From across the picnic table, Dahlia hadn’t even sat down for a second before I blurted it out.

“We’ve finally got a suspect.”

Immediately, Dahlia froze, her oversized bag still hanging from her shoulder. With a swift motion, she slid her sunglasses onto the top of her head, blinking rapidly. “Who?”

Before I continued, I looked around. We decided to meet up at the Klyde Warren park to discuss the story, and somehow, we were lucky enough to catch a table in the shade, protected from the unyielding light of the afternoon sun.

All around us were people far too busy with their own lives to pay any attention to ours; we were just another couple, background characters in the scenery. There was nothing to draw attention to us, so I turned back to Dahlia, returning her stare with matching intensity.

“Garrett Casnoff,” I announced.

Without wasting a second, Dahlia scrambled to dig around in her purse, pulling out a fat little notebook that was so stuffed with paper, the leather had split open. “Okay, okay— start from the top. Who is this guy? Tell me everything!”

“He’s the newest rookie at my station.” I scooted closer. “He started back in January, so he’s been with us for just about six months.”

“For some reason, his name rings a bell. Casnoff.” She scribbled it down to emphasize it. “But I can’t place where I’ve heard it before…”

“I want to say his brother works for the city or something like that, but I don’t remember anything specific.” I shrugged. “Anyway, he’s, uh, twenty-three, youngest in his family, Dallas born and raised…”

Dahlia was writing so quickly, her hand was practically a blur across the page. It was strange; while I hated watching Dr. Oh as she wrote, I found Dahlia’s rapt attention far less offensive - almost a little flattering. Maybe it was because I wasn’t the subject on the paper this time.

“Okay, well, none of that extra stuff’s really important right now,” I said. “This is why I’m suspicious, right: one night, he caught me when I was looking over the evidence.”

She leaned forward. “What’d he say?”

“Well, I didn’t want him to see it, but then I thought that maybe if he did, he could lend some insight. But he just… completely blew me off. Told me I was basically making things up.” I crossed my arms, balancing my elbows on the table. “And ever since then, something’s… changed between us.”

I thought back to Garrett’s finger tracing my cut, and the darkness that had overtaken his features, his voice was drained of its innocence; it was nauseating. Then, I looked across the table at Dahlia, her gaze fixed on me like every little word I said was revolutionary. I breathed in, then cleared my throat.

“When we’re around the rest of the crew, it’s like nothing ever happened,” I continued. “But when we’re alone, he tries to mess with my head. And I know he’s been spreading shit about me to the rest of the crew— I overheard him just the other day.”

“What was he saying?” She flipped to a new page. “Exact quotes, if possible…”

“That’s just it— on paper, everything he says is fine. He sounds like he genuinely gives a shit about me.” My jaw tightened further. “But when you see the bigger picture… he’s putting on an act. He’s making them think that he’s on my side, when behind the scenes, he’s playing mind games with me.”

“And you’re saying that this particular behavior started after he saw your file?” Her voice took on an unexpected seriousness. “There’s no way that’s a coincidence.”

With a groan, I took my cap off and ran a hand through my hair. “And there was something he said that night that just… stuck with me.”

It was a challenge to remember Garrett’s words without being assaulted by images of my bloodied arm and wasps breaking free from my flesh. To keep myself focused, I gazed at Dahlia as steadily as I could.

“So first, he was acting like I was crazy ‘cause our chief didn’t declare any of the cases to be arson, which I already told him doesn’t mean shit,” I said. “Then, he was talking about how it’s weird that I wanted there to be less fires, since he found it more exciting than our usual calls. And then…”

I saw Garrett’s face in perfect clarity: the sinister spark behind his eyes, a broad smile like a predator, fingers on my skin only seconds away from tearing right into me.

I finally got to be a hero.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

I shuddered.

“Eventually, he gets so worked up that he lets it slip that he doesn’t want us catching the guy.” I swallowed thickly. “So first he’s saying there’s no arsonist, then he’s saying he hopes we never catch him ‘cause it makes the job more worthwhile to fight fires all the time. Either way, ever since we talked, he’s been hellbent on trying to make me feel crazy.”

“Oh my God, there’s no doubt about it— he’s our guy! And he’s been right under our noses this whole time!” Dahlia was practically electric with excitement. She bounced in her seat.

“Manny, you can’t let this kid out of your sight for a second!”

Her enthusiasm was scary sometimes - in fact, it actually reminded me of Garrett. I tried to make my discomfort a little less obvious.

“I mean— for the most part, I don’t. Kind of comes with the territory of being around him for up to twenty-four hours at a time.” I glanced around us again, just to make sure we still weren’t being listened to. “But I don’t know what else I can do aside from keeping an eye on him.”

“I trust that you’re smart enough to figure something out.” She added a few colorful sticky notes to her paper. “Far be it from me to tell you how to go about it; you know him better than I do. In fact, if your cover hadn’t been blown, you could’ve totally done some reconnaissance on him. Cozied up to him until he let his guard down… but that’s out of our hands now. We’ll have to think of something else.”

“Hold on,” I said hesitantly. “Just how far are you expecting me to go with this?”

Dahlia’s features sharpened. “How far are you willing to go for justice?”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” My eyebrows flattened.

“Something’s going on, and it seems that so far, we’re the only ones privy to it.” She gestured her pen towards us both. “Which means we have to do whatever we can to get to the bottom of it— and, if necessary, stop him. Assuming that it is him, of course. Innocent until proven guilty, and all that.”

“And at what point do we take this stuff to the cops and let them handle it?” I asked.

“Why are you so confident that they’ll do anything about it?” She asked in return. “You know how many crimes go unpunished every day? The police have the manpower to solve these cases, they have all the evidence they need, the stars themselves are aligned, and then… nothing. Even when they have everything they need to take action, they do nothing.”

“What the fuck are you going on about?” I couldn’t even stop myself from laughing in disbelief. “Jesus, do you even hear yourself sometimes?”

“Do you hear yourself?” Dahlia’s smooth, even face wrinkled in disappointment. “Here’s an example that might make you pay a little more attention: that chemical fire you were involved in? Despite the abysmal working conditions at Kingslake Labs—”

“Dahlia,” I said firmly, “I thought we agreed that we weren’t going to talk about that.”

Judging from the folder she was bringing out of her bag, she wasn’t going to back down. “And numerous reports made about them over the years—”

“Dahlia,” I repeated.

“—There’s even evidence of regulators and officials being paid off—”

“Dahlia!” I shouted, banging my fist on table. “Fucking drop it!”

Dahlia was completely unmoved. She leaned back, crossing her arms defiantly.

“So it doesn’t bother you at all that you could’ve died there, and the people responsible won’t ever see a day in court? You’re fine with knowing that they might never be held responsible for what they did— not just to you, but to others?” Her tone was pointed and accusing. “Their negligence and cost-cutting measures got people killed, Manny. You were one of the lucky ones! Doesn’t that piss you off?”

“What pisses me off is you acting like I’m being a lazy fuck instead of just acknowledging that I can’t fix everyone’s problems!” I spat. “What am I supposed to do about it? Realistically, what do you want me to do? My hands are just as tied as anyone else’s.”

For once, Dahlia didn’t have a clever comeback. She narrowed her eyes at me like I was choosing to be difficult. “As long as you have that kind of attitude, the world is always going to be a shithole,” she replied icily. “You have more power than you think you do.”

“For the love of…” I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose. “Look, let’s just focus on the fire stuff for now. Taking on some chemical mega-company is gonna have to wait. And if I die before then, feel free to join the class-action lawsuit ten years from now in my honor, since it means so much to you.”

At this, Dahlia let out a little snort - and she was either amused or annoyed. She might’ve even been both.

Sighing heavily, I sat forward and braced my arms against the picnic table, lacing my fingers together. Then, Dahlia’s expression softened, and she patted the back of my hand gently as if to comfort me. She looked at me so softly, I felt guilty for shutting her down as harshly as I had.

Just as I was about to apologize, my phone let out a chirp, and I knew exactly what it was reminding me of. “I, uh, gotta get going,” I said quickly, sitting up. “I’ve got a party I need to head over to pretty soon.”

Dahlia raised a delicate eyebrow. “You go to parties?”

“Not willingly,” I scoffed. “But with enough beer, anything is possible.”

“Beer? Ugh!” She wrinkled her nose as she collected her papers from the table, shoving them gracelessly into her bag. “Well, have fun at your little get-together. After that, we need to learn more about Garrett. I’ll see what I can dig up behind the scenes— maybe I can find out more about his background and his family.”

“And what’s my job?” I asked. “He knows I know now, so it’s not like he won’t be on high alert. If anything, he’s probably going to double down on me.”

For a moment, Dahlia paused in thought. “Hm… good question.” Then, she flipped her sunglasses back down over her eyes. “I guess your job is just to survive, huh?”

At this, she laughed.

I didn’t.