Page 60 of Sizzle
“It’s not quite that easy,” Isabella started, but nope. No way. This guy was compulsively setting fire to entire buildings. Of course he’d been there, at the scene—Sam hadseenhim. And if he’d stayed to watch his actions play out rather than running like they’d thought, then he knew Sam and Lucy had interfered with his plans to burn the warehouse down. For fuck’s sake, he’d targeted Lucy specifically by fire-bombing her SUV. He clearly wanted to scare her. Or punish her. Or both.
The thought made Sam’s patience redline. “It’s also not that hard,” he said, making Isabella’s dark brows shoot upward. But he was past caring about things like decorum. “Lucy being the target of last night’s fire is obviously not a coincidence. This guy knows who she is. And if he’s pissed enough to set fire to her car because she and I went into that warehouse, then he’s capable of worse.”
Isabella didn’t budge. “I get that, Faurier, but it’s not like I can wave a magic wand and bring this guy out of the woodwork. It’s going to take some time to shake this out.”
But Sam didn’t budge, either. Not on this. “And meanwhile, what? We just wait until he sets fire to Lucy’s apartment, too?”
“Okay,” Dallas said with the unfailing calm he’d always possessed, even when things went completely pear-shaped—i.e., now. “I know tensions are running high right now, and that’s valid. This case is serious. No one is denying that. But we’re on the same side, here, so let’s all take a breath so we can figure this out.”
An argument sprang to Sam’s tongue, locked and loaded and ready to launch. But then he caught the fear flickering beneath Lucy’s brave, serious stare, her hand right there next to his on the love seat, clutched tight, and he didn’t even think. He took a long, deep breath, then slid his pinky finger close enough to brush her wrist. They might need action—and, okay, a serious plan to take this guy down—but Dallas was right. They were on the same side, and above all, Sam needed to have Lucy’s back.
Even if it meant curbing his impulse to immediately search every nook of the city until he found whoever wanted to hurt her.
Dallas looked at Sam, then Lucy, his expression serious. “If whoever set the warehouse fire saw the two of you go in and thwart his plan, that definitely would’ve upset him. We’re talking about someone with a serious psychological compulsion to burn things to the ground. I’m not saying he’d definitely be upset enough to try and harm either of you directly,” Dallas added, now shifting his stare to Isabella, “his compulsion is to set fires above everything else. But we’re not dealing with a rational person, either. So Faurier’s claim that this is the same guy who set the warehouse fire and that he chose Lucy’s SUV on purpose tracks.”
“I agree,” Isabella said. “And believe me, I want to catch him as badly as all of you.Especiallyif he went after Lucy.” She reached across the space between the love seats to squeeze Lucy’s hand, her eyes resting there for only a beat before she got back to business. “Unfortunately, until we catch a break, we don’t have a lot to go on.”
“Can we widen the search to other jurisdictions?” Lucy asked, because of course her brain was ticking through a list of logical options to create a solution. “Or go back farther in the database to look for crimes that match?”
To Sam’s relief, Isabella said, “Yes and yes. I’m going to message Capelli and have him expand the search, and we’ve got a contact at the FBI who I’m sure Garza could talk into taking a look through their national database for anything that stands out.”
“Kai Roman?” Lucy asked, and okay, now they were getting somewhere. Sam didn’t know Roman all that well—the guy wasn’t exactly a social butterfly. But he was engaged to Garza’s younger sister, Camila, and Sam had heard some wild stories about cases they’d (begrudgingly) worked together in the past—including one that had saved Camila’s life—so he knew Roman was legit.
Isabella nodded. “Yes. Cases involving pyromania are pretty rare, even if fire crimes like arson are less so. It’ll be good to get extra eyes on it.”
“I can go through some case files on the RFD side, too,” Dallas offered, and Sam knew he’d always liked this guy. “See if there are any cold cases or similarities that Nat’s unit has investigated that never made it to the RPD database.”
“We can help,” Sam said, gesturing to Lucy, who nodded her agreement. The faster they caught this guy, the faster Lucy would be safe.
But the look on Isabella’s face was more stern than enthusiastic. “You’re going to have to do it while you keep averylow profile,” she said. “Now that we’re searching multiple databases and going farther back in time, it’s going to take longer to sort through everything we find. Never mind tracking our guy down once we do get a solid line on his identity, then linking him to the fires.”
Sam’s stomach clenched. “Define ‘longer’.”
“I could if I had a crystal ball,” she said with both brows arched, and okay, he probably deserved that one.
“Sorry,” he muttered, but Isabella surprised him by softening.
“Don’t be. Waiting, especially when there’s a really dangerous criminal out there who could strike again at any time, is frustrating as hell. But the reality is that the only place a process like this takes a day or two is on TV. The good news is, my unit is on this, and so is the RFD. This guy can’t hide forever. In the meantime, though, since it does seem like Lucy was specifically targeted by this guy, we’re going to have to take some precautions to keep the two of you safe.”
“What kind of precautions?” Lucy asked warily.
“Don’t worry, we’re not going to put you on lockdown or anything,” Isabella said, making Lucy visibly relax. “But Sam is right. Someone set fire to your SUV last night, and given what we’re starting to uncover about this guy’s motivations, I’m sure Sinclair is going to want some patrol check-ins and added security on both of you apartments and Sam’s Jeep, plus whatever vehicle you replace your SUV with, Lucy.”
“But we can still work the case,” Sam said-slash-asked. Being benched—again—would send him over the edge. He neededsomewhereto send all of these thoughts crowding through his brain.
Isabella lifted her brows at Dallas in a nonverbal “what do you think?” and he nodded. Thank fuck.
“We’re dealing with a pyromaniac. Yes, he’s probably upset that his plans to burn the warehouse down didn’t come to full fruition, and yes, he seems to be escalating, which means he’s not very stable. But his number-one compulsion is to set fires, like he did last night, and he can’t do that if he gets caught.”
Hope unfolded in Sam’s chest. “So, you think he’ll lie low for a bit now that he set fire to Lucy’s car?”
Dallas considered this. “I think it’s smart to be vigilant, and increased security isn’t a bad thing—for the two of you and across the RFD in general—but I also think heknowswe’ll be vigilant now. That bodes well for both Lucy’s and your safety.”
“That doesn’t answer the question, though,” Lucy said, not unkindly, and Dallas let go of a soft laugh.
“Fair enough. While I think he’s smart enough to realize he’s got to be careful now more than ever, I’m not sure if his condition will let him lie low. Not when it comes to setting fires, anyway.”
“So, he might not go after me or Sam, but he could start another large fire somewhere that might harm a lot of people,” Lucy said, her eyes wide and her voice deathly serious as she added, “including the firefighters who try to stop whatever fires he sets.”