Page 11 of All of Me

Rawlings sighed. “Unfortunately, your now ex-girlfriend has a new boyfriend. Kristopher Vargan also has a lot of powerful friends and works closely with the D.A. I wonder what would happen if your ex changed her witness statement? She could easily pretend you had threatened her to enforce her compliance.”

Jethro gaped. “But she’d be lying.”

I was glad of the mask, because I wanted to laugh.

“Very true and I suppose without physical evidence, it would be just your word—someone who has a string of petty convictions—against the girlfriend of a close friend of the D.A., Stacey Jones, who has no arrests or convictions. Your ex was cured of her own rebellious stage the first time you were arrested.”

Jethro relaxed a little, obviously completely missing Rawlings’s sarcasm, and I noticed it was Gray that had to look away this time. We both knew what was coming.

“However, should that rumor circulate, how do you think the uncle of the teenager will react?”

Jethro paled, clearly catching up to his threat. “W–what do you want?”

“I want to know who employed you to use your arson skills.”

Jethro shook his head wildly. “I didn’t do anything. I was just helping Lee. I didn’t know what he was planning until we got there.”

“So, you didn’t give him a ride there? Didn’t see he had a gas canister? Didn’t ask what he was doing?”

Jethro deflated even more. “He said it was an insurance scam. That the place was empty.”

“Which it clearly wasn’t,” Rawlings said. “The trouble is, we’re forced to ask you because Lee is dead.”

Jethro gaped. “What? No. No, you’re lying.”

Rawlings was clearly ready for this and pulled out his phone. It showed a very dead Dodson.

“That could be photoshopped,” Jethro said defiantly.

“It could,” Rawlings agreed, “But if you call your mom, you’ll find she’s consoling her sister after the visit from the cops, and having to identify the body. If you’d had your phone turned on, you would have seen the fifteen messages she left…” He waved the phone they’d taken off Jethro. Not that we were going to turn it on. We didn’t need to after Danny had told them what it contained.

“How do I know if I give him up you won’t kill me anyway?”

He really was clueless. Did he really think we’d go to the trouble of hiding our faces and the location if we were going to kill him?

“You don’t,” Rawlings agreed. “But consider this. My colleague over there,” he pointed at Gray, “has many talents. He also really enjoys his work, as you can see.” He waved at the tools. “So, you have a choice. Tell us what you know, and you have a good chance we will let you go, provided we are satisfied with the quality of the information. Or you’ll tell us anyway, but after my colleague gets to enjoy a very intimate conversation with you.” Gray walked over to the toolbox and started examining some bolt cutters.

Jethro dragged his eyes away from Gray. “Look, I was told it was an insurance thing and that the house was empty. I swear I didn’t know people were inside. Lee told me he was supposed to get into the kitchen and mess with the wiring, but he’d tried the night before and couldn’t get in because the locks had been changed.” I stiffened. If that wasn’t a nail in Ryan’s coffin, I didn’t know what was. I’d changed the locks a week after I’d inherited Ellie’s place.

“He even tried working on this window at the side and this fucking donkey started braying,” Jethro continued. “When hetold the man what had happened, he said he wanted his deposit back, but…”

“Lee had already spent it,” Diesel finished for him.

Jethro nodded. “That’s when he called me. So, we went the next night and thought he’d better get it done quick. Had a gallon of gas in the back of my pickup.” I met Gray’s disbelieving eyes. How did this guy think an insurance claim would go if it was obvious the fire had been set deliberately? Not that I thought for one moment Ryan cared about the insurance. He just wanted me out and thought if the house was gone, I’d just roll over.

“Who is he?”

“Don’t know his name, or where he got Lee’s name or number from. Lee said he met him at the rest stop out past Covington. They’ve built a new one, but the old one’s still there for sale.”

“Did Lee know how he was going to get the money?”

“Same place. He was supposed to text the number when it’s done.”

Rawlings had already skimmed through the printout Danny had provided of the texts, which pretty much verified everything he’d said. “If we let you go, what are you going to do?”

Jethro shook his head. “Nothing, I swear.”

Rawlings sat back. “Not exactly.” Jethro swallowed and Rawlings carried on. “You have two ladies who need you now. You’re going to turn into a dutiful son and nephew. You’re going to keep your nose squeaky clean and make sure they feel safe. I have some contacts and if you do what I say, then I will make sure in six months you’re doing something that pays much more than a gas station attendant. And legal,” Rawlings added.

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