I was torn whether to be worried or horny watching Mauro hop on that truck as it was pulling out of the station. It was like a scene from a movie and he was the heartthrob hero.

Pulling into my own garage, I climb out of my car and for the first time in a long time, I’m home at a decent hour. Walking the path from the detached garage to the back door I see my neighbors out in their yard.

“Maddie,” the little girl says, jumping up and heading to the fence line.

“Hey, Jade.” I see she’s holding a cute white puppy in her arms. “You got a puppy?”

Her eyes light up, a smile so big I can see why Reed finally caved. Jade’s been begging for a dog for months.

I pet the dog’s head, and it leans in already too used to getting a lot of attention.

“I named him Snowball.” Jade holds him up in her arms.

“He’s adorable.” I continue petting him thinking maybe a dog would be a good idea if I stayed in a house for any length of time.

“I know. I can’t believe my mom and Reed agreed. My daddy brought him as a good luck in school gift this past weekend.”

I cringe inwardly, wondering how pissed off Reed must have been.

Speaking of the man, he walks out of their house and over to us in jeans and long sleeve t-shirt. He’s definitely an attractive man and talk about a potentially dangerous job. Assistant DA isn’t exactly a cakewalk either.

“Hey Maddie, I see you met our new addition.” He drinks from his cup, staring down at the furball in Jade’s arms.

“I did. Snowball is a cutie.”

“Not so cute when he can’t figure out that he needs to pee and poop outside,” he says.

“Not much of a dog person, huh?”

“Reed says Snowball is going to ruin our house so he’s stopped all renovations until he’s potty trained,” Jade says.

Reed shakes his head with a smile.

“It’s a nice gift,” I offer.

“From a person who doesn’t have to deal with it, of course.” He raises an eyebrow.

Jade drops Snowball to the ground, following the puppy as it wanders around their small yard.

“Sorry, ex-husbands, huh?”

He shrugs. “Did you see her smile though? How can I argue with that?”

“And Victoria?”

“She’s the same as me. Jade’s got us wrapped around her finger. She’s wanted it and we’d thought about it. Pete just beat us to it.”

Pete must be Jade’s father and if memory serves he lives in California. From what I can tell, they all get along pretty well.

“I’m glad I ran into you, I’ve been meaning to talk to you about something.” Reed glances behind him to make sure Jade isn’t within earshot. Which is hard in our small yards but she’s so consumed with Snowball, I don’t think we have to worry.

“What’s going on? If it’s about the sale, I’m waiting for another project to be finished and then I’ll be putting this house on the market. I’ll let you know what I list it at.”

He waves off my concern. Usually I don’t know the neighbors of the houses I rehab, but Reed, Victoria, and Jade are outgoing and it’s summer so we’ve had more interaction than I normally would.

“No, I saw a black truck picking you up and dropping you off a few times. Is that a new boyfriend?” I can tell he’s uncomfortable asking me.

“He is.”

“A firefighter? I saw the sticker in the back window.” He sips from his cup again, his eyes looking over his shoulder one more time.

“Yes. Engine Fifty-Five.”

“The one with Hunter Zaxby?”

“Cut to the chase, Reed. I feel like you’re about to ruin my day.”

He chuckles. “I’m not. The case is pretty clear-cut—it was arson that killed Hunter. I’m not sure if your boyfriend knows that yet. The case is finalized tomorrow, but I have some concerns, off the record.”

He takes a deep breath. “I don’t think this was the owner of an abandoned building wanting his problems to burn up. Just tell your boyfriend and his buddies to be careful. We’re having another look at some other fires that were originally ruled as accidents, but his job might be a lot more dangerous than usual if an arsonist is using ingredients to make fires uncontrollable and unpredictable.”

“Why would anyone purposely go after the fire department?” My stomach churns and my chest is tight thinking about someone trying to harm innocent workers who lay their lives on the line.

“I don’t know, but I intend to find out. It could be anything from a disgruntled former employee to a psychopath. There’s just too much coincidence in what I’m seeing. I wondered if he’d be willing to sit down and talk at some point.”

My hands grip the fence. Mauro’s in even more danger than he normally is?

“I’ll ask him. Hunter was a good friend of his so I’m sure he’d do anything to help you figure this out.”

“Reed, Snowball just threw up,” Jade calls out.

Reed rolls his eyes. “Remind me to thank Pete again.”

I laugh.

“You can give him my number or if he’d rather you’re there, the two of you are welcome over anytime. I just really want to pick his brain.” He walks away from the fence line, placing his cup down and unwinding the hose.

“I’ll ask him tonight and get back to you.”

“Thanks, Maddie.”

“Anytime.”

The house is empty, which I already suspected since Lauren’s Fiat isn’t in the garage. I dig through my purse for my M&Ms and flip on the television to see if there’s any news about the fire Mauro had to run off to. Reed’s fears become my own that he’ll have the same fate as Hunter if there’s some crazy person out there setting fires to harm firefighter.

There’s nothing on the news about it except what Reed already said about the announcement tomorrow morning on the fire that took the life of a firefighter. No mention of arson yet. Once that’s decided they’ll start the investigation.

I can’t help but worry about how this will all affect Mauro. Will it churn up feelings of anger toward someone he considered a best friend and betrayed him? One thing is for sure, our easy road of lovemaking and small disagreements is about to be turned on its head.

I hope we’re strong enough to get through it.