At Last, page 1
AT LAST
Sisters of Fire
Book 2
Kathryn Shay
At Last
Copyright © 2021 by Kathryn Shay
All Rights Reserved
Smashwords Edition
Published by Ocean View Books
Cover Design by Shelley Kay at Web Crafters
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Table of Contents
Cast of Characters
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Author’s Note
Don’t Miss All of the Sisters of Fire Stories
NO EASY CHOICE Excerpt
About the Author
Cast of Characters
Sisters of Fire:
Lt. Tess DiMarco
Firefighter Annie O’Shea
Lt. Julia “JJ” Jensen
Battalion Chief Lynn Lucas
Battalion Chief Brooke Cartwright
Firefighter Trish “Mac” Mackenzie
Capt. David Ashford—head of the Arson Squad
Linc Ashford—son
Hope Ashford—deceased wife
Noah and Patrick Ashford—grandsons
Todd Jeffries—David’s best friend
Significant others:
Nathan Mitchell (Mac)
Zach Cartwright (Brooke) sons Grayson and Jordan
Colin O’Shea (Annie) daughter Bridget
Derek Wayne (JJ)
Ken Lucas (Lynne) son Phillip, daughter Melody
Tess’s Family:
Rose Caruso—Tess’s mother
Isabella and Maria DiMarco—Tess’s daughters
Vinny—Tess’s son
Vince DiMarco—Tess’s ex-husband
Arson Investigators:
Capt. Chet Carson—from Office of Fire Prevention and Control
Capt. Lance Manwaring—policeman works with arson
Johnny Perez
Other officials:
Fire Chief Joe Redman
Police Chief Ray Lincoln
Dr. Suzanne Blakely, fire department psychologist
Various Battalion Chiefs and Firefighters
Chapter 1
“Boy, the place stinks, even with our masks.” Tess gestured to the apartment that had been decimated by fire.
“People don’t know that about burned buildings,” David Ashford, Captain of the Arson Squad, put in.
Just then, the arson videographer came back into the main room with another member of the team. “I taped and took stills of the whole place.” He’d also gotten photos of the crowd that had gathered outside.
“I dusted for fingerprints.” His assistant was young and eager. “None found.”
“Good work. Did you check entry points where the guy might have gotten in?”
“Yeah. Half of a footprint. We checked for fingerprints out there, too.”
On the other side of the living space, the third chief investigator, Captain Chet Carson, pointed to a pile in the corner. “Here’s the gas container and a variety of rags the first-in firefighters noticed.” And why arson had been called.
Tess shook her head. “Not very subtle.”
“He wanted us to know.” David used the male terms because most arsonists were men. The man was anything but sexist.
Chet said, “I’ll check out the rest of the apartment for smaller cans that might have held more accelerant.” He walked through the living room archway.
Tess started toward the corner to study the accelerants. She stumbled over some stray debris and hit the wall hard with her shoulder. A good-size timber crackled.
“Tess, watch out.” David leapt toward her, grabbed her and dragged her back. The wooden joist fell right where she’d been standing.
“Oh, my God!”
David pulled off his particle mask and hers, along with their helmets, and dropped them to the floor. He drew her against his chest and clicked off his radio. “That could have seriously hurt you. Take a few minutes.”
She nosed into the navy jumpsuit worn by investigators into a fire scene. His chest was broad and solid and safe. She stayed there for a minute, then drew back some, his arms still around her. “You saved my life. Again.”
He frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Getting me into the academy and giving me this job saved me emotionally.”
“Young lady, I did not get you into the academy and I did not give you this job. You earned all of it.”
“Yes, sir! And stop calling me childish names!”
He grinned broadly.
“I found some…” Chet stopped abruptly and his comment trailed off. “Um…”
They separated quickly and scooped up their protective gear.
Still shaky, Tess felt compelled to explain. “A timber fell. David pulled me back from it.”
David straightened. “We asked the cleanup team to do minimal salvage and overhaul.” A dirty job, performed by a group of firefighters to make sure the fire was out and not hiding in walls. They also looked for loose timbers. “They’re waiting to finish that up. So, what did you find?”
“More arson paraphernalia in there.” Chet angled his head to the other rooms.
“Let’s determine the depths of the charred items. And document the flow-and-damage patterns.”
They spent more time assessing the structure. Then David radioed for three other members of the team to come inside and label the evidence, put it in containers and seal it tight. Chet went outside to supervise the same for ground evidence. The designated transporter would then accompany the material back to the arson labs to keep the chain of custody intact. Once all this was done, they’d evaluate what they’d found.
* * *
He watched through the window. Look at them. Like dogs chasing their tails. They’d go in circles on all of these fires, which was just what he wanted.
Much had bothered him during his life, despite his successes. He found a way to deal with that, and in the end, he’d do what he needed to do like he always did.
* * *
David stared down at the file on his desk. They’d worked the rest of the day on the cause of the fire and evaluating the preliminary lab results they’d gotten back. Of course, it had been obvious that the fire was officially arson. That made two in two months. Even though his squad covered the surrounding townships, too, that was a lot for the county.
“I’m leaving.” Tess had come to the inner door that connected their offices. She’d pulled out the knot that corralled her thick chestnut hair and it sparkled in the overhead lights. “Want to come for dinner?”
“Thanks, but not tonight.”
Her brows formed a vee. “We finished the report on the evidence we gathered. Do you have more to do?”
“No, it’s best we watch the video and look at the photos again with fresh eyes tomorrow. Then we can release the scene.” He sat back and sighed. “But I have to tackle the emails that came when I was out.”
“Want me to help? I could handle the ones that aren’t personal.”
“No, you go. Have a nice dinner with the kids and Rose. Give them my love.”
“Okay. Maybe soon?” She turned to go into her office then pivoted. “How are you? Really.”
“As well as can be expected.”
“The first week back is always hard.”
He nodded.
“Don’t stay too long, David.”
She left and he sat back in the chair. Hard was an understatement. But this office was home in so many ways and he found returning to work a comfort. He got up and crossed to the coffee machine they’d installed in their suite at the fire academy. Tess had brought in muffins from her favorite health food store and he picked up one and inhaled the scents of cranberry and orange. He’d missed these, too. She was always taking care of him and Chet and the rest of their staff. She also bought extra treats and left them in the common area for those who worked at the academy.
As he munched on the cake, he thought about the last few months. David had taken off three to care for Hope and then four weeks of grief leave. Even though he’d been ready to work again, he needed more time to get back to himself. To get used to a different way of life. To get used to being alone.
Right after the funeral, he’d gone with his son to Bingham, a small town forty-five minutes from Crystal City and had stayed for a week. Linc and his family had suffered great loss, too, but they had two little boys and they were the ones who got both Linc and David through those awful few days after the funeral…
David had risen early the first morning with Patrick and Noah. His son had come out when he’d finished making breakfast.
“Dad, you don’t have to do all this.”
“I want to. Playing Papa to the boys, you and Lacy makes me feel better.”
Patrick said, “We love you Papa. Look, Dad, he made us Mickey Mouse pancakes.”
Linc smiled broadly. “He used to make them for me.” He went behind the island and slid his arm around David’s shoulders. “Thanks, Daddy.”
They’d had a pleasant morning. Then the kids got on the bus—they were eight and ten—and Lacy went to school, where she worked as a nurse. Linc, whose job could be done remotely, headed into the office for the day of meetings. The sadness almost overwhelmed David again…
He was still sad. Hell, why wouldn’t he be?
Get to your emails. It’ll help.
He returned to his computer, called up his messages. There were many from Tess over the weeks. He thought about holding her today, even in the grim surroundings, even with Chet just out of ear space. They’d always been affectionate with each other and he’d missed that. Holding Hope had stopped a year ago.
Tess had cuddled into him at the site. It seemed different this time. And he reacted…differently, too. Oh, Lord, she probably missed being held by a man, as she divorced two years ago. As far as he knew, she wasn’t dating anyone, though Chet was always sniffing around her, like the Sisters of Fire commented.
Not your business, David.
No, it wasn’t. But the notion of Tess with Chet, or any guy, was distasteful.
Damn! He couldn’t analyze all that tonight. He was too raw. So he closed his computer, tidied his desk, got up and headed to the door, dreading the thought of his empty house.
* * *
Sixty-five-year-old Rose Caruso was a feisty little bit of a thing, with steel gray hair, sharp brown eyes and a body that she kept strong by walking and taking yoga classes. Her exercise routine put Tess’s to shame.
They were sitting at the table in their new kitchen after eating and cleaning up. The girls had gone to their rooms. When Tess moved into the house, her mother wouldn’t let her pay rent, or buy the place from her, so Tess had channeled that money into remodeling.
“Thanks for cooking dinner, Mom.”
“You’re welcome. I hoped David would come.”
“I asked. He said he had work to catch up on.”
“How is he?”
“He said, as well as can be expected. But I can tell he’s floundering. He lost his concentration more than once and his face is so sad it breaks my heart.”
“He and Hope were married a long time. She was sick even longer. Keep asking him for dinner.”
“I intend to.”
“And spend time with him. He needs a friend and you’ve always been close.” Rose looked at the clock. “There’s an online yoga class at eight that I take. Want to join me?”
“You know what, why not?”
“Maybe the girls would like to come.”
Tess went into the living room and over to the steps. “Izzy and Maria, come to the top of the stairs a minute.”
The girls appeared. They looked like Tess with dark hair—much longer than hers—and dark eyes.
“Grandma and I are going to do yoga online. Want to do it with us?”
“But we’re in our pajamas,” Isabella said. She was self-conscious at eleven. “We can’t do Zoom.”
“You can stay out of the screen’s view.”
“Oh. Okay.”
Maria, always deferring to her older sister, said, “Yay!!!!!” then trundled down the steps and hugged Tess.
“Should we go to my suite?” Rose had moved into a space off the back of the house, which they enlarged into a bedroom and sitting area and her own bathroom.
“No, let’s stay here. The living room’s bigger.”
Rose left to get mats and the girls settled on the rug. When she returned, she said, “Are you sure, ladies? One of you can have mine.”
“Grandma, no. You take it.” Isabella again, always unselfish.
They tuned into the class.
“Hello, there. My name is Adria. Are you ready for some gentle yoga?”
All four called out, “Yes!”
“All right! Take a seated position, legs crossed…”
They made it through the hour, although six-year-old Maria ended up doing some rolls and cartwheels behind them for a while. But she came back at the end of the session.
Rose said, “Girls, make sure you hydrate.”
“Yes, Grandma.”
“I’ll get water for all of us.” Isabella smiled. “Can I make popcorn too?”
“Yeah, just be careful.”
Izzy added, “Maria, you can help.”
The girls left and Tess laid back on the mat looking up at the ceiling. She’d installed a fan in here and it whirred softly. “I’m so lucky, Mom. I have you and the girls. Vinny sometimes.” Her son had gone to live with his dad. “A beautiful house that I will convince you to let me buy. I forget how fortunate I am.”
“Maybe, but you went through that awful divorce.” Lying back too, Rose took her hand. “Vince behaved miserably.”
“He did. And he hates me now.”
“Yet you never complain about how he treats you, how he treated you in the past that brought on the split.”
“I’d never prejudice the girls against him.”
“Hmm.”
“What?”
“I talk to Vinny when he’s here. Vince complains about you.”
“I’m sure he does. He couldn’t believe I left him.”
Rose glanced over and whispered, “Because he’s an asshole dear.”
Tess was giggling when the girls returned with water and popcorn.
Later that night, she performed her usual ritual with them, which they called Tuck-Ins. “Do I get to go first?” Maria asked while they brushed their teeth.
“It’s okay with me, Mom,” Izzy told her.
“Great.” When she got into bed with Maria, she cuddled her close. “You doing good, honey?”
“Uh-huh. I like having fun with Nana.”
“Me, too. Now tell me about school.”
Her youngest zonked after a few minutes. Tess pulled up the sheet and left her room.
Izzy was sitting up in bed with The Chronicles of Narnia on her lap. She smiled at Tess.
“Can I read you some of that?”
“Yeah.”
After they finished a chapter, Tess turned off the light and they scooted under the covers.
“How’s soccer going?” Surprising everyone, Izzy had asked to play in a summer league.
“I like it a lot. I’m glad my gym teacher thought I was good enough to enroll.”
“I love watching you play.”
“Thanks, Mom. Can I ask you about something else?”
That’s what this time was for. “Anything, Izzy.”
“I’m almost twelve. I want to start babysitting.”
“That’s a great idea. We’ll look for the Babysitting Course at the Y. You probably shouldn’t schedule it the weekend you go with your father.”
Nothing.
Then, “What if I don’t wanna go with him when it’s his turn?”
“I think you should try to have a good relationship with him like you did before we separated.”
“He’s not the same.”
“Want to tell me more?”
“Not now.” She yawned. “Tell me about your day.”
Izzy always asked about her. What a sweetheart she was. Maria, too. Grateful all over again that she had such wonderful girls, she began to talk.
* * *
Seated in the Crystal City Diner, David looked over at Todd Jeffries, his oldest friend since high school. They’d met for breakfast before David went to work. When the waitress approached them, he gave her a warm smile. “I’ll have the eggplant omelet and rye toast.”
“Make mine pancakes, corn beef hash, white toast and a vanilla milkshake.” When she left, Todd asked, “How you doing?”
David shrugged.
“Where’s your head at?”
“I was thinking about how you and Alice were a godsend when Hope got sick. And until she died.”
“Wanted to be there, man.”
“You have been. I owe you big-time.”
“Hey, you paid that a thousand times over when I got laid off, and when Alice and I split. How’s work?”
