Free Diana by Laura Marie Henion

The fire marshal is already on the scene."
    "Good. Who do we got?” She scanned the area, looking for Henry Simpson or Brad Wamsley. Neither arson investigators were there.
    "That would be me, Detective Pellino.” She turned toward the deep voice, drawn to the appealing smile and large bulky figure.
    "Luke Fontella. Paul's son, but you know that already, don't you, doll?"
    He eyed her with obvious smugness. Her defenses went up, and she felt embarrassed. She remembered the fierce confrontation between Luke and his father, her commander, and how she was somehow caught in the middle.
    "You two know one another?” the chief asked.
    "Kind of. I'll head in.” Luke turned his back to her and spoke with the chief.
    Jerry gazed at Diana and squinted as if saying, “Who the hell is this guy?"
    "Let's talk to the first responders and see what they got.” She kept her attention on Luke.
    He stood there, looking authoritative, and as if he were in complete control. The navy blue windbreaker he wore told everyone who he was. The large bold white title ‘FDNY Fire Marshal’ was posted across the back. The jacket lay tight across his wide, muscular shoulders and back, and loose against his trim waist, with the corner zipper and edges just blowing in the wind.
    While he ran a hand through his brown, wavy locks as he spoke with the chief, he glanced at her. She realized she must have been staring.
    He continued to watch her as she walked away. She caught him gazing at her a moment, then he turned toward the fire. Was he actually giving her dirty looks? What the hell was his problem, anyway? It was she who should be angry and annoyed. Now, she was in the middle of some awkward family dispute, and it wasn't even her own family. For God's sake, it was her commander.
    The sick feeling re-entered her belly. She needed this aggravation like she needed a hole in her head.
    She refocused on her homicide case and the scene. The fire was nearly extinguished and firefighters began to exit the building.
    As soon as the ‘pleasant’ fire marshal gave the okay that the structure was safe, she and Jerry could enter the building along with the crime scene unit.
* * * *
    The technicians took pictures, and forensics collected anything and everything they could get, even though the fire did major damage.
    Diana stood close to the charred remains of their victim, hating the stench but handling it. This wasn't her first fire related homicide investigation. She'd seen plenty over the years and hated them the most.
    "Hey, Chester, you see this?” she asked one of the technicians. He was still taking pictures and collecting evidence.
    "That could be where the fire started. You may want to leave that there, so that I can do my job.” Luke's stern tone interrupted the conversation.
    Diana gazed up at him.
    She ignored his comment and looked back at the technician.
    "I got it, Detective,” the technician said.
    Luke stood there along with two other firefighters. They looked like a set of bulldogs waiting to attack.
    "Hey, Pellino, you finished yet?” he snapped at her, as if she didn't belong there.
    The anger slowly simmered in her gut. She ignored him and took a closer look at where she thought the fire may have started. After all, she knew a bit about fires from her brother and other close family members.
    "What do you think, Pellino? Maybe our guy set the fire here while the victim lay injured a few feet away,” Jerry said.
    "It's hard to say, but if you look at the position of the body and the way her head is tilted back, toward the window and wall, she may have tried to move away from the fire. But, other injuries stopped her. Once we know the cause of death and the injuries, we'll know more.
    "Let's get a sample of this charred residue and have forensics run it. It looks to be the source of the fire.” She continued to survey the surrounding area. The direction of the fire left patterns indicating, to an expert, the route the fire took.
    "Pellino,