Arson & Ache (Surrender to Them 8)

“I don’t know man.” I pushed my chair back. “I need to get out of here for a little bit.”

I was frustrated and if I sat behind my desk for another second, I was going to blow a gasket. Donovan had helped me with the case a lot in his spare time, but he wasn’t as invested in it as I was. I felt bad that he had rushed back to help me with the case when it was so close to being solved, and I knew he would have preferred to take a few extra days to spend with his Dad. At least he would be able to do that with Fireball in jail. Chief Vance agreed and promised that he didn’t have a problem with him going back upstate to see his family. Once Donovan’s car was out of sight, I started walking down the sidewalk with my hands stuffed in my jacket pockets. I had no destination in mind, I just wanted to put some miles on the soles of my shoes while I worked off the frustration.

How much devastation could have been spared if Detective Lewis just put in the fucking work from the beginning? Fireball would have never added a casualty to his list of destruction.

I wasn’t disappointed that I got to spend the weekend with Marissa. My frustration and anger were directed towards Detective Lewis. He wouldn’t have told me he was going to arrest Fireball, even if I was sitting behind my desk digging through old case files while it went down. He could have solved the case at any time if he just put in the work. I walked for a while, realized I had been gone for longer than I intended, and called Chief Vance to let him know that I just needed a day to collect myself. He told me that he was feeling the same way and let loose a few profanities about the way the police department handled things. I walked into a bar and sat down. It wasn’t even noon and I needed a drink. I had just finished my first one when the television in front of me flashed with an important announcement. A few seconds later, an empty podium appeared, and the mayor walked up with Detective Lewis flanking him.

Whatever.

I finished my drink and demanded another one as the mayor made his announcement. The press cheered when he started thanking Detective Lewis and the other officers for all of their hard work. There was a brief mention of assistance from the fire department, but he never mentioned anyone by name. He sure as fuck didn’t look at us as assistants when the case was on my desk and the police weren’t helping. He put all the pressure on the fire department, and most of that landed on Chief Vance. I swallowed my anger and chased it with booze. All that really mattered was that Fireball was sitting in a jail cell. His reign of terror was over, and the people of New York could get on with their lives. I had to do the same. Luckily, even in the chaos, I had found something that was more important than the investigation. With it behind me, I could focus on Marissa, and she certainly deserved my undivided attention.

At least one good thing came out of this. She was exactly what I needed when that case was tearing me up—such a beautiful distraction.

Marissa

My body was sore, and my muscles ached when I walked into the office. That wasn’t enough to erase the silly grin on my face. I didn’t just lose my virginity, I spent an entire weekend with my two gorgeous firefighters. They opened my eyes to things I never imagined, and I never wanted to close them again—except that’s exactly what they were begging to do because I was freaking exhausted. I fueled up on coffee as I met my new boss, my co-workers, and sat with one of them to learn the software I would be using. They sat me with a woman named Cathy who had been an Account Manager for several years. I felt overwhelmed as she showed me how everything worked, but I was excited to get started. I was going to make Ms. Stone proud, and finally live up to my potential.

“So, is it true?” Cathy leaned back in her chair and looked over at me.

“Is what true?” I tilted my head to the side.

“What you did to Olivia Adams.” She winked at me and grinned.

“Yeah, I guess so.” I shrugged and nodded.

>

I really only know what Hannah told me people were saying—the rumors might have been embellished a little bit.

“If you’ve got that kind of spirit, you’ll be a great fit down here in the pits.” She chuckled under her breath. “Just don’t lose any money or you’ll be out on your ass.”

“Ever?” I blinked in surprise.

“If the market is down, you can’t really avoid it, but bad investments aren’t met with much forgiveness. You worked for Ms. Stone directly, so you know how she reacts.” Cathy grimaced. “It’s not pretty to be on the wrong side of her wrath.”

“I’ve seen her temper flare.” I nodded in understanding. “I definitely don’t want to have it directed at me—even being a bystander is bad enough.”

“What is everyone freaking out about?” Cathy looked around the office and focused her attention on a co-worker that was staring intently at his monitor. “Nick, what’s going on?”

“They got him.” Nick looked up and smiled. “They caught Fireball!”

“What?” I jumped up from my seat and ran over so I could see his monitor. “When?”

“They’re giving a press conference right now. The police arrested him over the weekend.” Nick pointed at his screen.

But—I was with Kincaid and Donovan all weekend. They weren’t involved? I thought this was their case.

I stared at the screen as the mayor gushed over the police departments work, mentioned that the fire department had helped, and then soaked in the applause like he was the one who did all the work. I was happy that Fireball had been caught, but I thought there would be more discussion about everything Kincaid and Donovan were doing—especially Kincaid. He had been slaving away, working on the case since the beginning. After the announcement, there was a lot of rejoicing on my floor. The worry that had been at the back of my mind started to fade away as I saw the excitement on everyone’s face. We were safe—there was nobody lurking the shadows. I couldn’t help but worry after Mr. Livingston was targeted, but at least the horrible events could fade into history where they belonged.

“Uh oh, back to work everyone.” Cathy hushed the chatter as Ms. Stone stepped off the elevator.

“Am I okay to still sit here? Will she expect me to be working on my account already?” I looked at Cathy with a scared expression on my face.

“You’ll be fine.” She brushed me off and started furiously typing.

Ms. Stone’s visit wasn’t to check up on us, or make sure that we were doing our job. She was coming to make sure we had heard the news. I saw a bit of excitement behind her icy exterior as she talked with everyone on my floor. She even stopped to check on me and make sure I was learning what I needed to know. After she was gone, Cathy let me log into my computer and sat with me while I made sure I understood everything. It was too late to do much with my account, but I had everything ready for the next day. I needed to go home and get some sleep, especially after the weekend, but my thoughts were on Kincaid and Donovan. If Fireball was in jail, then they would surely want to celebrate. I tried to call Kincaid first, but he didn’t answer his phone. I tried Donovan next and had just closed my car door when he picked up.

“Hey! I heard the news!” I pushed my key into the ignition and grinned. “You got him!”