Page 56 of Serial Burn

If he didn’t take a few steps back, he was going to be in trouble. Relationships required a willingness to be vulnerable, to open up and allow another person to know his deepest, darkest secrets. And that wasn’t happening.

Not that she was interested.

No was no. So, fine.

He’d keep his romantic emotions in check, but he wasn’t leaving her to fend for herself when there was a possible killer after her.

Once they were on the road, he stayed a car length behind her, his thoughts tangled in the complexities of the case. It was like he had several different puzzles dumped together on the table. The pieceswere there, he just couldn’t figure out which ones went to the right puzzle. He shuffled through the fragments of evidence, theories, and dead ends, wishing he could at least get the right border pieces put together.

He voice-texted Lainie.

How’s Mr. Christie? Any change?

Her reply was instant.

Not for the better. He’s really fighting for his life. I’m sorry.

I am too. Thanks.

So there really was no point in going to see the man. But Toby might yield some answers. Maybe. A quick call to his hospital room turned out to be less than helpful, and the kid dozed off midsentence. His mother’s voice came over the line. “Is there anything else you need?”

“No. Tell him thanks for talking to me. I’ll check back if there’s anything else I can think of.”

“Perfect.”

He hung up and started to voice-dial Jesslyn when his phone rang once more.

Andrew. “What’s up, partner?”

“The police chief let Kenny go.”

“What? When?”

“About two hours ago. I came to ask him a few more questions and he’s gone. The chief was getting antsy with nothing to hold him on. Apparently, the kid’s parents are high up on the food chain and he didn’t want to tangle with them.”

“But they don’t even know about him.”

“Which is another issue. He’s worried about what’s going to happen when they find out.”

“He’s not a minor and the law says we can hold him for—”

“I know what the law says. The chief knows what the law says.And he made an executive decision to let the kid go. Said when we have some actual evidence, we could bring him back in.” Andrew sighed. “He’s not a bad guy, Nathan. He’s been easy to work with up to this point, and when he was telling me about all this, while he was firm, he was apologetic. I say we let this go and keep an eye on Davies ourselves.”

“Right. Okay.” A headache started to drum behind his eyes. “Thanks.”

“I’ll check in with you later.”

Nathan hung up and called Jesslyn’s number to fill her in, but before she answered, a flash of light to his left caught his attention.

He braked and turned slightly for a better look just as a bottle, ablaze with angry flames, arced through the air and smashed through the rear window of Jesslyn’s vehicle.

THIRTEEN

Jesslyn jerked the wheel while the smell of gasoline enveloped her and flames erupted in her back seat. She had no time to scream, only react. Her car spun like a fatally wounded beast, swerving, then skidding, tires screeching a desperate protest against the asphalt.

She saw the edge of the road coming, jammed the brakes, and prayed she’d stop in time. But reality punched her. She was too close to the side and gripped the steering wheel in disbelief when she slid over and started down the embankment.

Gravity won.

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