Page 46 of Rocky Mountain Cowboy Christmas
Although Jackie kept her head down, Steve had the impression that the fire marshal was doing more listening and thinking than reading. “You seem to be pretty good friends with Camille.”
When Steve stayed silent, Jackie finally raised her eyes from the papers.
“No answer to that?” she finally asked.
“It wasn’t a question.” Although he kept his tone polite, he felt annoyance built in his chest, as well as that same instinct to protect Camille that he’d felt earlier with Mrs. Lin. He could still hear Len chattering in the other room, and it made him antsy to go rescue her from the separate—less formal—interrogation that was happening out there.
“Okay, how about this.” This time, Jackie picked up the highlighter and started popping the cap on and off again with sharp clicks. It made Steve glad that he didn’t share an office—or even a fire department building—with the marshal. Her constant fidgeting would drive Steve crazy. “Any reason Camille would light her own house on fire?”
“No.” Anger burned low in his gut, but Steve kept it contained. Jackie was pushing to get a reaction, and Steve wasn’t going to give her one. He understood why the fire marshal was doing this. It was all part of her investigation. “She’s devastated at losing her home. Also, if she’d planned it, she would’ve made sure her cat was safe first.”
After considering that, Jackie gave a slight nod. “How about anyone else? Is there an ex, someone with a grudge, a neighbor who doesn’t like how she trims her hedges?”
“Not that I know of, but you’d know the answer better than I would, since she’s lived in Borne most of her life.”
That pinched his pride, but it was true. While Jackie had been Borne’s fire marshal for almost twenty years, Steve had only been back a few weeks. As far as the town politics and gossip went, Jackie would be more likely to have heard about any local drama, even if it involved Camille. Steve had barely known her when she was young, and he had a lot to learn about her now. He wanted to, though. He wanted to know everything, and for her to really know him as well.
“True, but Camille Brandt is a mystery.” Clicking the cap on the highlighter, Jackie pointed the pen at Steve. “You’re the closest thing she has to a friend, which isn’t too surprising, considering she never leaves that house of hers.” She grimaced. “She never used to, at least. Anyway, except for your brother Joe, she’s the closest thing Borne has to a local hermit. I figured if anyone knew what was going on in her life, it’d be you.”
“Well, as the official Camille expert,” Steve said flatly, “I can tell you that she had no part in that house fire, and I don’t know anyone who’d want to hurt her.”
“Good to know.” Apparently, Jackie chose to ignore the thick sarcasm. “Just so you know, I’m with you on this. All signs are pointing to this being caused by the faulty wiring, but I need to do a thorough investigation, just on the off chance this was intentionally set.”
“What?” Camille said, standing in the doorway clutching the clipboard that she must’ve finally wrestled from Len. Her face was starkly pale. “Intentional? You think someone set fire to my house on purpose?”
“No, she doesn’t,” Steve said, glaring at Jackie for her horrible timing. “There’s no sign that it was intentional. Jackie was just saying that she has to investigate this fire as thoroughly as she does all fires, in order to get rid of all doubt.”
Camille looked back and forth between them, her grip still tight on the clipboard. “Who would want to burn my house down?” she asked, sounding bewildered, and Steve couldn’t stand seeing her lost expression for another second. Standing, he moved over to her and gently extracted the clipboard from her white-knuckled hands before tugging her against his chest. She went willingly, leaning against him.
Holding her with one arm, he handed the clipboard to Jackie with the other. “No one wanted to burn your house down,” Steve said, trying to put as much confidence as he could into his voice so that Camille would have no choice but to believe him.
“He’s most likely right,” Jackie said, which wasn’t all that helpful. Steve gave her a look that she ignored, focusing on the pages clipped to the board instead. “You finished your statement already? I thought you were talking to Len this whole time.”
“He talked.” Camille’s voice was a little muffled by Steve’s coat, but she didn’t attempt to move away. “I wrote.”
“Efficient,” Jackie said approvingly, her eyes skimming over the pages. “This looks good.” Her cell phone chimed, and she glanced at it before turning back to Camille and Steve. “I have to head home now. The grandkids just got dropped off for the weekend, and Margie’s going to lose her mind if I leave her alone with them for much longer. If I have any questions, I’ll call you. What’s your number?”
Camille took a step back, and Steve reluctantly released her. It felt right to have her in his arms, just as he’d expected. After rattling off her number, she paused, looking stricken, as if she’d just remembered that her cell had burned along with everything else. “I don’t have a new phone yet.”
“You staying with Steve out at the ranch?” Jackie asked, a gleam of the usual Borne love of gossip in her eyes. When Camille nodded, Jackie made a note and attached it to the statement. “I’ll call you there. I have the house number and Steve’s cell.”
“You’ll let me know if you find out anything else about the fire?” Camille asked.
“That I will,” Jackie said, pulling a business card out of a wire holder balanced on a teetering pile of folders. She held it out to Camille. “Call me if you think of anything you missed.”
“Okay.” Camille turned to leave but then paused. “There’s one other thing. It’s not related—I mean, I can’t imagine how it would be—but you might know the reason for it.”
Jackie blinked at her, obviously not following Camille’s rambling comment. “The reason for what?”
“There was someone—a firefighter—on my porch one night a few weeks ago, but he didn’t knock or ring the doorbell. At least I’m pretty sure he didn’t. Mrs. Lin took a picture of him, but you can’t see his face. Do you know if there was a fire call nearby or any other reason there’d be a firefighter at my house?”
A prickle went up Steve’s spine. It was most likely innocent, but the fire made everything seem suspicious.
“What date was this?” Jackie asked, bringing up the call log history on her computer. Camille told her, and the fire marshal quickly found the right day and time. “There was a gas leak at the house a few doors down from you that night. I bet they were asking people to evacuate.”
“Why didn’t they knock, then?” Camille asked.
With a shrug, Jackie closed out of the call log. “Maybe they did, and you didn’t hear. Could’ve been right as they cleared the house, too, so the evacuation order ended.”
