Arson & Ache (Surrender to Them 8)

“I’m thinking about it.” She winked at me and grinned.

The ache wasn’t enough to keep her away from her desires. We ate breakfast, drank enough coffee to get our blood flowing, and then we went back to the bedroom. Donovan pulled away the broken pieces of the bed and left the mattress flat on the floor. It would have to do. Our passion erupted immediately once we were back between the sheets. We chased bliss for the entire day, only pausing to eat, and then we were right back in bed. Our craving was insatiable, and it lasted well into the night. Sunday morning was just as marvelous, with the three of us tangled in embrace after embrace. I wasn’t ready for Monday when it finally came, but I had to get back to work. I had given myself as much of a break as I could spare, and it was the first time I had spent a weekend away from the case since I got it.

“Okay, I need to go. I have to go home and shower, so I can get ready for work.” Marissa pulled back from our embrace. “I start my new job today—I definitely can’t be late.”

“Not yet.” I shook my head. “I need another taste.”

“Me too.” Donovan grinned and put his hands, on Marissa’s hips. “Something that we can think about all day long.”

“Maybe a little taste wouldn’t hurt.” Marissa grinned and bit down on her bottom lip.

It’ll have to be quick, but it’ll be worth it.

I was left craving more when our passion was done, but there was literally no time to push for more. Marissa kissed the two of us and then bolted for the door, muttering about being late under her breath. I showered at Donovan’s house and borrowed some of his clothes. Thankfully, we were almost the same size. I didn’t have time to go back home before our shift. Donovan and I walked into the fire station with minutes to spare before our shift started.

I was usually there before everyone else, so I wasn’t prepared to see so many people buzzing with activity so early in the morning. There was a different air—excitement maybe? Donovan and I exchanged confused looks as we walked towards our desks at the back of the station. I saw something I didn’t expect—Detective Lewis. He had a huge smile on his face, and Chief Vance was standing beside him with a smile that was just as broad.

“We got him.” Detective Lewis nodded with a confident smug. “Fireball is behind bars.”

“What!?” My eyes opened wide. “You have to be kidding me? Why didn’t you call?”

“I wanted to give you the news in person.” Detective Lewis picked up a photograph that was lying next to him.

“Holy fuck.” Donovan blinked in surprise.

“I’d like you to meet Johnny West.” Detective Lewis slammed the picture against the white board behind my desk and slid a magnet over to keep it in place. “Also known as—Fireball.”

“Detective Lewis was just filling me in on this asshole.” Chief Vance turned towards the board. “He set a bunch of fires when he was a kid, but his juvenile record got sealed, so he was never on our list.”

“I had to get a court order to get it opened back up.” Detective Lewis turned towards us and pointed at the picture. “But this is our man.”

“How do you know for sure?” I tilted my head to the side.

“His Dad used to work at Livingston Capital.” Chief Vance nodded. “They fired him because his portfolio started losing money. Guess how Johnny handled it?”

“He started setting fires…” Donovan nodded in understanding. “Wow, so you were able to arrest him without any issues?”

“Yep.” Detective Lewis was so full of confidence he was practically beaming. “Anyway, I need to get back to the station. There’s a press conference later.”

“Do you need us to come with you?” I raised my eyebrows inquisitively.

“Nah, the police can handle this.” Detective Lewis walked over and patted me on the shoulder. “We’re the ones who caught him.”

I wanted to be happy that Fireball was finally behind bars, but there was a bit of turmoil inside of me because I wanted to be the one who solved the case. Detective Lewis was brushing us aside like we weren’t the ones who put in all of the work that narrowed down his list of suspects. We would have never been able to solve the case on our own, but it still didn’t sit well. I walked over to the board and stared at the picture of Johnny West. He just looked like a normal guy. I could have walked by him on the street and never known that he was the one responsible for so much carnage. The city was finally safe—even if we weren’t there to see Fireball get taken down. That should have been enough to make me smile, but it wasn’t. I didn’t like being kept out of the loop. Detective Lewis could have called. I didn’t need the glory, but I didn’t like being cut out when I could have been there to at least see him walk past me in handcuffs.

“I don’t want you two to think that I don’t value everything you put into this investigation. I know it was your case, and Detective Lewis would have never been able to arrest this asshole if you didn’t put in the work.” Chief Vance sighed. “On to the next one though—that’s how it works.”

“Yeah.” I nodded and turned away from the photograph. “We’ve got plenty of cases that need attention.”

“After all of that—it’s over.” Donovan sat down across from me with a perplexed stare on his face. “It doesn’t feel real.”

“We picked one hell of a weekend to take a break.” I exhaled sharply and looked at the stack of files next to me. “I guess I can send all of this stuff to storage.”

“It looks that way.” Donovan nodded and leaned back in his chair. “Okay, what are we working on next?”

“I don’t even know.” I shook my head back and forth. “You should go see your Dad now that Fireball is caught. I can manage for a couple of days.”

“Are you sure? I don’t want Chief Vance to think I’m slacking off when I’m up for a promotion.” Donovan looked up at the photograph of Fireball. “Although he might not even need a new investigator now…”