Incandescent (10 page)

Gretchen sipped her iced coffee. “Mark and I
are going out for late-night breakfast after the show. Do you want
to go?”

Anna shook her head. “No thanks, I don’t want
to be out too long. I have a wedding to shoot tomorrow.”

She resisted several more invitations from
Gretchen, content with her sandwich and chips. She hoped the
various performers could distract her from thinking about Aaron. An
hour into the evening, she felt odd, as if someone were watching
her. She scanned the small crowd until her eyes met a pair of
familiar blue ones. Several tables over, Rand sat alone, his large
hand wrapped around a beverage. He waved at Anna. She raised a
timid hand and waggled her fingers.

Gretchen caught the motion and leaned back in
her chair, looking at Rand. “Ooh, looky there,” she said. “Your
secret high school crush.”

Anna pushed Gretchen back in her seat. “Quit
drooling. And quit being so obvious.”

It was Gretchen’s turn to pout. “Party
pooper.”

“He’s not my crush. I don’t know him well,”
Anna said.

Rand approached, and gave lie to her
words.

“Hi Anna,” he said. “Good to see you again.
How’s the class going?”

Gretchen raised an eyebrow and mumbled under
her breath. “Don’t know him well, huh?”

Anna bumped Gretchen’s knee with her own,
then turned to Rand. “Oh hi, there,” she said. “Class is fine.”

Gretchen invited him to sit. “We’re going to
be here for awhile,” she said. “My boyfriend is playing soon. Why
don’t you bring your drink and join us?”

Rand tilted his head to look at Anna, asking
permission. Once again, she was touched by his charming manners.
“Sure Rand, sit with us.”

Throughout the evening, he was engaging and
witty, at ease with Gretchen and Mark. He spoke with authority
about different types of speakers and electronic equipment,
impressing Mark.

Anna watched the interplay and couldn’t help
but compare Rand’s easygoing nature and his Norse-god good looks to
Aaron’s brooding intensity. Rand had a sweet smile, his eyes were
straightforward and blue, his blonde hair neat and stylish. Except
for long sideburns, he was clean shaven. He was the quintessential
boy-next-door.

She wondered what it would be like to kiss
him. Would he leave her breathless and excited, frustrated yet
wanting more, like Aaron?

Like a Norse god, there was something about
Rand that seemed distant. Untouchable, despite his low, pleasant
laugh. Anna wondered what kept him wound tight, like a spring.

While Anna studied Rand, he studied her. She
was calm and confident, content to sit back and enjoy the teasing,
sexy interplay between Gretchen and Mark.

Rand waited for his cue and knew he had it
when Anna stifled a yawn. He shoved his chair back, stood and
brushed the front of his black jeans. “Well, I’ll be heading out
now. I have to get up early tomorrow,” he said, pausing and looking
at Anna.

Grateful, she stood also. “Me, too,” she
said. “I’m working tomorrow, and I need to get my equipment
ready.”

Rand frowned. “You’re working on a
Saturday?”

“Sure am. It’s a wedding,” she said, before
turning to Mark and Gretchen. “I’ll see you later. Thanks for
inviting me.”

Despite the other couple’s protests, Anna and
Rand worked their way to the exit and into the night. The city was
quiet except for the thumping bass from a nightclub around the
corner.

“It was nice seeing you again, Rand,” she
said, saying goodbye. “Take care.”

Rand fell into step with her. “Where’s your
car? I’ll walk you to it,” he offered.

Anna stopped. “Thanks, but I didn’t drive.
I’m fine on my own,” she assured him.

He slipped a gentle hand under her elbow. “I
can’t let you walk home alone. Not in the dark and at this time of
night,” he said, a worried frown shadowing his face. “Please, let
me give you a lift.”

When Anna hesitated, he added, “I’ll let you
drive. We’ll put the top down.” He dangled the keys to his sporty
car in front of her. With assurance, he dropped them forcing Anna
to grab them in midair.

She laughed. “Okay. Just this once.”

She followed him around the corner and handed
him the keys. He unlocked it, opened her door and held it while she
slid behind the wheel, luxuriating in the comfort of the
butter-soft leather seat. The car smelled wonderful, like a new
toy. After he sat in the passenger seat, he put the keys into the
ignition and pressed a couple buttons. Electric windows receded.
The convertible roof folded into the rear window area.

Rand depressed a button on the dash and the
car’s engine roared to life. Anna leaned back in the seat.

“Don’t have to turn the key, eh?” she asked.
She adjusted her seat so she could reach the gas and brake pedals,
and rested her hand on the floor-mounted gear shift. “Ready?”

“Always,” he said, his expression
serious.

Anna put the transmission into drive,
checking over her shoulder for traffic before pulling onto the
road. Instead of turning onto Gretchen’s street, however, she
steered the car onto River Road. Her hair streamed behind her and
she laughed. She gave Rand a flirtatious look. “Do you mind taking
the long way?”

“Not at all,” he said, his crooked grin in
place.

Anna pressed on the gas pedal and the small
car surged down the highway. The city lights reflected off the
river, turning the black void into a sparkling ribbon. They drove
in silence for several minutes. Rand kept his attention on Anna,
admiring her beautiful profile and the brown, velvet curls whipping
her cheek. She lifted a hand and tucked her hair behind her
ear.

Rand reacted by raising the front windows.
Immediately, the wind died in the car. “It is a bit more
practical,” he said.

He studied her in the gloom, the muted glow
from the dashboard bathing her green dress and making the fabric
sparkle. With her shiny, brown hair and luminous eyes, she looked
like a fairy.

Anna flicked the signal and slowed into the
turn, pulling to a stop in front of Gretchen’s house. She slid the
gear shift into Park and left the motor running. Using the electric
switch on the side of the drivers’ seat, she slid it back to its
original position.

She angled her body towards Rand and smiled,
her teeth bright against red lips. “Thank you for the ride home. It
is a gorgeous car,” she said.

They both opened their doors at the same
time, but Rand slipped out and around the car to hold her door. He
left it half closed while he walked Anna to the front porch. He
stood on the sidewalk and waited while she fished the house key
from her small handbag. Anna was relieved he hadn’t walked her to
the door or tried to kiss her. She paused, studying his silhouette.
“Well, good night,” she said. “Thanks for bringing me home.”

He stood silent and still. For a moment, Anna
sensed his tension. The feeling passed when he raised a hand in
farewell and said, “Good night. I’ll talk to you later.”

He strolled back to the car and seconds
later, it sped away.

Chapter Eighteen

“Hey Dad, do you have a minute to talk?”
Aaron shifted his cell phone to his right ear and opened his
laptop.

In New York, Cooper West rose from the bed
and gave his wife the “okay” sign. She dropped back to her pillow
and pulled the covers to her chin. They were both used to Aaron’s
late-night calls. “Sure Son, what’s up?” He tucked the portable
house phone between his shoulder and ear as he pulled on a pair of
sweatpants and stepped into his house slippers. “A minute” with
Aaron always turned into at least ten, often twenty as the young
man worked through questions or problems with investigations.
Cooper tugged a T-shirt over his head, then slipped out of the
bedroom, letting his wife go back to sleep. He padded down the
hallway, pausing at his youngest daughter’s bedroom door to peek
in. She slept with the television playing. He continued down the
stairs to his small office and listened as Aaron rehashed his
current case. Settling at his desk, he booted his own computer and
logged into the national database he and his son were privy to as
fire fighters.

“Seems pretty straight forward to me,” he
said, minutes later. “So what’s bugging you?”

In his Pennsylvania motel room, Aaron leaned
back in the straight-back chair and rubbed his eyes. “That’s the
problem,” he said. “It’s too easy. Too pat. I’m worried I might be
missing something here.”

Cooper relaxed in his large office chair and
crossed his leg. It would be a long call. “Let’s go through the
checklist of an arson investigation and see where you stand,” he
said. “If you’ve missed something, maybe we’ll figure out it
together.”

For the next hour, the two men talked, took
notes, compared statistics and worked their way through a long list
of questions Aaron could ask.

“Sometimes, it’s all about perspective,”
Cooper said. “If you’re looking at the investigation as if it’s a
regular fire, it’s all you’ll see.”

“I’m not,” Aaron said. “At least I hope I’m
not. We have a major injury.”

He cringed at the word, remembering Anna’s
fierce protests and tears as she demanded he use Lacey Martin’s
name. “So, what you’re saying is treat this like a standard arson
investigation, though there’s no evidence to the contrary.”

“What is your gut telling you, Son?”

“Something is wrong. It’s too neat, as if
someone wrapped it with a bow,” he said. “Dad, there’s something
else. The victim had a roommate and I’ve been getting
sidetracked.”

Cooper waited several seconds before
responding. “Sidetracked how?”

“Eh, involved. Personally,” Aaron said.

“Are you sleeping with a person of
interest?”

“No, no,” Aaron said quickly. Not yet, at
least, he thought. “She’s not a suspect and I wouldn’t put her on
the list.”

“You want to,” Cooper said. “Sleep with her,
not put her on the list. Hmmm. It does make things a bit
stickier.”

“It’s nothing I can’t handle,” Aaron
said.

“Is she affecting your ability to
investigate?”

Aaron chuckled. “If anything, she’s kicking
my ass to make me work harder. She doesn’t accept the fire chief’s
report that the vic started the fire. I’m beginning to think maybe
she’s right.”

“You have a suspect?”

“Maybe. There was another person at the house
before the incident, but she left. I’m considering the possibility
she left candles burning in the downstairs bathroom. If so, she
must be filled with guilt. They were close friends. I don’t think
it was intentional.”

“And what does she say?”

“I haven’t interviewed her yet, but according
to the police report, she’s denying it,” Aaron said. “The women are
accusing the fire department of being lazy and looking for a
‘scapegoat.’”

“Are they right?”

Aaron considered the question. “Well, they’re
a small department and understaffed, like most. The younger guys
are on the ball, but I think the chief is counting the days until
he retires.”

“Seems to me, you know what you’ve got to do.
Pull out the file and redo all the interviews, research their
backgrounds until you have all the answers. Get the two of them
back at the site and redraw the scene. This time, listen to them
and consider the night from their perspective. Don’t assume
anything. If you do this by the book, you’ll see the
inconsistencies, if they exist. If there aren’t any, the family and
friends can accept your final report. If something is sticking in
their craw, find out what it is.”

Cooper had one final question. “This woman
you’ve been seeing,” he said, “is it serious?”

Aaron didn’t answer for a moment. “I don’t
know, Dad. I don’t know her well, but I’ve never felt this way
before.”

Cooper smiled into the darkness.

Chapter Nineteen

The next morning, Aaron rang the front door
bell. Anna was in the bathroom, drying her hair when she heard the
chime. Carrying her brush as a weapon, she approached the door with
caution. “Who’s there?”

She saw a shadow and jerked back.

“It’s me, Anna. Marshall Tahir. Can you open
the door, please?”

She turned the latch, sliding the bolt and
the door swung inwards. She stared at the man, showered and shaved,
wearing a pressed white uniform shirt and a pair of black dress
pants. “Wow, you look official,” she said.

“That’s the plan,” he said. “I’d like to
speak with you and Gretchen about the fire. I’d like your help, if
you don’t mind.”

She blinked. “Our help? What do you mean?
We’ve been helping.”

Aaron raised a palm. “Yes, but I have more
questions.” He noticed a neighbor gawking at him. “May I come in,
please?”

“Sure, for a few minutes. I’m on my way out,”
she said.

He leaned against the doorway. “Where are you
going?”

Anna flipped her damp hair into a ponytail
and slid a band around it. She flipped it again and secured it with
a second band, forming a bun at the back of her head. With the
bathroom door open, she leaned over the antique pedestal sink
toward the mirror. She drew Kohl lines around her eyes and swiped
her long lashes with mascara. She raised her eyes and met Aaron’s
as he stared over her shoulder. “I’m working this morning,” she
said, dropping the mascara and selecting lip gloss. She ran the
spongy wand over her mouth, then squeezed her lips in a pout to
make sure the gloss filled all the gaps. “I’m shooting a
wedding.”

Aaron’s head jerked. “You’re what?”

She chuckled, realizing the effect her
photographer’s slang had on most people. “Shooting, as in taking
photos of the bride and groom.”