Page 62 of Burning Truth

It made sense. That was where everything started for him. Russell’s slight grin was her answer.

“Among other things,” he agreed. “But I want you to do a broadcast, first.”

Addie shook her head. “Like I said before, I’m not stroking your ego anymore.”

“Then more people will die,” he snapped. “On a scale you can’t even imagine. I have this entire city wired, Addison. I thought you were beginning to see the good I was doing.”

Addie tilted her head. “Explain it to me, Russell. Because right now you’re just looking like a crazy person.”

Again, his face went flat and something hardened in his eyes. “Don’t call me crazy. I warned you, Addison.”

“What do you mean you have the city wired, Russell?”

He smirked. “It’s funny how helpful other departments in the city are if you tell them you’d like to take a tour.”

Fear twisted her gut, and she hoped Gabbie or Johnson or someone was on the phone, figuring out where he’d been recently.

“Did you plant more devices?”

Russell grinned. “You’re a smart girl, Addison. What do you think?”

She stared at him for a long moment. “I don’t think you have any intention of cleaning the city. I think you’re just burning things because you can, because it gives you a sense of power over the people who scorned you. Victoria couldn’t stand you. I read the report. The police department didn’t want you. Even your job doesn’t want you. So, you’re lashing out like a petulant child.”

Russell’s face contorted with fury, and he stood up from his chair. He had to stay stooped over though, because of the length of the chain connected to the table. “You’re right, Addison. I am getting back at them, and you’d better watch your step before you really piss me off.”

Addie scoffed. “What are you going to do? Burn me like you did Victoria Sincenze? You’re a joke, Russell. And a coward. And Severn will take care of anything you throw at him.”

Addie stood up from the table, preparing to leave. She’d listened to enough of his ridiculous vitriol.

“Victoria didn’t take me seriously, either, Addison, and she paid the price.”

She paused. “That was the woman you professed to love. And killed. I think she knew how cracked in the head you were, and she did her best to let people know. You’re a nobody, Russell, trying to be a somebody.”

His ordinary face contorted with fury, and he leaned forward.

“Your fancy bodyguard cannot dismantle all of my devices, at least not before people die. You have less than an hour. I’d better have my phone in hand at that time, and you with a camera ready to talk.”

“We’ll see,” Addie said, and left the room. Russell was yelling as she closed the door behind herself.

Severn waited in the hallway, and he wrapped her in his arms as soon as she was clear. Addie could have wept at the comfort and support she felt from him, but they had work to do. “Did you get all that? The academy, his place of work, and I think probably more. He let the cops catch him, because he was ready to pull off his master plan.”

Severn nodded. “We’ve got a whole team working on tracking down his movements. The bomb squad is on their way to the storage building, because that’s probably where he set everything up. I’m thinking about heading over there.”

She winced. Before she’d even stepped foot in the room, she’d known that Severn would want to be a part of the rescue effort.

“This is me hesitating,” he said, leaning down to catch her eye.

Addie could have cried, then, when she understood what he was telling her. “I love you, Severn. Go do what you need to do. But you’d damn well better come back to me.”

His mouth quirked, and he pressed a tender kiss to her forehead. “I’ll be back.”

19

It took everything in Severn to walk away from Addie and her tear-filled eyes. The way she looked at him, and the way she touched him, twisted him in knots.

And she said she’d loved him. What the fuck? He’d never had a woman tell him that. Internally, he shook his head. He needed to get his head in the game.

Detective Johnson would coordinate their activity from the station, and she promised she would keep an eye on Addie. Dan was going to stay there, too. They were on a timeline, though, and he had to move. They were banking on the storage space being Russell’s base of operations.

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