10. Zoe

Adrenaline shotthrough me as I hurried after Gabe and Garrett, seeing Jae, Paolo, and Tobin putting their gear on by the fire truck. Was this really happening? Already?

Obviously, I was here for all this action, but as I was guided into the back of the fire truck, my head started to spin as so much controlled chaos went on around me. Every move each firefighter made was practiced and quick without a single hiccup.

“You okay?” Garrett asked as he hovered in front of me, snapping my seatbelt in place because I was too swept up in the moment to do it myself.

Snap out of it! I blinked and nodded, pushing past the tremor of nervousness that shuddered in my chest and fighting against the dissociating haze that clouded my mind before I passed out last time. I had to be present. Here and now!

Tightening my hands into fists, I narrowed my eyes, grounding myself to the moment and what was about to happen. We were heading to a fire incident, and I was going to do my job and not equate present destruction and pain to what I experienced in the past.

I repeated that mantra over and over again in my head until the words didn’t even sound like words anymore.

Garrett placed his hands on my knees as our eyes met. His gear was obviously heavy, but it didn’t seem to weigh him down in the slightest. Then again, he was definitely more muscular than that tall, lean kid I had known back in high school.

“Don’t get too close, okay?” he told me.

I nodded, knowing better than to piss any of the guys off on the first day. They were my best connection to information about this case, and I couldn’t risk losing that, especially as things kept heating up.

Garrett sat down next to me, while Gabe and Tobin sat across from us. Right as he buckled in, Jae hit the gas and drove out of the fire station, the truck’s sirens ringing out.

I dug around in my small crossbody bag, pulling out a notepad and pen so that I could jot down notes in the moment. I didn’t know what to expect from this call. I heard the guys calling out information, but their words were a muffled haze in my ears at the time. When we arrived at the scene, I had to get myself in the game or be left behind.

After drawing in a deep breath, my racing mind slowed down enough for me to focus on something else. Well, someone else. Plural.

My eyes shifted between Gabe and Garrett as they adjusted their coats and helmets, preparing to launch themselves into danger without hesitation. In the span of a few years, the boys who teased and messed with others for their own gain were now men who put their lives on the line for others.

So much had changed. The energy surrounding us wasn’t bitter and frustrating like it used to be. It was something far more confusing and intense.

My stomach flipped as I tore my eyes away from them and their stoic faces. I couldn’t shake the way they looked at me earlier. How they gazed at me with gentle eyes and sincere frowns. I never would’ve expected such a heartfelt apology from them, and I also never would’ve expected this odd sense of attraction that I felt for them.

They both looked good, but I couldn’t get mixed up with the Wallace brothers. We all had important work to do, and we were starting now.

“Alright, let’s go!” Paolo shouted from the passenger’s seat once the fire truck came to a stop.

Everyone piled out, their boots hitting the street in front of a burning convenience store. Smoke poured out of the building where the glass front door used to be, an orange glow illuminating the darkness inside as the fire continued to grow. Onlookers gathered down the sidewalk and across the street, witnessing the destruction of yet another building.

The moment I stepped out of the fire truck, I caught the scent of gasoline through the thickness of the smoke. My eyes shot up and down the sidewalk, trying to catch a glimpse of someone speeding away from the scene or someone looking suspicious. The area was clear, though.

“Double time! We can’t let the fire spread to the other buildings!” Paolo shouted as Gabe, Garrett, and Tobin dragged out the hose and pointed it toward the doorway.

I remained near the back of the fire truck with my pen poised over my notepad, jotting down my observations. However, my mind was only halfway focused on what I was writing down. My gaze kept shifting to Gabe and Garrett as they planted their feet and directed the hose, extinguishing the fire more and more with each passing minute.

It was crazy how much they had changed, but it had been years. We were all different people one way or another, and I liked the new Wallace brothers. There was still tension between all of us, but it felt… different. I tried not to show it, though.

Once the fire was out, Tobin made his way into the store, doing a thorough investigation while Gabe and Garrett put the hose up. Their eyes caught mine as they walked nearby, tension crackling in the air.

I breathed in deeply, offering them a nod before turning and seeing an elderly woman staring at the burnt store with a concerned look on her face. As nice as the firefighters were to talk to, it would help my story to get some quotes and information from other locals.

“Excuse me, ma’am. Can I have a moment of your time to talk to you about the fires happening recently?” I asked her as I approached her.

The woman turned to me, squinting slightly as she adjusted her large, thick-framed glasses. She had a slight hunch in her posture, but she still smiled up at me.

“Oh, hello. Do you work for the news?” she asked.

“I work for The Blue Ridge Times out in North Carolina, but I was born and raised here,” I told her.

“Welcome home,” she said, the corners of her eyes crinkling as she gave me a warm look.

Those words carried more weight for me than she realized, but I wasn’t here to walk down memory lane. I was here to work and maybe experience something positive in this place. A case solved. Criminals apprehended. The best story I had ever written.

“Thank you. What do you make of all these fires? A group of teenagers? Something bigger?” I asked her as my pen hovered over my notepad.

The older woman hesitated for a few seconds before speaking.

“Well, I’m not sure. The strange thing is that this isn’t the only time this town has had a fire problem,” she explained.

A confused look crossed my face.

“You’re saying that this town has had an arson problem in the past?” I questioned her.

“I think. It’s hard to remember the details from years ago,” the older woman admitted.

I had to uncover those memories.

“Would you say there was a year or two in the past when you heard of more arson incidents than normal? Maybe a family member or friend was affected?” I pushed a little. Personal accounts were vital and were far more easily remembered than hearing something through word of mouth or reading it in the newspaper.

Her eyes widened in recognition.

“My hairdresser! It was about four years ago, I believe. Oh, it was terrible,” she sighed. “She had the cutest little salon on Harmond Street. After her salon was burned down, she closed for good. I had to find a new hairdresser.”

Four years ago. A considerable gap.

“It seems like both businesses and homes are falling victim to this serial arsonist lately. Do you remember homes being burned down around the same time too?” I inquired as I wrote down a quick note.

“Oh, four years feels like ten in this old mind of mine. I think… I might’ve made a donation at my church because some poor old man’s house burned down,” she guessed. “But people make mistakes and leave stoves on or knock over candles. It’s hard to tell what fires are on purpose or accidental.”

Tobin could tell, but this was four years ago. My biggest question was is this the same arsonist? Did they decide to stop and let the heat cool down before setting buildings on fire again? And why?

Unfortunately, this sweet old woman couldn’t answer those questions, but she gave me a valuable clue. The past repeated itself.

I jotted down her information and wrote a few more notes before getting closer to the store as Tobin walked out.

“Find anything?” I asked him.

Tobin motioned for me to come closer.

“I didn’t find anything inside, but I found something interesting out back,” he said as he led me around the store to the small alleyway behind it. The fire hadn’t reached the back of the store, so there was no damage to assess, but I quickly saw what caught his eye.

“A gas can,” I said as my eyes widened at the sight of a red metal gas canister on the ground.

Tobin nodded and nudged it with his boot.

“And it’s empty. I’ll have the police check it out, but I doubt they’ll find any prints. Whoever is doing all of this is far too careful to slip up like that. I’m surprised they even left this behind,” he replied as he crossed his arms over his chest.

My eyes briefly swept up his body, admiring how broad and strong he looked in his uniform. Before he could catch me staring, I wrote down a few details about the scene, busying myself and my straying mind.

“Thanks for letting me look,” I told him. He could’ve easily not bothered to tell me about this.

Tobin shook his head.

“No need to thank me. I just want this figured out,” he replied before leading me back around to the front as the others got ready to leave the scene.

I lingered behind for a moment, staring at the burnt exterior of the convenience store as smoke and gasoline stung my nose. According to Nancy, destruction plagued this town over and over again, and I was going to figure out why and who was doing this. But in order for me to solve the arson case that was ravaging the town now, I needed to turn to the past.

The answers I was looking for had to be hiding there.