So why did the thought of leaving him sadden her? And why couldn't she get him, and that kiss, off her mind?
When the sun peeked through the blinds, Kenzie yawned before sitting up in bed. She planned to talk to the Tollivers today, especially after finding out about Sabrina and Mark. She also hoped to talk to the former Mrs. Duncan, just to see if she had a side of the story she wanted to tell regarding Mark.
Before Kenzie could get dressed, her cell phone rang. She stumbled over to the dresser where she had it. Expecting it to be her parents, she was surprised to see that it was Tara's name on the ID.
"Hello?" she said.
"Kenzie! This is Tara. I was just checking to see how you and Logan were getting along."
Kenzie saw her face turn crimson in the mirror as she recalled last night's kiss.
"Everything's going fine," she said.
"Glad to hear it. Listen, I just wanted to tell you thank you for letting him tag along with you. It keeps him out of my hair."
"Uh...you're welcome."
"I know, that sounds bad. But don't think of it as a chief-bounty hunter relationship. Think of it as a brother-sister relationship."
"Brother-sister?"
"He didn't tell you?"
"No..."
"Oh, my mistake. Logan's my little brother. Chandler is my married name."
"Oh, well. I didn't know that."
"Don't worry about it. But anyway, are you any closer to finding out what's going on?"
"I talked to the Friedlander family and both suspects. Mark told me something interesting - he was seeing a girl named Sabrina Tolliver, and her house is one of the two that burned down."
"Why would he burn down his girlfriend's house?"
"As an act of revenge. Her mother caught them going at it, and sent him home. Maybe he was mad that he didn't get to see his girlfriend."
"You know, I thought I read something about a restraining order in Mark's file. But I didn't think it was relevant, so I didn't think anything of it. Let me get back to you on that."
"Sounds good."
Kenzie tried not to roll her eyes. Everything in a case was relevant...until it wasn't.
"Anyway, I'll let you go," Tara said, "and I'll call you when I find something out."
"Okay, talk to you later."
"Bye!"
Kenzie hung up the phone and stared at it. What a morning. First, she could hardly get to sleep last night for many reasons. Then, she gets a phone call first thing in the morning. And now she finds out that Tara is Logan's older sister? She didn't see that coming.
Although there was a slight family resemblance with the blonde hair and stubbornness.
At last, Kenzie got dressed. She'd have to talk to Logan today and tell him she didn't think they should see each other except on a professional level. It just wouldn't work out. He'd said she was cute. Maybe putting her hair up in silly pigtails would turn him off. And wearing jeans that showed off her big butt. There were times when being heavy came in handy.
She went to the cafe and had today's breakfast special of eggs and bacon. At least Logan couldn't see her eating all that fat. She even managed to get the same table that she'd had yesterday. Was it really only yesterday? It seemed like 10 years ago.
As soon as she finished with her breakfast, Kenzie called Logan. The sooner she got this over with, the better.
He picked her up ten minutes later. He looked as handsome as ever. Kenzie felt her heart do a flip when she saw him. Why did it have to do that?
"Hey, cute hairstyle!" he said by way of greeting. So much for turning him off.
Instead, she ignored him and said, "I want to talk to the Tollivers today," as she climbed into the front seat.
"Oh, that won't do you much good," Logan replied as he started up the truck. "They're gone."
"What do you mean they're gone?"
"Mrs. Tolliver took her daughter and they went to live with Mrs. Tolliver's sister. I don't know where, but they aren't in this town."
"How do you know that?"
"Because I asked Tara last night. I figured you'd want to talk to them, since they were victims and the girl was seeing Mark, so I figured I'd get their exact location. Tara said they're gone."
"Oh, by the way, I didn't know you and Tara were siblings."
"Well, we kind of keep it under wraps. I'm surprised she told you."
"Why wouldn't she? What difference does it make?"
Logan sighed. "My whole family's big on law enforcement. My dad was the chief before Tara. My mom was a tough lieutenant. They had it all planned out - me and Tara would go to school for law enforcement and follow in their footsteps. I was supposed to be chief. But I never cared that much about it. I always preferred the forensics side. I like what you do. But that didn't go over too well with my dad. My mom didn't care so much, but my dad...well, I guess that's where I got my stubbornness from. So anyway, he basically cut me off, said he wasn't sending me to college unless it was for law enforcement. I didn't have the money to go myself, so I figured, I might as well forget it. It's a lost cause. So that's why I became a bounty hunter. I'm still upholding the law and helping people out. I just don't get the fancy badge."
Kenzie was stunned. She never pictured Logan as anything but a bounty hunter. She just couldn't picture him dusting for fingerprints and interrogating suspects. And yet, her heart reached out to him. It was sad when someone couldn't live their dreams. Logan had to settle for second-best where his dream was concerned.
But before she could think about that any longer, she looked up to see a house with a very interesting shape to it. Several toys littered the front yard, most of the playground variety. At first, Kenzie thought the place was a daycare center.
"Where are we?" she asked.
"This is Mrs. Duncan's house. I figured you'd want to talk to her."
"How did you know?"
"I'm good at reading people."
"Oh, well, thanks."
"You're welcome."
Kenzie offered a shy smile to Logan, then inwardly scolded herself. She was supposed to be keeping her feelings for this guy on the down-low. She had to focus on the case, and that's it.
So she trudged up the steps to the front door. The place didn't look like much, but it was in better shape than Max's. It was obvious who got the short end of the stuck with the divorce.
Kenzie rang the doorbell and felt Logan standing beside her. Being in his presence seemed to have a bad effect on her pulse lately.
The door swung open to reveal a woman wearing a workout jacket with her dark hair (the same color as Mark's) up in a clip.
"Yeah?" she huffed.
"Mrs. Duncan?"
"No, it's Ms. Nina Fitzgerald now. Who's asking?"
Kenzie could tell this woman had been married to Max. They had the same attitude. They must have rubbed off on one another for too long.
"I'm Kenzie Howell, and this is Logan Hawkins. We'd like to ask you a few questions about the fires around town."
"I don't know anything about those fires," Ms. Fitzgerald said coldly. "You want to talk to my ex-husband. He's got the trouble maker."
Wow. She called her own kid a trouble maker. The Duncans definitely weren't a close-knit family.
"Actually, we've already spoken to Mr. Duncan and Mark. We were hoping to see if you could tell us something they didn't mention."
"Like what?"
"Well, for instance, did you know your son was dating Sabrina Tolliver?"
Ms. Fitzgerald sighed. "All right, get in here," she said, not in an unfriendly way, so much as an exasperated one.
Kenzie and Logan followed her inside. The house seemed smaller inside than it had outside. There was also a little corner with toys and a bean bag chair.
"Have a seat," Ms. Fitzgerald gestured toward the sofa. Kenzie sat down very carefully, and thankfully no whoopee cushions were found this time. Logan sat next to her while Ms. Fitzgerald sat in a chair.
"No, I didn't know Mark was seeing Sabrina," Ms. Fitzgerald began. "But I should've seen it coming. As much time as his father spent with her mother, that would have given them plenty of time to see each other."
"You mean Mr. Duncan was with Mrs. Tolliver a lot?"
"With her is an understatement. The guy cheated on me with her. That's why I filed for divorce, and I sued the pants off him. He's paying me alimony, which serves him right. And he's paying child support."
"Child support? But Mark lives with his father, doesn't he?"
"I guess he failed to mention that Mark has a younger brother."
"Yeah...he did."
"That would explain all the toys I see," Logan chimed in.
"Yeah, I let Max have his clone, also known as Mark. I took Adam with me. He's outside, playing in the sandbox right now. On Saturdays, it's impossible to keep him inside."
"Well, Ms. Fitzgerald," Kenzie said, "Mark was with Sabrina the night the Tolliver house burned down. Apparently the two got caught...and Mrs. Tolliver drove him home. I'm wondering if you think Mark's capable of...arson. As an act of revenge maybe?"
Ms. Fitzgerald snorted. "Nothing would surprise me. But I could care less what happened to the Tolliver house. That woman tore my family apart. Not that we had much of one to begin with, but still. I despise home wreckers."
Kenzie glanced at Logan and he returned it. Oh great, now they were forming their own type of nonverbal communication.
Just then, the sliding glass door opened, and a boy that looked to be almost eight years old walked in. He shared his mother's dark hair. Of course, since Mr. Duncan had so many gray hairs, maybe he at one point had dark hair too.
"Mom, I got sand in my shoes," the boy said.
"Adam, I asked you to please clean up before walking in here with all that sand," Ms. Fitzgerald replied.
"I'm sorry. When can I go see Aaron?"
Ms. Fitzgerald consulted her watch. "I can take you in about 10 minutes. Go clean yourself up and get ready."
Adam ran toward the stairs and climbed them at a very fast rate.
"And take off those shoes before you get more sand in here!" Ms. Fitzgerald exclaimed. "I just swept the floor!"
She turned back to Kenzie and Logan. "Sorry about that. He's got so much energy. I don't know where he gets it from."
"He seems to be coping well with the divorce," Logan observed.
"Yeah, well, he and his father weren't ever that close. We had our hands full with Mark. When I told him I was pregnant with another baby, Max didn't take too well to that. I think he ran off with Mrs. Tolliver to avoid his fatherly responsibilities, even though that daughter of hers was also a handful. Listen you two, don't ever let divorce come between you. Make sure you're right for each other before you get married. You make a cute couple and I don't like to see cute couples rush into anything."
Kenzie nearly fell off the couch. Couple? Her and Logan? No way!
"Actually, Ms. Fitzgerald, we're not a couple," she said as her cheeks flared. "We're just working together."
"Oh, well you go so well together I thought you were dating. Guess it's been a while since I've been in the dating scene, so I wouldn't know for sure."
Adam ran back downstairs then, still in the same clothes, but carrying a bag, probably full of toys. "I'm ready, Mom!"
"I'm sorry," Ms. Fitzgerald said as she stood up. "I have to take him to see his friend. Poor kid, he and his family lost their house. So Adam, the good kid he is, has been visiting them at the shelter."
"Shelter?" Kenzie asked. "Are you talking about Aaron Friedlander?"
"We're best friends!" Adam exclaimed from the door. "They have cooler toys at the shelter, but I'm taking some with me to cheer him up. Today we're playing astronauts!"
"That sounds like fun!" Logan said.
Adam nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, I can't wait!"
"If you'll excuse us," Ms. Fitzgerald said. "I'll be popping in to say hello to the Friedlanders as well, so if you wouldn't mind..."
Kenzie and Logan were already standing. "We'll go," Kenzie said. "Thanks for your time."
"No problem. Come on, Adam."
Adam ran toward the door and his mother followed him. As soon as Kenzie and Logan were outside, Ms. Fitzgerald locked the door and headed toward the van, where Adam was already bouncing up and down in his seat.
"So, where now?" Logan wanted to know.
Kenzie's cell phone rang before she could respond. She saw that it was Tara and answered it.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Kenzie. Listen, I checked up on Sierra, since Logan mentioned that, and three gym employees and four other people confirmed that she was there the night of the Friedlander fire. So I'm afraid her alibi checks out."
"Shoot. Well, we still have Mark. And possibly the former Mrs. Duncan."
"Why's that?"
"We just got done talking to her. She flat out said she didn't care what happened to the Tollivers or their house. It seems her ex husband cheated on her with Mrs. Tolliver. That's motive."
"Good point. Except that since the Tolliver house caught on fire the night Mr. and Mrs. Duncan were at the station about a restraining order, I don't think she could have done it."
"They were at the station that night? Where were the kids?"
"Adam was with them, but I'm not sure where Mark was. Well, I guess he was with Sabrina since that's the night the place burned down."
"I see."
"So, sorry to break that bad news to you about Sierra. I'm still looking into things about Mark and Sabrina."
"Okay, well let me know if you hear anything."
"Will do. Bye."
Kenzie hung up and faced Logan. "Bad news," she reported. "Sierra's alibi checks out. She was at the gym the night the Friedlander house caught on fire. And Mr. and Mrs. Duncan were at the police station the night the Tolliver house caught on fire."
"Tough break. But there's still Mark."
"There seems to be a connection between the two houses that burned down. Both families somehow knew the Duncans. Adam and Aaron are best friends, Mark was seeing Sabrina, and Max cheated on his ex wife with Mrs. Tolliver. The Duncans are involved. I can feel it."
"Sounds like a safe bet to me. But the question is, how?"
"I don't know yet, but I'm going to find out."
Kenzie looked up at the sky. She hadn't realized how dark it was getting. Logan followed her gaze. "Looks like a storm's coming," he said.
"Yeah, I just wish I could get in touch with the Tollivers somehow. And I haven't seen their house yet."
"That won't get you any further than talking to them will. That one burned down ten times worse than the Friedlander place. There was literally nothing left. The city just cleared it all away."
"They what?! There might have been something in there! Some key piece of evidence!"
"Hey, don't look at me. I didn't do it. I didn't condone that either, but I've got no way to stop it from happening."
Kenzie sighed. This case was going down the drain. She had plenty of suspects with motives, but no evidence.
"Why don't you go back to the hotel and relax?" Logan suggested. "You need it."
Kenzie's sleepless night caught up to her. She suddenly felt drained. "That's a good idea. I think I'll take a nap."
"Okay, I'll take you back."
"Thanks."
So Kenzie got into Logan's truck and he drove her back to the hotel. She started to doze off on the way, all the while thinking how she was going to stop this arsonist before he or she struck again, and how to find the evidence to do so.
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