Page 2 of Burning Truth

Severn looked back up at the devastation. There was a whoosh of sound that gave him chills in the summer heat, and a great bout of fire shot up as it broke through the roof.

There was nothing to be done for this building. It didn’t matter how many engine companies arrived on scene or how many hoses hit the beast. It had won tonight. The building was a loss. As well as anyone that was left inside. Even as he watched, the fire fighters retreated from the building. They realized it was a loss as well.

The reporter and the cameraman had shifted closer, and he glanced at them. The woman’s voice sounded familiar, and he recognized her immediately. Sometimes he turned the news on just to hear other human voices. And hers, especially, had a calming aspect. He’d recorded a couple of her segments, lighter ones, on his phone. Sometimes when specters of the past worried at him, he would turn on one of the recordings, just to listen to her voice. She had this throaty, raspy little voice that hinted at sex, and a curvy shape that he appreciated. Though she’d just started, she seemed to have a good head on her shoulders and a real heart in her chest. She wasn’t as casual or flippant about the stories she reported. It seemed as if she really cared.

Glass blew out of one of the third-floor windows, and Severn thought for sure he heard a voice screaming out. He frowned, hand going to his head. No, that had sounded like Blaze, but the guy had been dead for almost ten years. It wasn’t Blaze, no matter how much he wanted it to be.

Looking back at the fire, he waited for more sound, but none came. If someone had been alive, they probably weren’t now.

There was a creeping along his scalp, and he looked around. The reporter was looking at him, and he could see her biggreen eyes from here. They were lit from the fire, and in that moment, she was stunning. Her dark, almost black curly hair looked burnished in the firelight. Severn loved looking at her curves. She wasn’t the normal skinny generic newscaster. She was surveying him, her lip-sticked mouth slightly open, trying to decide if he was worth talking to.

Taking the choice from her, he forced himself to turn away from the catastrophe. He wanted no part of this night.

Addie wrappedup her segment and turned off the mic. They wouldn’t know if there were bodies inside until the arson investigation team went through the building. In her gut, she had a feeling it was going to be bad. Mama Kate had taken in several people. There had been a group of them on the third floor. Addie had told the fire captain, but he’d shaken his head at her.

“There’s no way we can get up there, Addie. It’s fully engulfed.”

Yeah, that’s what she’d thought too. The firefighters were all milling around, none of them rushing inside anymore. They still battled the fire, pumping gallons upon gallons of water in through the shattered windows, but it seemed like a lost cause. The fire continued to blaze, unabated.

She glanced around at the crowd again. Standing near the chief was a man in a suit. He looked pretty average, with brown wispy hair blowing in the drafts, but something about being at a fire in a suit made her think she needed to know who he was.

Stepping over debris, she walked toward them. The man in the suit was saying something to Chief Black, and Chief was shaking his head. The exchange looked a little tense.

Addie stopped beside them and shoved out her hand to the man in the suit, aware that she may be interrupting a private conversation. “Addie Kingston, WNBC4.”

The man had taken her hand automatically. “Russel Dunn, Department of Ohio Emergency Medical Services. It’s truly a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Kingston. I watch you every night on the news.”

“Thank you,” she said automatically. She heard the phrase about twenty times a day. “What’s the EMS department doing here?”

Mr. Dunn made a motion. “Well, when one of your cars are involved...”

She looked at the burned out husk of a county vehicle. “Ah,” she said. “Bet you’re gonna have a ton of paperwork in the morning.”

He laughed, nodding.

Addie pulled out her notepad and scribbled her number on a blank page, then handed it to the chief. “Just in case you learn something about Mama Kate, I’d appreciate a call.”

Chief nodded as he slipped her paper away.

“Mama Kate,” Dunn asked, looking at the chief.

“There’ve been squatters upstairs for a few months. We’re hoping they moved out.”

Dunn looked slightly horrified. “There are people inside?”

Chief shook his head. “We won’t know that for a few hours, when we can actually get inside.”

Addie had a feeling it would be longer than a few hours, but she didn’t say that. Instead, she made her goodbyes and went to find her cameraman.

Jake drove her back to the station, and he seemed to understand that she was in a funk. He didn’t joke around with her like he normally did. He’d been the one recording when she’d interviewed Mama Kate, so he understood her distress.

Ron Hutchison, her producer, nodded as they watched the raw footage in the booth. “This is good stuff. It’ll be on the air in twenty minutes,” he said, already beginning to edit the recording.

Addie started to leave the box of his office, but he spun his chair to her, catching her eye. “Good job, Addie. I know you were struggling there for a minute, but you pulled it together like a professional.”

Addie gave him a weak smile. “Thanks, Ron.”

She looked up at the screen, and the man with the scarred face was there, looking up at the blaze. Despite the scars, he was a seriously handsome guy. Strong bone structure, deep-set, intelligent looking eyes. She just didn’t know what to think about what was in his expression. Was she reading too much into it? Maybe it was just the way the flames played on his damaged skin. She wasn’t sure, but he looked more terrorized than the people crowded around him on the sidewalk.

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