Page 392 of Cold Case, Warm Hearts

She couldn’t help but think they all had it in for him.

Since Addie was predisposed to be on his side because he was her first love and everything they’d been through—even if their relationship hadn’t ended on the best of terms. It was hard not to jump in all the time and defend him.

She was supposed to be a professional here, which was why she’d left town. So she could make a life for herself that wasn’t all wrapped up in her history and her emotions.

“Come on.” Russ slung his arm around her shoulder. “I’ll give you a ride, and we’ll sort out your car later.”

Addie grabbed her phone. She ensured the police were good with her leaving and then told Russ, “You can drop me at my office. I have work to do.”

She’d missed her whole lunch break at this point.

He frowned over the hood of his truck.

“What?”

“Nothing. Toss that stuff in the back.”

Addie saw what he meant when she opened the door. She didn’t throw the box of shotgun shells, but she did put them on the back floor. His heavy jacket on the seat. She wasn’t sure what to do with the one sock and the bag containing half a sandwich.

“Wanna finish that?”

She handed it to him. “I’m good.”

Her throat was still raw from the smoke inhalation. Was Jake’s? Maybe she shouldn’t care so much when there was plenty of work to do. The police would find whoever set the fire. She had her job, and it didn’t involve doing theirs and getting distracted. Whether this was one in a series of coordinated attempts to hurt or scare her didn’t matter.

But the idea she’d been herded to Jake’s studio stuck with her.

If someone could do that and be so planned about their attack, what else had they caused her to walk into unknowingly?

She shivered in her seat.

Russ cranked the heat and pointed all the vents at her.

“I’m good. I just need some hot tea at the office.”

“Good idea.” He hit the gas and peeled out of the parking lot as though the building were still on fire. Except that was the way he normally drove. “Word to the wise?”

He always phrased that statement like it was supposed to be a question. Addie said, “Sure.”

“Be careful how vocal you are about standing with Jacob.”

“Because of how the police view him?” She shifted in her seat. “Has he committed some crime I’m unaware of?”

Russ said nothing, but she saw the shift of his throat.

“Spit it out, Russ.”

“They’re hauling him in for questioning over the death of Celia Jessop.”

She opened her mouth to tell Russ there was no way Jacob did that. “Someone just tried to kill us. They’re choosingnowto bring him in?”

“It’s just questions. He isn’t in danger or under arrest.”

Addie wanted to text him and tell him to ask for a lawyer, whether he was under arrest or not. Still, she couldn’t get in the middle of this if there was even a hint that he’d had anything to do with it.

No way it would get far if this was only a case of police prejudice. Hank would make sure they moved on if it had no weight, and no prosecutor was going to take a case with no evidence.

She had a lot of faith in people she didn’t know well, some of whom she didn’t know at all. That thought only made her want to push her way into the police department and ruin her tenuous relationship with the cops here. Justice was one thing. But whoever wielded that gavel had to be blind otherwise bias entered the equation.

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