Page 50 of Inferno

Julio tossed the phone on the bed. The captain who was supposed to be on shift now would be headed in soon enough, wanting to use this room. Meanwhile, Julio had three hours to burn until the meeting. He needed something to do. Like walk around one of the fire scenes and see what he could gather.

Decision made, he set the radio he wore on the desk and gathered his things. Shoving everything into his backpack so he could head out in his personal car. Praying the whole time that God would give him the mercy of answers, or some kind of lead. A way to figure out who this guy was.

Before someone else lost their life.

TWENTY

Samantha didn’t look at Julio, even though he’d sat himself to her left, in her line of sight. Romeo was beside her, which only meant she could see that he was texting Bristol and wasn’t aware of the turmoil going on in Samantha. Julio, however, constantly glanced at her. As if anyone in the room wouldn’t realize that he needed to know how she was reacting to this.

At the head of the table to the right, FBI Special Agent Addie Franklin stood wearing a pantsuit and white shirt. She had her hair pulled back, and her makeup was understated. The telltale tiredness of having little kids at home was evident on her face.

“…and that’s why we believe he is connected to some kind of religious organization.” Addie was about to continue when she was cut off.

“Like some kind of cult?” The question came from the mayor’s chief of staff.

“We don’t know what church or group it is, or if he even belongs to any kind of organized religion.”

The chief of staff said, “How do you know for sure it’s a man?”

Romeo looked up from his phone. “We arrested him two days ago.”

“And yet he’s already back on the streets.” The chief of staff shot Romeo a look.

“That’s how the justice system works,” Romeo said. “We don’t keep people detained just because we don’t like them. You of all people should know how much it costs the city to keep the jail running.”

Samantha shifted in her seat. They didn’t need to get into a debate about funding for municipal services. Even if it would be a good distraction.

She had fought constantly through this entire briefing to keep her thoughts from becoming overwhelming. Just the idea that the arsonist was now fixated on her, or at least even minutely focused, was pretty much terrifying as a concept. Any more than that would threaten her sanity.

But having Julio here, clearly concerned about how she was handling the whole thing, helped her keep a handle on herself. If only so that no one knew the extent to which she was spiraling.

Lord, maybe I need Your help to hold it together.

It wasn’t entirely comfortable yet for her to pray, but she was willing to test the theory that the God she knew was up there might be inclined to act on her behalf. She and Bristol had a long conversation about the whole thing yesterday.

Her sister attended a Bible study for the deaf, and always went to Sunday services. She’d been eager to share what she knew about what Samantha was supposed to do next—a mishmash of things. Right now, it was all mostly confusing—but in a way also seemed intriguing.

The idea that she could draw strength from something other than herself sounded good when Samantha had no reserves left. When things were out of control.

Still, it felt like trying to do your taxes in the middle of a shootout. There was entirely too much going on, your life was in danger, and at the same time you were supposed to do math? Okay, so the concept of Christianity wasn’t exactly like an equation that needed solving in the middle of a life-and-death situation, but it also kind of was. Not just that, but she didn’t have time for self-reflection right now.

“Speaking of the man that was arrested. Bill Morrison is on record as having applied to the Benson Fire Department twelve years ago.”

Everyone looked at Addie.

The FBI agent in charge continued, “It’s one of the few things we could find out about him. He seems to do construction and get paid under the table, which he uses to pay his rent with cash. There is little electronic record of him.”

Captain Tennet said, “But you found the application?”

Addie nodded. “He was interviewed once as part of the application process and dismissed following that. I have the names of the officers who conducted the interview if you’d like to follow up with them.”

“I’ll do that,” Tennet said. “It could prove fruitful.”

Samantha spoke up. “Do we have any other suspects if it shakes out that the man who attacked me on the street isn’t our arsonist?”

Addie looked at her. “All I can do is put together a comprehensive profile of the type of person you’re going to find. It will confirm what we suspect after the arrest has been made. What it doesn’t do is single out a likely suspect.”

Samantha’s phone buzzed.

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