Page 26

TWENTY-FIVE

Once she was dressed in her PPE gear, Jesslyn made her way to what remained of the general store. When she stepped over the threshold, she gasped at the sight of the soot and char. Not that she hadn’t expected it, but she’d shopped here less than a week ago.

Lights had been set up outside and part of one filtered through the broken windows, casting shadows across her path. She swept her high-powered flashlight over the area and stopped. The damage patterns caught her attention, and she noted the deep char along the western wall just above the purple stain on the floor. “Well, guess you started there,” she murmured. “And with exactly the same materials.” She’d known it, of course. Hadn’t doubted it, but having it confirmed just fueled her determination to catch this guy.

Jesslyn moved cautiously, the smell of burned wood mingling with the acrid sting of melted plastics. Debris crunched beneath her feet.

She stopped, listening for any hint that the structure might collapse, but so far there was nothing.

“Excuse me. Jesslyn McCormick?”

She turned to see a man dressed in the same gear she sported. “That’s me.”

He walked over to her. “I’m Pete Bennett, one of the fire marshals from Boone. Chief Laramie asked me to come down and take a look at this one.”

Jesslyn blinked. “He did?”

“Said a new pair of eyes might be a good thing.”

“I see. The chief didn’t say anything to me.”

“Oh, right, well, maybe he just hasn’t had a chance to.”

“He did say someone would be here to show me where the second piece of jewelry was found.”

“Second piece?”

“Yes. That’s why they called me.”

“Oh. Right. Um, well, we can talk about that in a minute. I wanted to show you this place back near the freezer.” He waved a hand for her to follow, and she did so, looking back over her shoulder. She and this guy were the only two people inside the scene. She could see others walking past what used to be walls, but she suddenly felt very isolated.

“I think that’s where the fire originally started,” he was saying. “I also think that once the people were scared out of the store, the guy set more fires.”

“I had the fire starting on the west wall over there.” Jesslyn pointed, then followed. “Why do you say it’s over here?”

“Well, there may be multiple starting points. Come take a look.”

He wasn’t wrong. In fact, he was very right. And he was saying all the right things, but there was something about him...

The closer she got to the back of the store, the more her nerves itched. She stopped. “Who are you again?”

He turned and grabbed her wrist. “Don’t fight me. I don’t want to hurt you.”

“What?”

She took a step backward and her ankle twisted. She went down with a grunt, leaving him holding her glove. He grabbed for her and she swung. The angle was awkward, but she managed to clip him on his mask. He jerked back and she rolled to her knees in an attempt to scramble to her feet. Before she could rise or call out for help, he pushed her once more and she went flat to the ground, face down. A knee went into her lower back and she gasped.

“Be quiet. I don’t want to hurt you.”

Her heart hammered in her throat. She tried to buck him off, but he was too strong and the gear was weighing her down. He pulled her arm back.

“What do you want?” she gasped.

Something stung her exposed wrist and she flinched. He stepped back and she rolled over to glare at him. He stood with a syringe in one hand. A strange lethargy started to invade her.

“What did you do?”

“It’s okay, it’s just scopolamine.”

“But ... why?”

“For your own good,” he muttered. “I tried to warn you.”

The drug was taking effect. “How much did you give me?” Would this be the way her life ended? An overdose?

“Not too much. Just enough for you to follow my direction.”

“No,” she said, but found herself doing as he bid. He kept an arm around her shoulders and guided her toward the back exit ... or what used to be a back exit. It was now a gaping hole. Her body refused to obey her brain’s commands to fight back. Resist.

She simply couldn’t.

“Why are you doing this?”

“Because it needed to be done.”

JESSLYN HAD BEEN INSIDE the scene for a while and Nathan was ready to lay eyes on her again. Just as he was about to, someone dressed in the same gear as Jesslyn came stumbling out and went to his knees.

“Hey!” Nathan raced over to the man and pulled off the helmet. “Who are you? What happened?”

“I was at the back waiting on Jesslyn McCormick when I was attacked.” He pressed a hand to the side of his neck and groaned.

“Did you get a look at him?”

“No, he came up from behind me.”

Nathan motioned to a nearby officer and the woman hurried over. “Call an ambulance.”

“On it.”

He turned back to the firefighter. “What’s your name?”

“Carson Tillman.” He slipped out of his coat and lay back. “Sorry, feeling sick. They jabbed me with something.”

“It’s all right. Just lay there until the paramedics get here.” He paused. “Your PASS alarm didn’t go off?”

The guy checked his gear. “I didn’t have my air tank on. Didn’t need it.”

“Where’s Jesslyn?”

“I don’t know. I never saw her.”

That familiar bad feeling crept into his gut and settled there. He raced toward the burned shell that still had a few charred walls and places where someone could hide.

Or come in from the back.

He stopped at the threshold, knowing he shouldn’t go in without the protective gear, but Jesslyn—

“Nathan?”

He turned. “Andrew. What are you doing here? I thought you were helping your parents.”

“I was. I did. Then decided to swing by here to check on the scene, talk to the chief. What’s going on?”

“We’re looking for Jesslyn. She was supposed to meet with one of the firefighters and went in to find him.” He glanced into what had once been the interior of the general store. “Someone knocked the guy out and I haven’t seen Jess in a while.”

Nathan waved over a firefighter who still had his gear on. “Can you see if anyone is in there?”

“Sure thing.” He stepped into the mess and Nathan paced while the minutes ticked past.

Finally, the guy returned and pulled off his helmet. “No one’s in there.”

Nathan stilled. “That’s not possible.”

“I assure you, it is. There’s no one in there.”

He headed inside and scanned the area. Still and dark. And maybe still smoldering in some places. Dank in others.

But definitely empty.

He yanked his phone from his pocket and dialed her number.

It went straight to voicemail. He spun and stepped back out into the fresh air. “Andrew!”

Andrew looked up from talking with one of the firefighters. “What is it?”

“She’s gone. He’s got her.” He thought fast, searching his mind for the next best step, trying to keep the panic at bay. He pressed a hand to his mouth and turned his gaze on his partner. “We’ve got to find her fast.” What if it was too late? Why take her when the guy had been trying to kill her? Why not just shoot her and run?

Morbid speculation that made his heart ache, but valid questions nevertheless.

He sent a group text.

Jesslyn’s been taken. Need your help.

Within seconds, his phone started blowing up. He tapped another message.

That’s just a heads-up. Stay tuned for the plan.

Andrew scrubbed a hand over his chin. “Okay, Jess thought there was someone in her old neighborhood that would give her a clue about who her father was spending time with. Maybe we should chase that lead hard and fast.”

“That’s going to take time,” Nathan said. “Time Jess may not have.”

“I’ll get everyone on it. We’ve got the best resources in the world at our fingertips. We’ll use all of them.”

Nathan nodded. “And I’m going to have to call her aunt Carol. She’s not going to take this well.”

“Who would?”

“Yeah.” He found her number and dialed.