Page 47 of Watch Me Burn

“Forget about the break. It looks like we won’t even have enough time to finish this video,” Anna said in a frustrated tone. Understandable, considering the circumstances.

“We still got fifteen,” I said, scooting back on my rollie chair. “Let’s fast-forward it. We gotta try and find out what was between your father and that . . .acquaintance. And more so, her identity.”

Anna gulped. She was visibly distressed by what was shown in that video, but there also wasn’t enough of an interaction for us to go off of. He could’ve been long-time “buddies” with a well-aging professional here, or maybe she was an illegitimate child he was too ashamed to inform Anna and her brother of.

My eyes flicked back to the monitor. “Let’s jump to when they leave and walk closer to the camera,” I mumbled as I spammed the double arrows at the top-right corner of the screen. The video fast-forwarded by almost an hour before Anna’s father could be seen leaving the dining room. With his arm looped around the other person’s shoulder, and god damn, both their faces could now be clearly scrutinized. The girl had black bangs and a slightly broader nose, but aside from that, she looked fairly average.

“Hold on, pause that,” Anna said, leaning in so close to the monitor her nose nearly touched it. “She looks super young, doesn’t she?” She frowned, distress lining her eyes. “Is it weird to say she looks familiar?”

I squinted at the screen. “Given the number of his so-called ‘work trips,’ anything’s possible.” Sighing, I added, “But, come on, your dad was always there for the big moments, right? And your mom and him seemed solid. I can’t imagine him having some secret kid. Were there other trips to Florida you didn’t know about?”

Anna shook her head slowly, seemingly lost in thought. “No, nothing stands out. And she seems about my age at the time. “

“So not a long-lost half-sister,” I said, trying to inject a little humor, albeit dark. “Any family drama around then? Could she be a cousin or something?”

Anna rubbed her temples. “Dad might help out family, but not secretly and definitely not in Florida. God, why does she look so damn familiar?” She stared intently at the screen.

I squinted, a weird déjà vu feeling tickling the back of my mind. “Hang on . . . those bangs, jet-black hair, and . . . wait, not a wide nose.”

“That’s a piercing!”

Anna’s eyes widened in realization, almost knocking me over in her excitement. “Holy shit! That’s Lisa! Lisa freaking Coffman!” she shouted.

“Fuck,” I cussed, looking closer at the piercing. “You are right! It’s Lisa!”

I collapsed back into my chair. Now we had a real fucking problem on our hands. What was John doing with a fellow student in Florida? Grabbing her damn waist?!

My stomach twisted into a knot. John’s trip to Florida was getting odder and darker by the second, and I was starting to feel too nauseous to even think about a logical explanation.

I couldn’t fathom how Anna was braving the shock, but judging by her trembling body, she wasn’t fully unfazed, either.

“Time’s up!” David hollered through the door.

“Crap,” I muttered under my breath. I sweetened my voice as I turned to Anna. “We gotta go, babe.”

Anna flinched. Maybe babe wasn’t the best word here right now.

“You two deaf?” David barged in, an irritated look on his face. “What agency did you say you’re from again?”

“We’re done here. Thanks,” I said curtly, pulling Anna by her arm out of the room and into the lobby. She struggled at first but eased the fight once she realized I wasn’t loosening my grip anytime soon.

“But we need to see the rest of that footage! It might explain everything!” Anna called out to me, desperation evident in her voice. But I was in full escape mode, eyes darting around, ensuring the cops weren’t about to crash our little investigation party.

Yanking open the door to our hideaway RV stashed in the nearby grocery store lot, I practically threw both of us inside before slamming it shut.

My heart raced, and not just from the worry David might call the cops, but more so from that fucked-up footage. It was a bombshell we hadn’t expected.

“Ethan, what the hell’s going on?” Anna’s voice wavered as she pressed a hand to my chest, looking for some sort of anchor.

I wrapped my arms around her, offering what little comfort I could even though I was just as rattled.

“Hey, we’ll figure this out,” I whispered, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. Though deep down, I wasn’t so sure about that. But damn it, she didn’t need to know that.

Pulling her close, I felt the warmth of her body against mine, offering a temporary reprieve from the storm of confusion outside.

In our town, everyone knew everyone’s business, and John’s reputation had always been golden. This Florida detour painted a much murkier picture.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

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