Fireproof

construction company working in the warehouse district.”
    “I bet he was pleased to get a phone call on a Saturday night.”
    “Actually he didn’t seem surprised.” Irritated was more what Maggie had detected, but Mr. Lyle Post had treated her phone call as if it were only one in a long run of federal interruptions into his business.
    “Can he get you a list of his employees?”
    “Said it would be tough.”
    “Because of privacy issues?”
    “No, that wasn’t the problem. He doesn’t keep track of the names of all his crew members.”
    Tully blinked and sat up like he hadn’t heard her correctly and needed to get a closer listen.
    “Said he’s had to hire a lot of private contractors because theproject got fast-tracked. Someone at HUD told him they needed the job done sooner than they needed to know every single person who was working on it.”
    “He told you this knowing you’re an FBI agent?”
    “I didn’t exactly tell him who I was.” It wouldn’t be the first time she or Tully had withheld information in order to get information.
    “So someone could be working on both projects.”
    “Or someone could think the fires would get more attention because they were close to federally funded projects.”
    “Could be why Kunze has his panties in a twist.”
    “It’s taken you both this long to figure that out.”
    Assistant Director Raymond Kunze stood in the doorway of the conference room. Tully sat up in his chair, a flush of red running up his neck. Maggie dropped her hands into her lap and restrained a smile. Kunze looked like a linebacker but dressed like a nightclub bouncer. The blazer he wore was probably a rust color, but under the fluorescent lights it looked orange.
    “I’ve got one senator and the director of HUD kicking my ass until you two catch this frickin’ firefly.” He started into the room but stopped halfway. “Tully, you look like crap. And O’Dell”—he sniffed the air—“you stink.”
    If Maggie didn’t know better she’d guess Kunze was finally joking with them like they were part of a team. It certainly was the first time he’d admitted to the politics of his actions.
    He threw what looked like a faxed document on the table. The pages were the old flimsy paper of antiquated fax machines that curled.
    “I just received the ATF’s report on the church fires.” He sat at the head of the table, tapping the top of the papers he’d thrown down. “Gasoline was poured at the threshold of the door to thebasement. Not only did this bastard know there was a meeting being held down there, he was hell-bent on killing someone. Tonight he finally did. He murdered an entire family by setting fire to—of all things—the fire escape and the back door, their only other way out.”
    Maggie hadn’t known about the back door. She watched Kunze. She was used to seeing him angry, but there was something different tonight, emotion she didn’t recognize. He appeared shaken by these latest deaths.
    “There was an eighteen-month-old child,” Kunze said quietly. “My ass is so going to get kicked when this hits the news.” He looked up at the two of them. “And so are both of yours if you don’t catch this bastard.”



CHAPTER 65

    In the security camera outside her front door Maggie watched the woman fidgeting on the portico. Her first reaction was that at least this time Samantha Ramirez had decided to come to the front of the house instead of the back.
    “I know I should have called first, but I didn’t think you’d agree to see me.” Ramirez blurted it so quickly a slight Spanish accent slipped out.
    “What makes you think I will now?” Maggie blocked the open doorway while Ramirez continued to shift from one foot to the other.
    “Because I have something I think you’ll want to see.” She opened the flap of her shoulder bag to show Maggie the camera inside. “I need to run the footage for you to take a look. It’s from the warehouse fires.”
    “What’s going on?” Patrick asked from behind Maggie.
    At the sound of his voice she noticed Ramirez’s demeanor changed. At first Maggie thought the woman was disappointed she didn’t catch Maggie alone. But at second glance she saw that wasn’t the case. It wasn’t disappointment that had suddenly struckRamirez and dismantled her composure, but rather what plainly looked like a physical attraction to Patrick—an attraction that caught Ramirez off guard so much she hadn’t been able to control her