Page 58 of Up In Smoke

He nodded as though that made perfect sense and she crossed the parking lot and climbed into her car, revving the engine before pulling up behind him. As Carlos exited the library parking lot, Ivy tucked in close behind him not paying much attention to where they were going.

She thought more about Mario, about Luke. Should she call him and let him know that they were issuing a warrant to search his brother's place? If she did tell him, would there be anything Luke could do about it? He was too tired to even go out and do “the loop” tonight, as Carlos had called it.

She decided not to wake Luke from a sleep he needed for something he couldn't prevent. At the next stoplight, she sent a quick message to Jo and then followed it up with a text to Orlando, thanking him for the documents.

She watched as Carlos slowed down as they passed an old apartment building. Next was a convenience store that two of the brothers had worked at. Then Mrs. Hernandez’ home. All places that Ivy knew Luke checked on regularly.

Then, Carlos took a turn out onto one of the older roads and they pulled up in front of the old barn. She’d been here before, too. Carlos drove along the gravel drive, surely trespassing, just as Ivy had days before.

Stopping behind him and putting her car into park, Ivy cut the engine as he motioned for her to get out. “We should probably make a circuit. The place is pretty big.”

Ivy followed him, gingerly picking her way through the tall grass in her nice heels. As they looped the barn a gentle snow began to fall and she pulled her coat tighter around her. Anything more than just the one loop to check that the back hadn’t been soaked in kerosene or gasoline and she’d get good and cold.

Carlos got ahead of her, his sensible shoes and heavier jeans giving him a speed she couldn’t match. But she did her job, slowing down and checking for any damage to the place. Anything that looked different since the last time she’d been here, anything that made it look like a target.

As she turned the last corner, she saw Carlos near the cars. He stood, looking up at the barn, chewing his gum, his expression once again stunningly flat. His arms were crossed and he looked almost dead behind the eyes, and in that moment Ivy knew.

Chapter Forty-Three

Ivy stared at Carlos as all the pieces snapped into place.

But it didn’t matter if she understood. It only mattered if she could run.

The grass was up to her knees. Her heels were sinking into the dirt. If she kicked them off, she’d be barefoot in the snow on the outskirts of town.

She hated thinking it, but she was confident that Carlos would catch her if she bolted. The dead-eyed stare as they assessed each other told her he wouldn’t hesitate to hurt her.

Though she hated it, she had to play meek. She had to hope she was situated to break away later. Her new work pants were stretch material, so she could move if she had to. Her twinset sweater hopefully made Carlos think she was softer and more malleable than she was.

Pasting a scared expression on her face, Ivy blinked hard several times and reached into her coat pocket, feeling for the face of her phone. She checked the case, her fingers finding the home key and activating the screen. Keeping her eyes on Carlos, she had to hope her coat was thick enough that her pocket didn’t light up. She tried to act concerned, but as though she hadn't just figured out that Carlos was their arsonist and would be murderer.

He'd applied to the Redemption Fire Department and been rejected … and firefighters were the best arsonists. He and Mario had been taken in as juveniles for filleting open a live squirrel. Sociopaths did that, only Mario hadn’t been the one to do it. The report said he was remorseful about killing a creature—easy enough because Ivy was now willing to bet that even at eight, Mario had been forced by his brother into the confession. There was nothing but calculation behind the brown eyes that looked so much like Luke’s.

Mario, the drug addict, had his problems but he wasn't a sociopath. In fact, he might have been using drugs to deal with seeing the real Carlos.

Ivy moved her thumb across her phone, to where she thought the letters would be. She could only hope her phone caught her message.

— It's Carlos.

She hit the spot where she hoped the send key was.

“We’re leaving your car here,” Carlos told her as if it were some reasonable request. But he wasn’t asking.

She fought for time and tried to act dumb. She could only hope that her facial expression hadn’t completely given her away. She was furious. But she tried to sound confused. “Why?”

“You're riding with me now.”

“Oh, I'll just follow you again,” she said, waving her hand as if to say it's nothing. She turned to head back to her own car, as if he would allow it. Ivy didn’t for one second think he would actually let her climb back into her own car, but she had to try.

As she turned her back on him, he covered the distance surprisingly quickly. One arm clamped around her neck. The other around her waist.

Shit, shit, shit.

She struggled to twist her head and neck so she could breathe. But he’d clamped his arm into exactly the right place to cut off her air. The arm around her waist was tight—too tight—holding her left arm down to her side and making it useless.

Her body tried again to suck in air. Despite the way she bucked and fought, Carlos didn’t let go or even loosen his hold.

If she couldn’t breathe, maybe she could at least incriminate him. She reached again for her phone, pulling it out quickly while tucking her chin down in an attempt to bite him and distract him.

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