Page 391 of Cold Case, Warm Hearts

“I know this was arson, but what’s the procedure for that kind of thing?”

The chief glanced over. “You saw someone set the fire?”

She shook her head. “Whoever tried to run me off the road kind of…herded me here.” She knew it didn’t make complete sense, but things often happened with no explanation. The fire chief had to know that.

“Any idea who it was?”

She shook her head again. “No cameras. The police are searching for him, right?”

“I believe so.”

She thought as much, but given the department’s higher-ups had ushered Jake to that car and driven away, it had to be the foot patrol officers searching the area. Plenty of them had turned out in response to Hank’s call.

Maybe they would find the person responsible.

Addie was going to have to make a statement to the police. She’d have to admit she was receiving hang-up calls and had been since before she left Virginia. The man outside the window—she didn’t know if she should mention what might be a figment of her imagination.

Being run off the road wasdefinitelynot the symptom of a lingering nightmare. Her car had the damage to prove it.

So at least she knew coming home hadn’t resulted in some kind of mental break. She wasn’t going to wake up in a psych ward and be told she had cracked. Because Addie faced the fact that was everyone’s nightmare. And anyone who said that wasn’t a deep-seated fear was probably lying to themselves. No one was completely sane.

“Okay?”

She nodded. The fire chief seemed like a nice guy. “I won’t take up too much of your time.”

“The fire started here. The blaze spread so fast it’s hard to tell.” The chief motioned to the wall. “Given there’s a gas can right here, it’s not hard to figure out the source.”

“But he only burned this end of the building.” She frowned. “Instead of pouring it all around and killing us quickly when the whole place went up.”

The chief shrugged. “We could surmise all day, but all we’d be doing is guessing at his intentions. Or hers.”

She nodded. “It wasn’t designed to go up fast, though. Right?” Just enough to freak them out. Toherdthem to one end, he could push insects to the main room and leave them trapped.

It had taken minutes—and seemed like much longer—before they got to that spot where Jake could call Hank. They could so easily have died but found a way out and rescued. Not because they’d managed to save themselves.

The fire chief studied the damaged exterior wall. “I’d say whoever did this had a strategy. What it was, might only be answered when we can question them about why.”

“Addie!”

She spun around so fast her head swam. Russ strode over, a thunderous look on his face that other people would assume meant he was angry. He was, but only because he was mad at being scared.

He moved to her and kept coming. Until Addie was enveloped in a hug that choked her up.

“I’ll give you two a minute.” That was the chief, but all she could see was the collar of Russ’s jacket that her face was smashed against.

His hold was like being grabbed by a bear. After being abandoned by a mother who chased romance to and fro across the country, Russ’s hugs had been a comfort. But then, anything would’ve been. As much as she didn’t appreciate what that said about her being starved for affection, she figured it was okay given he was her uncle. They cared about each other.

Russ shifted. “The chief told me what happened.”

She couldn’t help frowning. “Did he tell you Jacob was behind the whole thing?”

Russ flinched. “Was he?”

“No.” She shook her head. “That’s my point. He was with me. He didn’t do any of this.”

Of course, it could be argued he might’ve had an accomplice. But as with Ivan Damen, she still didn’t think that was likely. After all, one had never turned up after Damen was arrested fifteen years ago. Whoever saw a second person, it wasn’t Addie or Jake.

It seemed like everyone thought Jake had criminal intentions. The captain had gone to him first for an alibi for that girl’s murder. Celia Jessop hadn’t even been autopsied before they were demanding to know his whereabouts.

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