Page 16 of Catching Fire

With one finger, she pushed one of today’s bills aside. Kalan was right behind her, his curiosity getting the better of him.

They both watched as she revealed a quarter sheet of plain, white paper—just like before—with the initials S A M on it.

Seline blinked, trying to hold back the tears that threatened.

“What is that?” he asked, though he couldn’t have missed that it was her initials.

This time she broke. Her voice cracked and the pressure at the back of her eyes mounted. “I think it means he's killed again. But the FBI hasn't called to tell me that they found a body.”

Chapter Ten

“Iam so glad you're here,” Kalan let the words gush out as he opened the door for Maggie and Sebastian. Normally he issued a polite welcome, but this time, it was desperate. He practically grabbed Sebastian’s arm and dragged him bodily into the house.

They had to do something to get Seline out of her funk … even if it was a rightful one. Luckily, Maggie's house was only just down the street and the two of them had arrived quickly.

Seline was more than shaken by the new note.

He hoped having friends here would help her breathe easier.

As much as he'd wanted to apologize, Kalan understood that this was neither the time nor the place. She was dealing with something far more concerning than him.

She’d stayed perched on the front edge of the couch, looking as though she might slide off at any moment. But now, as she stood and greeted her friends, she looked falsely bright and cheerful.

“Hello! Thank you for coming over.” She was even more formal than he’d been, and there was something in her tone that wasn't quite right. Kalan didn’t know what to do about it. But Maggie did.

Rushing across the room, she enveloped her friend in an unprovoked bear hug. It was clear that Maggie was taking charge of things. “I'm so sorry.” Maggie was practically in tears. “I'm sorry that I brought this to your doorstep.”

Seline seemed to be holding on for dear life. He wished he could do what Maggie was doing, but Seline had taken no comfort from him. That was his own damn fault. So, instead of being her rock, he watched from the sidelines as her cover cracked and she began to cry.

“It's okay Seline,” Maggie said. “I understand. I'm so sorry.”

But Seline pushed Maggie away. “No, it is not that. It is not about me. He has killed someone else. That's what I cry about.”

Maggie took a step back, her entire body going ramrod straight. Slowly she turned to look at him. “Is this right? Youknowthis?”

Her tone demanded to know if it was a fact or a guess. Kalan shrugged, it was somewhere in between. Trying to take as much of the burden off Seline as he could, he explained about the second note, assuming that Maggie and Sebastian already knew about the first.

Maggie turned back to her friend, but Seline had dropped onto the couch again, though this time she curled herself into the corner. “Are we targeted because we’re new in town? Because we don’t know our way around? Don’t have a big family network here to support us?”

Something about the way she said “big family network” told Kalan it came from a place of yearning in her. He thought about it. “Maybe. It does make you an easier target.”

Maggie sat next to her friend. “I was targeted because I inherited that house. Because I moved in, I started digging through it and it … activated all this old stuff. You’re targeted because you’re my friend.”

Seline nodded stiffly and sniffled. She said the words as though she’d just remembered. “You do have a network here.”

Maggie put her arms around her friend. “I don’t think it’s because we’re new here. I think it’s bad luck.”

With a quick hug, Seline pulled herself together and Maggie followed suit. No longer being the comforting friend but the practical leader, she asked, “Did you call the FBI?”

“We did,” Kalan told her. “We called you right after we called them. We took pictures—tried not to touch it.”

“It's still here?” Sebastian asked. He’d been lingering in the background, staying near the doorway, but now he was all action.

“Right behind you,” Kalan told him with a dark look, motioning to the small, pretty table where it appeared Seline parked her purse and mail each day. That was the kind of fact he wanted to know about her, but the Blue River Killer was stealing that from him, too.

Seline might be softly crying, but Kalan wasn't that far from it himself. If he wanted to be more to her, he couldn’t afford any more fuck-ups.

He'd already gone through the wholeIt's not your faultscenario and taken the brunt of her anger for it.

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