I needed another beer.
Or four.
Six beers later, I noticed Hal Walker with a group of teens by one of the fire pits in the park. The kids were trying to figure out how to start a fire, and it was turning into quite the comical scene. I wondered if I should give the fire chief a heads-up that there were unaccompanied minors fucking around with the fire pits.
“Not on active duty,” I mumbled. “Not my job. None of my business.”
Stevie spoke up from right beside me, and I startled. “You and your boyfriend both talk to yourselves out loud. It’s kind of adorable.”
“Who? Seth?” I asked, like an idiot.
“No, Jimbo Callahan,” he said with a straight face.
It wasn’t until I racked my brain to place the name that I realized I’d had too many beers. “Don’t know the guy.”
“Really? Because he said you’re fantastic in the sack. Shame.”
“Huh?” The guy was confusing as hell. “I never dated a guy named Jimbo Callahan. I’ve never dated any guy whose name wasn’t Seth Walker. And I don’t plan to either.”
Suddenly, there was a hush around us, and I realized I’d said that louder than I’d intended. Sure enough, a big chorus of awwws came next. I rolled my eyes. “It’s not a secret,” I huffed. “I’d post it on a billboard if it wasn’t already so damned obvious.”
Nico’s arm came around my shoulders. “Aww, a lovey-dovey drunk. Those are my favorite kind.”
“He’s very handsome, don’t you think?” I asked him. “Seth, I mean. Not Jimbo.”
Nico’s lips tightened, and I got the feeling he was trying to hold back a laugh. “Oh, I don’t know. Don’t knock Jimbo till you’ve tried him. But yes, Sheriff Walker is mighty fine.”
Something about that rubbed me the wrong way. “Shut the fuck up with your mouth. He’s mine. Hands and eyes off.”
My siblings and friends began laughing. Sassy’s eyes lit with merriment. “Big brother, no one’s trying to horn in on your man. Nico has his own Wilde child.”
“I’d like to horn in on my man,” I grumbled.
“That makes two of us,” Stevie said with an exaggerated sigh. He dropped his chin into his hand and batted his eyelashes. The fucker was messing with me.
Sassy’s laugh got louder. “Careful, Stevie, that growling sound can’t be a good sign.”
“Someone get him another beer,” West said.
“Where is Walker tonight?” someone asked.
I shrugged since I hadn’t heard from the man all day, but Stevie was apparently privy to information I didn’t have.
“He has Tisha tonight.”
I swung my head around and regretted it. “Who says? How do you know?”
“It’s Thursday. Doesn’t he have her every Thursday night?”
“Oh, right. I’ve lost track of the days of the week.”
Sassy scooted closer and linked her arm through mine, resting her head on my shoulder and offering me some love. “Do you want me to drop you off at the lake house on the way home?”
I thought about slipping into cool sheets in Walker’s dark bedroom and feeling his bare skin against mine. I swallowed and nodded, feeling a lump in my throat and an overwhelming sense of longing.
“Please.”
And that’s what would have happened, if I hadn’t stood up right then to go to the facilities building and passed by the group of teenagers right as Hal Walker showed all of his friends how to make a toilet-paper-roll fire starter.
When I woke up the next morning alone in my own bed with no one but Fire Kitten for company, the events of the previous day washed over me and reminded me that I’d accidentally stumbled upon a clue the night before. Either Hal had learned the toilet roll trick from his father, or Hal was the one who’d started the fires.
Either way, if one of them was responsible for the fires, Seth would be devastated.
He’d already lost one brother; I couldn’t imagine him watching the other one go to jail, even if only for a couple of years. Plus, knowing Seth, he’d try to take responsibility for supporting Beth and the kids while John was gone.
But if it was Hal? That would gut him even more. Working in law enforcement had put him up close and personal with the reality of what starting your life with a criminal record can do to a kid. Even if the record is sealed, being in the system at a young age can seriously limit opportunities from there on out.
I couldn’t… wouldn’t be responsible for pointing the finger at either of the Walkers for the arsons, even if that meant allowing the suspicion to remain on me.
The bigger problem was keeping my suspicions from Seth. He always knew when I was lying, and he also knew I didn’t commit these crimes. So it stood to reason he was going to get antsy if the focus of the investigation remained on me. I wondered if maybe I needed to lay low.