Page 105 of Raging Inferno

The other girls started bawling, but no tears came to Jessie. She felt numb. What did it say that a guy who wasn’t even dating Gwen couldn’t live with the burden of guilt, yet Gwen’s five best friends could? How messed up was that?

Shame lay heavily on Jessie’s shoulders. She had resented Gwen because she’d dated Dominic, and Jerrod had liked her. Now Gwen and Jarrod were gone.

After Sam left, Nancy’s cell phone rang. Jessie walked to the window overlooking the sparkling blue pool she rarely used because she didn’t want to mess up her hair. There was a hole inside where her heart used to reside.

“Oh, no,” Nancy cried.

Jessie spun around to see her friend cover her mouth with her hand as she listened to what was being said. She disconnected and covered her face.

“What is it?” Tamera urged. “What’s wrong?”

“That was my aunt. She works at the coroner’s office. She said there was smoke damage in Gwen’s lungs.”

“We knew that,” Margy reminded her. “We were there.”

“No, you don’t understand.” Nancy swallowed hard. “It means she was still breathing when the fire broke out.”

Charmaine jumped to her feet. “If she was still breathing, it means I didn’t kill her.”

Jessie closed her eyes.Oh, God.“I did.”

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Dominic’s heart pounded. It felt as if it would break through his ribs and beat right out of his chest. Presley was gone, and they had no idea where to look for her. When they found her safe—and they would—he might need to make an appointment with a cardiologist.

Dom had thought the threat was over when Eddie Smith had been killed. Did he have a partner? It couldn’t be his father. Presley’s office verified he was in Wisconsin.

“Seriously, Kayne, where do we start to search?”

Kayne’s phone buzzed. “Hold that thought. It’s my office.” He answered on speaker. “Tyler, what are you doing working this late?”

“When we get a 9-1-1 request, I’m on it. I ran a deep check on Dr. Val Anders, full name Valarie Anders Moran. She was born in Serenity Shores but moved away to go to school and never returned.”

“Wait a minute,” Dominic cut in. “Did you say Moran was her last name?”

“That’s correct.”

“Did she have a brother named Jerrod?”

“She did, yes. He died when he was eighteen.”

“What is it, Dominic?” Kayne asked.

“Jerrod Moran was one of my friends. I remember now that he had a sister named Valarie, but she was much older than us. Jerrod shot himself after the fire that killed Presley’s cousin, Gwen. He thought he was responsible for her death.”

“Dr. Anders is killing the other women who were there,” Kayne deduced. “Why?”

Dominic tried to fit pieces of the puzzle together. “It’s starting to make sense. Presley knew something had driven the group apart. Val Anders must’ve figured out what it was.”

“We need to do that too, but first, where would she go?” Kayne wondered.

“Someone else lives in the house where Jerrod grew up,” Dominic told them.

“Tyler, can you run a search on property she or her family still owns in Serenity Shores and the surrounding area?”

“On it. Give me a second.” The rapid tapping of computer keys sounded, and then Tyler returned to the line. “She has a condo in Duluth . . . hold on. She owns property on Piney Lake.”

Dom slapped the steering wheel. “That’s where the old cabin stood. It’s where Gwen and Jerrod died.”

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