the trunk, rather than putting stuff in, and shut the lid.
The stranger headed around the side of the small attached store, and what he carried looked awfully like a gas can. Brian’s breath lurched, but he still tagged along behind as Nick glided across the pavement after the stranger, gun ready in his hand.
There was a soft whomp. Then a flicker of light.
Nick sped up, rounding the corner of the store out of sight. Brian hurried past the gas pumps till he could see the fire. Flames licked skyward from inside a dumpster. In front of the pulsing glow, a short, pale-faced man in dark clothes stood, knees bent, as if trying to decide whether to run or jump Nick.
Nick yelled, “Freeze! Hands up! Now, motherfucker!” He stood between the man and Brian, gun aimed at the stranger. “Don’t move. Hands where I can see them. Now!”
There was a snap and thud from the dumpster and sparks burst skyward. The stranger flinched and whirled to run. Before the guy could take a second step, Nick ran forward and leaped on him, wrapping his free arm around him and driving them both to the ground. The man slumped for a moment, shaking his head. Nick wrenched his arm up behind him and aimed the gun at his head. “Freeze!”
“The fire!”
Nick’s laugh was wild. “Getting hot for you? Too scary? Don’t move.”
“But—”
“Brian!” Nick raised his voice. “Call nine-one-one.”
With a sense of déjà vu, Brian hit the red icon. “Shouldn’t you get farther away from the dumpster?”
Another crackling thump punctuated his question.
“Yeah.” Nick bent closer to the man he had pinned. “We’re getting up slowly. No sudden moves. Try to run and I’ll take you out.” Nick eased off the guy’s arm and tugged him up.
The operator answered Brian’s call. “Nine-one-one. What’s your emergency?”
“There’s a fire. There’s a guy. At Isaac’s Gas-Food.” He tried to pull words together as he backed off to give Nick space.
“Move to the wall, motherfucker. Hands on your head.” Nick kicked the guy’s ankle. The fire guy scrambled back from the blaze and staggered, moaning about his knees but with his hands raised. Nick steered him across the pavement and made him turn and brace on the cinderblock wall of the store, arms out, legs spread wide. The man slumped, his forehead to the bricks, as Nick patted him down.
“Are you in danger?” The operator’s voice jolted Brian.
“Oh! No, I’m fine. We’re fine. It’s in the dumpster.” —Barely twenty feet away, licking up out of the metal bin. Brian held the phone away from his face. “Shouldn’t we get an extinguisher?” he asked Nick. He glanced around. A gas station had to have a ton of them, right? Where’s the stupid extinguisher?
“I think it’s okay. It’s contained in there, should burn out.” Brian saw Nick glance over at the flames a couple of times as he squatted, checking fire-guy’s legs and ankles. The flickering light made Nick’s expression look more worried than he sounded. “I think this fucker planned a bit of fun, not major arson.”
The emergency operator confirmed that police and fire were on the way. “Is anyone hurt, sir?”
“No,” Brian said. Thank God.
“I need your name and address.”
“Brian. Um. Carlson.” It took a minute to remember his address. At this rate, every time I smell a fire, I’m going to start reciting it. He thought he got it right.
“Please stay on the line until emergency services arrive.”
“Okay.” He moved closer to Nick. A shiver passed through him. It’s actually kind of cold out. The flames were already dying down. We were on our way home to bed. This didn’t feel quite real. “Hey, Nick. Cops are coming.”
Nick said, “Good job. Stay well clear of this douchebag.”
The stranger twisted to look over his shoulder. “Who the fuck are you?”
Nick planted a hand between his shoulder blades and mashed him tighter against the stucco. “Minneapolis PD. Shut up.”
“Minneapolis. From fucking Minneapolis?”
“Retired,” Nick added. “Don’t move, don’t talk, let’s wait for the nice sheriff to arrive.”
“You don’t wanna do this,” the guy said.
“And you’re talking again.” Nick shoved him. “Did I say how much I hate firebugs? Like, hate?”
“Look, it wasn’t me. I saw some guy run back here. I followed him.”
Nick raised his voice without looking at Brian. “Hey, you want to video this?”
Brian clicked off the 911 person, and hit the camera icon. “Okay.”
“You’ll be sorry.” The guy didn’t seem to realize he was the one with his face mashed to a wall. “You guys are in