“Masterson?” Chief Powell caught Luke by the shoulder on his way past following the end of a mandatory meeting. The other men had already left the room — just the chief and Luke remained.

“Yes, Chief?”

“I think you should take a seat for a minute. I want to have a little one-on-one.”

Luke looked Chief Powell over, searching for a sign to let him know what was on the chief’s mind. After Luke’s lackluster day a few weeks back, he’d been performing well and showing up on time. There was nothing the chief should have been upset about. Luke didn’t know how to explain the worry on his face.

“Yeah, sure thing, Chief.” Luke checked over his shoulder as he backed up to the nearest chair. He pulled it away from the table and sat, hands on either thigh. The chief pulled up a chair about a foot away — further back than Luke would have expected him to sit. “What’s going on? You’re not yourself.”

“I wanted to give you a heads up,” he said. He’d let his arms come to rest between his legs, his fingers knitted. “Word’s come down the pipeline that your sister is to be arrested for arson tonight. The home fire we got called to on Blue Haven and Sunnyside? They’ve traced her back to it, along with two other house fires elsewhere in the county.”

The bottom fell out of Luke’s stomach. He dropped his gaze, hunching slightly. He couldn’t say that he was surprised, but there was a part of him that still refused to acknowledge someone he was so close to could have done something so terrible. What if she had killed someone? Luke couldn’t begin to understand it.

“Why are you telling me?” Luke asked. He didn’t know what to feel.

“Because you deserve the time to process it before it becomes big news in town,” Chief Powell said. “It’s not going to go ignored that a firefighter’s sister is an arsonist. There will be some who will paint you with the same brush as they’ll paint her. You deserve a chance to prepare yourself for the worst before the news breaks and catches you unaware.”

Prescott wasn’t big enough to garner extensive media attention, but Luke was sure that news like this would be flying around town just as soon as it broke. His position might be called into question, and it could mean a public demand that he be suspended pending investigation. Luke closed his eyes and let out a slow, steady breath. Despite the danger his career was now in, he found that wasn’t what he cared about the most — what he cared about the most was how it would impact Freddie and Reegan Ann.

What would Freddie think when he discovered the woman who’d stolen his home and destroyed nearly all his belongings was actually Luke’s sister? That they’d spoken together at the barbecue?

He’s going to think I’m just the same as her. He won’t be able to look at me anymore without feeling disgust.

Luke’s chest tightened with panic, and he sucked in a fresh breath of air to try to recover.

“Taylor?” the chief asked.

“I’m... I’m okay,” Luke said. “Thank you for letting me know.”

“It’s going to be okay, kid,” the chief said. “It’s always hard when you first find out, but I promise, when the shock wears off, you’ll find your way forward. You’re tough and resilient. You’ve got this.”

Luke nodded listlessly. He rose. “Is there anything else you need to talk to me about?”

“That was it,” the chief said. “You’re good to go.”

Luke nodded, then made his way to the door. He paused and considered saying something else, but decided that simpler was better, and left the room in silence. On his way down the hall, he struggled to keep his thoughts from spinning into freefall. There was so much to think about, and so many emotions he should be feeling, but wasn’t.

In a way, he was almost relieved.

Mel had always been troubled. Between his father’s gentle spirit and his mother’s lack of interpersonal skills, she’d lacked the structure she needed to escape her toxic mindset and become a lawful, kind young woman. Luke didn’t have the resources to offer her what she needed, but he hoped an arrest would be the shock she needed to snap out of whatever mindset she’d fallen into. She had to realize there was more to life than what she’d chosen to focus on.

And if she couldn’t, then at least she wouldn’t be a threat to those around her anymore. Setting fire to people’s homes was an evil, cruel thing to do. Luke knew the fallout from a fire all too well — even more so now that Freddie was in his life. She’d robbed families of their histories, forced almost insurmountable obstacles toward a happy future into their lives, and had destroyed their confidence in the world. Luke couldn’t bear to think about what he’d feel if she’d managed to hurt someone... or kill them. Until he found out the details about the other two counts of arson, he wouldn’t know for sure.

Not knowing was a wretched feeling.

The rest of his shift was uneventful, but it only made what he’d learned stick in his head even more. With a distraction, he would have been able to shelve the thought until later. As it was, no amount of working out in the station’s gym or triple checking that the truck was in order in case an emergency happened, could distract him from the mess that would soon be his life.

The only upside was that by the end of his shift, he knew what he needed to do.

When the boys who worked the next shift arrived, Luke slipped out of the station as quietly as he could and headed for his car. It was still dark outside, but the sun was starting to peek over the horizon, its light beginning to creep through the darkness. For a few minutes, Luke sat in his car and collected his thoughts, then he drove to the same coffee shop he’d visited before to grab breakfast.

He was going to need coffee to see him through this one.

Freddie was going to need it, too.