Montana Fire Read Online Free PDF Page A

too
     dark, too hot, and way too dangerous. They’d have to wait until tomorrow to investigate.
     A set of headlights pulled into the lot near the fire trucks, and Detective Trent
     Lawson exited his car.
    “The circus is about to begin,” Max announced.
    It didn’t matter that Trent was a capable guy—and Max’s best friend. The more people
     who came to the fire, the higher the chance something important would be disturbed.
    Rich nodded to Trent. “If you want, I can wait around and make sure RHPD doesn’t muck
     up our evidence.”
    It was Max’s job now to stay behind. Four days ago, he’d replaced the former fire
     marshal, who’d stepped down from the position due to health reasons. Now Max had double
     duty—he was both the arson investigator and the fire marshal for the small town. The
     fire chief said Max’s police background, coupled with his fire science degree made
     him a better choice than Rich.
    Since then, Max had worked pretty much non-stop, only taking time off for his friends’
     wedding. Last night, he’d spent hours creating a spreadsheet for the cyclic maintenance
     inspection of existing buildings around town. His predecessor hadn’t kept the files
     electronically, and in this day and age that made finding anything quickly almost
     impossible.
    “I’ll stay. You can go.”
    “You sure?”
    “Yeah. Get some sleep. One of us needs to be fresh in the morning.” Max tried to keep
     his voice light in contrast to the terrible tragedy.
    “What about the old guy? You think he’ll make it?”
    “I’ll stop by the hospital first thing tomorrow and check,” Max said. “Then I’ll come
     out here.”
    Rich nodded. “Call me with your ETA. I’ll meet you.”
    “Will do.”
    As soon as Rich left the scene, Max’s friend, Trent Lawson, came over. “You okay?
     Heard one of the top floor windows exploded.”
    “Yeah. It’s all good. You give Ed Hanson a call yet?”
    “Ed?”
    “Owner of the building.”
    Trent made a note of the man’s name. “You’re thinking arson here, right?”
    “The color of the smoke and the markings on the wall make it a strong possibility.
     Rich said he spotted multiple source points, too.”
    “Crap. Hanson might have torched his own place for the insurance money.”
    Max shrugged. “It’s possible, but he already submitted a zoning proposal to tear this
     thing down so he could build a gym. Torching it would be a little obvious. A bulldozer
     would be less messy.”
    “Agreed. Got any other ideas?”
    “The graffiti on the front of the building implies this might be gang related.”
    “Gangs? Shit.”
    “Whoever was responsible, I just wished they’d checked the inside first.”
    “Amen.”
    Max shook his head. “Christ. This is shaping up to be a long ass night.”

Chapter Three

    A round four in the morning, after Max was certain Detective Trent Lawson had everything
     under control, Max left the smoldering, wet mess, and headed home. Since he wanted
     to be back at the scene as soon as the sun rose, he quickly showered and changed into
     fresh investigative gear. Knowing he’d be covered in soot by day’s end, he donned
     blue overalls and the last of his clean long sleeve shirts. This one scratched, but
     it would keep him protected from the hot debris.
    He fixed a shitload of coffee that he hoped would clear the cobwebs from his mind,
     along with a simple breakfast of eggs and toast. As he was finishing the last of his
     meal, his cell rang. It could only be one person at five thirty in the morning. Christ,
     the sun wasn’t even up.
    “Hey, Rich.” Max lifted his shoulder to hold the phone against his ear while he spread
     the jam on the remaining bite of his whole wheat toast.
    “You won’t believe what I found.” Max’s hand stopped in mid spread. Rich’s voice actually
     shook, and Max swallowed hard, forcing back his alarm.
    From the noise in the background, his assistant was at the warehouse. They must have
     just