"Seems you had the same idea?" Elena mentions as she approaches Damon.
He turns on his barstool, watching as she takes a seat next to him. "It would appear so."
"Is this where the town comes to drink?" Elena glances around the Mystic Grill.
"It is." Damon gives her a nod and signals the bartender. "Give the lady what she wants, it's on me."
Matt approaches her with a bar rag on his shoulder. "What'll it be?"
Elena looks at the liquor bottles on display behind the bar. "Rum and coke."
Matt nods as he walks away from her.
"And thank you," she says to Damon when the blonde man slides a glass to her.
Silence falls between them as Elena takes a drink. "I drove around a little on the way to the boarding house. Your uncle runs a nice place by the way. There's a lot of fuel here for your arsonist. At least half the stores seem to be boarded up within the downtown area."
"That's why Liz called in the big guns," Damon raises his glass to her and takes a swallow.
"You sound a little hostile," Elena remarks as she leans one elbow on the counter.
"It's not personal, just frustrating." Damon narrows his eyes at her as he lets the implications of his words sink in. "Listen, no one wants to catch this guy more than I do. He nearly killed a man this time." His voice trails off.
Elena knows the risk that comes with fighting fires. She's studied countless numbers of them in the last couple of years.
Damon considers her pensive expression. He wonders what spurred her interest in investigating fires.
"Damon." A woman steps close to him. "Who's your friend?"
"She's not exactly a friend, not yet anyway." Damon waves his empty glass in Matt's direction. "Valerie, this is Elena Gilbert. She's the fed."
"You're the FBI lady!" Valerie shakes Elena's hand vigorously. "I'm Damon's sister-in-law. Nice to meet you. Stefan told me Liz asked for help with our fire problem."
"Fire problem?" Elena looks at her incredulously.
Valerie shrugs. "It's a small town, everyone knows everyone else's business. You're the topic du jour."
"I'm only here to help solve the case." Elena takes a swallow from her glass.
"Well, of course." Valerie seems mildly embarrassed. "But we want you to feel welcome."
Elena's answer is lost in the wail of a fire engine speeding down the street. Judging by the flashes of lights through the windows, the fire must be just beyond the Mystic Grill.
Damon throws some cash on the counter and hits the front doors on a run as he turns in the direction of the mass of flames with Elena hot on his heels.
They half-jog down the block to a corner lot. "I thought you said he only hits once a month." She stands just behind Damon as he watches his team battling the blaze.
"Why do you think it's our guy?" Damon grabs a fire helmet.
"Because of the way the building is burning."
Flames engulf the building, spreading their boiling rage through everything in their path. The putrid scent of smoke reeks in her nostrils as the structure powders under the golden and crimson flares.
Elena stares for a moment, jumping back as what's left of the Zesty Mart sign collapses into the flames...
Once the fire is extinguished and the cleanup is done, Damon and Elena return to the fire station. "I don't see the connection," he mentions as they walk into his office several hours later.
"You wouldn't." Elena shakes her head dismissively.
"I know how to do my job," he comments as he opens the file on his desktop and lays the photos out.
Elena reaches for the stack of pictures taken from the first fire. There aren't many but at the time, they couldn't have suspected that it was the first in what would become a string of suspicious fires to rock the community.
Elena takes a deep breath. "I didn't mean to imply that you can't do your job, but I do this for a living. I've studied a lot of fires."
"Okay, why don't you explain?" Damon counters, crossing his arms over his chest.
"The first fire." She thumbs through the photos.
"The first one was the old restaurant on highway 4. It was already in a state of disrepair and due to be demolished," Damon explains, watching her as she studies the photos.
With wisdom guided by experience, Elena believes there could be clues to be had within the fires themselves. She holds her hand out. "Second fire?"
"The bandstand at a park." Damon places the stack in her waiting hand.
"Third one?" Elena shows him the photo of metal twisted from the heat of the fire. "Was this a dog kennel?"
Damon nods.
"Why would someone start a fire in a dog kennel? People who hurt animals are the lowest."
"They are but fortunately, no dogs were hurt. The previous occupants of the house moved to South Carolina and took their dogs with them," Damon tells her.
"It's still a weird choice for a fire? Why it and not the house?"
Damon shakes his head. "I have no answer for that."
Elena feels her frustration building. She picks up the rest of the folders and holds them in front of him. "The bandstand." She points again to the picture. She shifts that pile out of the way. Her eyes meet his. "Your arsonist is either doing this for the thrill or he's sending some kind of a message. Think, Damon. You live here, is there any connection between the targets?"
"Again, that's why you're here. Nothing about these locations indicates a pattern to me."
She stretches across the table to study the picture. Elena stares at it intently for several moments.
"What is this?" She points to a spot on the photo and hands it back to Damon.
"D+K?" Damon blinks at her in surprise.
"Do you know whose initials they are?" Elena asks, her eyes snapping to his.
"Yeah, I do, actually. It's me and my high school girlfriend, Katherine." Damon seems lost in memories for a moment. "They redid the sidewalk leading to the bandstand after a little girl tripped on a broken piece of it and fractured her arm. I carved our initials when the cement was nearly set and too late to trowel out."
"Could you be the target?" Elena asks as she studies his face. "From what you've shown me here, he's always chosen abandoned buildings. Every fire has followed that pattern until today if it's one of his."
Damon looks unconvinced. "It was a dog kennel, Elena. The photo studio was the only one in Mystic Falls. The bandstand in Falls park...it's a city park, a place for town events. There isn't a person in town who hasn't spent time there."
"Damon, I'm good at my job. Because of my training, I see things that untrained eyes tend to overlook. I also have experience in profiling as well as in hostage negotiation."
Elena pulls her ponytail onto her shoulder. "I really believe that whoever this is, he or she is trying to send a message. I think this person doesn't want me here which would explain why another fire happened now instead of a month from now as has been the pattern...unless it's a copycat?" She presses her palm down on the table.
"Could the DK you carved into the cement mean something to the arsonist?"
"No, I think it's just a coincidence. If I was the target, wouldn't whoever is doing this have chosen places that mean something to me? Katherine and I broke up years ago."
"Do you keep in touch with her?"
"No. Last I heard she married some rich guy and lives in Miami." Damon studies the woman sitting across from him. "When did you sleep last?" He notices the circles beneath her eyes.
"Last night."
"It's late. We can pick this up in the morning." Damon gives Elena a pointed look. He doesn't want to think about the implications of her suspicions. He furrows his brow as he studies her troubled expression.
Elena intends to glare at him but sees the look of concern in his vivid blue eyes. Maybe he's right, she won't be much help when she's this exhausted.
"Come on, I'll follow you back to the boarding house. My place is on the same road." Damon stands behind her as she shuffles the stacks of papers back into the same order she'd found them. They walk toward the glass door of the fire station.
"What's that?" Elena asks as she points to a small piece of paper tucked under one of the blue Camaro's windshield wipers.
Damon reaches for it, but Elena catches his arm.
"Wait! It's probably nothing, but It could be something important." She pulls a tissue out of her bag and hands it to Damon.
Using it, Damon lifts the paper out from under the wiper blade and unfolds it.
"It's blank...I don't get it." He looks at her perplexed.
Elena looks into his eyes, mimicking his confused look. "Maybe infrared will pick up some latent letters or words?"
"Thanks for coming out, Liz," Damon mentions as he stands with his back to his door, holding it closed. He trusts all his men with his life, but not with this bit of information. A casual comment that the firebug has left a message, and they could lose a vital piece of evidence when it came time to question a suspect.
Liz bends over the paper and gently brushes it with fingerprint powder. She frowns. "Nothing."
"Somehow I expected as much." Elena's brow furrows. "If he didn't leave evidence at the fires, he's smart enough not to leave fingerprints on this."
"Are you certain it's a man?"
"Female arsonists are a rare breed but no, actually, I'm not sure," Elena admits.
Liz adjusts her glasses as she slides the note into an oversized ziplock bag. "I'm going to go now. I'll log this into an evidence file. Tomorrow I'll send it out for DNA testing."
"I was going to suggest that, and have them scan it under infrared," Elena remarks.
"We're not entirely backwoods here," Damon rushes to defend Liz.
"I didn't mean to suggest..."
Liz pats his shoulder. "It's fine Damon. Goodnight now."
Damon waves as he opens the door for Liz. He turns his attention to Elena as he snaps it closed.
"If I am the target, did we do the perp's bidding by bringing you here?"
"Quite possibly. Elijah wants me to help catch this guy so I won't be going anywhere." Elena's shoulders stiffen. "This person kept upping the ante 'til you had no choice but to ask for professional help."
She squares her stance as she looks intently at Damon. "He or she has our attention."
"But, Elena, we don't know who put it there or even if someone put it there. For all, we know the wind could have whipped it around and the paper's corner caught on the wiper. It seems to me that you're betting the farm on something that could be entirely insignificant. Odds are it has nothing to do with this case."
"You're right," Elena agrees as she picks up her bag and starts toward the door. "It may mean absolutely nothing, we'll find out soon enough. Goodnight, Damon," she calls over her shoulder as she leaves the fire station.
Thank you all so much. You are all amazing.
Thanks, Eva, love you.
Chapter title: 'Nothing Out There' from "The Dark Knight" soundtrack.
Have a beautiful rest of your day. See you soon.