Page 107

CHAPTER NINETEEN

T he fire chief’s attention drifted over her shoulder.

Addie turned and saw two uniformed cops usher Jacob into the back of their car. He wasn’t cuffed, so clearly he wasn’t being arrested. Giving him a ride? She frowned. Something was going on, and she had no idea what it was. Addie wasn’t used to being out of the loop. Which begged the question of how long it was going to take for her to feel like she was part of law enforcement here instead of being an outsider.

She was guessing about twenty years. Even with her having grown up here.

Too bad she wasn’t planning on staying anywhere near that long.

She turned back to the fire chief. “I’d love to see the source of the fire.”

He nodded. “Let’s take a look.”

Addie followed. As they walked, she said, “I haven’t worked really any fire investigations. Not my wheelhouse, I’m afraid. But since someone tried to burn me alive in this studio, maybe I should get familiar with it.”

“I understand.” He gave her a look she often gave victims. Not that he was placating her, but she was processing what had happened and he’d give her some time to work out how she felt about it.

There was still the question of if he would try to manage her, or if as soon as the call was over, he would go back to his firehouse and never think on this scene again—once his report was written.

Getting to know people here would take time. For now, all she needed was a functional relationship that meant she could do her job without roadblocks popping up in front of her every time she needed something.

“I know this was arson, but what’s the procedure for that kind of thing?”

The chief glanced over. “You saw someone set the fire?”

She shook her head. “Whoever tried to run me off the road kind of…herded me here.” She knew it didn’t make complete sense, but things often happened with no explanation. The fire chief had to know that.

“Any idea who it was?”

She shook her head again. “No cameras. The police are searching for him, right?”

“I believe so.”

She thought as much, but given the department’s higher-ups had ushered Jake to that car and driven away, it had to be the foot patrol officers searching the area. Plenty of them had turned out in response to Hank’s call.

Maybe they would find the person responsible.

Addie was going to have to make a statement to the police. She’d have to admit she was receiving hang-up calls and had been since before she left Virginia. The man outside the window—she didn’t know if she should mention what might be a figment of her imagination.

Being run off the road was definitely not the symptom of a lingering nightmare. Her car had the damage to prove it.

So at least she knew coming home hadn’t resulted in some kind of mental break. She wasn’t going to wake up in a psych ward and be told she had cracked. Because Addie faced the fact that was everyone’s nightmare. And anyone who said that wasn’t a deep-seated fear was probably lying to themselves. No one was completely sane.

“Okay?”

She nodded. The fire chief seemed like a nice guy. “I won’t take up too much of your time.”

“The fire started here. The blaze spread so fast it’s hard to tell.” The chief motioned to the wall. “Given there’s a gas can right here, it’s not hard to figure out the source.”

“But he only burned this end of the building.” She frowned. “Instead of pouring it all around and killing us quickly when the whole place went up.”

The chief shrugged. “We could surmise all day, but all we’d be doing is guessing at his intentions. Or hers.”

She nodded. “It wasn’t designed to go up fast, though. Right?” Just enough to freak them out. To herd them to one end, he could push insects to the main room and leave them trapped.

It had taken minutes—and seemed like much longer—before they got to that spot where Jake could call Hank. They could so easily have died but found a way out and rescued. Not because they’d managed to save themselves.

The fire chief studied the damaged exterior wall. “I’d say whoever did this had a strategy. What it was, might only be answered when we can question them about why.”

“Addie!”

She spun around so fast her head swam. Russ strode over, a thunderous look on his face that other people would assume meant he was angry. He was, but only because he was mad at being scared.

He moved to her and kept coming. Until Addie was enveloped in a hug that choked her up.

“I’ll give you two a minute.” That was the chief, but all she could see was the collar of Russ’s jacket that her face was smashed against.

His hold was like being grabbed by a bear. After being abandoned by a mother who chased romance to and fro across the country, Russ’s hugs had been a comfort. But then, anything would’ve been. As much as she didn’t appreciate what that said about her being starved for affection, she figured it was okay given he was her uncle. They cared about each other.

Russ shifted. “The chief told me what happened.”

She couldn’t help frowning. “Did he tell you Jacob was behind the whole thing?”

Russ flinched. “Was he?”

“No.” She shook her head. “That’s my point. He was with me. He didn’t do any of this.”

Of course, it could be argued he might’ve had an accomplice. But as with Ivan Damen, she still didn’t think that was likely. After all, one had never turned up after Damen was arrested fifteen years ago. Whoever saw a second person, it wasn’t Addie or Jake.

It seemed like everyone thought Jake had criminal intentions. The captain had gone to him first for an alibi for that girl’s murder. Celia Jessop hadn’t even been autopsied before they were demanding to know his whereabouts.

She couldn’t help but think they all had it in for him.

Since Addie was predisposed to be on his side because he was her first love and everything they’d been through—even if their relationship hadn’t ended on the best of terms. It was hard not to jump in all the time and defend him.

She was supposed to be a professional here, which was why she’d left town. So she could make a life for herself that wasn’t all wrapped up in her history and her emotions.

“Come on.” Russ slung his arm around her shoulder. “I’ll give you a ride, and we’ll sort out your car later.”

Addie grabbed her phone. She ensured the police were good with her leaving and then told Russ, “You can drop me at my office. I have work to do.”

She’d missed her whole lunch break at this point.

He frowned over the hood of his truck.

“What?”

“Nothing. Toss that stuff in the back.”

Addie saw what he meant when she opened the door. She didn’t throw the box of shotgun shells, but she did put them on the back floor. His heavy jacket on the seat. She wasn’t sure what to do with the one sock and the bag containing half a sandwich.

“Wanna finish that?”

She handed it to him. “I’m good.”

Her throat was still raw from the smoke inhalation. Was Jake’s? Maybe she shouldn’t care so much when there was plenty of work to do. The police would find whoever set the fire. She had her job, and it didn’t involve doing theirs and getting distracted. Whether this was one in a series of coordinated attempts to hurt or scare her didn’t matter.

But the idea she’d been herded to Jake’s studio stuck with her.

If someone could do that and be so planned about their attack, what else had they caused her to walk into unknowingly?

She shivered in her seat.

Russ cranked the heat and pointed all the vents at her.

“I’m good. I just need some hot tea at the office.”

“Good idea.” He hit the gas and peeled out of the parking lot as though the building were still on fire. Except that was the way he normally drove. “Word to the wise?”

He always phrased that statement like it was supposed to be a question. Addie said, “Sure.”

“Be careful how vocal you are about standing with Jacob.”

“Because of how the police view him?” She shifted in her seat. “Has he committed some crime I’m unaware of?”

Russ said nothing, but she saw the shift of his throat.

“Spit it out, Russ.”

“They’re hauling him in for questioning over the death of Celia Jessop.”

She opened her mouth to tell Russ there was no way Jacob did that. “Someone just tried to kill us. They’re choosing now to bring him in?”

“It’s just questions. He isn’t in danger or under arrest.”

Addie wanted to text him and tell him to ask for a lawyer, whether he was under arrest or not. Still, she couldn’t get in the middle of this if there was even a hint that he’d had anything to do with it.

No way it would get far if this was only a case of police prejudice. Hank would make sure they moved on if it had no weight, and no prosecutor was going to take a case with no evidence.

She had a lot of faith in people she didn’t know well, some of whom she didn’t know at all. That thought only made her want to push her way into the police department and ruin her tenuous relationship with the cops here. Justice was one thing. But whoever wielded that gavel had to be blind otherwise bias entered the equation.

They weren’t going to put up with her for long if she stuck her nose in what they thought was their business.

She had her own cases to work, and someone targeting her. “Whoever set that fire”—she glanced out the front window—“they knew what Jake and I went through. They knew exactly what triggers to pull.”

Russ glanced over.

“And there’s a killer in town. He’s been operating for years, working on his skills. Figuring out how to cover it up. Escalating. Learning.”

Not that Russ didn’t already know all that. She’d walked him through a lot of it when he visited her office. Still, maybe she needed to remind herself. Even though she’d nearly been run off the road, there were things to do. She wasn’t going to let some guy with an agenda to hurt her and maybe Jacob also, distract her from doing what she’d been brought here to do.

Especially if that was his intention.

“You think it’s the same person?”

“It would be a serious coincidence, but I’m not about to rule it out.”

“Good.” Russ lifted his chin. “If you need a hand with all those files, I’m happy to. Just as soon as I talk to Mona.”

“What’s up with Mona?”

He shrugged one shoulder. “Gotta pick her up from school. She got suspended this morning, but I made her wait when I heard you were hurt. So we need to swing by the school.”

Addie blew out a breath. “What happened?”

“Punched the head cheerleader. But they’ve been beefing for a while, so…”

“Let’s go get her.”

He frowned. “I’ll do it after I drop you off. You need to work.”

Addie shook her head. “I can go in later. This is important.”

It had been clear from the outset there was a reason she was here. Maybe more than one now that she’d been here for a minute. Sure, she had at least a dozen cases to read, but Mona was her little sister. It didn’t matter what was happening at work, her family needed to come first.

Addie hadn’t been here for years.

But she was here now.