Page 41 of Inferno

Samantha managed to smile, interpreting what he’d said for her sister. Then she said, “I want to know who this guy is.”

Romeo smiled softly at Bristol while Samantha said that, and then said, “I’ll call Deerdan and find out.” He tugged out his phone and stepped into the hallway.

Samantha turned her head back toward her sister, nudging her ponytail.

Bristol got up and tapped her shoulder, getting Samantha to lean forward so she could pull the hair tie out. Samantha shook her head and signed,Thanks.

Bristol wasn’t happy.This case is going to kill you.

“You don’t know that.” Samantha signed as she spoke. “Neither do I.”

The exasperated look returned to her sister’s face.

SIXTEEN

Julio headed down the hospital hallway, toward the room where the nurse had told him he might find Mitchell Sylvana. He’d run out and grabbed a sandwich, checked in with the firehouse, and come back. But before he went to Samantha’s room, he wanted to check on the arsonist’s son.

The nurse hadn’t been able to give him any information about the guy’s condition, which wasn’t surprising given HIPAA regulations. However, the fact that he was in a room and not in the morgue told him enough information about whether or not they’d succeeded in saving his life.

Julio still couldn’t shake the image of finding Samantha on the ground, that guy on top of her.

If it hadn’t been for Bristol and her ability to locate Samantha’s phone, he might never have found her. She could have been choked to death on the street and he’d have had no idea.

Until it was too late.

His hands shook. Abrasions and bruising covered his knuckles where he’d slammed his fist into that guy. Julio probably would’ve kept going long enough to kill the guy—orat least do some serious damage—if it wasn’t for the fact that Samantha had been watching.

They needed to know if he was the arsonist.

Something they might not have been able to find out if Julio had killed him.

She should get credit for the arrest, and things would not be messed up because of him. At least as far as he could control things. Which, given she nearly died, might not be too much. Although the anger in him had subsided some, he wasn’t exactly ready to jump back in with both feet and claim to be a Christian again.

He might have lived a quiet life for the last two years, but his actions before that didn’t exactly spell out the kind of person who followed the Bible.

Julio stopped outside the room, turning so he could lean back against the wall. The most he could say was a quiet thank-you to God for getting him there in time. For the fact she was still alive right now, even if they weren’t entirely out of the woods. He didn’t think the doctors would keep her overnight, but someone needed to monitor her condition. Swelling in the throat could have nasty consequences.

His own throat closed reflexively. He swallowed against it and knocked on the door.

He heard a quiet, “Come in,” but it wasn’t a male voice.

Julio turned the handle and stayed by the doorway. She sat in a chair beside the bed, dark hair that had been dyed and a heavy metal band T-shirt. She had a pale face and dark-red lips.

The man in the bed lay tucked under the sheets, bandages on the areas of his skin that were visible. Tubes had been placed across his face with little notches in his nostrils, adding a clean air mix to what he breathed.

“I’m Captain Julio Espinoza-Vasquez from the fire department. I’m working on an arson investigation taskforce, and I was with the detective when we found Mr. Sylvana.”

“You’re one of the ones?” She sat up a little straighter, her voice low and graveled. “I’m Terri.”

“That’s right, my partner is a police detective and we’d come to talk to Mitchell. I’m just glad that we found him in time.”

Her shoulders tensed. “Talk to him about what?”

“Is Mitchell a friend of yours?” Julio asked. “Or a boyfriend?”

Dodging his question, she said, “Is he being suspected of those fires, like the ones his father set?”

“He isn’t one of our suspects.” At least, he wasn’t once they had stepped inside the house and found him. “We only wanted to see if he could shed any light on the situation.”

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