Consumed (Firefighters #1)(110)

Her brother’s heavy arms came around her and drew her against his big chest. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath.

For a moment, the past and the present blended together, and she felt an echo of the way it had been for her as a child with her father, sheltered in the lee of something greater and stronger than herself. But then all that had gone away, the hero image replaced by a human with devastating flaws.

Which was why people needed to stand on their own two feet.

Pulling back, she looked up. The vulnerability in her brother’s face was a shock. He’d never looked to her for grounding or support. He never looked to anyone for that.

“It’s okay,” she told him. “It’s all okay. I promise.”

He shuddered and dropped his head. “I can’t lose you, Sister.”

“You haven’t. You won’t.” She smiled. “I’m an Ashburn.”

Her brother’s stare returned to her and he nodded gravely. “That you are. Through and through.”

As they hugged again, Anne was aware of an uncoiling deep inside of her, that anger that had defined her for so long shattering like a mirror and dissipating. Growing up, all she had ever wanted was her father’s respect.

It turned out that destiny gave her something even better, more worthwhile.

She had earned her big brother’s.

In the periphery, Anne was aware of Danny sitting back and watching the pair of them, the smile on his face wide and approving.

When Tom reached out a palm toward him, Danny shook what was offered, a vow given and accepted on both sides: In the midst of chaos and death, a new family had been forged. One that was chosen as opposed to an accident of biology—and for that reason, more abiding and enduring.





chapter




54



One week later, Anne left her office on a long lunch break. Don was going to watch Soot, who had become the investigation team’s mascot, and she had a feeling “watch” meant her boss was going to take the dog down the street to the deli and the two of them were going to share a turkey, cheese, and mayo foot-long and two bags of potato chips.

No wonder Soot also thought that man was the World’s Greatest Boss.

The strip mall that was her destination was nothing she had been to before, although she had driven by it plenty of times, and she found a parking space easy enough. She was early and the noontime sun was still fairly warm, so she took a leisurely stroll past the stores.

The fallout around Moose’s death was sad. His body was being buried, but not with departmental honors. How could it be? He had endangered the lives of his fellow firefighters. Committed arson. Tried to kill her.

The investigation into his crimes had expanded to include the FBI, given the interstate nature of Ollie Popper’s black-market activity. An LG burner phone had been found inside Moose’s house, and the calls to her cell had been in its outgoing log. An anonymous texting app, TextPort, was the only thing loaded onto it.

The money trail was cold. There had been just over five thousand dollars in cash in Moose’s bedroom, but no clues so far on where it had come from. And as for Ripkin? That tie had not been exposed, but she still believed it was there. Moose’s spending had far exceeded a random thousand here or there.

And that was why she truly believed it hadn’t just been office equipment in those fires. Ripkin was hiding secrets, although what kind, she didn’t know. She had filed her report on the most recent warehouse fire, and her amendments to the other five, but unless she was called into the Moose investigation, her official role was done.

Which was frustrating.

On top of that, she was worried about Danny. It was obvious that he was sad deep inside and keeping things to himself, and that worried her. It might have been the way things always had been, but that had to change. It just wasn’t healthy.

Everything else was great between them, though. He had moved into her house by attrition, every night bringing over another bunch of clothes, not that he had much. He also brought his TV with him, and she had to admit it was a helluva of an improvement over her piece of crap.

He was letting the apartment go. An era over. The four men who had started out as fraternity brothers graduating on to adulthood.

Or the grave, in Moose’s case.

Stopping in front of a dress shop, she tilted her head at what was in the window. Deandra had left town, quitting her job, packing up her stuff, and going off to God only knew where. She wasn’t free, though. Not by a long shot. The authorities had questioned her and she was still on their list as a person of interest. It was pretty clear she might have had the motive, but there was no concrete evidence that she hadn’t done anything criminal herself.

But the investigation was ongoing.

“Anne!”

She turned and started to smile. “Hi, Mom. Thanks for coming.”

As she met her mother halfway down the strip mall, she decided her brother was right. Their mom seemed much happier, and glowing, in the last week.

Healing was good for people, wasn’t it.

“You are not going to believe it,” Nancy Janice announced, “but I sold two of my oil paintings to a gallery this morning! I can’t stand it! Who would ever have thought anybody would want something I did?”

Anne hugged her mother and was surprised by how easy it was. “I’m proud of you.”