Page 38 of Scorched Secrets

“But they didn’t. And we’re safe.” He squeezed her arm, then released her. “We need to find another place to stay.”

She tried not to sigh. “I hate the idea of putting others in harm’s way.”

“Your phone is back at the motel. I don’t see how they can track you now.”

“What about your phone?” She frowned, glancing over to see he was texting with someone, probably Mitch. “Anyone with the skills to track mine can track yours too.”

“I know.” His thumbs continued to work the phone. “That’s why I’m following up with Mitch now, before I ditch it along the side of the road.”

He was going to toss his phone? A flash of guilt hit hard in knowing Colin would be isolated from his family. The Finnegans had always been close, and not just while growing up. Rhy had followed up with Colin several times over the past—was it really only fifteen hours?

Faye tried to stay focused on driving despite having no clear destination in mind, other than getting far away from the fire at the motel. She was thankful Colin had managed to rouse everyone from their rooms. As terrible as it was to have this happen, his ability to preserve the lives of the guests was amazing.

Colin’s bravery and determination to keep her safe were humbling. And he was right about God watching over them. She’d never felt His presence the way she had in every dangerous situation she’d found herself in. Willing her unruly stomach to settle down, she glanced at Colin, who was still texting with Mitch.

“Did Mitch give you any insight into what happened?”

“Not yet, he wants to look at the scene for himself before making a determination.” Colin lifted his head from the phone. “He agrees it’s possible that a delivery device was used to inject accelerant and fire into the room from the opening beneath the door.”

She nodded and gestured toward the highway. “Do you care where we get the motel? There’s a sign up ahead for the Weeping Willow Motel.”

“Keep driving,” he instructed. “I need to check in with Rhy before I get rid of my phone. We can always circle back to this place later. I don’t want anything, even my phone, to connect us to the next place we choose to stay.”

“Okay.” She felt terrible about the money he was wasting in securing rooms at various motels and wished she had more cash on her. Whatever she’d had was back in the burning room. “If these guys can track our cell phones, shouldn’t they have known the car sitting outside my room wasn’t ours?”

“I thought of that, but they could have assumed we rented or borrowed a car from someone, the way we did.” He shrugged. “They probably didn’t take time to run the plates either. Why would they? They’d tracked your phone to the room, saw the vehicle, and started the fire.”

“Yeah.” She struggled to wrap her mind around it. “I’m surprised they weren’t somewhere nearby, watching.”

“They may have been, which is why we’re getting a different vehicle as well as ditching my phone. I’m working out the logistics with Aiden. He has a friend who will swap vehicles with him. Aiden will then take Mitch’s car to him and get a rideshare back to the homestead.”

So much maneuvering and putting friends and family out by asking for help and she still didn’t feel safe.

And doubted that would change until these guys were caught.

Her exhaustion from being up all night weighed heavily on her shoulders. Her brief naps seemed like eons ago. Her goal had been to get back on a normal sleep schedule.

The arsonist made that difficult.

She continued heading south toward Milwaukee. It would be a good place to get rid of Colin’s phone. Lots of hotels and motels there, which might help throw off her assailants.

“Hey, Rhy, I wanted to let you know that I’ll be off-grid more than usual.” Colin listened to whatever his brother said before responding. “I’m going to stop at a drugstore to get replacement phones, so I’ll let you know my new number as soon as I have it.”

Some drugstores were open twenty-four seven, but she wasn’t aware of many that sold disposable phones. Not that she’d ever been in the market for such things. That was stuff that only happened in movies.

All of this was like something out of a movie. Normal people weren’t targeted by arsonists.

As if killing her would make any difference in their miserable lives. None of it made any sense. Then again, neither of these former firefighters were thinking clearly. Their minds were clouded by resentment, anger, and a desperate thirst for revenge.

“Thanks, Rhy,” Colin said, before ending the call. He glanced up. “Let’s stop at the first twenty-four-hour drugstore you find.”

“There’s one up ahead. Although I don’t know if they have phones.”

“Some do, some don’t.” He sighed. “If we don’t find one soon, we can wait until tomorrow. I would feel better having a replacement, though.”

Considering how often they’d had to call 911, she felt the same way. Exiting the highway, she headed toward the advertised drugstore. Many places that used to be open all night long had changed their hours during the pandemic and had never gone back. It had been a roadblock they’d often talked about in the ED as they handed out prescriptions for patients. The hospital pharmacy couldn’t provide prescriptions during the night because there were special regulations for outpatient pharmacies. They’d had to resort to giving one dose of medication in the ED, while hoping their patients could find an open pharmacy before needing the next dose.

She pulled into the parking lot of the pharmacy. There were other cars there, too, which was encouraging. Following Colin inside, she blinked at the extraordinarily bright lights.

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