Not Banner.
“What up, man?”
Granger Ryan, my best friend and Gold Haven’s fire chief, says, “It’s been a shit day. You wanna meet for a beer at Pints and Pins?”
“I heard about the fire and the body. Definitely a shit day. You get it handled all right?”
“Yeah, but I don’t want to sit home and drink by myself. You up for it?”
“Sure. Give me forty-five minutes and I’ll be there.” Maybe this way I’ll be able to keep myself from calling Banner to demand answers.
“Cool. See you then.”
I hang up and look around my shop.
Someday, this place will be on the map, and I won’t have to hustle so fucking hard to make sure it stays solidly in the black.
I cross the room to hit the lights and lock up.
Today just isn’t that day.
Chapter 3
Logan
“This shit is enough to make me hate my job. Do you know how much it fucking sucks to trip over a charred body?”
I drop the last bite of my burger in the red plastic basket on the table in front of me. The thought and visual of Roy Planter’s remains has officially killed my appetite.
Granger lifts his beer and takes a swig. “Poor, stupid motherfucker. Shoulda known better. Got my ass out of bed at threea.m. to deal with his mess.”
I reach for my beer. “Cody came around asking questions this morning. Wanting to know why I fired Roy.”
Granger sets his beer on the table between us. “Because he was a drunk, and everyone knows you let him stay on way too long.”
“That’s what I told him.”
“Makes you think about how fickle of a bitch this life is. One minute you’re doing something stupid, and the next you’re dead and your family finds out you’re cooking meth.”
“Any chance you’re wrong about the meth?”
Granger shakes his head. “No. This is my third meth house in the last few weeks. The signs are impossible to miss. When we went to Lexington three years ago to train on this, I never thought I’d have to worry about all the extra steps we’ve gotta take, but now it’s way too familiar.”
“Do you think they’re related?”
He shrugs. “I don’t fucking know. It’s not my job to figure out who set ’em, just to put ’em out. But damned if they’re not pissing me off. No one thinks about me and my guys putting our asses on the line every time we ride out to a call. If this shit gets one of us killed, I’m gonna tear this town apart until I find out who’s behind it. I don’t need to be making a call to someone’s wife or parents telling them some asshole cookin’ meth is responsible for puttin’ one of my guys in the ground.”
“Hey, guys, can I get you anything?” Rosie, the cocktail waitress, asks as she stops at our table. Banner filled in for her on one of her first nights in Gold Haven.
Granger’s gaze shoots across the room as a gust of wind blows through the doors, followed by a familiar laugh. I glance over to see Julianne coming in with one of her salon girls, Mary something. “Better get me another beer.”
“I’ll take one too.”
Granger’s attention shifts to Julianne as she comes toward us. Julianne braces as soon as she sees him, but doesn’t slow her stride.
“Where are you hiding Banner today? She was supposed to come in for nails, and she canceled.” Julianne pins her gaze on mine, completely ignoring Granger.
“She had to go back to New York to handle something.”