Page 88 of Teasing You
“Small town gossip,” Bob said with a wink.
“So…you knew she wasn’t guilty,” Reid clarified. “Then why not arrest Becky?”
“We needed more time,” Dennis calmly replied. “If it wasn’t a disgruntled employee and it wasn’t an electrical issue—and fortunately, inspections were all up to date—then who has the most motive to burn the building?”
“Ashlynn confirmed that Becky had no interest in doing upgrades to the salon…”
“That’s hardly a reason to burn it down,” Reid argued.
“It is when she sees how the entire town’s getting renovated for new businesses,” he said. “Becky saw what was happening and when word got out that Ashlynn was going to open her own salon…”
Now it all made sense.
“Son of a bitch,” he hissed. “I can’t believe anyone would be that…that…”
“Greed makes people do all kinds of crazy things,” Dennis murmured.
Reid took a minute to let it all sink in. “And what about me?” he finally asked. “I know I broke protocol and some rules that I shouldn’t have, and…”
His superiors exchanged looks before Bob responded. “We were coming down to the wire, Reid, and I needed you to not be around. I could tell you were getting antsy about the investigation, and while, yes, you really shouldn’t have called dispatch, it’s not a rule. I used it as an excuse to temporarily…get you out of the way.”
“What?!” he cried, jumping to his feet. “What the hell, Bob? How is that right? Or ethical?” All damn week he’d been kicking himself for sabotaging his own career and it was all for nothing?
“Okay, I’ll admit that it wasn’t a great option, but, as the chief, I had to do what I saw fit, Reid. I write up guys all the time for infractions that they don’t see as a big deal, but they are. This was a bizarre situation and you were involved with a suspect and not really seeing things clearly.”
“But she wasn’t actually a suspect when you put me on leave!” he argued hotly.
“Reid, can you honestly say that if I asked you to be patient and give us a few days, that you wouldn’t have hounded everyone for answers? And that you wouldn’t have run back and shared that information with Ashlynn?”
There was no way he could answer that honestly because he had a feeling he would have done exactly that.
With a huff of frustration, he simply nodded. “Fine. So where does that leave me now?”
“You’re on the schedule starting Monday,” Bob said. “And I really am sorry it all had to play out this way. You’re a great fireman, Reid, and you have the potential to move up the ranks here in our department. None of this is going on your record if that’s what you’re worried about.”
It was, but he kept that to himself.
Standing, Bob held out his hand to him to shake it. “Clean slate. Or…original slate with this last week just…gone.”
“Easy for you to say. All the guys know you sent me home, Bob.”
“It will be taken care of as soon as I get back to the station, which…” He glanced at his watch. “I really need to do.” He shook Reid’s hand. “I look forward to seeing you on Monday.”
“Thanks.” He shook the chief’s hand, but he was still kind of pissed at how this all played out.
Once Bob left the room and it was down to him and Inspector Rowe, he intended to say a quick goodbye and leave.
“I was going through your records,” Dennis began, “and I saw that you’ve been certified as a level one inspector.”
Reid nodded. “That’s right.”
“Why haven’t you moved forward?”
“There weren’t any openings where I wanted to be,” he replied honestly. “Before coming back to Sweetbriar, I was primarily in bigger cities. My goal in moving back here and joining the squad was that eventually I could pursue moving forward in my certification.” Pausing, he let out a mirthless laugh. “This last week, I thought that was all going to be taken away from me. I think I’m still a little shell-shocked that all that freaking out was for nothing.”
“This was definitely a unique set of circumstances, but I hope you won’t hold it against Bob. He was only doing what he thought was best for the investigation.”
“I know.”