Page 126 of Burn It Down

Jake’s voice gains strength. “That’s all we have for now. We’ll be in touch.”

As soon as the officer leaves, my dad pulls up the office cameras on his phone. All the images that transmitted before theceiling collapsed and destroyed the cameras survived. We pull them up and scour them one by one.

Shortly after Cassie grabs her purse, we watch her go out back and get into her SUV. I’m still visible on the shop cameras going over Mr. Jenkins’ M3, completely unaware of the hooded figure now on the office cameras who has locked the door, and is dousing absolutely everything in gasoline just on the other side of the wall.

Jake’s hand squeezes mine and I know he’s thinking about what would’ve happened if he hadn’t gotten there in time.

“What the fuck?” Cassie and I say in unison. But when I look at Jake, he’s paler than a ghost.

Chapter 35

Jake

It’s hard to tell anything about the person on the screen. Dark, baggy clothes conceal their height, build, and gender. They even thought to wear gloves so I can’t tell anything by their hands either. Smart enough to not look up, they make quick work of soaking the office.

They light a group of matches and toss them onto the gasoline, igniting dangerous flames right away. Only when the figure turns toward the front door to make a hasty exit do I see it. A pendant on a necklace catches the light. If she’d turned the other way, I’d have never guessed it in a million years.

“Cora?” It comes out more as a harsh, disbelieving breath than her actual name.

My head spins and bile rises up my throat. No way this can be right. Cora is…well,Cora.Plus, she’s supposed to be in London.

“Jake, are you okay?” Dylan’s voice filters to my brain through the ringing in my ears.

“That’s Cora’s necklace. Can you zoom in?” Sure enough… “Martin bought that necklace for her on her eighteenth birthday. It’s the only one like it in the world. She never takes it off.”

“Why would Cora do this? She’s been so supportive.”

I’m trying to figure out the same thing when something occurs to me. “She wouldn’t. I’ll bet her dad put her up to this as some way to get his hands on more property. Maybe he’s blackmailedherinto the vandalism because no one would ever suspect her?” It seems so far-fetched, but it’s the best I’ve got right now.

“Cassie, have you seen my phone?” I ask, ignoring the shards of glass tearing at my vocal chords.

“Yeah, I think it’s over here under the T.V. guide.” She retrieves it for me and hands it over.

Unlocking it, I immediately call Phoenix.

“Jakey! How’re you feeling? The guys and I were gonna swing by after—”

“Phoe, I need the name of the officer you trust the most. If you had an emergency, who would you want to show up?” Because he’s full-time with the fire department, Phoenix knows those guys way better than I do.

“Jake? Is that you?”

“Yeah. My throat’s fucked up from the smoke, but it’s me,” I confirm.

“What’s going on?” he asks, starting to sound panicked.

“I just need a name and number. I’ll fill you in later.” There’s an extreme urgency because regardless of where she was two nights ago, Cora could be anywhere now. She has both the money and the means to get the fuck out of Dodge before anyone can catch her.

Phoenix rattles off a name. “I’ll send you his contact info. Call me when you can, okay?”

I place the call to Lieutenant Stewart telling him everything I know as quickly as I can. I feel slightly guilty for ratting Cora out, knowing she’s been a pawn her whole life for insufferable parents, but Dylan almost died.

Andthatis unforgivable.

“You have to hurry. If she hasn’t left already, she’s planning a trip overseas soon.” Although the U.K and the U.S. have an extradition treaty, who’s to say that’s really where she’s going? Perhaps Martin has set her up in the islands somewhere, or maybe this was her plan all along and she told me about the symposium in the U.K. to cover her tracks.

“We’ll send someone to pick her up for questioning right away. If you think of anything else, please give me a call.”

“Her father has been buying property for several months along the street where the hit and run took place. I can’t help but feel he’s involved in the vandalism that’s been going on.”

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