She rushed over to him, backed him up to the bed. “Lie down.”

“I’m tired of lying down.”

“Don’t make me get rough.” She helped him stretch out, but when she would have left him alone, he reached for her hand.

“Stay.”

“All right, I’ll just clean up—”

“Stay,” he murmured stubbornly with a grip of steel on her wrist, tugging her down until she was sprawled out besides him. “And don’t think I’ve forgotten that you owe me a bedtime story. You were going to tell me what things have changed between us. It sounds fascinating.”

“Joe…” She danced her fingers over his chest, and he let out a shuddery sigh.

“Feels good.” He hadn’t let go of her other hand, but his fingers relaxed in hers. “Really good. What changed?”

Jesus, he had a one-track mind. “Okay, maybe I like you more than I thought I did.”

Eyes closed, he smiled.

“Don’t smile. I don’t like liking you more than I thought.”

“It’s not your fault, I’m irresistible.” He seemed to be drifting off in spite of himself. “Don’t go.”

“I won’t,” she promised as he let out another exhausted sigh and went still. “I won’t.”

Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Everyone took turns watching over him. Tina, Camille, Kenny, some of his other coworkers, and Summer, until two days after he’d been released from the hospital, he kicked them all out.

He was fine on his own. Totally and completely fine. To prove it, he wrapped his bound foot in a garbage bag, secured it with duct tape, and got into the shower. Shaky but determined, he made it all the way through soaping up before having to sit down to breathe through the pain, the water pounding down on him.

He had to crawl out and air dry right there on the floor. When he could talk, he called Kenny. “Bring me into the office. I need to see the files.”

“You’ve seen them a hundred times. You lived and breathed them. Nothing’s changed.”

“I’ve been thinking about that old warehouse fire. There was never any evidence found. The area of origin was ground level, beneath the loft.”

“So?”

“So I was there,” Joe said. “I know I was a kid, but I remember everything. That fire burned hot and damned fast. And yet the area of origin was nothing more than stacks of cardboard boxes.”

“Flammable enough.”

“Flammable, definitely. But not enough. There was an accelerant there, there had to have been. It just wasn’t detected.”

“Okay, so let’s say there was an accelerant,” Kenny said reasonably. “Let’s assume gasoline, like the subsequent two fires.”

“Right.”

“But we’ve been through this. That would clear just about everyone except…” Kenny’s voice trailed off. “Shit.”