Wes rolled his shoulders against a twinge of resentment. Well, it seemed his involvement in this case was coming to an end this morning. Didn’t matter. He had other cases to deal with. That cow thing for one.
She was Fire Captain Cara Hughes. Presumably, the state’s top arson investigator, though he’d personally never worked with her. Ben had consulted her by phone after the last fire and had obviously called her to officially lead the investigation. Wes knew little about her. She was tough—there was even a wild rumor she slept with a six-inch switchblade beneath her pillow—serious and by-the-book.
And she had a rough road ahead. The all-male fire and police force in Baxter would no doubt come up with a few asinine, I-have-two-X-chromosomes-hear-me-roar comments about Hughes’s consultation. Personally, Wes didn’t care if the arson investigator was an alien with green antennae on his/her/its head.
“Ben called her,” Wes said simply.
Norcutt crossed his arms over his beefy chest. “We can handle this.”
Technically, an arson case fell under the fire department’s jurisdiction. “Probably.”
“Ah, hell, Wes, we don’t need some woman handling our cases.”
“We don’t likely have a choice.” He cast his gaze toward his friend. “I hear she’s really good.”
Norcutt rolled his eyes as if saying, how could a woman be good at investigating?
“Chill out, Norcutt. I doubt she’ll force you to carry her purse.”
Norcutt’s face turned red. The other guys chuckled.
Deciding he’d had enough male bonding, Wes wandered closer to the warehouse, taking care to stay clear of the firefighters. The smell of smoke, charred wood and gasoline permeated the air. Gas had been the accelerant used in the other fire, though the authorities hadn’t suspected arson immediately. People did amazingly stupid things with flammable liquids—storing them next to heaters, by computers, or other types of spark-inducing equipment.
But the first fire had turned out to be no careless accident, and this one smelled like arson, as well.
He’d just rounded the back corner of the ware-house, intent on checking out the receiving docks, when he saw her.
Wearing worn blue jeans, black boots and a black leather jacket, she knelt on the ground in a circular pool of floodlight, which must have been sustained by an alternate power source, since electricity to the building had been long since cut. She had straight, shoulder-length, dark hair, a trim figure and a surprisingly delicate jawline.
She extended her hand, scraping her fingers across the ash-strewn ground, and he noticed a shoulder holster strapped along her left side. Curious. He didn’t know any fire people who actually carried a firearm. And no sissy revolver for the lady investigator. From the blue steel butt of the gun, it appeared to be a semiauto pistol.
She glanced up suddenly, her steady gaze locking with his. She was attractive, but not beautiful, yet he found himself unable to look away, as if she held him spellbound with her striking blue-green eyes.
Like the Caribbean sea, he found himself thinking romantically, ridiculously.
“You must be Wes,” she said in a husky, sensual voice every bit as gut-clenching as those eyes.
“Yes.” He finally found enough of himself to extend his hand. “Wes Kimball.”
She rose, shaking his hand briefly. Her skin was smooth and warm, and he was almost disappointed when she dropped her hand by her side. “Cara Hughes. Your brother asked me to take over this case.”
Wes slid his hands in the back pockets of his jeans. “I figured as much when I heard you were here.”
Her gaze slid to a point over his shoulder, then back to his face. “You’ve got some kind of welcoming committee.”
“This was our case before you got here.”
A hint of resentment flashed through those amazing eyes. “This was and still is the fire department’s case.”
Tough, serious and by-the-book. It was always a shock when the town gossips were actually correct. And, surprisingly, they’d left out all the good stuff—intelligent, obviously dedicated to her job, sensual, slender but curvy. He inclined his head in agreement. “We’re just used to handling things ourselves.”
“And you don’t need some hotshot from Atlanta meddling in your domain?”
He smiled. “I can handle my domain just fine, thank you. You can’t tell me you’re not used to some resistance.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “Most people stay out of my way actually.”
“I guess so, packin’ heat at a fire scene.”
Her hand slid to her weapon with a casualness that spoke of frequency. Her face flushed. “I forgot it was there. Habit, I guess, going out late at night.”
“Important in Atlanta, I’m sure. It sticks out a bit in Baxter.” And it turned him on, as if that wasn’t weird. He was a cop, could shoot when necessary, but he wasn’t any kind of gun buff. He didn’t have a collection; he wasn’t into hunting. So why did the idea of a woman who treated a pistol with the same familiarity as most women would a watch have desire punch its way into his stomach?
Back to the case, man. You’ve got no time or call for romance now.
“I guess I don’t have to tell you that you’re not going to have an easy time of it. This was our case.”
She sighed. “This is my case now. And it was and continues to be a fire department case. The police have no—”
“When I said our, I meant this town. We’ve handled arson cases before.” Though none with this significance or magnitude.
“You personally?”
“Yes.”
“And you don’t like giving away your power to an outsider?” She paused. “A woman?”
“I’ve worked with women before.”
She smirked. “When absolutely forced to.”
Of course, she assumed the worst about him. And why not? Everybody else did.
He’d admit that at times the strength of his convictions had forced him to rash action or harsh opinions, but he wished he could tap into the part of himself that always made him feel as if he was standing on the other side of the fence from everyone else—especially from his family. He supposed his sometimes defensive position stemmed from losing his father so young in life, from always wanting to live up to his ideal and somehow never seeming to measure up. “Look, I—”
How did he explain solving cases was the only thing that made him feel significant anymore? How to explain what it was like to live in his overachieving family? A brother who was the revered fire chief, a brother-in-law who commanded respect without saying a word, a sister who was a successful businesswoman, another brother who was a firefighter and…well, who commanded respect from every female in town.
Simple. He didn’t.
She saved him from a graceless reply. “Ben has the right to bring in outside experts if he chooses.”
“And you get one more notch on your belt loop?”
If he expected her to flush over his crude analogy, he was dead wrong.
She smiled wide. “You bet your ass.”
He found himself returning her smile. And found himself captivated by the humor in her eyes, the curve of her hips, accentuated by her snug jeans. She was really quite…something.
He stepped closer, his heart rate quickening. Her lips parted as she stared up