Page 92 of Controlled Burn

“Well, we’d love to have you around more often. Robert mentioned you were planning to call me. Did you have questions for me?”

“Oh yeah, I got a ton of questions. Is now good?”

“I don’t have anything else to do.”

He had me walk him through what happened that day, and when I got to the part where I thought I heard the dog, he stopped me.

“So you didn’t see or hear anyone else in the building, just the dog.”

“Right. He was tied up to one of the old dresser handles. At first, I figured he belonged to someone who was squatting at the hotel, but I didn’t see any signs that anyone had been there. Just the dog.”

“Okay.” He jotted something down. “And when you started over towards him, did you walk straight across the floor to him?”

I had to stop and think about that one. “No, I thought I saw something off to the side, so I went over to check it out, you know, to make sure it wasn’t a person. It was just an old chair that was on its side. So then I went to get the dog. Why?”

“Because you didn’t just fall through that ceiling, Keith, those boards had been cut.”

“Like purposefully cut? How can you be sure?”

“Have you been by there?” he asked.

“I haven’t. Hell, today’s the first day Caleb let me leave the house. This really shook him up.”

“I’m sure it did, and I don’t know if what I’m about to tell you will make him feel much better. The front of the building caved in that morning. Captain Morris was right to call that retreat. But they managed to get the fire out before the back half fell. So the room you were in is still intact. We were able to see where they’d cut a hole in the floor and then wedged it back in so it would look secure.”

“Like a trap door or something?”

“Well, like a trap, anyway. We think they placed the dog there in the hopes that someone would try to rescue the dog.”

“Because there would be no reason to go into the room without the dog being there. So basically, they used him as bait to lure me into a trap.”

“Not you specifically. They had no way of knowing who would be there, so I don’t think you were the target specifically. Anyone could have tried to save the dog.”

“But odds were, it would be a firefighter,” Samuel said gravely.

“Fuck.” I instinctively reached down and rubbed my injured leg.

“Exactly,” Samuel agreed.

“We’ll need the dog’s collar if you still have it,” Fox said.

“I’ll check with Caleb. I know he bought him all new stuff, so I don’t know if he tossed it or not.”

“Just let me know. It probably doesn’t matter. The leash was a generic red leash that’s sold at pretty much any store that carries pet supplies. I’m guessing the collar is the same. We also have calls out to all the shelters to see if anyone can ID the dog. He had to come from somewhere.”

He wasn’t wrong; the dog had to come from somewhere. I just hoped it didn’t turn out that he’d been taken from someone’s yard. If he was, we’d have to give him back, and that would break Caleb’s heart.

“Do you think this is connected to the other arsons you’re investigating?”

“I can’t be sure. There are some similarities. The biggest one is that all the buildings have been vacant. But I think it is. Anyway”—he stood up and stretched his shoulders—“you were the last one I needed to talk to, so I need to get going. If you think of anything else I need to know, you have my number.”

I sat there for a second, thinking over everything he’d said. There was an arsonist out there who was, possibly, targeting firefighters. Like this job wasn’t dangerous enough. Caleb said he was okay with my job now that the accident had shown him that he was strong enough to handle it. But what if it wasn’t an accident at all? I couldn’t put him through that again. There was no way.

Samuel sat behind his desk, watching me. I took a deep breath and did the one thing I knew would make sure my boy didn’t have to worry if I would come home ever again.

“Is that position in Community Relations still open?”

Caleb