alone in here with no one to help her.
They should have gotten here in time to save her.
Once the body was bagged and removed, Rafe and his team walked down with them.
All three stations were waiting as the coroner’s crew wheeled the body outside. Rafe and his team walked behind them. It was somber and quiet as they watched them load the body into the coroner’s van.
“You okay?” Jackson asked. Kal was next to him.
“I’m fine.”
Jackson nodded, knowing he didn’t want to talk about it. Not right now.
“Let’s pick up and get out of here.”
They learned from a few of the people who lived on the same floor that the woman lived alone, worked the late shift at a restaurant and slept in most mornings. That’s all they knew at the moment since the investigation team would have to determine the cause of the fire.
It took another couple of hours to clean up and roll hoses, put all their equipment back in the truck and coordinate with the other stations and do a final walk-through of the entire apartment complex to make sure nothing else was going to spark up again.
When they finally made it back to the station, Jackson asked Rafe to write up a report about the scene in the apartment so he could add it to his own. After he showered and scrubbed down the grit from the fire, writing the report took Rafe several hours. He didn’t want to leave out any details, because he knew this one had been big, and he wanted to make sure he got it all in there. He only stopped to eat dinner, then went back to work. He read through it several times, then asked Ginger, Tommy and Mitchell to read it over to make sure he hadn’t missed anything.
They all called it good, but he wanted to go over it again. He remembered a few fine details, so he added those in and then turned the report in to Jackson.
They ended up getting another call. Fortunately, it was a minor car accident with no injuries, so they weren’t on scene long.
By the time they got back, Rafe figured he’d crash in his bunk, but he couldn’t sleep, couldn’t handle the darkness. Every time he closed his eyes, all he could see was the charred remains of that apartment and that body in the bed.
Had she cried out, or died of smoke inhalation, unaware of the fire breaking out around her?
Too many damn questions.
He got up and went into the main room. It was empty, so he grabbed a bag of chips and a water and turned the TV on. He found the sports channel, though he wasn’t really tuned in to the scores or what the commentators were reporting on. It was just talking. Noise. Exactly what he needed right now. Something, anything, to drown out the visuals in his head.
Jackson slid onto the sofa cushion next to him.
“Can’t sleep?”
“No.”
Jackson looked at the TV for a few minutes, then over at Rafe.
“Wanna talk about it?” he asked.
“Not really.” Rafe continued to stare at the TV.
“It might help.”
“Probably. But not tonight. It’s too raw for me right now, Lieutenant.”
Jackson nodded. “Maybe tomorrow, when I’m your brother again and not your lieutenant.”
“Maybe.”
“Okay.” Jackson stood and left the room.
Rafe continued to stare at the TV, not really sure what he was even watching.
He didn’t care, either. As long as he had noise, he’d be good. Sleep would come later.
Much later.
CHAPTER 25
CARMEN CHEWED ON A RAGGED FINGERNAIL AND STARED out her kitchen window. Though she had no idea what she was even staring at. It wasn’t like staring at the side of Rafe’s house was going to provide any answers to all her questions.
She hadn’t seen Rafe for three days. Three long days. And she didn’t understand why.
After his last shift she’d called and asked him over