"Why don't I believe you? When you're around, things tend to get exciting."
"Not anymore. I'm much more thoughtful now that I'm a special agent."
He laughed. "I doubt that. How do you like working for the FBI? Is it what you thought it would be?"
"It's not at all what I thought it would be. Every day is different. Sometimes I'm doing nothing but boring paperwork or spending hours on surveillance, and other days I'm in the middle of the action, breaking down doors, searching for terrorists, calling in bomb experts."
"That sounds dangerous."
"There have only been a few scary moments. Most of the time it's pretty routine." She paused. "Enough about me. What's up with you?"
"Just work."
"What about women?"
Ian shrugged, folding his arms across his chest as he leaned against the counter. "Who has time?"
"Most healthy, young, single men under the age of thirty-five. What about Vanessa?" she asked, referencing a woman he'd been seeing the year before.
"She said I wasn't fun anymore," he replied. "She wasn't wrong. I've had my mind on other things, important things. She and her friends do nothing but bar hop on the weekends. They start drinking at ten in the morning and are wasted by dinnertime. I'm just not in that mode anymore."
"Not that you ever were." Ian was thirty-two and the second oldest of her siblings. He'd always been the most responsible one in the family. He was just too smart to do all the dumb things the rest of them had done. "How's everyone else in the family? Are Dylan and Hunter staying out of trouble?"
"Dylan seems to have his head on straight. Hunter-who knows? Last I heard, he was going on vacation to try helicopter skiing."
"What is that?"
"As far as I know, you get dropped out of a helicopter on an unreachable mountain peak, and you ski down."
"Sounds insane."
"That's Hunter."
"You'd think he'd get enough of an adrenaline rush from charging into burning buildings."
"You'd think." He moved away from the counter. "I have to get some sleep."
"Go ahead. I'll be quiet."
He paused in the doorway. "You know, Mom is going to kill you if she finds out you're in the city and didn't tell her."
"Then let's make sure she doesn't find out."
* * *
As Kate walked down the hall of the building where San Francisco's Fire Investigative Unit was housed, she thought about her conversation with her brother the night before. If she didn't want her mom to know she was in town, speaking to Emma was a risk. But if she wanted to help Devin solve his case, she had to take the chance.
While Emma was an outgoing, blue-eyed blonde who tended to meddle in everyone's business with good-natured affection, she was also good at keeping a confidence. She'd keep their conversation private if Kate asked her to, and she intended to do just that.
After pausing at a reception desk, she was waved down another hall. She knocked on a glass door, seeing Emma sitting behind one of the two desks in the room. Thankfully, the other desk was empty. She wanted to have this conversation with Emma in private.
She pushed open the door, ready to greet her cousin with a big, happy grin when she saw Emma dab at her eyes and then force a smile onto her tense face.
"Hey, Em," she said, crossing the room as Emma got to her feet.
"Kate," Emma said. "What a surprise! How are you?"
"I'm good." She gave Emma a hug, followed up by a speculative look. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," Emma said, blinking her watery blue eyes.
"You were crying."
"I had some dust in my eye. What brings you here?" Emma added, as she sat down behind her desk.
Kate took the chair in front of the desk. "Before we get into that, you have to tell me what's wrong, because clearly something is off. It's not Max, is it? Your husband is still treating you right?"
"Max is great. He adores me. I adore him. I've never been so happy."
"I might believe you if you didn't look like you were about to cry."
"I'm just having a moment."
"Why?"
Emma sighed. "You can't tell anyone in the family, Kate."
"I won't. I promise."
"I had a miscarriage two days ago. It was super early. I was barely pregnant. I shouldn't be this upset."
"I'm so sorry," she said, wanting to give her cousin another hug, but the desk was between them, and Emma seemed almost too fragile to take the sympathy.
"It's the second time in a year. I'm beginning to think my body is not made for having children."
"What does the doctor say?"
Emma shrugged. "Everything looks fine to her. She doesn't see why I can't have a healthy pregnancy, but so far I can't. I didn't even tell Max this time. He was so sad after the first miscarriage; I couldn't bring myself to tell him about this one."
"Em, you have to tell him. You can't carry the grief alone. He wouldn't want you to do that."
"I think it will be easier if I just don't say anything. Why should both of us be unhappy?"
"It won't be easier; it will be harder. You should tell your family, too-at least your mom or your sisters. You need support."
"They won't know what to say, and they'll just feel bad. Plus, with Ria and Sara nursing along pregnancies, I don't want to throw shade over their happy time."
She could understand where Emma was coming from, but she still thought the secrecy was a bad thing. "Then just talk to Max. He deserves to know. It was his child, too." She paused. "He's probably going to think something else is terribly wrong if you don't say anything, because you're not really hiding your emotions."
"I know. You're right. I will talk to him tonight. In the meantime, is there anything I can do for you? I thought you were living in DC."
"I am, but I came back for the wedding."
Emma raised an eyebrow. "Ten days early? What else is going on? Why do I have the feeling this is not just a personal call?"
"Because it isn't. I hate to bother you with this now, but it is important."
"Please, I could use a distraction. I feel stupid for getting so emotional at work. I usually manage to keep my tears out of the workplace. It's difficult enough being a woman in this job, without crying in front of anyone."
"I can totally relate, and I think I'm the only one who saw you wipe a tear from your eyes," she said, as they exchanged a commiserating look. "You shouldn't feel bad or guilty. You're human. Bad things happen and people cry. It's not a crime."
"I know, but crying doesn't get you anywhere. Anyway, talk. Tell me what's going on."
"I'm working on a case that involves a series of fires here in the city."
Emma's gaze narrowed. "Is this about the agent who was killed in a fire last year?"
"Yes. I'm working with Devin Scott, a former agent. He's convinced that his partner, Agent Samantha Parker, was not killed by the man who died beside her."
"Mr. Scott has already talked to my boss about all this, Kate. There's no evidence to support his theory."
"Are you sure? Devin said there was a fire at a Catholic high school on Monday. He believes it's the beginning of another string of fires."
"I know that he's been calling the department about that, but he hasn't brought us anything in the way of new evidence. And there have been several fires at schools in the city in the past few years that were the work of disgruntled students. It's very likely that the fire at St. Bernadette's falls into that category."
"Likely doesn't sound like certainty. Devin is not a crackpot, Emma. He's a former FBI agent who is trying to get justice for the death of his partner. He has a lot of information that he's put together over the past year and a half. I think you should at least hear him out."
"I'm sorry, Kate. I can't help you. My boss instructed me not to take his calls. They had some altercation last year, and until we have more than Mr. Scott's gut instinct, we're not talking to him."
"Emma, I've seen the case files. And I've looked at the pattern of fires. If Devin is right, then more fires are coming. I know you don't want that."
"I told you; I can't talk to him."
"What about me? If you wanted to have lunch with me, and we happened to run into Devin, would that be your fault?"
Emma stared back at her and then let out a breath. "You've always been able to find the angle, Kate."
"Is that a yes to lunch? I know you, Emma. You follow your gut, and so do I. So does Devin."
"We have limited resources, Kate. And arson is one of the most unsolvable crimes there is. We have to go with evidence."
"But this wasn't just arson; it was murder."
"And it was investigated," Emma said. "Not just by us but also by the FBI. They took over the case. You should be talking to your superiors."