Page 57 of Inferno

Samantha looked back at the two women. “Can you go tell the firefighters where the kids are?”

The blonde looked where the man had gone, then raced off after him.

The brunette on the phone seemed locked in indecision. She shifted the phone back in front of her mouth. “I know, honey. Someone is coming to get you out soon.”

Samantha’s phone buzzed, and she saw the message from Julio. Her eyes widened.

“What is it?” the brunette asked. “What just happened?”

“There isn’t any fire in the building, just smoke.”

“What does that mean? What’s happening?”

“I don’t know,” Samantha said, “but I’m going to try and find out.” She headed for the front of the building, figuring this was the best way of getting at least one of these parents to the right area.

The other woman came with her, talking to her daughter on the phone. The first firefighter Samantha saw, she directed to the woman. “This lady is speaking with one of the students inside.”

“Thanks.” He nodded. “Ma’am, this way!”

Samantha left them and continued walking, headed for the center of a cluster of firefighters who looked like the ones in charge. Scanning the area for Julio, she spotted him speaking with another man—a chief—and Captain Tennet, as well as a few others.

Instinct felt like cold fingers on her spine. Samantha glanced around, aware she felt as if she were being watched.

Walter Barnes wasn’t in police custody anymore.

Was he here, watching her?

Or was it the arsonist?

She didn’t understand why she was the target. How could she be a threat to the arsonist’s plans? The only thing that had changed in her life recently was the fact Julio was back in it. Could that be the change which triggered the attention?

Perhaps this was about distracting Julio so that he didn’t see the truth.

Samantha was going to figure it out, whatever the answer was.

Hopefully before someone else got hurt.

TWENTY-THREE

Julio pushed the outer layers of the onion off the cutting board and got to work chopping the middle. It would take some prep work, but he needed to get this Mexican chicken soup in the Instant Pot in time. If he did, the firefighters working overtime could come into the firehouse and find a flavorful meal waiting for them. After all those hours doing cleanup, and coordinating with other agencies, they would be more than ready for a meal by the time they returned.

He glanced over at Samantha, who sat on one side of the long dining table in the firehouse kitchen. Poring over files Captain Tennet had dropped off earlier that day. The original arson case against Richard Sylvana.

But all Julio could think about was the fire at the school just now—or more accurately, the lack of fire. As far as he could tell, the incident had been caused by a few smoke bombs strategically placed by the HVAC intakes so that the ashy-colored smoke filtered through the whole building.

Anyone would have believed it was on fire, especially with the heating turned up so high.

Warm air had been pumping through the air vents for hours before the first alarm sounded. Kids trapped inside, unable toget out through doors that had been secured shut. It would take days to figure out precisely what had happened. By then, he hoped they’d have found the identity of the arsonist and arrested him. But all he could do right now was pray, make soup, and let Samantha see what she could find in those files.

Julio stirred onion and peppers in the skillet, browning them so he could put them in the soup.

Samantha made a noise low in her throat, and he glanced over. “Find something?”

“Unfortunately, nothing about locking doors so people can’t get out. That seems to be something this arsonist likes to do but not the original. Maybe he has different resources, or he likes feeling like he outsmarted us. It’s probably so the victims suffer maximum panic when they realize they can get out.” She shuddered. “But get this. With the first two fires set by Richard Sylvana, one was a residence, and a woman died like recently in the other. Later, the original arsonist set fire to a warehouse, with no one inside…unlike our fire where the lawyer perished.”

“So he’s following the same pattern? That was our theory. Until the manifesto.”

Samantha tipped her head to the side. “Not entirely the same pattern, but it’s close enough Tennet wanted to announce he’d figured out it was a copycat. But the original arsonist did set a fire at a prom, trapping a bunch of kids in the gym of their school.”

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