Page 9 of To Hold and Protect

“We got lucky. A neighbor was out walking his dog and saw someone climb out a bedroom window and run through the backyard. Since he knew the residents were out of town, he called the police and was waiting on the sidewalk for an officer to arrive. A few minutes after he made the call, he saw flames through the living room window and called Dispatch again, so we got here before it had a chance to go full-blown.”

“Is he around?” A cluster of spectators were huddled together under a streetlight.

“Across the street, two houses to the right. Name’s Les Hardy. He didn’t want to stick around. I told him you’d want to talk to him tonight, so he’s waiting for you.”

“You know the drill. As soon as the hot spots are cold, seal the doors so no one can go in.”

“On it, Chief.”

Parker returned to his car and opened the passenger door. He picked up the leash from the floor and clipped it on Ember’s collar. “Time to go to work.” If anyone had the odor of any kind of accelerant on them, she’d alert.

First, he went to the cluster of people. “Good evening. Did anyone see anything suspicious?” His gaze scanned over the faces, his artist eye memorizing their features. As he studied them, the hair on the back of his neck wasn’t standing up, and he didn’t feel like he was being watched as he had during the last fire.

“I didn’t see anything,” one man said. “Heard the sirens and came out to see what was going on.”

One of the women nodded. “Same here. Can I pet your dog?”

“Sure, but she’s shy, so be gentle.” Ember didn’t particularly like strangers touching her, but knowing it came with the job, she tolerated it. While they’d been talking, she’d sniffed each of the five people in the group and hadn’t alerted.

“Do you all live on this street?” They confirmed they did. Since there was nothing to be learned here, he excused himself. When he knocked on Les Hardy’s door, a dog barked on the other side. A man opened the door only enough to see out but keep the dog in.

“Mr. Hardy?”

“Yes. Are you the fire chief?”

“I am. Would you mind stepping outside for a few minutes to talk to me? I have my dog with me.”

Hardy glanced down at Ember, sitting quietly next to Parker’s leg. “Sure.” He slipped out and almost closed the door on his barking dog’s nose. “Wish mine was as well-behaved.”

“Ember is a working dog, so she’s been extensively trained.”

“Cool.”

“My captain said you saw someone come out a window shortly before you noticed a fire?” While they were talking, Ember had sniffed him, then lost interest.

“Yes. Gotta tell you, wasn’t expecting that. This is a nice neighborhood. We’ve never had any problems.”

“Can you describe the person?”

“Wish I could. They didn’t look my way. He jumped out the window and ran away.”

“He? So you’re sure it was a man?”

“Well, no. I guess I just assumed it was.”

“Height? Weight? What kind of clothes?”

“It’s only a guess, but medium height and thin. The clothes were all black. Oh, I did notice one thing. The person had a ponytail like you.”

“Hair color?”

“Again, it was dark, but I think brown.”

It wasn’t the best description, but better than they had before tonight. “You notice any kind of container, like a gas can?”

“No, didn’t see anything like that.”

Parker handed him a card. “If you think of anything else, call me. You did good tonight, Mr. Hardy.”

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