Once Burned (Task Force Eagle) by Susan Vaughan Page B

from
inflated polka-dot dinosaurs.
    “Thanks for the invitation and the hairdo. Cooler this
way.” Lani patted the French braid that barely tickled her neck.
    “My pleasure. I’m grateful for your company. Kevin’s
off in West Paris speaking to some civic club or other. I’ve forgotten which
one.” Nora poured them both more coffee and added a splash of cream to Lani’s.
A sly look narrowed her eyes. “I thought maybe you’d bring Jake along this
morning.”
    Lani knew that look. “Forget it. No matchmaking. Not
Jake. That’s over the top, even for you.” She put on a scowl, hoping Nora
wouldn’t perceive her ambivalence.
    Nora chuckled. Then her eyes widened. “Wait. I just
remembered something.” She dashed inside.
    Lani stretched out her legs and sipped her coffee.
Jake and her? Twice Jake had kissed her. Twice she’d let him, had participated
with enthusiasm. But no. The wall between them was too high and too wide.
Unfortunately she couldn’t kid herself about the attraction. He roused emotions
she never thought to feel.
    When he let down his guard, the pain and determination
in his eyes squeezed her heart. And he was more. Still funny and kind.
Protective. That, she didn’t want, although, dammit, she probably needed
protection. And steady, unswerving. That, she liked. She needed his expertise.
And he didn’t back down from her mouth.
    She felt her cheeks heat as she caught the double
meaning. But she wasn’t Gail, so it didn’t matter.
    “Here’s today’s Portland Press Herald . I forgot
about this until just now.” Nora tossed the front section on the table and
pointed to a story below the fold.
    Lani couldn’t miss the headline— Retired Fire
Investigator Dies in Blaze .
    “It was on the eleven-o’clock news last night too.”
Nora looked over Lani’s shoulder.
    Popping her knuckles, Lani skimmed the initial
reporting of the fire and the efforts to douse it and stopped to read when she
came to the reporter’s interview with the investigator.
    State Fire Investigator Sergeant Paul Robichaud said
the fire was set deliberately but would divulge no details on the accelerant or
other evidence. The home owner, Frank Tyson, a retired state fire investigator,
died at the scene. Arson means the perpetrator will be charged with murder.
When asked if Tyson might have had enemies, Robichaud replied, “Who doesn’t?”
    The piece continued with background on Tyson and his
long career. His daughter had been contacted. Toward the end, Lani saw her own
name. And Jake’s. The story mentioned them as “persons of interest” who had
shown up at the scene of the fire. She read on.
    Lani Cameron’s sister died twelve years ago in a
barn fire in Dragon Harbor. Frank Tyson was the investigator on that case and
declared it accidental after a brief investigation. When asked if Ms. Cameron
was a suspect in this fire, Robichaud said, “We’re looking into all
possibilities.”
    Lani’s pulse pounded in her ears. Nora’s coffee sat
greasy in her stomach. Had Jake seen the paper? She had to know what he
thought.
    A frown creased Nora’s round face. “What does ‘persons
of interest’ mean?”
    “It means suspects .” Lani already knew that.
Now the whole state knew.
    She slapped the paper back on the table. “Thanks for
the coffee, Nore. I have to go.”
     
    *****
     
    Jake set down his mug and his cream-cheese-smeared
everything bagel from Cuppa-’n-Suppa on the plastic table beside him in the Amy
Jo ’s cockpit. Propping his bare feet on the stern rail, he inhaled the sea
air. Glistening at low tide, the flats reeked of rotting fish and old mud, but
even that aspect of the harbor smelled sweet. On such a bright summer day, in
contrast to the recent rain, drizzle, and fog, the recreational boaters had
sped out early past Dragon Rocks. Only the fishing boats rested at their
moorings.
    All was peaceful except for a great black-backed gull
perched atop a nearby piling. The bird eyed his