Page 38 of Fire Fight

And then I let it all out, being as detached as possible. I may have felt significantly calmer this time around, but that didn’t mean I wanted to relive the events of that night any more than I did before. The sheriff asked gently probing questions, and I did my best to answer them. There was still a good chunk of time missing—namely the entire day between being abducted and coming to in the middle of that inferno. I had to assume my brain was suppressing the memories for the sake of my mental health.

Still, it irritated me to no end that I couldn’tremember.

There had to be something lingering in there that would lead us to this guy. I was the key to unlocking the entire thing, and I couldn’t get my goddamn mind to cooperate.

“And then I woke up in the hospital,” I finished, breathing heavily like I’d run a marathon.

Trauma sure was fun.

The sheriff clicked his pen, tapping it against the desk, then stopped the recording.

“I want to ask you something off the record, if that’s alright with you.”

“Okay…”

“Your burns,” he began. “I talked to Crew, got his statement about the incident, and he didn’t seem to think the fire had gotten close enough to you to cause them…”

Unfortunately, I remembered how I’d gotten them with stark, unending clarity. So far, that had been the one thing no one had pressed me on. They’d all assumed they’d been a result of the fire, which wasn’t wrong. But they weren’t accidental.

That fucker had purposely lit me on fire.

“The time between the Swallow parking lot and waking up in that garage is gone,” I started, “but I know the exact moment I came to, and it wasn’t when Crew found me. I woke up because I was in the worst pain I’d ever experienced in my life. Took me a few heartbeats to realize I was literally on fucking fire.” Tears spilled from my eyes and dripped down my cheeks, and I angrily swiped them away. Then I gave the sheriff a watery, sarcastic smile. “That stop, drop, and roll shit they teach you in school really works.”

Lane’s face had blanched white, his eyes wide as saucers.

“I stopped when I hit the wall, and surprisingly, the cool concrete actually felt great on my wounds.”

“What a fucking nightmare,” he said quietly.

I choked on a laugh. “Yeah, you’re telling me.”

“Thank you for sharing. I know that couldn’t have been easy.”

“I’ve been through worse,” I told him.

Curiosity appeared in his expression, but that wasn’t a can of worms I was openingever, least of all with this man I barely knew. Then again, I wasn’t sure it got worse than someone literally setting you on fire in the hopes you’d die.

As if recognizing he’d get nothing further from me, he leaned back in his chair and regarded me. “You’re free to go, Miss McKay. I’ve got your number if anything else comes up.”

I rose from my seat and nodded. “I’ll be around.”

His brows drew together. “Surely you mean that figuratively?”

“Nope. I’ll be in town for the foreseeable future.”

The relaxed man from a moment ago disappeared in an instant. The next thing I knew, he was on his feet, palms flat on his desk as he leaned toward me.

“I’m going to have to advise against that.”

“I’m afraid there’s not much you can do about it.”

“I could arrest you.”

I snorted. “For what, exactly?”

“I’ll think of something.”

“And I’ll slap you with a civil suit for unlawful arrest.”