The text Summer had received was traced to a pay-as-you-go phone, which made about as much sense as the rest of this whole thing did.

An hour ago Joe had put Ashes in her box in the corner of his office, where she’d fallen asleep. He’d pushed away from his too messy desk, bringing the papers he needed to the floor. They were scattered out before him, including the original warehouse fire investigation, but he’d found nothing there that stuck out at him. No size eleven boot with a diagonal tread. No traces of gasoline found. No cigarette butts. Not a single shred to suggest the old fire could be connected to two new fires.

So…a terrible coincidence?

Or clever arson? And yet if that was true, then half the possible suspects could be eliminated because they hadn’t been around twelve years ago.

He heard footsteps coming down the hall, and knew by their light touch they were female. And still he was surprised when Summer appeared in his doorway. She hoisted a brown bag from which came a delicious scent, making his mouth water.

Or maybe that was just her.

“Hungry?” she asked, and waved the bag. “Low carb, no sugar or fat, I swear.”

Her smile was warm, affectionate, and just unsure enough to have him tossing aside his pencil and notepad. “And here I was hoping for pizza.”

Her light laugh filled him as she came into the room. She wore shorts tonight. Khaki cargo shorts with pockets everywhere, and a snug, thin scoop-neck T-shirt with a smiley face on it that said SMILE, IT CONFUSES PEOPLE.

“Did you just get back from your day hike?” he asked.

“Yep, I got them halfway to the summit, which was their goal. They want to try again later in the summer. They had a great time. Oh, and I got myself booked for two more hikes next week.” Her smile faltered, and he knew that was because she hadn’t planned on being here that long.

“You could have said no,” he said gently.

“I could have. Didn’t though.” She sat on the floor next to him, hugged her knees close and smiled at him. “It gives me an excuse to stay.”

“Do you need one?”

“Maybe I once thought I did. I know it doesn’t make much sense to you, but being so far from home for so long was…freeing.”

“You think you’d lose your freedom if you lived here, or used it as your home base?”

Reaching out, she stroked some hair from his forehead. The thick strands immediately fell back again, and she smiled. “I love your hair.”

She sidetracked him like no one else ever had. “Red.”