Page 41 of One More Chance

“Not so far as I’m aware.”

Jax said, “It’s possibly connected to a case we’re working, but we aren’t sure. If we could just have a look around and talk to your guys, that would be great.”

Sergeant Hernandez said, “This isn’t about jurisdiction?”

“It’s not currently an FBI matter.”

Her husband, so diplomatic. “Come on, Sarge. Can we look around?”

Hernandez frowned. “You can walk through with me. You don’t go anywhere without my escort.”

Kenna nearly snapped a salute, but if she did that, they would probably get kicked off the scene entirely. She pressed her hands together in front of her. “Promise.”

The sergeant sighed. “I’m gonna regret this.” But he went to the front doors, where they all had to put on booties to cover their shoes so they didn’t contaminate the scene. “The fire originated in the kitchen, or so the fire marshal tells me. Something about the accelerant used giving off more heat than would’ve ever been necessary to just destroy the place.”

“It was arson?” Jax asked. “That’s his ruling?”

“Fire marshal says whoever set the fire intended to destroy what was in the kitchen beyond any chance of us retrieving evidence. Scorched earth. Hot and localized. It was a powerful burn, but it didn’t spread quickly. The perpetrator kept it contained so that nothing much else was damaged.”

“Considerate.” Kenna looked at the blackened interior of the building as they walked through, unable to distinguish tables or chairs. There was an area that might have been a front counter, but it was impossible to tell. Everything had been charbroiled to the studs. It was all black, cracked, burned wood. Nothing left.

“What was in the kitchen that they wanted to destroy?” Kenna asked.

“Firefighters missed it. Whoever it is, they look like everything else in here.”

Jax asked, “One victim?”

“No way to ID them. The body was brittle, and the ME is still trying to figure out how to get it out of here aside from scooping the whole thing into a basin.”

Kenna winced. “If it happened fast, maybe they didn’t suffer.”

“I hope so.” Hernandez led them into a room in the rear. What should’ve been the kitchen, most likely. The huge industrial stove was distinguishable, now covered by the hoodthat had fallen down on it. A brick oven to the right had an open metal grate. It had to be crazy hot in here when the fire was going to cook the pizzas, let alone when this blaze happened.

“Where was she found?” Kenna had to ask, rather than guess.

“She?”

Uh-oh. “The victim.” She tried to brush it off. “Force of habit. Most of my cases involve female clients or missing women and children.” He couldn’t blame her for that, could he? Besides, they didn’t know for sure if this really was the abusive mother of those two kids.

“In the brick oven they use to cook the pizzas.” Hernandez didn’t seem convinced. “Do you know who the victim is?”

They weren’t likely to identify her otherwise, given the destruction. There wouldn’t be any DNA left to collect. The only way to find out who it was would be for someone to confess.

“We can’t be certain.”

Jax said, “We don’t even know for sure if it’s connected. What else can you tell us otherwise?”

Hernandez folded his arms, tightening the sleeves of his uniform shirt over his shoulders. “The restaurant was about to declare bankruptcy and shut down. After this, they’ll be able to recoup their losses and get solvent again. The fact someone chose this place to burn and dispose of a body actually did the owners a favor.”

Kenna turned away, as if she suddenly needed to look at the room around her. She just needed some air.

The men she had met at that retirement home had taken a woman and disposed of her so thoroughly no one would ever know who she was, and they’d done it in such a way that would help out the owner of this place. They probably thought they were like some kind of Robin Hood do-gooders, taking money from insurance companies and getting the little guy a payout they desperately needed.

She had to get Maizie digging into this to see if they’d done it before.

Chapter Twelve

Kenna slid into one side of a booth, grabbing the menu from between the ketchup and the window. Jax sat across from her so he could see the front door. She could see the window to the kitchen and the archway with the sign Restrooms above it.

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