Chapter 17

SEVENTEEN

A s Samantha swallowed some of the soup, she eyed Julio. "What did you do to it?"

He stood in her kitchen, rinsing a pot in the sink. He glanced over his shoulder, far too good-looking to be doing dishes in any woman's kitchen. Let alone hers. That perennial soft spot she'd always had for him was a sucker for those shoulders in that fire department uniform and the fact he insisted on rinsing dishes before putting them in the dishwasher.

"You don't like it?" he said.

"It's chicken noodle soup. Who doesn't like chicken noodle soup? I'm just asking why it tastes different than it normally does."

He wiped his hands on a kitchen towel. Shrugged. "I added some seasoning."

She wasn't going to let go of the suspicion that he was keeping a secret. Even if it was only how to make chicken noodle soup taste better than when it came out of the can.

Her phone buzzed on the breakfast bar. She flipped it over far enough to see the screen. "Bristol wants to know if we have any popcorn."

Julio leaned his hips back against the cupboard across from her, the breakfast bar between them. Where it should have felt like there was far too much space between them, it was more like this room didn't seem big enough. No surprise in her tiny apartment that she shared with her sister, but it was more cozy than anything. Who knew what it would feel like when he came and sat beside her.

Was he going to do that?

"Do you have any?" Julio said. "I can nuke it for you guys."

"She can come out and get it herself. She's curled up next to Romeo on the couch in her room." She rolled her eyes. "Watching a movie. As if I don't know what that means."

Julio grinned. "I'm pretty sure it just means they are watching a movie. What do you think it means when they literally just talked for the first time today?"

"Who knows what the kids are doing these days? Or what they're calling it."

He chuckled a little. "Eat your soup. I'll see if there's any popcorn in the pantry."

She shoved a bite from the spoon in her mouth, watching him discover that there was in fact no pantry. The folding doors on one side disguised the washer and dryer, and other than that, she only had cupboards and a refrigerator.

Maybe he was disappointed in her existence. She had been squirreling money away for a long time, saving for a down payment on a house. The house she wanted more than anything. Something out of the way and secluded.

When she purchased the property, she would be able to carve out her own sanctuary from the world. A spot where she could go to rest and feel as if she didn't have to worry about criminals or victims. A place of respite from the world.

"Oh, found it." He grabbed a popcorn package out of the box. "Last one."

"I'll text Bristol back. Tell her to come and get it herself."

He peeled off the plastic wrapper and put the bag in the microwave. It was a test of a person's sanity, and their intelligence, as to whether they use the popcorn button or not. Thankfully for his sake, he passed the test and simply entered a series of numbers.

Samantha ate her soup quietly, enjoying the soothing feeling of warm liquid on her throat. Grateful for the ability to have sustenance even if she couldn't eat most things right now. The doctor had told her that her throat could increase in swelling at any time, and she needed to be very careful not to irritate it.

Bristol had told the doctor that she would keep an eye on Samantha. Something she was currently not doing. Samantha had interpreted for the doctor so he could understand what her sister was saying, and then her sister promptly ditched Samantha for a guy as soon as they got home. Probably because she thought it would give Samantha and Julio time to spend together.

Maybe Romeo was in on it as well.

Samantha wasn't entirely disappointed in them. As long as Julio didn't know he was being hoodwinked. It was embarrassing enough that her partner was probably in on the plan, given all the texting Bristol had been doing.

The truth was, she did want to spend time with Julio. Getting to know him again the last few days—reacquainting herself with the man he was now—had given her a sense of hope she hadn't had before. Not for a long time.

Julio had been the best thing in her life. But like all good things, they inevitably turned bad, and she had to manage the fallout. The bad with him had been epically bad, given the miscarriage she'd had after being thrown out of that building. The grief. Their breakup. She wasn't sure she would be able to handle going through all that again, but something in her wanted to try.

Julio pulled out the popcorn. He turned and pointed at the hall. "That way?"

He had a very "big brother" expression on his face, which was good because who knew what moves Romeo had made on her sister. She knew how Julio felt about Bristol. In fact, she'd always loved the way he looked out for her sister just like she did.

"Last door on the right." As she spoke, her phone rang.

He squeezed her shoulder and wandered away.

She looked at the screen and saw it was Sergeant Deerdan calling. "Jesse." Her voice came out hoarse.

"You sound a lot better than I thought you would," her boss said.

"Any update on the guy we arrested?" She hadn't heard anything from Romeo while she was in the hospital. Samantha had resigned herself to the fact she wouldn't get to listen in on the interrogation, let alone actually be there participating. But she still wanted to know what happened with the man they'd arrested.

"That's why I'm calling," Deerdan said. "We ran his ID, and his name is Bill Morrison. He's a local guy, but we can't find any employment or a last known address. I have units going to the address associated with this driver's license. The whole thing is looking pretty thin, but maybe he's just a guy who lives small."

"What did he say about attacking me?"

Deerdan made humming sound in her throat. "Well, that's the thing. He claims he actually thought you were attacking him . That he was acting in self-defense."

"Did he lawyer up?"

"No, he declined representation."

Samantha figured it was likely that he believed he knew exactly what he was doing and had the whole thing in hand—or he believed he did. "He really claims I attacked him first?"

"You need to write down your statement and get it to us. Morrison will be arraigned in the morning, probably before lunch. We need to know your side of things if we're going to have any way of keeping him in jail long enough to tie him to the fires."

And the murders.

"I'll get that typed up tonight," Samantha said. "Then email it to you."

"I'll be here." Deerdan made another noise. "Dumb coffee pot," she muttered. Then she said, "He actually claims that you were following him for a number of blocks. He was only out walking. Then when he tried to ask you why you were following him, you launched yourself at him and he tried to de-escalate the situation."

She laughed out loud, a barking sound that dissolved into a whole lot of coughing.

Julio jogged quickly down the hallway, concern on his face.

She waved off his concern, signing, I'm fine. But he obviously didn't agree with that assessment because he got her a glass of water.

"I also need a statement from Captain Coda," Deerdan added.

Samantha glanced at Julio, accepting the water. "He can do that." Then had to ask, "Do you think we can get enough evidence to tie him to the arsons?" She set the phone on the counter and hit the Speaker button.

Deerdan's voice came through loud enough for Julio to hear as well. "Right now, we have no evidence that he is our arsonist."

Samantha couldn't even confirm it either. All she could do was go with her gut. That creepy guy had been looking across the yard into the window, and she'd felt compelled to chase after him.

Her boss continued, "He may have engaged with you for a bunch of different reasons. None of which he's inclined to explain to us."

Samantha tapped a finger on the counter. "He's probably goading us, knowing we have nothing to arrest him on. He's going to walk free, satisfied that he has all the power here."

"If he does, I'm sure I don't have to explain to you that you cannot approach him. I'll have uniformed officers watching him at all times, which will likely just guarantee he doesn't slip up. No way he'll set another fire now. However, there's nothing you can do about it. Don't try and incriminate him. Understood?"

Julio frowned.

Samantha shrugged. "Yes, I understand, Sergeant."

"Good. Don't let a lowlife like this ruin a perfectly good and very promising career." Deerdan paused. "One day you're going to sit in my chair, and any misstep in this case will ruin that chance. Don't flush it all down the toilet."

The call ended.

"I guess that's it." Samantha looked at Julio, still frowning. "What are you thinking? Because we can talk about it, but then we both have homework."

That didn't make him smile. Instead, he scratched his jaw. "She really thinks you're going to do something to incriminate the guy?"

"I thought you were more worried about the fact he'll probably be released tomorrow." Samantha paused. "Unless we can find evidence that ties into this case."

"He's totally messing with us. That whole thing was a setup," Julio said. "Just a way to prove to us how little we know about him by dangling himself in front of us and even getting arrested."

"Arson is about power, isn't it?"

"Power over material things. Over life and death, even." Julio winced. "Maybe she is right that we shouldn't go anywhere near him. But I don't want to be taken off this case."

"Me either, which is why we're going to do our jobs. We won't let him get under our skin, no matter how much he tries to get us to screw this whole thing up."

One wrong thing, and the whole case could be thrown out during the trial. Even the right thing could get a whole case thrown out.

Sometimes there was nothing a cop could do, even if they knew someone was guilty as sin. Without admissible evidence, the person may as well be innocent.

"I'm down for that if you are," Julio said. "We let it go and do what we can." He set his elbows on the breakfast bar across from her, leaning down to level his face with hers. "What do you say?"

"We work this together," Samantha agreed. "And we do it smart." But why did she get the feeling they were talking about more than just the case?

"No matter what ideas Captain Tennet has about how to resolve the situation," he muttered, as though he was still mad about the press conference.

"No matter how much I want to slap Romeo up the backside of the head," she added.

Julio grinned. "He was sitting a reasonable distance from her. They're watching some funny movie from the nineties I can't remember the name of, and they both seem to be enjoying themselves."

She frowned. "Fine."

Julio took her bowl to the sink. "Grudging acceptance is the first step to being onboard with it."

"Great. I'm looking forward to the part where I catch them making out."

Julio tipped his head back and laughed. "Two can play that game. If they're going to do it to you, then maybe you should try and beat them at their own tactics."

Maybe it wasn't going to be that bad, Bristol and Romeo. She did like the idea of her sister being happy with a guy. Samantha just wasn't sure how she felt about it being a guy she worked with. Someone who had no connections to the deaf community.

But considering her track record of successful relationships, maybe she should let them make their own happiness.

And she would try to find some for herself.

With a good man she'd always loved.