Chapter Four

Cullen

A WEEK LATER, I hadn’t slept well, so rather than trying to go back to bed, I poured myself a cup of coffee to go and headed out to my truck. It was early, which meant it was still dark.

I drove to the job site and pulled up to the curb. I don’t know how long I sat there drinking my coffee, but it was long enough for the sun to fully rise, and yet I sat. I didn’t know why, I guess I just figured if I sat staring at the carnage long enough, I might see something.

A knock on my window had me letting out a series of curses.

I scowled, rolling down my window. “Lieutenant.”

“You’re not supposed to be here, Mr. Wallace.”

“I have not left my truck.”

“I know. I got here shortly before you did,” she said.

I frowned. “How’d I miss that?”

“I’m in my personal car, not an official vehicle.”

I opened my door and stepped out, taking in her appearance. She was also in civilian clothes, and Jesus, she was pretty. Skinny jeans, tall black boots, and a fitted long-sleeved T-shirt. It was V-necked and showed off her curves. “You figured anything out yet?”

“I know it’s arson, but outside of that, I cannot discuss the case with you.”

I dragged my hands down my face. “We did not do this, Lieutenant. I have gone through every step in my mind with the wiring—”

“It wasn’t the wiring.”

I narrowed my eyes. “What was it, then?”

“I can’t discuss—”

“So you’ve said, but you’ve just admitted it wasn’t the wiring, so which is it, Helena?” I crossed my arms. “You can’t discuss it, or it wasn’t the wiring?”

She sighed. “I spoke out of turn, Mr. Wallace, I apologize.”

“Cullen,” I corrected.

“No, I think I’ll continue to call you Mr. Wallace for now.”

“Is the evidence pointing to me and my brothers?”

“I cannot talk to you about this.”

“You can tell me if we’re in real trouble here,” I countered. “Tell me if we need to prepare. Tell me if we need to get a lawyer. Tell me something .”

“I really wish I could.”

I cocked my head and studied her. “What can you tell me?”

“Not much, honestly, but I was actually going to call you in for an official interview.”

“Is there any reason why we can’t do that now?”

“No, I suppose not.” She glanced around. “But not here.”

“You want privacy I’m guessing?”

“Yes.”

“Right.” I nodded. “You wanna ride with me or follow?”

“I’ll follow.”

“Okay,” I said, climbing back into my truck and starting the engine.

* * *

Helena

I followed Cullen down Lakeshore and to a gorgeous home overlooking the water, pulling up beside his truck in front of the three-car garage. “Is it okay to park here?” I asked, as I slid out.

He nodded. “You’re good.”

I noticed men on ladders working on the home, replacing siding, and others painting.

Cullen led me to the front door and unlocked it, pushing it open, then waiting for me to precede him in. He met my eyes when I hesitated. “You’ll be safe here, Lieutenant. I’ve got several employees within shouting distance, and my brothers know we’re here, but it’s private enough for us to have a conversation without being overheard.”

“You think I’m hesitating because I feel unsafe?”

“Aren’t you?”

I did not feel unsafe. Not even a little. What I felt was horny. So much so, I wanted to peel him out of his tool belt and see what he could do with his hammer, but there was no way in hell I was about to say that out loud.

“Uh, no.” I let out a quiet snort. “Oh, sorry, that was inappropriate.”

He raised an eyebrow in question, but rather than satisfying his curiosity, I smiled and stepped past him into the foyer.

And immediately froze.

“You okay?” he asked.

“This place is amazing,” I breathed out.

The two-story foyer had a staircase to the left that led to the second level, but the real showstopper was direct eyeline to the water.

“Yeah, I think so.”

“Whose is it?”

“Mine.”

I glanced up at him, then back at the water. “Yours?”

“Yeah. It came on the market about a year ago. Elderly woman died, left no family, went into probate, then to auction. Couldn’t turn down the chance. Great bones but in bad shape,” he explained as he led me into the great room. “I have been restoring it for the last six months in my spare time.”

“Great bones, indeed,” I breathed out, taking in the exposed beams, albeit not much else.

Cullen waved his hands toward the enclosed back porch. “You wanna head out back? I have a couple of chairs and a table out there.”

“Considering your interior is pretty much gutted, that’s probably a good idea.”

I followed him outside and the second I stepped into the porch I realized there was a deck that wrapped the back of the home giving a panoramic view of the Columbia River. “Holy cow,” I exclaimed.

“You see why I had to buy it, huh?”

“Well, yeah,” I said.

“I plan to put a hot tub out there,” he said, pointing to the corner of the deck, “Cover it, and add a gas fire pit, a tiki bar, an outdoor shower with access to a mudroom, a bathroom, and…”

“And…?” I prodded, hanging on every word that came out of his sexy mouth. His voice was like silk, and I swear, I could listen to him read the phone book.

“ And you don’t want to hear what I’m doin’ to my house,” he said. “You want to ask me some questions about our jobsite.” He waved to a chair facing the water. “Have a seat, Lieutenant.”

I took the chair, but reluctantly, because the truth was, I did want to hear what he was doing to his house. It was beautiful and it was obvious he took pride in his work, which was the absolute opposite of someone who would burn down homes they’d put so much effort into making beautiful. Cullen Wallace wasn’t just a contractor, he was an artist.

He sat in the chair beside me, the small round table between us and turned to face me. I studied him for a few seconds and before I could stop myself, blurted, “You didn’t do this, did you?”

“I did not.”

“Evidence points to one of you, Cullen, so I have to follow the trail.”

He dragged his hands down his face and let out a frustrated groan. “This is bullshit, Helena. None of us would ever do that. I get you have a job to do, but you have to make sure you don’t form some kind of tunnel vision when it comes to me and my brothers.”

“I would never do that.”

“And you want me to believe you just as much as I want you to believe me.”

I nodded. “It seems we’re at an impasse.”

“We don’t need to be,” he said.

“How so?” I asked.

“Let me help.”

“If I let you anywhere near this, I could lose my job.”

“No one needs to know.”

I cocked my head. “You’re telling me that you could keep something as monumental as helping me investigate this from your brothers?”

“Yes.”

“Even if it leads to one of your brothers being found guilty?”

He nodded. “Yes.”

I sighed. “I don’t think I can take that chance, Cullen.”

“Do you have siblings?” he asked.

I nodded. “A sister.”

“If she broke the law, what would you do?”

I met his eyes. “Make sure she actually did the crime, then get her the best attorney on the planet.”

“Would you turn her in?”

“Honestly? Probably not. But I wouldn’t lie for her. And I wouldn’t impede justice. I just wouldn’t offer her up as a sacrifice.”

Cullen gave me a slight smile. “That’s awfully honest, Lieutenant.”

“I love my sister more than anyone on the planet. She’s my ride or die. So, I would protect her, but I wouldn’t put someone else in danger for her, if that makes sense.”

“Well, I feel a little less loyalty toward my brothers.”

“Wow, really?”

“Yeah, but only a skosh less,” he said, forming the inch sign with his thumb and index finger. “Order of importance, Hatch, Cade, Cricket, then Cameron.” He shook his head. “No, Hatch, Cricket, then Cade.”

“But Cameron at the end.”

“Hell yeah,” he retorted. “Cameron’s always the butt end.”

I bit back a snort. “Poor Cameron.”

“Believe me, once you get to know Cameron, you’ll understand why he’s the butt end.”

“Hatch rides with a motorcycle gang, right?”

“Club,” Cullen corrected me.

“Is there a difference?”

“ Huge difference. Especially where my brother’s concerned. The Dogs of Fire does a lot of good for the community, and if you took five minutes to research the people you’re investigating, you’d find that out.”

“Whoa, Cullen, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you.”

“No,” he said with a sigh as he dragged his hands down his face again. “I’m the one who’s sorry. Seriously. I had no right to speak to you that way.”

I smiled. “You think you spoke to me disrespectfully?”

“Well, yeah. Don’t you?”

“No, because you were right, to an extent.” I shrugged. “And you weren’t cruel when you said it, so take a little bit of that load off, Mr. Wallace. I appreciate a man, or woman for that matter, who’s willing to speak the truth, even if it hurts a little.”

“Yeah?”

“Yes. And rest assured, I have done my due diligence on your brother’s club. As much as I could, anyway.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m not so na?ve to believe that there’s information out there that they don’t want everyone to know, but I do understand that they do a lot for the community and your brother, in particular, has a reputation that’s above reproach. So, I apologize if I suggested otherwise.”

“It’s not that,” Cullen said. “Hatch’s club gets a lot of shit, so I guess you pushed a button, and he’s one of the best humans I know.”

“High praise, huh?”

“You have no idea,” he breathed out.

“Do all of you ride?” I asked.

“I do,” he said. “Whenever I can. If Hatch is doing a long haul ride, I’ll join up with him when time permits. Cameron rides on occasion, too. Cade, not so much anymore.”

“What about your sister?”

“That’s complicated.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Oh yeah? Why?”

“Cricket was madly in love with a biker, but it ended badly. Mostly because Hatch had made sure it ended, something she still hasn’t forgiven him for.” He shook his head. “But I’m sharing far too fucking much, so I’m gonna shut my gob now.”

“It’s all good,” I said. “We’ll save that story for when we know each other better.”

He smiled. “Does that mean you’ll let me help?”

“Yes. But you have to promise me we keep it totally confidential.”

“Do you have a cell phone separate from work?”

“Yes,” I said.

“Do you have it with you now?”

I nodded.

“Give it to me,” he demanded, so I slid it out of my jacket pocket, unlocking it and handing it to him.

“I just texted myself, so we have each other’s numbers.” He grinned, pulling out his own phone. “Now, I just gotta figure out what to save you as.”

I narrowed my eyes. “What?”

“If this little unauthorized operation of ours is to remain clandestine, we need code names.”

I snorted. “It’s not the cold war, Cullen.”

“We’ll be Scorpion and Dandelion.”

“Ten-four, Dandelion.” I gave him a salute, snatching back my phone before he could save his number. “Scorpion reporting for duty.”

“Hold on a second—”

“Done.” I grinned, sliding my phone back into my pocket once I’d added ‘Dandelion’ to my contacts.

“Jesus,” he hissed.

“Wanna synchronize our watches?”

“Do you even wear a watch?” he asked, his eyebrow going up in question.

“I do, but it’s a smart watch.” I held up my wrist. “Which I guess is already synchronized with space or whatever… you know, satellites and all.”

“Pesky satellites.” Cullen smirked. “Makes our spy jobs a hell of a lot less fun.”

“Right?”

“You gonna share what you got so far?” he challenged.

“An expired driver’s license of yours was found at 203.”

He frowned. “Really?”

“Yes.”

“Do you have pictures?”

I nodded and pulled one up, showing him.

“Shit,” he hissed as he glanced at it. “I just got my new license.”

“Well, someone got hold of your old one.”

“Jesus.”

“Every fire needs three things, oxygen, heat, and fuel. The first two are easily obtained, but the third, not so much. Although, most everything around us is flammable, fire needs a direct fuel source in order to create such specific burn patterns as those found at your scene. The speed in which the fire spread throughout the three structures also points to an accelerant far more aggressive than gasoline or kerosene. From an arson investigator’s perspective, the fire itself is about as standard as they come.” I paused.

“But?” Cullen asked.

“But the lab results have come in, and the accelerant used to start the fire was far from standard. In fact, it’s the biggest piece of evidence against you and your brothers. Bigger than the expired license or even the security cam footage of the work van.”

“How’s that?”

“The lab concluded that Chlorine Trifluoride was the accelerant used to start your fire.”

“What the hell is Chlorine Tri…glyc…eride?”

“Chlorine Trifluoride,” I corrected. “It’s a highly corrosive, highly flammable chemical used mostly for cleaning and etching high tech parts and equipment. It’s also one of the components used to make rocket fuel.”

“Okay,” Cullen said. “Last I checked, we build houses, not rockets.”

“Then why did you purchase a gallon of Chlorine Trifluoride less than a month ago?”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“On the fifth of last month, a gallon of Chlorine Trifluoride was purchased from a commercial supplier on the internet, under your name, using your corporate credit card. Two weeks later, Chlorine Trifluoride was used as the accelerant in an arson. Can you explain that?”

He dragged his hands down his face. “I have no idea how my card was used to buy that shit, but I had nothing to do with it. You have to believe me.”

“I do believe you, but my superiors will not.”

“You need to convince them that my brothers and I had nothing to do with this, Lieutenant.”

“If I brought them all the evidence I have now, you and your brothers would be in jail by tomorrow morning, and I wouldn’t blame them. Whoever set you up has done a damned good job, and I couldn’t find fault in anyone who would see this as an open and shut case, but…”

Cullen cocked his head. “What?”

“It sounds crazy, because I just met you, but they don’t know you like I do. I know deep down in my soul that no one from your family set these fires, but until I know who did, I need to keep my superiors in the dark, and you need to do the same with your family. Got it?”

Cullen nodded.

“And you need to look for your old ID, or figure out who might have taken it.”

“I don’t even remember where I put that,” he admitted. “I never throw anything away, honestly. Just throw shit in a drawer and forget about it.” He met my eyes. “And you’re sure that was at the scene?”

“Yes.”

“I swear, Helena, I didn’t put that there.” He palmed his eye sockets. “I didn’t leave it there, I didn’t burn our sites down.”

“I believe you.”

“My brothers didn’t either.”

“Well, I’m going to do everything I can to rule them out.”

“Did you find their expired licenses too?” he asked.

“No.”

Cullen frowned. “This doesn’t make sense.”

“You’re right, it doesn’t.”

“My brothers are not this stupid, Helena.”

I reached over and squeezed his arm. “Cullen. I know .”

He pulled away, his face red, and I suddenly felt like I’d done something very, very wrong.

“Sorry,” I rasped.

“It’s fine,” he muttered.

“I’m gonna head out,” I said, and rose to my feet.

He didn’t follow me.