Seth walked into Starbucks next days. Immediately he started smiling when his eyes landed on Marigold sitting down at the corner table they had been sitting at the day before. She smiled back at him as if she had been waiting for him. He walked to the counter, placed an order and walked down to greet her while the barista made his coffee.
"Hi, goldie," he said.
"Took you long enough," she said.
"You were waiting for me?" He asked.
"I've been here since they opened. I broke my record of how many coffees I can drink in an hour," she said.
"You're crazy," he chuckled. "But it's kinda cute."
The barista came over and placed a cup of coffee down in front of Seth.
"No iced coffee today?" Marigold asked.
"Not this early," Seth chuckled. "I need my cappuccino fix to wake up."
"You slept in?" She asked.
"I was up half the night researching," he answered.
"Did you find anything useful?" She asked.
"Nothing that I didn't already know. Your new found daddies worked together to investigate the fire. Short circuit. I'm still not buying that," he said.
She leaned back in the chair and cracked a sideways smile.
"Are you calling them liars?" She asked.
He knew he had to tread careful. He wasn't about to call anyone anything. Not until he knew more.
"No," he answered. "But I do think someone was in that house starting the fire and making it look like an accident. Someone who's damn good at their job if Mark and Kane didn't catch on."
"If someone is that good at starting fires, wouldn't there be more? You don't get that lucky in your first try," she said.
His eyes lid up. He hadn't even been thinking in that direction.
"You're right. You're absolutely right," he chuckled. "Guess I'll be looking into other fires in this state around that time. I'll be looking in a time span of ten years. Five years before, five years after. See if I can find a pattern."
"I can help," she said.
"Are you sure? It won't hurt too much for you to be involved in this?" He asked.
"It was 20 years ago. I hardly remember anything from my pre-fire life. I'm okay, Seth. I'm not sad or angry at this point in life. The past is the past. I can't change it. Nothing I do will bring them back. I learned to live with it," she said.
He broke out in a wide smile. She really was all he could hope for to find for this case. The long lost daughter that no one knew the name or the face of. He wasn't gonna expose her without her permission. For now he liked that he was the only outsider who knew. There was still something about her that he wanted more of. He didn't feel like he wanted to share her with the world.
"What do you remember from that night?" He asked.
"Nothing, actually. I woke up in the hospital and I was told there was a fire and that I had climbed out through the window to save myself. I inhaled a lot of smoke and passed out on the grass. My brain protected me from remembering," she said.
"What if someone carried you outside?" He asked.
"Who?" She asked.
"Whoever started the fire might not have it in him to kill a child," he said.
"What makes you so certain it's a he?" She smirked.
"Ah, I see what you're trying to do," he smirked back. "Alright, I take that one on me. No sexism here. It could have been a she. But for the record, most pyromaniacs are men. Around 90% actually."
"Good to know," she chuckled.
He grabbed his coffee and stood up.
"Let's go to the library. We got a lot of work to do with finding fires," he said.
They spent a few hours at the library but no fire looked like the one that had happened in her childhood home.
"Maybe look outside of the state," she said.
"Maybe," he sighed. "I don't know. This case just feels odd. Nothing is adding up."
He leaned forward on the table and took her hand.
"We need a break. Tell me about yourself. What do you do for a living?" He asked.
"I'm a spoiled brat so I don't need to work," she grinned.
He didn't know what to respond to that. She started laughing and shook her head.
"My father was a well known author. He wrote children's books. If you go to the children's section of the library, you'll see his photo on the wall. He was a hero to this town. My mother was a model in her young days. After having me, she worked as a talent scout instead. Both of them made a lot of money. Money that I got when I turned 18," she said.
She squeezed his hand and leaned closer.
"I work. Sometimes. I have a hard time keeping a job. Someone always finds out who I am and the gossip starts. I get bullied or ignored or disrespected. Take your pick. So I quit. I can't fight it. And when I start getting bored at home, I find another job, and the circle repeats itself," she said.
He grabbed her chin in a soft grip and pecked her lips.
"What if I hire you to help me while I'm here?" He asked.
"I don't want your money," she answered. "But you can pay in other ways."
She smirked at him and bit her lip. He couldn't help but smirk back. He leaned in again and kissed her deeply.
"What are you doing to me, naughty woman?" He whispered. "You're gonna be the death of me."
"I promise you'll be alive when you leave this town," she said.
"Wrong choice of words. My bad," he said.
"I'm not mad," she said. "I'm hungry though. This time around I would actually like to get lunch."
"Take me somewhere good," he said.
30 minutes later he found himself inside a burger joint. He had finished a jalapenos burger while she had only had fries. He was sipping on a strawberry milkshake when he suddenly felt her hand on his crotch.
"What are you doing?" He hissed lowly.
"Ssh," she moved closer. "Don't make a scene."
She opened his jeans and stuck her hand inside.
"How am I...?" He lost his words when she grabbed his dick. "Oh, fuck!"
She smirked at him while she slowly moved her hand so that no one would catch on to what she was doing. He pressed his lips together to avoid moaning and drawing attention to them. The excitement of being in public had him on the edge in no time.
"I'm close," he whispered. "Do you want me to cum all over myself?"
She let go of his dick with a smirk. She stood up without a word and walked up to the counter to pay for their food. Meanwhile he tucked his still erect dick away. It was killing him. He wanted a release. Preferably inside her. She turned around, winked at him and headed for the bathrooms in the back. He got up from his seat and hurried after her. He grabbed her in the hallway and pulled her into the nearest bathroom, locked the door and pushed her up against it.
"Evil woman!" He growled.
"Didn't you like it?" She asked.
"You know damn well I did," he answered. "And now you're gonna finish what you started."
He pulled out his wallet, grabbed the condom he had moved from his suitcase to replace the other one yesterday, and threw the wallet on the floor. He pushed his jeans and briefs down. His dick was still rock hard. He rolled on the condom. He pulled her dress up to her hips, grabbed her and lifted her up. He managed to pull her panties to the side and entered her.
"Seth!" She moaned.
"Be quiet!" He growled.
He held her up with one hand and placed his other hand over her mouth.
"We need to do this fast before we get caught," he said.
He fucked her as fast as he could. She pressed her nails into his shoulders and came in a strangled cry before a minute had passed. He gritted his teeth to keep himself from moaning when he released himself seconds after her. He grinned at her and put her back down. They quickly fixed their clothes. He threw the condom in the trash, grabbed his wallet from the floor and unlocked the door. They hurried out of the burger joint. He took her hand and laced their fingers together.
"I'm not gonna get any work done with you around me," he chuckled.
"Do you want me to leave you alone?" She asked.
"Hell, no!" He pulled her up against his side. "I want you to stick around although I can already tell it's gonna be tough leaving once my job here is done. I'm already starting to fall for you."
"I'm falling for you too," she said. "What are we gonna do if we continue falling?"
"Long distance relationship? Some people make it work," he suggested. "But we don't need to worry about that now. Let's just enjoy our time together and see where it takes us."