Athena had been wondering the same. Acting like a jerk toward Flash was one thing, but blatantly disregarding such obvious signs of arson bordered on a crime. “I have a few questions for him myself.”
Captain O’Riley rose from the table. “Excuse me. I’ll see if he’s back.”
The teammember Athena felt most at ease with—her peer in age—exited the room, leaving the rest of them in awkward silence. It only took a minute for Burks and Zapata to dive into small talk about the fall outlook in sports. Bonnie glanced over, her eyes asking if Athena wanted to chat. She didn’t. Small talk was not her forte, even with people she’d known for years.
“So, you’re an Assistant Special Agent in Charge,” the young woman ventured.
Athena held in a groan. “That’s right.” A simple, direct response was the way to go.
“And the task force was your idea?”
“I have no more pressing cases at the moment, so, yes. Why not stop this felon before he kills anyone else?”
“Indeed,” she agreed. “I’d like to be the fire marshal or even chief of the entire fire department one day. Any pointers?”
It wasn’t unusual for women Athena met to ask about the secret of her success, what it took to rise to so high a position in a male-dominated career field. What was she to say? Sacrifice your entire personal life and dedicate yourself solely to the job? She couldn’t in all honesty say it had been worth it—not for her anyway. Then again, if she had spent more time looking for love, she might have ended up with a mediocre partner or spouse and missed out on the most wonderful treasure ever. Curiously, it was something Flash had never asked.
“Be the best at what you do, and try not to make enemies,” was the best she could offer. Once again, short and to the point.
“That’s good advice.”
Finally, the woman stopped trying to engage her in conversation. Trying not to make an enemy?
O’Riley returned after about ten minutes with Lieutenant Christopher Edwards, or, as Flash referred to him, the snarling tightass bane of her existence. Athena had expected someone more remarkable looking than the average-sized guy in his forties with a crewcut and sour expression.
“Chief Burks,” he uttered in surprise as his eyes popped wide. “Fire Marshal Zapata. What can I do for you?”
“Have aseat,” Burks ordered. “We just want to ask you a few questions about the Synergy Warehouse fire.”
“Oh.”
Captain O’Riley pulled a chair between his and the chief’s, positioning Edwards at an angle where Athena could get a good look at him. He wasn’t intimidating at all, lacking all the protective confidence she’d felt from Flash the first time they met.Why is he an officer while Flash is stuck on the bottom rung? Age? Seniority?
When Burks’ stare hardened on Edwards, he seemed to shrink under the scrutiny. “Well, uh, sir, I turned in my report. It seemed like a standard, accidental fire. You know how warehouses are, and that one had a room filled with ethanol.”
“And nothing you saw raised a suspicion that it might have been set deliberately?” Zapata asked.
Paling, Edwards loosened his collar. “No, sir. Nothing stood out. Honestly, by the time we were done putting it out, there wasn’t much left to examine.”
“Excuse me,” Lieutenant Ballard interjected in a stern, incredulous manner, heat rising in her tone. “There was plenty left to examine. I should know, because I examined it. We took photographs, collected evidence, and not only determined the fire was the work of an arsonist, but linked it to other similar fires.”
“But—” What little color remained in Edwards’ face disappeared as the realization he’d made a colossal blunder dawned on him.
Burks glared at him. “You’re either the most incompetent officer in the Houston Fire Department, or an accessory to the crime.”
“No!” Edwards squeaked out, turning to O’Riley for clarification.
“Christopher, I didn’t want to believe either of those options, but when Cash told me what she found at the scene—”
“Cash?” Edwards’ jaw hardened, and his eyes glared daggers at the captain. “She went over my head?”
“So, Firefighter Cash had shown you the evidence, and you covered it up in your report?” Athena demanded in a sharp tone.
He glanced at her for the first time. “No, I mean yes, but no—I didn’t cover anything up. Cash doesn’t know what she’s talking about, and who are you?”
Chief Burks replied, “This is Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the Houston FBI Field Office, Athena Bouvier. We’re forming a task force to investigate a series of arsons, one with a fatality, perpetrated by the same fellow you tried to protect with your glaringly insufficient incident report.”
“Huh?” Caught between anger and fear, Edwards waffled his gaze between the chief, the fire marshal, and Athena before turning a hurt frown on O’Riley. “You took her word for it over mine?”
