Blake Clayton spoke to the woman. Ms. Draper? This is Deputy Cooper, one of the Sheriffs Department investigators. Deputy Cooper, this is Melissa Draper, the homeowner.
Memories clicked into place. Melissa Draper. From his high school graduating class. Geeky, shy, total brainiac. No wonder he hadnt remembered her at first. Hed have barely remembered her back in high school.
Not that he was particularly proud of that fact.
Aaron held out his hand for a shake, then dropped it as he realized Melissas arms were wrapped around a shivering puppy. The dog looked up at him with scared brown eyes and let out a soft moan somewhere between a whimper and a howl.
Deputy Cooper and I have met, Melissa said to Blake, though her gaze remained locked with Aarons. He felt an odd flutter in the center of his chest. I thought youd be off playing pro football somewhere.
He felt an old, bitter twinge of regret. Blew out my knee first week of training camp, so I had to find another career.
She looked genuinely sympathetic. He wouldnt have blamed her for indulging in a little pleasure at his downfall instead. High school social politics had been brutal, and people like Melissa Draper had always ended up outside the in-crowd.
What about you? Whatre you doing these days? he asked.
Im a lawyer. She didnt bother to hide the touch of pride in her voice.
Figured. Shed been voted most likely to succeed, hadnt she? Something like that.
The puppy whined again, drawing Aarons attention back to the present. The poor thing was shivering. Melissa didnt look much warmer herself. Time to get his mind back on the job and get the two of them someplace warm and safe.
He addressed the two firemen whod continued examining the charred generator while hed been talking to Melissa. Any verdict yet, guys?
Perry Davis, the younger of the two and an old high school teammate, glanced at Aaron. Still looking.
How much longer before I can have my house back? Melissa asked quietly. She was stroking the puppys head soothingly, shushing his occasional whimpers, and looked ready to pass out from stress and exhaustion.
The damage is limited to your kitchen, but the power companys gonna have to reroute your power supply. You dont have a generator anymore, and even if you did, it would still require pretty massive rewiring before youd get any juice to your house. Perry Davis gave her an apologetic look. I figure itll be at least a week. Depends on how quickly the power company can get technicians on the scene and whether your insurance company will want a further investigation first.
Melissa looked ready to crumple into a heap right at Aarons feet. He reached out, cupping her elbow. She gave a start, pulling away to look at him with wary eyes.
He dropped his hand away, guilty about giving her a fright. Her nerves were probably stretched to the snapping point at the moment. You can probably call your insurance agent as early as seven, he murmured, gesturing for her to follow him away from the damage site. Meanwhile, lets get you and Scooter here somewhere warm.
Her lips twitched at his words. His name is Jasper, she corrected softly. And somewhere warm sounds wonderful.
Ill drive you to your folks place. Theyre still out on Hickory Bluff Road, right?
No, she said quickly, darting him a look of dismay that caught him by surprise. I mean, yes, they still live on Hickory Bluff Road, but I dont want to go there. I can find a hotel near my office
Hotels wont take Jasper. A sudden image flashed through his mind, catching him off guarda picture of himself taking Melissa home to his own house, filling her full of hot chocolate and tucking her and her whiny puppy beneath the warm covers of his bed. Ruthlessly, he pushed the surprising image aside.
Ill find somewhere to stay, she insisted, although he could see the wheels of her mind churning desperately for a solution to her problem.
You could stay at my folks place. They have a guest cottage they keep up for situations just like this.
She arched a dark eyebrow at him. They take in a lot of house fire refugees?
Okay, maybe not situations exactly like this.
Theres still the problem of Jasper, she said.
Is he house-trained?
Yes, but
Not a problem. He glanced at his watch. It was after five oclock now. His parents were early risers. Ill give Mom a call, set it up. He turned to Blake, who was looking at him with a puzzled expression. What?
Nothing, Blake said, but the puzzled look didnt go away.
Perry, is Ms. Draper okay to go upstairs and pack a bag for herself?
Perry looked away from his examination of the ground around the ruined generator. Oh, yeah. The damage inside was limited to the kitchen, and the structural supports look like they avoided any major damage.
Aaron put his hand on Melissas shoulder. She flinched again, and he dropped his hand away. Sorry.
You just startled me. She didnt meet his eyes.
Why dont you go pack a couple of bagsanything youll need for the next week or twothen Ill drive you to the lake.
I really dont want to put your mother to any trouble
My mother lives for this kind of thing, he said firmly.
Melissa looked at him through narrowed eyes, as if gauging whether or not he was telling the truth. Finally she relaxed, giving a short nod as she tucked the puppy under her arm and headed around the house to the front entrance.
What the hell was that? Blake asked as soon as she was out of earshot.
What?
Since when do you take women home to your mother?
Shes just an old friend.
Yall were never friends, Perry shot over his shoulder.
She helped me with my calculus once, Aaron defended. Whats the big deal? Mom lives to take in strays.
Strays? Nice, Cooper. Real nice. Perry made a face.
You know what I mean.
Im beginning to think I do. Blake flashed a grin at Perry. Coopers homed in on a new target.
Not his usual type, but maybe hes in the mood for something different, Perry agreed.
Aaron walked away, leaving the pair of grinning idiots behind. Was that really how people saw him? Even his friends? Sure, hed spent a lot of years viewing women as conquests, especially back in his football days. But those days were long over. Just because he avoided long-term relationships didnt mean he was some sort of predator.
Did it?
He shook off the question as he neared the front of the house, flipping open his phone. His mother answered on the second ring. Hi, Mom, its me. I need your help.
As hed expected, his mother was happy to take in Melissa for as long as needed. Be sure to tell her not to worry about buying a lot of groceries. I just stocked the pantry with staples last week, Beth Cooper said. And if she likes fish, Hannah and Riley just filled my freezer with a huge mess of winter crappie, so theres plenty to go around.
Aaron grinned at the phone. Okay. Ill tell her.
As he hung up, he spotted Melissa coming out the front door, dragging two heavy-looking bags with her. Jasper was on a leash at her heels, dancing around her in a frenzy of puppy energy, threatening to trip her up.
Aaron hurried forward and relieved her of the bags. She looked up at him, her blue eyes wary. Suddenly, the puppy gave a sharp bark and dashed behind her, tangling with her legs just as she started to take a step. Losing balance, she pitched forward.
Aaron dropped the bags and caught her, wrapping his arms around her to steady her. Her breath heated the skin of his neck and he felt a dizzying flood of raw male awareness.
Hey, Aaron! Blakes voice, coming around the side of the house, broke the spell. Weve got something.
Ill be right back. He released her and headed toward the back of the house. But he wasnt surprised when Melissa ignored his implied request to stay put, grabbing the puppy and tucking him into her arms as she hurried to catch up.
Perry and Blake were both crouched by the house, gazing up at a section of charred wiring, when Aaron and Melissa reached the backyard. Perry glanced up as they neared. Definitely looks like the generator caught fire and set this side of the house on fire.
So, not arson after all?
I said it looks that way. Doesnt mean thats what happened. Perry motioned Aaron nearer. Melissa stayed close enough that Aaron could feel her warmth against his side when they both bent to look at what Perry was pointing out with the beam of his flashlight. See these wires?
Aaron followed his gesture and saw the protective covering of the main power input cable had burned away, leaving the charred wires exposed. What am I looking at?
Those wires have been cut, not burned, Perry answered. The fire burned away the protective layer or youd be able to see the cut more clearly.
Aaron felt Melissas hand grab his arm. He turned to find her gazing at him, her face milk-pale in the ambient glow from the firemens flashlights. To his surprise, while she looked afraid, she didnt look surprised.
Perry cleared his throat. Someone definitely set this fire on purpose.
Chapter Two
Melissa felt all four gazes on her as Aaron and the other men waited for her reaction. Her skin crawled at their scrutiny. Shed made a career out of being a background player, the driven worker bee behind the scenes who got impossible things done but stayed out of the spotlight when it came time for accolades. She didnt know how she was supposed to react, what she could do to ease the suspicion she saw in Deputy Claytons eyes or the curiosity in Perry Blakes expression.
She almost blurted out, I didnt do it, until she realized a denial would make her look guiltier than silence.
Aaron Cooper spoke first. Do you know why anyone would set your house on fire?
She was grateful to find his expression devoid of suspicion. I dont know. She wasnt the sort of person who aroused murderous passions. She hadnt had a real boyfriend since law school, didnt sleep with married men or make cutthroat business deals. She was just a midlevel attorney at a small law firm in a small Alabama city.
Who also defends women whose husbands and boyfriends like to knock them around.
Aaron seemed to catch the change in her expression. You do know something.
Her stomach tightened with a mixture of anger and alarm. Shed raised a few murderous passions in her pro bono work, hadnt she? From men with hair trigger tempers and violent tendencies.
No, she said aloud.
There it was. The hint of suspicion shed been waiting for in Aaron Coopers expression.
She couldnt tell him about her pro bono work. It would expose her clients. She worked hard to protect them from their brutal spouses and boyfriends, to hide them from further danger and give them chances at good lives. The last thing any of them needed was cops nosing around in their pasts to find a suspect in an arson that had caused only a minor amount of damage.
You said you saw someone moving around outside your house, Deputy Blake said, skepticism oozing from every word.
Aaron looked at Blake. What?
I couldnt unlock the dead bolt on the front door. Melissa was glad to focus on something that might help Aaron. She hated lying, even if shed had too many opportunities to hone the skill over the years. I saw a shadow through the window, moving out of view, like someone going around the corner of the porch.
What about when you got outside? Aaron asked.
I didnt see anyone. But there was a twig or something like that wedged into the front door lock from the outside.
We dont know if its actually connected to the fire, Blake said. We got a few calls last night about wedges being put into locks. One of the complainants said she saw some kids running away just before she discovered the vandalism.
Maybe they graduated to something more destructive.
Pretty big step, from petty mischief to attempted murder, Blake pointed out.
Im not a shrink. I dont have to know what motivated the jerks. I just have to prove they did it, Aaron said.
Maybe they cut the electricity as a prank, Melissa suggested. Maybe it accidentally made a spark, igniting leftover gasoline in the generator?
How much gas was in the generator? Perry asked.
She looked at him, wondering when the class clown she remembered had grown up to be this serious-faced firefighter looking at her with hard skepticism. I dont think it could be much, she admitted. Less than a cup. It emptied the last time I used it, and I dont add gasoline until I need it.
You dont store the gas back here by the house, do you? Perry asked.
No. I keep it in the shed. Melissa pointed to the small work shed about twenty yards behind the house, near the edge of the woods that formed the border of her property.
Perry looked at Aaron. There are signs of an accelerant, probably gasoline, in the burn patterns here. The states arson investigation team could tell us more. Should we call them in?
Aaron looked from Perry to Melissa. Yeah, he said finally. Lets call them in.
Melissas heart sank. I dont want you to investigate it. Nobody was hurt. I wont even make an insurance claim. Lets just leave this alone, okay?
What was left of the compassion in Aarons expression disappeared, corroded by undiluted cynicism. Youre a lawyer, right? You know we cant do that.
She was afraid he was going to say that. Okay, fine. Investigate. She tightened her grip on Jasper, whod started to whine. Tell your mother I appreciate the offer but its best I just find a hotel
Aaron caught her arm as she turned away, his strong grip just shy of painful. The offer of the guest house stands.
She pulled her arm away, glaring at him. What, now that he saw her as a suspect, he thought he could manhandle her any way he pleased? Maybe the whole reason he wanted her at his moms place was to make it easier to keep an eye on her.
But at this point, she was so tired and stressed she wouldnt have protested if hed suggested an ankle monitor to track her whereabouts. She just wanted to bathe off the soot in a scalding shower, crawl into a warm bed and sleep for a week.
Can we go now? she asked impatiently.
Yeah, we can go. None of the earlier gentleness remained in his deep voice. He was angry with her, clearly, and in no mood to pretend civility. Or gentleness.