Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 102016 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 510(@200wpm)___ 408(@250wpm)___ 340(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102016 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 510(@200wpm)___ 408(@250wpm)___ 340(@300wpm)
My chest loosens at her reassurance, and I smile over at her. “Thanks, kitten.”
“Of course.”
Ten minutes after I drop the girls off at home, I’m headed back out and up to the resort. The police have already done a good job of blocking off traffic up the mountain to anyone but first responders, and there’s been a steady stream of civilian traffic coming down.
It’s bad enough to evacuate.
“Shit,” I mutter, and once I’m on the scene, I park and hurry over to where Rhodes, the chief of police, is, along with some of my senior guys. “What have we got?”
I can see the smoke and some of the flames coming up from the Snow Ghost, but then another fire catches my eye, and I realize that the condos are on fire, as well.
“We have four individual blazes,” Jones says, pointing. “The pub, the condos, the main lodge, and the ski rental cabin.”
“Fuck,” I growl.
“We have surrounding area teams on the way,” Rhodes says. “My guys are evacuating everyone, not just the condos and the lodge, but also the surrounding homes, just in case this gets out of hand.”
“Excellent.” I nod at him and turn to Jones. “Let’s get these fires out.”
Suddenly, there’s an explosion that makes my ears ring and my chest tighten.
“Gas stove in the pub,” someone says. “Had to be.”
“Get those lines shut off,” I yell, and run off to do my job. The fire is loud and spreading too fast. The smoke is thick, making it hard to see well, and I pull on my mask so I don’t inhale too much soot.
The motherfucker wanted the entire village to go up in flames, and he might get his goddamn wish.
For the next few hours, we work fast. More engines and crews show up to help us, spreading out over the entire resort to make sure the fires don’t spread to nearby homes and other buildings. The fires have been too hot for us to get inside, but we have tall ladders that can shoot the water from above, and that seems to be the most effective, particularly on Snow Ghost Pub.
“We need medical,” I hear in my radio and feel my chest tighten. “Northeast corner of the condos, near run three.”
“One of us?” I ask.
“No, I think we just found the goddamn arsonist.”
I take off at a sprint. I’m at least a half a mile from there, but it’ll be faster to run through the plowed parking lot than to weave my vehicle through, and it would just be in the way.
I’m shouting orders in my radio, calling for an ambulance and police presence, and when I turn the corner and take in the scene before me, nausea rolls through me.
“Jesus Christ, warn a guy.”
“I didn’t want to say this on the goddamn radio,” Martinez says, shaking his head. “He’s bleeding fast.”
Martinez and I jump into action, stopping the blood pouring from his leg. He probably nicked the artery, and if we don’t staunch the bleeding, he’ll die before we get him into an ambulance.
“Damon Evans.” Martinez shakes his head as we work on him. “The guy who applies for a job with us every fucking quarter, is passed up, but keeps coming back. This motherfucker has been torching our town.”
“Made everyone pay,” Evans whispers. “Passed me up, but I’ll make them pay.”
“Shut up,” Martinez says. “Or I’ll let you bleed.”
“Go for a walk.” I shove Martinez out of the way as more medics approach. “Go. Clear your head.”
He doesn’t argue with me, and I can’t blame him for his outburst. I’m fucking pissed as hell, but we have a job to do.
“It’s because of you that I’m missing the rest of my Thanksgiving with my family,” I tell him, and watch as he smirks. “You think that’s funny?”
“Should’ve given me a fucking job.”
I lean in so only he can hear me. “You weren’t good enough for this job. You’re a fuckup, Damon. You couldn’t pass the physical tests, and you couldn’t pass the psych. No matter how many times you applied, you were never going to be chosen.”
“You’re a motherfucking asshole,” he growls.
“Yeah, but I haven’t tried to torch my whole town.”
“I should have set your house on fire,” he spits out. “I was going there next, and then I had to fall and get fucking caught.”
What the actual fuck? Did he seriously just threaten to hurt my family? I want to put a fist through this guy’s face, but I rein in my anger.
We’ve caught him.
The girls aren’t in danger.
This madman will be put away and won’t be able to harm anyone else.
We’ve got him.
“I think you should stop fucking talking right about now, asshole.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
DANI
“I’m gonna need a dumpster brought in for all of this junk.” I blow out a breath, eyeing my kitchen. Almost everything I have is old, second or third hand-me-downs, and Bridger has nicer stuff than I do, so I don’t really have to take any of this over there.