Page 47 of To Hold and Protect

He rolled down the windows for Ember, then exited the car, knowing she would stay until he came for her. Spotting Tommy sitting on the hood of one of his junk cars as he watched his firefighters lay hoses, Parker walked over to him. Tommy’s bloodhound Bubba sat on the hood next to him, and on the ground in front of them was a fire extinguisher.

“You okay, Tommy?”

“I tried to put it out, Chief.”

They both stared at the shack that was going to be a total loss. “What happened?”

“Don’t know. I was sleeping, and Bubba woke me up barking and pawing my face.” He wrapped his arm around the dog. “Saved my life, he did.”

“You spent the night here?” He wouldn’t know if it was arson until he and Ember could do their search, but if it was, the arsonist would have thought the building was empty.

Tommy grunted. “The missus was having one of her spells.”

“Did you hear anything, notice any strangers around lately?”

Tommy squinted his eyes at Parker. “Meanin’ what? You think somebody did this a’purpose? Nah, the wiring was bad. Been fixin’ to do something about that.”

He’d probably beenfixin’to do something about it for years. Not that Parker wanted Tommy to lose his home away from home, but he hoped it was the wiring and not arson. “I’m going to have Josie come check you out, make sure you don’t have smoke inhalation,” Parker said when Tommy coughed.

After sending his EMT to Tommy, Parker went to his car to get Ember. It hadn’t taken much to put the fire out since the shack wasn’t any bigger than a shipping container, but it was, unfortunately, burned to the ground.

“Time to go to work, Ember.” He hooked her leash to her collar. It would be a while before the shack’s foundation was cool enough for her to walk on, so he checked the perimeter of the building, and when he came back to where they’d started, he widened the circle. Halfway around, Ember stopped and lifted her nose in the air.

“What is it, girl?” He let her have her lead.

She pulled him to one of the junk cars sitting up on cement blocks. The car was a seventies era Pinto with the doors missing. She stopped at the driver’s side back door, sat, and looked up at him, giving him an alert. “Good girl.” He kneeled next to her and held out a treat, which she lifted from his palm with a delicate sweep of her tongue.

Without touching anything, he leaned into the car. There was a pile of rags on the floor, and the smell of gasoline was strong. On the seat was an envelope with his name on it. “Shit,” he muttered. He’d almost decided that the arsonist had moved on. He was still here, and the man was playing games. Parker glanced around, but he didn’t have the feeling he was being watched.

He called Skylar, since Burrell’s was in her jurisdiction. “You need to come to Burrell’s and send a CSI out here.”

“Tristan and I are already on the way, and you’re on Speaker, so he’s calling for a CSI now. We’re seven minutes out.”

“Okay, I’ll meet you at the entrance.” After disconnecting, he radioed Greg.

“You got me, Chief.”

“I’m on the east side of the building. Send Carlton this way.”

“Copy.”

When Carlton jogged up to him, Parker said, “Stand here until I return. Do not touch anything on the outside or inside of the car. Do not let anyone else come near it.”

Carlton glanced at the Pinto with wide eyes. “Is it a crime scene, sir?”

“Yes. I’ll be back shortly.”

“I got this, Chief,” Carlton said.

Parker chuckled as he and Ember went to meet his brother and Skylar. Had he looked that young and wide-eyed as a recruit? His firefighters were rolling up the hoses, and he paused next to Greg. “It’s going to be arson, so keep everyone away now that the fire’s out.”

“This is getting old, Chief.”

“Couldn’t agree more.” The junkyard was in an isolated area, so there weren’t any spectators or witnesses. Also, the man Willow had seen couldn’t be their arsonist because he didn’t have a car. The fires were too spread out for someone to walk to. The odds weren’t good that they’d catch their firebug, but if this continued, someone was going to get hurt, and today it had almost been Tommy. Bubba was the hero of the day.

Tristan and Skylar arrived, and he filled them in. “There’s an envelope in the Pinto with my name on it but I haven’t touched it.” Another car pulled up next to Tristan’s SUV. “Here’s our CSI now.”

When Maurisa joined them, Parker filled her in as they walked to the car. Ember alerted again when they reached the Pinto, and he gave her a few more treats. “We need to see what’s inside the envelope but were waiting on you to do your thing,” he told Maurisa. He nodded at Carlton. “You can join the crew now.”

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