What Burns Within (12 page)

After a cursory glance he straightened up, sighed and ran his fingers over his hair as he let the door fall shut.
Back to
your old habits already. And you’d better cut your hair before Dad
says something
.

He turned to the counter and pulled out the phone book, looking for the name of the good Greek restaurant he’d found that delivered.

Tain coughed. “How can you stand working these fires? This air is toxic.”

“Bit like kissing a smoker.”

“You mean licking an ashtray.”

Ashlyn wrinkled her nose at him. “Spare me the details, Tain.”

“I don’t know how they can stand it.”

“Doubt it bothers the smokers at all.”

He glared at her. “I meant the firefighters.”

“That’s what they have a breathing apparatus for. And that’s why they try to keep civilians back.”

They watched as a firefighter climbed a ladder to the building and tried to take out a window. As the pane gave way, smoke shot out, and then the firefighter disappeared inside the building.

“Give me a good old-fashioned criminal with a gun or a machete any day,” Tain said.

Ashlyn tried to suppress her desire to laugh and failed. Finally she managed to sputter out one word: “Wimp.”

“Call it heightened self-preservation. You have to be wired wrong to want to run into a building that’s engulfed in flames.”

“And it’s perfectly normal to chase wanted criminals down dark alleys, knowing they have a weapon and aren’t afraid to use it?”

He shrugged. “It’s still better odds. So what do you do when you get called to these? Besides provide the entertainment.”

She felt her eyebrow arch as she folded her arms and glared at him. Even under the streaks of soot on his face she could tell his cheeks paled.

“Well, let’s just put it this way, Ashlyn. The boys seem to like having you around.”

She almost smiled as she rolled her eyes. “Jealous?”

“Why? You sleeping with one of them?”

Her retort caught in her throat, and she coughed. “Even if I was, it would be none of your business.” Her gaze fell on a group of men standing by the pumper truck. They quickly averted their eyes when they saw her looking at them.

“There isn’t much I can do while they’re fighting the fire, obviously. They actually have teams that come in after the fire is out and do a complete evaluation, check for accelerants, survey the area for evidence. The insurance companies swarm over the area too, hoping they can find ways to mitigate their liability. I get a stack of reports to go through, look for witnesses, and once it’s confirmed as an arson, I sift through the evidence and hopefully come up with a lead.”

“If the bulk of your work happens after the fact, why do you come to the scene?”

“You really don’t get it, do you?”

“What? You want to distract these upstanding fellows from their work?”

Ashlyn fought the urge to smack him. “No. A high percentage of arsonists are firefighters.”

“I always thought that was a myth.”

“Why?”

“Isn’t it like saying that a high percentage of criminals are police officers?” Tain shrugged. “Okay, we both know that some police officers are crooked. We both know it firsthand. It just seemed like a simplistic way of excusing the fact that there’s a low closure rate for arson cases.”

“That’s because arsonists are exceptionally difficult to profile. I mean, there’s your standard insurance fraud. That’s usually easy enough to prove, or at least certify in your mind, even if you don’t have the evidence for a solid case. Particularly if the person torches the place themselves. They have a better chance of getting away with it if they hire a professional to do the job, but then, if they hire someone, they risk leaving a trail. It’s never foolproof.

“These cases, though, you have to try to figure out what’s motivating this guy, why he chooses these buildings. There might not even be a reason. It could be just as simple as spotting an empty building and having the stuff he needs on hand.”

Tain frowned. “So the strategy here is to have you spend as much time with the fire department as possible, see if you can work your way in.”

She shook her head. “No. I’m supposed to keep my eyes open for anyone suspicious. The main reason for being here is to observe.”

“How many fires are there that seem connected?”

“This makes six. The first one was June fourteenth. Then July eighth, and Robinson was still working the cases when they found Julie Darrens’s body on July twenty-fifth. I started working these cases the next day. I was supposed to partner with Robinson, and then when they found that girl, he dealt with her and the officers from Burnaby, and then he died. Now the case is all mine.”

“So you haven’t been at it for long.”

“Long enough to feel like I’m spinning my wheels.”

“Do you think this fire connects to the one from yesterday?”

Ashlyn shrugged and shook her head. “I don’t know. Unless there are a number of other fires we haven’t picked up on, this guy has never done two back to back. But Quinlan said there’s an angel.”

“It could be the media coverage. Maybe this guy realizes he’s struck a nerve and he hasn’t held Taylor as long as he did Julie and Isabella.”

She felt her face lengthen. “I hope you’re wrong.”

They stood, watching the flames engulf the structure before them, the ground shaking as something exploded on the far side of the building, and a thick column of smoke shot out a window.

“Do you ever think about it, about finding that girl?”

Ashlyn blinked and coughed, turning her head away from Tain. She felt his hand on her shoulder, the gentle squeeze before he pulled his arm back.

“I’m sorry.” His face portrayed a rare, sober expression, no hint of amusement in his eyes.

“It’s okay.”

“I think about her all the time now, with these girls going missing.”

They stood in silence watching the fire burst through the roof, hearing orders called out to retreat from one end of the building, until the ringing of Tain’s cell phone cut into their thoughts.

Craig lifted the receiver. “Hello?”

“Wonders never cease. You actually did as you were told.”

“Or so you think. I could be using call forwarding and actually be talking on my cell phone, still stuck in the station.” Craig smiled at the silence as his dad hesitated. “I’m not. But I could be.”

“Craig Nolan…”

“Why do you always pull out my full name when you’re annoyed? Is that in a parenting manual somewhere?”

“Actually, I just know you don’t like it.”

Craig rubbed his forehead. “Would it be incredibly rude of me to ask what you want?”

“Yes, it would.”

“You don’t have to check up on me, you know.”

“I’m not,” Daly said. “It’s just that Alison is still bugging me to pin you down for a date to have dinner.”

“Tell her when the tyrant I work for gives me a day off I’d be happy to come over.”

“Actually, she wants to come to your place.”

“Wow, that’s presumptuous. Invite yourself over and expect me to cook?”

“Be serious. I would bet a week’s pay right now that there aren’t more than five things in your fridge and that half your cupboards are empty.”

Craig didn’t deny that. Daly continued. “Alison just wants to have a little house-warming dinner for you. She’s promised to cook, clean and deal with the guest list.”

Guests? Craig rubbed his forehead. “Fine, what ever. How does Tuesday sound?”

“Good. I’ll let her know. You and Lori seemed to be getting along a bit better today.”

Craig sighed. “I thought you wanted me to take the evening off, Daly.” It was his way of dropping a hint. Revert to the work labels.

“Right, fine. I’ll see you in the morning.”

Craig hung up the phone and leaned against the counter, staring out the window.

Grass. Damn. I need to get a lawn mower too
.

He started rifling through half-empty drawers, looking for a pen and paper to make a list.

Tain held up his ID and gestured to Ashlyn. “Tain and Hart. What the hell happened?” he asked the officer.

“A complete fuck-up. Everybody’s pointing the finger at everyone else.”

Several officers were trying to deal with a group of people standing outside Southside Recreation and Fitness Center. Even from across the parking lot the sharp edge of the voices resonated clearly, although Tain couldn’t quite make out what was being said.

“Just give us the big picture,” Tain told the officer.

“The girl came here with a church group at six pm. Some sort of youth activity night or something. There are fifteen kids with the group and six adult volunteers.”

“That’s a pretty good ratio,” Ashlyn said. “Licensed day cares don’t offer that much supervision.”

“Yeah, but day cares have legal guidelines governing them. Youth groups with volunteer supervisors don’t. The last female supervisor went through the shower area, promised she’d wait at the door. She watched the other girls go to the pool, but they were clustered together in a group. The volunteer, Joanne Anderson, said she tried to do a quick count of the girls and counted nine. She thought all the kids were there. Wasn’t until one of the other volunteers asked where Lindsay was that they called the kids together, did a recount, came up a child short and started looking for her.”

“And they were still missing Lindsay.” Ashlyn glanced at Tain.

“Joanne and one of the other volunteers, Gabby Fry, went back into the change room, checked everywhere and then went through to the front desk. The staff at the desk said they hadn’t seen the girl.”

“Who called it in?” Ashlyn asked.

“The manager.”

“How long did it take for officers to get on scene?” Tain asked.

“My partner and I were the first to respond. We were here in less than three minutes. We went in, took a preliminary statement and called for backup. There are two main entrances, one to the pool and gym facilities, one by the skating rink. There are also six fire escapes. There was no way we could contain the building on our own.”

“And you aren’t holding back any good news here?”

The constable, whose ID read Ogilvy, shook his head. “Sorry. We didn’t see anything suspicious, and we realized pretty quick that whoever grabbed the girl likely went out a faulty fire exit in the back, past the change rooms. The door alarm wouldn’t have triggered.”

Tain looked at Ashlyn. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

She nodded. “Where’s the manager? I’ll get a membership list. You,” she patted Tain on the arm, “can wow the rowdy crowd with your powers of diplomatic persuasion.”