Page 6 of Burning for the Truth

Chief Trudeau nods. “That’s happening no matter what, Ryan.”

Serena’s eyes shift to the letter and what little color was left in her cheeks fades away, almost making her skin the same shade as her platinum-blonde hair. “I don’t understand, I don’t have any enemies. Who would do this? Why would someone want to hurt me?”

I’m standing closest to her, so I place my hands on her shoulders. “Serena, we’re going to find who did this and keep you safe. We all love you and we’re here for you.” I pull her into a quick hug and the rest of the guys follow suit, leaving Chief Holden for last. He smiles sadly before wrapping her in a hug bordering intimate, then releases her quickly as if noticing we’re all still in the same room.

“Let me take you back home, Serena. I know Hart stopped by your place to bring you here,” Chief Holden says. She glances at him as a tear escapes, but instead of wiping it away, she allows it to fall freely. She nods at him but remains silent.

He looks to me and Drew, Slade and Alex. “Leave the gym roped off with crime scene tape. We’ll regroup in the morning.”

We all answer in unison, “Yes, sir.” When he escorts Serena out, we all glance at each other, and by the expressions on their faces, I’m not the only one thinking there’s something going on between Chief Holden and Serena.

“Okay, let’s watch the security footage again and see if we missed anything,” Sterling says before taking a seat in front of all the monitors. Serena gave us access to her system, so we were able to link into it out here in the mobile command center.

We watch in silence, but we didn’t miss anything. The footage still shows a man dressed in black from head to toe. We know it’s a white male, probably in his thirties if I had to guess. Athletic build. He wore a black hoodie, hood up, with sunglasses covering his eyes despite the hour, something black was pulled up over his nose and mouth, and he wore black gloves.

“This guy has done this before or has been planning this, and who knows what else, for a long time. I hate to say this about a criminal, but he’s good. Which is bad for us,” I chime in as we finish the footage for the third time since we started investigating.

Drew rubs his face. “You’re right. This isn’t going to be easy. We need to comb every inch of the scene and make sure he didn’t leave anything behind which could identify him.” Alex and Slade agree.

Hart speaks up, “We’ll test the paper and box for fingerprints. I know he had on gloves while he was here but maybe he messed up and forgot to wear them when touching the items in question. Maybe we’ll get lucky.”

Sterling guffaws without any trace of humor. “There’s no way an arsonist goes through the trouble to leave behind a message and sloppily leaves DNA on it, but you can try.” He turns and faces us all. “We’ve done all we can tonight.” He stops and glances at his watch. “Well, this morning I should say. A patrol car is going to be stationed here and at Serena’s house around the clock until we can catch a break in the case or, better yet, catch the bastard who did this. Until then, boys…keep your eyes open and your head on swivel. I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”

With that, we all nod and file out of the mobile command center before heading to our vehicles as Jason fires up the truck to pull the unit back to the EMA office.

Hearing Sterling say those words brings life to my own fears, this is only the beginning of something much, much worse. But what? The thought sends shivers down my spine as I reach my truck parked beside Sterling’s cruiser. “Tell Bree to be careful if she takes a shift watching this place or Serena’s,” I say to Sterling as he opens his door.

“You know she’ll be all over this. Bree doesn’t back down from anything she cares about, so anything I say about being careful goes in one ear and out the other.” He stares at me with worry-filled eyes over the top of his black, unmarked car. The happy smile he wore for his wedding is now replaced by slumped shoulders and a grim expression.

“How is she doing? She still seeing someone from the shooting and then when Taylor almost…” I can’t even finish the words, I simply swallow the lump in my throat. That night was unthinkable. Taylor Rich is Lucy McCree’s ex-boyfriend. Little did we all know, he’d been abusing her for years. When she got the courage to leave, he stalked her until he was able to kidnap her. He almost killed her, but not before threatening to kill Bree first.

I’ll never forget the look of helplessness on Sterling’s face as he watched the delicate scene unfold. And I’ll never forget the fear in her eyes battling with steely determination. The bastard did end up cutting her throat but only skin-deep, nothing vital was cut thank goodness. But she still bears the scar from it, the same as Lucy does.

That was the worst moment of my life, watching that happen and knowing there wasn’t a damn thing I could do. I swore if she got out of there, I’d tell her I’ve always had feelings for her…romantic feelings. And the moment I helped her in the back of Sterling’s truck and held her trembling frame to mine, I almost uttered the words. But Sterling came back to the truck about the time I worked up the nerve, effectively reminding me no matter what my feelings may be for Briella, she’ll always be my best friend’s little sister. Which is a no go.

“Yeah, I know how she is, but tell her anyway. Tell her I told you to tell her.” I chuckle. Sterling rolls his eyes and laughs too.

“I’ll say it, but she won’t do it. She’s going to finish turning my hair gray,” he says before sliding into his cruiser.

I get in my truck and any lighthearted feelings from moments ago evaporate. I glance back at Wally’s and the charred marks around the door and the remnants of smoke rising from the roof.A heart for a heart.Something about the phrase makes me feel sick. I know in my gut someone is going to get hurt before this is over and I don’t know how to stop it.

“How are you doing, Briella?” Dr. Leah Barnette, the therapist I’ve been seeing for a little over a year now, asks me. She’s sitting with her hands clasped, leaning forward with her elbows on her knees. This is one of our monthly sessions. I had them more often back when I shot Jade Lancaster to save Sterling…and everyone else in that room. She was about to pull the trigger with her gun trained on him.

I was put into mandatory counseling after the incident. Does it bother me I had to take a life to save a life? Yes, absolutely. But I also know there would’ve been more life lost had I not. We talked about it a lot in the beginning. And after the incident a few months ago with Taylor Rich, they all think I’m a piece of glass.

Taylor would’ve killed me in a heartbeat. I can still remember the feel of the knife biting into my skin followed by the warm trickle of blood running down my throat. I remember thinking I was never going to see my niece or nephew be born, or I’d never see Sterling or my parents again. I’d never get to see if Drew and I had something special. Then my eyes landed on Dean.

Dean’s eyes were tormented. He was scared. His eyes were wild with worry and something else I couldn’t decipher, and I remember thinking I’d never know what it’s like to kiss him for sure now. I thought I knew that before. I decided it was out of the question the night I broke my ankle and never looked back. But I think in my mind, there was still always a sliver of a chance I’d find out until I thought I was going to die. My life was flashing before my eyes and, with it, every regret I had.

But I survived. We all did. In the moment, I let Dean hold me. And it was in that moment I expected something more that never came, which served to solidify what I already knew—Dean and I are never going to be more than friends. If he felt something for me, anything at all, it should’ve been in that moment, thinking he’d lost me, that he said or acted on those feelings.He didn’t.Therefore, I closed the door on the silly childhood fantasy forever and moved forward with Drew.

“I’m doing okay. Truly.” The next hour we talk, and I convince her I’m doing good. And I am…except I still have nightmares. All I see is blood. She assures me with time, the nightmares will become less and less and likely subside all together.

When we wrap up, I walk outside and my phone rings. It’s Drew. “Hey, babe,” I answer with a smile on my face.

“There’s my girl. How was your appointment?” His deep voice sounds in my ear.

“It was good. Are we still on for dinner at my place when you get off?” I ask with a genuine smile on my face. It’s been a week since the fire at Wally’s. Nothing else has happened. We’re all silently on alert but trying to live life like normal. I’m off today, having worked last night for a while helping cover the detail assigned to watch Serena’s house.

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