Page 55 of Inferno

Samantha stared up at Julio, and the concern in his features. “There are a lot of people here, and they could probably use your help.”

She wasn’t going to remind him that she had a gun and was able to take care of herself. Considering how quickly she had been subdued by that guy, and the fact he could have easily killed her if it wasn’t for Julio showing up, she wasn’t going to argue the point.

But he had a job to do.

The parking lot in front of the school was an ocean of people and vehicles, flashing red and blue lights. They had called in on the way over, and one of the fire chiefs told Julio that all thirty-five of the kids were trapped inside, smoke pouring out of the windows, and the firefighters were having trouble gaining access to the building.

Who knew what the situation was inside.

As for what they did know, this was most likely the work of their arsonist, considering the way the building had been secured. Trapping all the victims inside. The chief had told themthat the doors looked like liquid cement had been squeezed into the locks to set like rock. The doorframes were sealed tight with something, so they were having to break through exterior walls.

Samantha couldn’t see any flames in the building, from the fire no doubt blazing inside. But then again, she was a cop and not a firefighter, so it could be out of sight. Julio hadn’t said anything about the visible smoke or the fact there was no fire.

“Go be a captain.” She squeezed his arms. “That’s what they need you to do right now.”

Julio leaned down and kissed her quickly, then raced toward the building. He disappeared between two vehicles. Past a fire truck and what seemed like an ocean of people.

Samantha looked around, aware of being alone even with all these people. No wonder he hadn’t wanted to leave her. The truth was, she would rather go with him. But in this situation, she would only be in the way.

Right now, she wanted to see if she could recognize any of the spectators and bystanders.

She skirted the edge of the crowd and spotted a police officer she knew working crowd control. He lifted his chin, and she did the same in return. Before she could ask him how things were going, her cell phone rang.

Sergeant Deerdan’s name flashed on the screen.

Samantha slid her thumb across and put it to her ear. “Jesse.”

“I did some more digging, figured you would want an update. Are you at the school?”

“Yes. Is Alvarez finished with his interviews? I might need some backup.” Samantha figured Romeo might want to be here as well, and she could use someone with her as she looked around. No sense going face-to-face with this guy on her own when she didn’t have to because she had the backing of somebody she trusted.

Meanwhile, Julio was free to do his fire captain duties without having to worry about her.

The sergeant said, “I’ll text him and tell him to get over there. I think he’s wrapping up.”

“Thanks.”

“As for my update, I looked into the man who attacked you, Bill Morrison.” She said that as if she never would have believed that Samantha had started the fight. “He actually changed his name a few years ago, so we didn’t have completely accurate information on him.”

Samantha gripped the phone and tried to keep at least part of her attention on the people around her so she didn’t get blindsided again. “Who is he?”

“Four years ago, he was Walter Barnes. You interviewed him, but you spent more time with his wife.”

“Marianne Barnes.”

And yet, Bill Morrison had attempted to join the FD twelve years ago? Now he was back to using that name again.

“That’s right,” Deerdan said. “She was a domestic violence victim. Walter was the perpetrator, and I believe you counseled her to leave since she wasn’t prepared to press charges.”

“I remember straight up telling her if she stayed, he would end up killing her.”

“Seems like she left.” Deerdan paused. “Or completely dropped off the radar, at least.”

“How do we know he didn’t kill her and hide the body?”

“We won’t until the two detectives I assigned to investigate confirm for sure that she is safe, or manage to find enough evidence for an arrest warrant.”

Samantha winced. “I’m going to pray she got herself together and managed to escape rather than that he might have killed her.”

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