Playing With Fire (Tangled in Texas, #2)(7)

“Come on,” Cowboy said. “You can walk over with me, and we’ll check out the damage.”

Shock blasted through me, as if he electrocuted me. “No, I can’t!” But then I glanced back to the side of the library where the orange glow had emanated, and my nerves shriveled back into their rightful place. “I mean…the fire.”

He looked at me strangely. “Fire’s out, remember?”

I exhaled a slow, calming breath. “Right. Uh…okay.” God, he probably thought I was a lunatic.

I trailed behind him as we made our way to the side of the building, where the dumpster sat. As we neared the site of the fire, my steps dragged until I ended up stopping completely.

Mesmerized, I stared at the large smoldering metal bin, imagining the flickering flames as they surrendered to the force of the water the firemen had pumped into the dumpster. Then I made the mistake of shifting my eyes to the scorch marks on the library’s exterior stucco wall. A building I had inhabited while the dumpster was burning. Jesus.

An involuntary shiver ran through me as my legs liquefied. I forced myself to stay on my feet, though, rather than drooping like a wilting flower. I could handle this. I had to. But as rattled as my fragile nerves were, I couldn’t handle much more tonight.

Cowboy took a look inside the dumpster, shook his head, and then walked toward me. “Do you smoke?”

“No,” I replied, wondering why he would ask me such a weird question.

“Any clue how the fire started?” Cowboy asked, glaring at me strangely.

“Why are you asking me? You’re the fireman here.”

“Because, if memory serves, you were the last person anywhere near the dumpster before the fire started.”





Chapter Two


I gasped. “You think I started the dumpster fire?”

“Not intentionally, no.”

Offended by his insinuation, I gawked at him. “You’re accusing me of starting it by accident, though?”

He shook his head. “I’m not accusing you of anything. I’m just trying to figure out what happened, that’s all.” He pointed to the container. “When you took out the trash earlier, is this the dumpster you put it into?”

“Well, yes.”

“Was it on fire when you came outside?”

I crossed my arms and glared at him. “Of course not.”

“Did you see anyone out here? Anyone in the parking lot, maybe?”

“No, it was just…me.” My eyebrow rose. He can’t possibly think I…

Cowboy sighed in frustration. “Do you know what was in the trash bag you carried out?”

“Some half-eaten plates of food, used plastic cups, and stuff like that. It was left over from a board meeting earlier today. Nothing that would start a fire.”

“But you don’t know for sure?”

“Well, no…I…” The way he stared at me made me nervous, as if he really thought I started the blaze. “I didn’t do it,” I blurted out.

“Never said you did.”

“You didn’t have to.” The way he was looking at me said plenty. All I wanted was to get away from his suspicious glare. I sighed warily. “Look, if you’re done with me, I’d like to lock up and go home.”

“Sure, but I’ll need you to come down to the fire station first thing in the morning.”

He might as well have told me he needed me to wash his truck while I was there. “For what?” I asked.

“I’ll need to take down your statement.”

“That’s unnecessary. I can give you my statement now. In fact, I already did. It went something like this: I don’t know how the fire started.”

“By morning, you might recall some detail you forgot to mention or remember seeing something you aren’t thinking clearly about right now. It won’t hurt to go over everything one more time tomorrow so I can add it to the report.”

“This is silly. So I’m supposed to come down to the station to answer questions about a fire I know nothing about. All because you think I’m lying?”

“I didn’t say that, either.”

“To hear you tell it, Captain, you aren’t actually saying anything. But I somehow get the impression I’m being treated as a potential suspect.”

He frowned at me, breathing out a hard sigh. “Listen, it’s nothing personal. You’re new in town, and I don’t know a damn thing about you.”

And if I had my way, he never would.

“I just need you to come down to the station,” he repeated. “It won’t take long.”

“Why can’t you question me here, then?”

“Because I don’t have any of my reports with me. It’s my day off, remember? So if you’ll just swing by the station in the morning, I can—”

“And if I don’t?” I couldn’t have him looking into my background.

His jaw tightened and his eyes widened a little, as if he were surprised by my reluctance to cooperate. “I can always have the sheriff pick you up and question you at the police station if you’d like.” He grinned smugly as if daring me to try him. “That works for me, too.”

An erotic image of Cowboy standing over me, berating me, while I was bound in handcuffs flashed in my mind, and my mouth went dry. “Fine. I’ll be there tomorrow to answer the same stupid questions you’ve already asked me. But don’t expect my responses to change,” I said, turning to head back to the library entrance.