Page 78 of Raging Inferno

The phone went silent.

“I’ve got the location.” Kayne pulled up a satellite image on the GPS and swiped his fingers on the screen to zoom in. “It looks like a bunch of warehouses.”

“There’s a back way in,” Presley noted. “Drive here.” She pointed to a spot. “You can get out and approach from the rear. I’ll go around and come in from the front.”

It only took ten minutes to get to the address. All the buildings in the industrial park were abandoned and covered with colorful graffiti. Windows had been broken out, trash littered the area, and the roads were marred with potholes the size of the Grand Canyon.

Kayne parked several buildings away from where the kidnapper instructed, and they got out. He dug in the back of the SUV and handed her a comm device. “Watch for a sniper. I’ll fly Queen Atta inside and get the layout before you approach.”

“Great idea.”

“You keep the phone. I’ll use the console.”

All of Tyler Redmond’s drones were integrated with their cells, but there was a backup device to use in case of an emergency. This counted as one.

Kayne filled his pockets with items he might need. Presley nodded approval when he included a flashbang. As he slung a rifle over his shoulder, she said, “Be careful.”

“You too.”

With that, he was gone. Presley climbed into the driver’s seat and motored away so she could approach from the front. Guilt stabbed at her for not notifying Dominic, but she didn’t want him to worry. She’d have Gia back before he knew she’d been taken.

#

Dominic watched as the crews contained the blaze and managed to save part of the house.

“Captain, we found a body.”

Dominic closed his eyes. Not another fire fatality. “Male or female?”

“Female.”

Dom had assumed it wasn’t Jessie or Tamera since it wasn’t their house, but what if it was one of them? They might’ve been lured to their death.

Ric Berg, the fire inspector, arrived. Dom waved him over, and they followed one of the firefighters into the house to view the deceased. She was lying on a bed, but it was impossible to tell if it was Jessie or Tamera. They would need to use dental records. The smell of charred flesh wasn’t something that could be forgotten. It stayed with you days later.

The room was destroyed. It looked to be the point of origin. “I smell gasoline.”

“I do too,” Ric concurred.

Presley’s cell vibrated in Dominic’s pocket. He took it out to see Elaine Chang’s name on the display. “Excuse me. I need to take this,” he told Ric. Stepping outside, he answered. “Hi, Elaine.”

“Dominic, did you pick Gia up from school?”

Dom’s spine stiffened. “No.”

“Do you think Presley did?”

“No, she’s here with me.”

He spun around and frowned when he didn’t spot the other SUV that had been there a few minutes ago.

“Gia didn’t show up for soccer practice. I’ve looked all over the school grounds, but Dominic, I can’t find her.”

Dom’s heart tried to beat out of his chest. “I’m on my way there.”

He hurried over to Jerry, the lieutenant for the shift, and informed him he was leaving. Then he raced to his vehicle and lifted the console in Presley’s SUV to grab his cell phone and powered it on. Presley had instructed him to keep it off so it couldn’t be traced, but this was an emergency. He accessed the Find My app. Gia’s phone didn’t show up, so he tapped the “items” button and checked the air tag. What the hell? She was in the old warehouse district, not far from where the fire had killed Bill Fitzgerald. What was she doing there?

Dom dialed Presley using her phone, letting out a string of curses when it kicked to voicemail. He hung up and tried again, puffing out a sigh of relief when she answered.

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