Tri Me (Primrose, Minnesota, Book 4) (9 page)

“We’ll follow your lead, Hartwell.” Ryker nodded at the fire inspector to exit the vehicle and then they fell in behind him.

“There may still be some hot spots.” Shane gestured at the bed of the truck. “Grab a coat and helmet. Gloves are in the pockets.” He grinned at each of them. “And remember, you weren’t ever here.”

Jackson’s stomach churned as he and the RSI team suited up in the heavy fire gear and then made the trek up the driveway until they stood in the center of what once was Alex’s garage. Incredible guilt gnawed his nerves as he watched Shane dig through the charred remains. Not twenty four hours ago, he promised Alex he’d protect her from this psychotic bitch and now her home lay in ruins. Fear accelerated his heartbeat. Although Alex managed to escape, the result could’ve been devastating.
Sonuvabitch.
His heart hurt. First things first, though, they had to prove the fire had been intentional.

“Anything yet, Hartwell?”

Shane snorted as he walked across the room, headed for the side door opening. “It’s gonna take a little longer than three minutes. I’ll let you know when I find something.”

Mace slapped Jackson on the back. “This could take some time.”

“Time we don’t have.” He exhaled hard. “Anyone want to take a stab at how this started?”

“Hartwell hasn’t said as much, but I’m convinced this was deliberate.” Jake pushed his helmet back from his forehead as he walked around the garage. “I’m not much of a science nerd, but the char patterns along these walls lead me to believe this was a hot fire.”

“No doubt in my mind,” Jackson agreed. “We really need a break in this case.”

“Found the igniter.” Shane returned with a square, blackened can looped around the right index finger of his glove. “Does Alex keep gasoline on hand?”

“I’ll call her and ask.” Jackson stabbed buttons on his phone.

Jake chuckled. “Yeah, you need a reason to call her.”

“Screw you, Rawlings.” He ignored both Jake’s and Ryker’s continued snickers as he waited for one certain silky, sultry voice to tickle his ear. “Hello, Detective. Need some help?”

Professional help
. “I have questions.”

“And I have answers. Though, I don’t always share them.”

“Straight, honest answers.”

Her breathy sigh went straight to his groin. “Oh, alright. Shoot.”

“Do you keep a gas can at your house?”

“No. Why?”

“For the lawn mower or weedeater?”

Alex snorted. “I’m not exactly a
yard work
kinda girl. I hire a landscaper.”

“Is there any reason to store gasoline in the garage?”

“No. He comes every other Tuesday during the spring and summer like clockwork.”

His stomach plummeted. Although he knew her response before she spoke, her confession made the danger even more real. As usual, she fired questions at him before he could explain.

“I’m guessing you found a gas can?”

“Yes.”

“Where?”

“Outside the garage door.”

“In the driveway?”

“No. The side door.”

“Any prints on it?”

“The evidence hasn’t been processed yet.”

“I parked my car in the garage.”

Jackson swallowed hard and glanced at the damaged metal that represented her Mercedes. “Yeah.”

“Can you access my security cameras?”

He paused briefly while he walked the short distance from where he stood to the side exit and glanced at a piece of melted metal resting near the foundation. “Probably not.”

“I turned on the exterior cameras as soon as you left. I’ll call the security company. They’ll have a duplicate video.”

“Seriously?”

“Of course. I always have a back-up plan, even for my back-up plan.”

“Give them a call. I’ll grab the video and meet up with you later.”

“You’re not going to tell me anything else, are you?”

“Don’t know much yet.”
Other than this is some serious shit
. “We’ll talk later.”

“I’ll look forward to it.”

Jackson disconnected and returned to where the others were huddled. “Alex doesn’t own a gas can. She hires a landscaper.”

Not one of them appeared surprised, Ryker just pressed for more detail. “Name?”

“I’ll get it later.”

Mace shifted his weight from one crutch to the other. “Was the crew anywhere near?”

“No.”

“The fire started outside the side garage door.” Shane removed one glove. “The U-shaped burn pattern on the structure tells me the accelerant, in this case gasoline, was poured and then ignited. Our perp set the fire on the cement outside the door and then it traveled upward, cracking the glass in the window of the door while it burnt. The rest is pretty well common sense.” He pulled a roll of yellow crime tape from his coat pocket. “What we have here, gentlemen, is arson.”

“What about the interior?” Ryker asked.

“”I’m guessing we’ll find more of the same char patterns. I remember seeing some heavy black smoke the night of the fire. I’ll have to call Primrose PD. The detectives will want to do a walk-through.”

Jake slapped Shane on the back and then led the way out of the musty space. “Thanks for getting us in here. We’ll wait for your report.”

“First thing.”

Jackson exhaled hard as he followed Jake, Mace, and Ryker back to the truck. Arson. Someone was genuinely pissed off. Although he still didn’t have solid evidence as to who was responsible, the security cameras could possibly provide an identity – if the perpetrator was stupid enough not to look for them. The company had done an amazing job on Alex’s house; the camera over the side garage door had been pretty well hidden from view. Still, he had no idea what kind of an individual they were up against.

“Regal Systems will have a copy of last night’s surveillance,” he told the other two men as they left the scene. “We can stop there on the way back to the office. I just wish we had found something more substantial.”

“We did.” Ryker reached into his pocket with his left hand and held up a plastic bag with what appeared to be a silver cylinder inside. “Any of you know what this is?”

Jake leaned forward from the back seat and took the bag. “It’s a lipstick holder.”

Jackson reached back and snatched it. “I really don’t want to know how you know that.”

“I gave Bri a set of them for her birthday.” Jake gave him a smug grin. “More importantly, Ryker tampered with a crime scene.”

The other man was quick to defend himself. “It wasn’t a crime scene when I picked it up.”

Through the plastic, Jackson tipped the cylinder on one end. Sterling silver. He then rolled it on its side and ran his thumb across several raised indentions on the body of the tube. Not an average item.

He glanced at Jake. “It’s engraved.
AJ.
”

“It’s Alex’s?”

“Maybe.” He slipped it into his pocket. “We can dust it for prints back at the office, but I don’t remember seeing her with it.”

Mace chuckled, his input interrupted by the ringing of his cell phone. “Lucky you,” he said as he glanced at the screen. “It’s Dara.”

Jake settled back against the seat and buckled his hands over his head. “Seems to me you’re spending a lot more time with Alex than you’ve told us.”

“Seems to me you have enough on your plate with Bri and should mind your own business.”

“Seems to me Storm and I are the only sane ones left in this sorry bunch,” Ryker added. “The whole lot of you – whooped.”

Jackson raised an eyebrow. “Jealous?”

“Hell no!” Suddenly the truck picked up speed. “While the rest of you wallow in this mess you call
love
, Storm and I will sit back and bask in freedom.”

“Enjoy it while you can, my friend,” Jake said from behind them. “I have a feeling your freedom may be short-lived.”

“What makes you so sure?”

“My girlfriend, almost fiancé, is a psychologist. She’s taught me some tricks of the trade.”

Ryker simply grinned. “Whooped.”

Jackson shook his head at Ryker’s reaction. He knew from experience a man had absolutely no control over love. It was a total lost cause; once your heart decided it was time, it was time.

“I hope to hell we can get the video before Primrose PD.” Obviously not ready to discuss his inevitable destiny into the abyss, Ryker pulled him back into the ugly world of arson.

“Alex called ahead. As long as we go now, there shouldn’t be a problem. Besides, they can make as many copies as necessary. We’ll just get ours first.”

“Let’s hope the camera shows us something.”

Jackson shared Ryker’s sentiment as they pulled into the parking lot of the security company and he headed inside to get the video. Minutes later, he was back in the truck, flash drive in hand.

“Piece of cake,” he told them. “I’m itching to see this.”

“ETA four minutes.” Ryker shifted into drive and began the short drive to RSI.

“You know, Jake.” Jackson passed the flash drive between his fingers. “It might not be a bad idea to have Bri analyze the evidence.”

“I’m thinking the same thing. She can give us some insight into the reasoning behind the crime.”

“Male or female, the perp is classic passive-aggressive.” Ryker parked the truck at the curb in front of the office. “The phone calls have stopped.”

Jackson entered the building behind his friends, bothered by Ryker’s conclusion. On one hand, he was encouraged the threats had ceased, but on the other, it made the investigation more difficult. With a bug implanted in Alex’s phone, they could at least monitor the calls.

“Let’s watch the video.” He headed straight for the conference room and plugged the flash drive into a desktop computer on the long table. All four of them crowded behind the monitor.

Ryker grinned at Mace. “Do you need to check in before we proceed?”

Jackson chuckled at the perfect
go-to-hell
look Mace answered with and cued the video to begin. He kept his finger on the mouse pad to browse through the action. The night darkened. Trees moved in the slight wind. The sound of cars on the neighborhood streets echoed in the speakers. The house remained unpenetrated for several frames until the motion detector caught something. The telltale green light flashed over the door.

“Caught ya.”

A slender, obviously female figure dressed in black appeared in the camera’s lens, perched on top of the brick wall that separated Alex’s property from her neighbor’s. A black ski mask covered her facial features.

“36-24-34,” Ryker said without hesitation.

Jackson paused the camera. “What the hell did you just say?”

“I’m an observer.” The other man shrugged, apparently not bothered by sizing up the perp.

“Let’s just concentrate on her identity.”

He restarted the action, almost humored by the woman’s fumbling motion to scale the wall.

“Hooker heels,” Jake mumbled.

This time he had to grin. “You too?”

“I’m with Ryker. Just an observation, man.”

“You have anything to add, Mace?”

The other man shrugged. “You ladies are talking enough. I’m just taking it all in.”

Determined not to encourage any of his friend’s
observations
, he concentrated on the video stream and focused until his eyes crossed, as if he could will the camera to capture her identity. Ryker was a digital genius; even with a mask covering her face, it wouldn’t hinder his ability to identify her. She just had to cooperate first.

“She’s not as stupid as we thought,” he said finally. “She won’t show her face to the camera.”

He watched in disgust as she continued to keep her head lowered, brandished the gasoline can from the nearby bushes, poured the contents in front of the door, stepped back a couple feet, struck a match, and then tossed it into the puddle of gasoline. Audio didn’t fail to catch her maniacal laughter as she left the scene.

The chime of Ryker’s cell phone sliced the tense silence like a knife.

“Adams.”

Jackson ignored the conversation and didn’t take his eyes from the screen until Ryker tapped him on the shoulder. “My contact from HBL is on the line.”

Ryker reconnected the call. “Go ahead Dan. I’ve put you on speaker.”

“Records indicate the three phone calls were made from three different numbers. However, all of them belong to Luxury Imports.”

“Damn.” Jackson braced his elbows on the table and steepled his fingers. “Only one woman made the calls. What time were they made?”

“Let’s see, the first call was made at 11:32 p.m. The next one was 1:23 a.m., and the third, 7:08 a.m.”

“Obviously not during business hours.” Jake moved the keyboard closer to him and cleared the screen.

“I wish I could give you something more.” Dan chuckled. “Unfortunately, I don’t work for Uncle Sam anymore. I’ll text you the numbers, Ryker.”