Page 67 of Crash and Burn

Maggie looked up, and wondered how the woman would accomplish that. But the built-in chem lab was cute, even if Seline herself was very serious.

“I have to observe it for ten minutes.” She swirled it again and made notes in her lab book.

Very scientific, Maggie thought, but stayed quiet.

“Where did you want to go for lunch?” Seline asked, though she didn’t move her eyes. Apparently, she didn’t need silence.

“I thought you might know?”

Seline laughed. “I’m sorry, I’ve only lived here for two weeks. I don't know the town very well at all.”

Maggie had thought that Seline had come from somewhere else in Redemption. That must have been wrong. “Where did you move from?”

“Lincoln. I teach at the university. But I’m up for tenure and my schedule has changed so I only teach twice a week. The size of the house here and the yard is worth commuting for classes.” She looked up and smiled. “It gave me the funds to convert this room to a laboratory.”

“The house is gorgeous.” She’d be lying if she said she wasn’t a little jealous.

“Yours is bigger.” Despite the accent, her grammar was close to flawless.

So Maggie explained about Abbie and the boarding house and then she suggested pizza for lunch.

“Oh! I love American Pizza, that sounds wonderful.”

A few minutes later, Seline had peeled the lab coat to reveal jeans and a short-sleeved blouse, and they headed out the door. They sat at one of the sidewalk tables and ordered too much food, and eventually Seline had worked her way around to, “What was the question you wanted to ask me?”

“Oh, it doesn't matter. I thought you grew up in Redemption and knew everyone.”

“But you bought me lunch. So what was the question anyway?”

As she bit into another gooey slice, Maggie told Seline more about their serial predator. She mentioned the paper found hidden in her fireplace and the need to find someone to stay overnight with her. “I had hoped you might know someone that I could ask.”

Seline’s eyes had gotten wider and wider as Maggie talked. But, at the end, her expression snapped to serious. “I can stay with you.”

Surprised Maggie asked, “You're volunteering? I appreciate it. But …”

But the idea quickly took root. Having a second person on scene would be smart and Seline was clearly intelligent and able to think on her feet. And then the other woman surprised her.

“I am an excellent marksman. My father was in the COS—French military, special forces. I have my own nine-millimeter … pistol.” She’d seemed to search for the last word, but she grabbed another slice of pizza as though this were an ordinary conversation and continued. “What do you think is the likelihood this man will show up tomorrow night?”

“Slim to none.” Maggie sighed. “He hasn’t shown up for weeks. We’ve changed all the locks and bolted the cellar door shut. He seems to have no interest in the last bit of evidence we found. But my boyfriend—”damn, that sounded good, “—is a firefighter. He works twenty-four hour shifts and won’t go to work if I’m alone.”

Seline smiled, a wide grin that reached her clear blue eyes. It seemed every emotion she felt played across her features. “I will bring a bag over tonight. Then tomorrow I can come through the back gate. No one will know I’m there!”

Seline was baiting the monster even more than Maggie had ever intended to. But damn if the fantasy of the two of them shooting him when he broke in wasn’t tempting. Maggie knew that wasn’t how it worked: Seline would be an extra set of ears and eyes for an incredibly boring evening.

“That sounds wonderful!” Maggie felt the relief slide through her whole system. Sebastian could go to work. “We can have a movie night.”

Seline was still grinning as she reached for a third slice of pizza. She was smart, and apparently handy with a gun. Maggie thought it was great, but what would Sebastian say?

Chapter Fifty-Three

“Kane, Hernandez, fall back.” The words were like music in his ear.

The struggle against the corn field fire had been epic and exhausting. It had started with the alarm hours ago and was nowhere near being contained.

Sebastian and Luke offered each other a subtle nod, acknowledging that they were getting relieved. They had, after all, been on the line the longest.

The Chief’s voice came through the comm again. “Kelly, Smith, you’re in.”

---