Sunday Snippet: Fuel for the Fire

September 6, 2020

Hello, September. The great office reorganization is coming along. If all goes well, I might have the bulk of the work complete by the end of the year. I'm very happy with how everything is going so far.

Not a bad week for television. I finished up the Danger Man episodes that were available. Not sure what I'll start on to replace this one yet.

Caught an episode of Picard and enjoyed it. I'm not quite sure what to make of the guy who's captaining the ship yet. I rather liked getting a little more Ravi backstory.

Watched two more episodes of Peak Practice. I'm getting to the end of the second season and, so far, still enjoying the episodes.

Finished Ms. Fisher's Modern Murder Mysteries. I'd really love to have another season of this show. I feel like the final episode had everyone coming into their own as characters. Maybe we'll get lucky.

Caught another arc of Classic Who. I think I might be ready to start the next season or I'm getting close.

That's it for this week. Tonight's post is from Fuel for the Fire, a novella with characters in the fire service, which is near and dear to my heart since my dad is a retired fire chief.

Here's the mini-blurb:

An arsonist wants arson investigator Sadie Kyle's attention and burns the home and business Greg DeSoto to get it. When Sadie shows up to investigate, she hits it off with Greg, which only adds fuel to the fire for her pyromaniac. When Greg gets hit a second time, Sadie digs in and calls the burner out.

And a snippety peek…

Sadie Kyle answered her phone on the second ring. "Yeah, hello."

"We might have another one."

Sadie sat up and went from dead sleep to wide awake in half a second. "Where?" She put her phone on speaker and swung her legs over the edge of the bed. "I'll be out the door in five." Rustling around, she snagged her thermal leggings and yanked them on.

Her boss, Wade Albright, gave her the rundown. "Close to you in Olde Towne. Another historic building conversion." He waited a beat. "Sprinkler system failed."

Damn.

Sadie dug through her work clothes and grabbed a heavy fleece pullover. "Which place?" Her old stomping grounds had buttloads of historic sites.

And her heart broke. She lived one neighborhood over now, but still frequented many of the places she'd grown up going to.

Wade rattled off the address. "It used to be a sewing factory."

Sadie nodded. "Now it's a bar … or it was." Stitch and Stone. Quaint charm with rugged industrial touches. A comfortable place for male and female clientele.

Wade confirmed. "Yeah, went up fast. Faster than it should even without the sprinkler failure."

Sadie shoved her feet into her clogs and snatched her jacket from her coat tree. "I'm headed out now. I'll have a prelim on your desk ASAP." She ended the call and exited her duplex, being careful to mind the icy steps.

Sliding behind the wheel, she drove the short distance to Olde Towne and slowed when she came up on the scene. Most of the fire had been knocked down by the three station houses on the job. She never failed to get a small thrill when she got within five feet of a ladder, engine, or aerial truck. Growing up around the fire service gave her opportunities to do so from a young age.

In fact, she'd moved home from a city several hours north to take the position in the arson unit. "Good to be close to family." After proving her worth in a place away from their influence.

Getting out of the vehicle, she didn't take her eyes off the building even when she made her way to the back to put her turnout gear on. Sitting on the edge of her car, she slipped her clogs off and stuck her feet into her boots then pulled up her bunker pants. She added the jacket, which blocked the icy wind kicking up swirls of snow.

Grabbing her helmet, she surveyed the firefighters doing cleanup and took in the damage. "Damn, what a loss." A weird vibe crawled up her spine. "Can't be a coincidence anymore. Not when a pattern is emerging." Saddened by the possibility of more buildings being hit, she tried not to jump to conclusions.

Even when her instincts all but shouted Fire!

I love writing this one. Sadie and Greg are fun characters even when everything is burning down around them.

That's it for this week. Happy reading!

Skylin