Page 12 of Controlled Burn
I’d met some fellow firefighters at The Spotted Dog. The bar was a popular hangout for first responders, plus they had the coldest beer in town. Jax was also assigned to Station 69. Fox used to be, but he’d left us about a year ago to work as an investigator for the fire marshal’s office. We’d been friends for years, though.
“Pretty good so far.” Jax stole a glance at me. “I mean, he’s no Chief Brooks, but he’s doing okay.”
“It’s okay, Jax. It was time for my dad to retire, and I think he’s going to do a great job.” I wasn’t just saying that, either. Of course, it helped that my dad had hand-picked Samuel to replace him.
“Yeah, he’s good people. I think y’all are gonna be fine,” Fox said.
“Another beer?” Dante asked from behind the bar.
I downed the rest of my first beer and pushed the empty bottle towards him. “I’ll have another one.”
“Me, too,” Fox and Jaxon both said at the same time.
“Coming right up, guys.” Dante turned and grabbed us three more beers. He hadn’t been working here long, but he was a sweet kid. He was cute, too, but his brother, Simon, was a paramedic at the Sixty-nine and that made him family.
“So, what’s up with you? We haven’t seen you around for a while.” Jaxon took the beer from Dante and turned to face Fox.
“Yeah, we’ve been busy. This new program the mayor put into place is keeping us running.”
“I heard about that,” Jaxon said. “Sounds like y’all are going to be doing a fire and safety inspection on every business in town.” He shook his head. “That’s a lot.”
“It is, and not all the businesses are happy about it. The goal is to have them all done by the end of the year, so we don’t have much time to do anything else. Between that and this arson investigation, I barely have time to sleep, much less to hang out with you losers.”
“Arson investigation?” I asked. “What’s that about?”
“Remember the fire in that big old white house on South Seventh?”
“You mean the witch house?” I asked with a chuckle. Everyone here in town was familiar with the witch house. Not that any witches actually lived in it. It had been empty for as long as I could remember, but at some point, someone decided it was spooky-looking and started calling it that.
“Yeah. We just assumed it was started by some kids playing around in there, or maybe a homeless person. But it looks like someone deliberately set it.”
“And you’re the one working the case?” Jaxon asked.
“I am. It isn’t my first investigation, but it’s my first arson case that I’m working solo.”
“You’ll figure it out,” I assured him.
He took a long drink of his beer and then let out a sigh. “Did you know that only about twenty percent of arson cases are solved each year?”
“I feel like I read that somewhere.”
“Right, so the odds aren’t in my favor. But I’m going to give it my best shot. When I’m not out inspecting local laundromats and clothing shops, that is. How about you two?”
“Not much from me,” Jaxon said. “That house I’m remodeling is almost done, so I’ll be looking for a renter for it before too long if y’all know anyone.”
“What does that make? Four?” Fox asked.
“Five, actually, if you count that first one that I ended up selling.”
Because our schedule gave us a lot of time off between shifts, most of the guys had second jobs or side hustles. Take the bar we sat in, for example. It was owned by a pair of firefighters who worked out of the Twenty-second. I didn’t have anything I did regularly, but I lent Jax a hand on occasion when he needed some extra muscle.
“Awesome. I’ll be sure and mention it if I hear of anyone.” Fox turned his attention to me. “And how about you, Brooks? Anything exciting going on?”
“Nothing really. I have the ceremony for my dad coming up, and I had to write a speech for that.”
“I haven’t seen you guys in three weeks. Don’t either of you have anything to tell me that isn’t work-related?” Fox said. “With this crazy schedule, I haven’t had time to have a life, so the least you could do is tell me something exciting that’s happening in yours.”
Jaxon shook his head. “Nope, nothing, sadly.”