Page 6 of Burning for Alexander
“Ella!” Alex squawked. “What the fuck? Are you trying to get this place shut down?”
Kinsey murmured something under her breath that sounded like, “We aren’t actually talking about rodeos, right?” But I was too keyed up to pay much attention.
“Seems like something I ought to know about, Mr. Marian,” I said, leaning around his sister to see the irresponsible restaurant owner himself. “You beingproneto setting fires, that is.”
Alex lurched at me, as if going for my throat, but his sister elbowed him in the gut.
“Oof. Fuck, El. Jesus.” Alex heaved in a breath. “You and I both know he’s being unfair, and now you’re making the situation worse.”
I shook my head. “Not possible. And it’s not unfair, it’s the NFPA 921. Not only is it a code requirement, but this investigation report is also required for your insurance claim. The faster you allow us to proceed, the faster we’ll be out of your hair.”
Alex’s hands tightened into fists. “Insurance claim for what? It was over in two seconds. The damage totaled forty bucks after I was able to clean up the chemicals!” He took a deep breath in through his nose, held it, and let it out in a controlled exhale. “It will cost me more to replace the Class-K extinguisher you deployed unnecessarily.”
I opened my mouth to snap at him again, to put him in his place for daring to talk back to someone who had the power toshut this place down. But then I remembered the young lieutenant standing next to me.
This behavior wasn’t professional. And it wasn’t like me. I prided myself on my professionalism. Hell, back in Philly, some of the crew called me Ice Man and made jokes about the steam that came from having me with them on a job. The last thing I needed was for this pissant to get under my skin.
I stood up straight and looked down my nose at him, doing my bestI don’t give a shitimpression. “We can come back with an administrative warrant for the origin and cause investigation if necessary. Let us know how you’d like to proceed, Mr. Marian.”
Ella cracked a brittle but relieved smile. “He’ll comply. What do you need?”
Before Alex could bite out a response, she cheerfully clapped a hand over his mouth. “Why don’t we all have a seat over in the corner of the bar area where it’s nice and quiet, hm?”
I nodded and followed her to the table, taking a seat before glancing down at my tablet and opening the report template. “I’m going to need to talk to the staff witnesses,” I said, while finger-typing the basics into the first few fields.
The momentary silence surprised me. I looked up to see a flash of nerves or… guilt in Alex’s eyes. It was only there for a moment, and then it was gone.
“Just me,” he said, tilting his chin up defiantly.
I tilted my head and waited for him to elaborate. He didn’t. “That right? You were the only employee who witnessed the…” I wanted to sayinfernojust to provoke him, but I reminded myself to be professional. “Incident.”
He swallowed and nodded. “Yes, sir.”
Motherfuck, how that word did something to me coming out of his mouth. I stared at the man for a beat too long before decidingto play nicely. “Fine. We’ll start with your interview, then. Can you tell us exactly what happened?”
And damned if Alexander Marian didn’t start blinking rapidly and lying his pretty mouth off.
It was a sight to behold. Pink cheeks, teeth scraping across full, abused lips as he stopped to think up the next part of his story, and the tiny little scratch of one fingernail on the tiny freckle of his opposite hand.
He was sexy as fuck, but up until now, I thought maybe he knew it. Now? Now I saw a side of him that was entirely unexpected. The previously brave trash-talker was hesitant, unsure, and stammering.
As he relayed a tale of pouring the rum at the same time he was trying to light the alcohol on fireandsanitize the bar with a flammable spray, even Kinsey’s mouth opened in disbelief. Not only would it have been impossible for him to do all three things simultaneously, but he’d even had more than twelve hours to come up with a more plausible story than “I did it.”
Once he was done, the reddish-brown hair at the edge of his hairline was damp with sweat, curling delectably against his temple. He firmed his jaw and glared at me defiantly.
“Okay,” I said, typing the details into the tablet. “Let’s go over it one more time. Can you tell me exactly what happened from the beginning?”
Before he could sputter and wail, claim the repetition unnecessary, I leaned into his personal space and forced him to meet my eyes. “And this time, cut the shit, Marian.”
3
ALEX
IndexEcho:If you could move anywhere, where would you go?
DrunkenPoet:Probably Montana. They say it’s the last best place.
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