Arson & Ache (Surrender to Them 8)

“I understand.” The disappointment was obvious, but we didn’t really have a choice.

Fireball had stepped up his maliciousness, just like we predicted. His latest target was a mansion in one of the upscale neighborhoods. It wasn’t even in our jurisdiction, but since we were working the case, our station got the call for assistance. I saw the glow as we approached, and I knew that it was already out of control. I just prayed that nobody was hurt, and someone called in the fire before it got too bad. The neighborhood was home to several Wall Street types, but most of the residents were retired. It was the kind of place we used to joke about living in one day if we ever hit the lottery. We turned down a long driveway and I saw that the mansion was completely engulfed in flames. There were police cars, ambulances, and fire trucks all along the perimeter, so I parked a ways out and we started walking up the driveway. I already feared the worst and the house was already a total loss. The best anyone could do at that point was extinguish the flames and call the insurance company.

“What’s the situation?” I walked up to Mike, one of the firefighters we worked with, as soon as we arrived at the scene.

“We have a casualty.” He exhaled sharply and took off his helmet. “This is Alfred Livingston’s house.”

“He’s the casualty?” I blinked in surprise.

“No, he’s fine, but one of his workers wasn’t so lucky.” Mike tossed his helmet in the dirt.

“Fuck!” I turned around and looked for something to punch, but I just had to settle for balling my fists as tightly as possible.

I bet the police department will give a shit now—now that it’s too fucking late to save a life.

“You know who Alfred Livingston is, right?” Donovan put his hands on his hips and stared at the blaze.

“One of the richest guys in New York. Who doesn’t know him?” I exhaled sharply as I tried to control my anger.

“Yeah, also—Livingston Capital? Where Marissa works.” Donovan sighed. “He owns the company.”

“Right.” I nodded as I made the connection. “I guess he won’t make it to work tomorrow. Too bad his worker won’t have that luxury.”

“I don’t think he spends much time at the office. Veronica Stone runs everything, but this is where the money goes—or went, I guess.” Donovan started walking towards the fire, but suddenly there was a roaring explosion that came from the other side of the neighborhood. “What the fuck was that!?”

“It’s another fire!” I pointed and looked at Donovan. “Come on, we gotta suit up.”

Thankfully, the fire department always kept some extra gear on the trucks. The house we were at was gone, so I grabbed the guys from our station and we headed across the neighborhood to the source of the second fire. It wasn’t just arson—there was some sort of bomb. I felt the ground tremble when it went off and the house went up in flames immediately. I knew that we were going to be too late before we even got to the house. All we could do was aim our hoses and pray that there wasn’t anyone inside. Donovan checked the perimeter while I radioed for some assistance. They were going to have to send all the trucks they could spare because it was going to take a lot of water to get both of those fires out. About an hour after we started working on the second fire, a police car pulled up and Detective Lewis stepped out.

“Holy mother of God.” Detective Lewis walked up and stared with a stunned expression

on his face.

“Oh, now you’ve decided to show up?” I looked at him with disgust. “I guess you’ll get your wish. There’s a casualty so the FBI will probably come storming in in no time.”

“Just one?” He blinked in surprise.

“We don’t know yet.” Donovan walked over to where we were standing. “There was an explosion here and it wasn’t safe to go inside. The other one was a little more Fireball’s style—just a bunch of accelerants and a match.”

It took a lot of self-control not to just tear into Detective Lewis. If he had been helping me from the beginning like he was supposed to be, the tragedy could have been prevented. I was working with limited resources and he was supposed to be coordinating efforts so that I had access to forensic equipment and other things we didn’t have at the fire station. He had dropped the ball big time, and I didn’t give a fuck about his other cases. I had other cases too. I still made time for the one that truly mattered. Maybe it would be best if the FBI came in. Even with Donovan helping me, I wasn’t making progress. It didn’t look like the fires we were currently fighting were going to offer anything new. They would just add more paper to the stack of clues that we couldn’t decipher.

“The other fire departments are starting to show up. We’re not going to be able to do anything until the fire is out.” Donovan took off his helmet. “Should we try to get some rest? I assume we’ll be working late tomorrow.”

“Yeah, that’s probably a good idea.” I sighed and looked over at Detective Lewis, who had walked closer to the fire. “I’d rather not be here when his bosses show up looking for asses to chew—he deserves to get the brunt of it.”

Tomorrow is going to be a long fucking day.

Marissa

I was pretty sure that starting a fire and then leaving before it was out was not in the job description for Kincaid and Donovan, but that’s exactly what they did. The left a fire burning in my panties to go put one out. I wasn’t upset, because I knew that was their job, but I couldn’t help but be disappointed that our date was cut short. It was supposed to be a celebration. Instead, the serial arsonist decided to ruin it. After they were gone, I went back to my apartment and called my Dad. He was just as excited as my Mom and told me how proud he was of my accomplishment. I didn’t get off the phone without promising to come visit as soon as I could so we could go out to dinner as a family. I was definitely going home for Christmas, but I figured I could squeeze in at least one visit before then.

That reminds me, I still need to get my brother something for Christmas. I guess I’ll be able to afford something better next year.

My mind was still reeling from the kisses I shared with Kincaid and Donovan. It was like my fantasy brought to life, yet it was not imaginary. Kincaid kissed me with so much force and passion that he might have bruised my lip, but damn if it wasn’t the hottest thing that had ever happened to me—right before Donovan crushed my still-numb lips and made my head spin. I was pretty sure that I wouldn’t have been a virgin by the end of the date if we hadn’t been interrupted. I had never felt desire like that, and it was enough to make me question every ounce of morality I thought I had. I was seconds from agreeing to crawl into bed with both of them. I fantasized about it. Why couldn’t it become reality? Maybe dating was overrated. I might ruin any chance of building a relationship with them, but one night of mind-blowing passion could be worth it.

How many girls can say they lost their virginity to two gorgeous firefighters? It would be one hell of a way to get my cherry popped.

I was coming into my own at Livingston Capital and it seemed that I might finally get to embrace my sexuality too. What would I do when I was managing an account that made me rich enough to buy the apartment building I was currently staying in? Would that change me? I already had more confidence in myself. I danced with two guys at the same time—kissed two guys—wanted them to take me to bed. Feeling successful and desired at the same time was such a new feeling, but I liked it. I might even want to sit in Ms. Stone’s seat one day—although I would be a lot nicer to the people around me. Maybe that wasn’t reality either. Maybe the success would make me an ice queen too. I definitely needed to take advantage of the opportunity to heat things up if that was the case. Once I started my new job, I would be extremely busy. I might not even have time for one guy—much less two.