Page 42 of Inferno

“He didn’t have anything to do with it.”

Julio studied her. “What makes you so sure of that?”

Maybe she didn’t know him as well as she thought she did. Probably the police would want to question her and Mitchell when he awoke, but there was no reason why he couldn’t establish a rapport between her and the arson investigation taskforce.

“He hates his father and everything he did. But his mom ditched when his dad got arrested, so he wound up in a foster home. Same one as me.”

Julio frowned. “His grandmother didn’t offer to take him in?”

The woman looked confused. “What grandmother?”

He wasn’t sure he wanted to explain that she was the first victim of this current arsonist. “She changed her name, so maybe she wanted nothing to do with the family. Seems like Mitchell may not have been so lucky.”

Not that what had happened to either of them—Mitchell and his grandmother—could be considered good fortune.

“He didn’t even want to talk about the fires, or his parents.” She shook her head. “The kids at school never left him alone for one second through the trial and after. Our school was miserable for him, but we stuck together. We’ve been friends ever since.”

“I’m sure he’s very grateful to have someone like you in his life.”

Julio’s existence the past two years had been pretty solitary, even though he’d taken a couple of trips to see his parents. It wasn’t like he had a ton of people who would show up to his hospital room if he were here, hurt. Even just one who cared enough to be the only person that showed up—like Terri with Mitchell, or he and Bristol with Samantha.

Who would’ve shown up for him?

Until recently, not even Samantha would have. Although, he had never removed her as his next of kin.

If something happened to him on the job, the entire waiting room would be full of firefighters. But that was about standing with a brother who had been hurt putting his life on the line. It didn’t matter who it was. Everyone turned out.

To him, it almost had more meaning when a single person would sit by a hospital bedside.

“Do you have any idea why someone might want to hurt Mitchell?” It had almost seemed as if they were interrogating him, or at the least punishing him for something. Whether it was about gaining information or not.

“He keeps his head down. He doesn’t bother anyone, and he expects people not to bother him.” She shrugged one shoulder. “Sometimes they do, but when the police figure out who he is, they don’t seem to be interested in stopping the harassment.”

Julio wasn’t a cop, so he couldn’t speak to that. But he didn’t think it was appropriate for the police to do that. He should ask Samantha to look up Mitchell in the PD reports. “Anyone inparticular you can think of lately? Someone who might want to hurt him?”

“Not really.” She brushed her hair back. “But he doesn’t always tell me about it. Since there’s nothing either of us can do.”

“Thank you for talking to me.” He pulled a business card from his wallet. “If you think of anything, or if you and Mitchell need any help, feel free to call me or anyone at my firehouse.”

She blinked at the card, then looked at him. “Thanks.”

Julio stepped back out into the hallway and made his way back to Samantha’s room. She had the door closed, so he repeated the same knock he’d done with Mitchell’s room.

“One second.”

He eased his stance over and leaned on the doorframe.

When the door finally opened, Samantha stood there. Pale skin, and dark circles under her eyes. They didn’t match the bruising around her neck, but she still needed rest.

She had changed into black leggings and a comfortable-looking T-shirt, a sweater pulled over her shoulders and now hanging down by her sides even though it was warm out. On her feet she had a pair of flat canvas shoes. She looked a lot like the girl he had known, once upon a time. Not so much like the tough-as-nails police detective he had been working with.

Truth be told, he liked both sides of her. The strong and the vulnerable. The way she knew how to accept help at the right time, and also how to stand up for herself when needed.

But the best part of who she was would always be the way she stood up for other people.

Julio glanced around. “Did Bristol take off?”

“Romeo was hungry, so I told them to get something to eat and go home. I figured when you came back, I could ask you for a ride.”

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