Page 41 of Scorched Secrets

“You’re welcome. Good night.” He forced a smile, slightly disappointed in her gratitude. He didn’t want her feeling as if she owed him something. She didn’t.

He was here because he liked her. And wanted to protect her. Maybe at first it was just because they’d grown up in the same neighborhood, attended the same high school, and her father was the fire chief. But that wasn’t his motivation any longer.

He wouldn’t leave her now, under any circumstances. Even if that meant losing his job. Which hopefully wouldn’t happen.

Shaking off his concern, he crossed the threshold into his room.

Now that he was up, he figured sleep would be impossible. He made coffee in the small coffee maker included in their rooms, then slipped outside to grab the computer from the Explorer.

After booting it up, he used the free Wi-Fi offered by the motel to access the internet. He wasn’t an expert in computer searches, but he knew how to access basic social media sites. He decided to start with Jayson Sanders to find police connections, then move onto Daniel Percy.

It was slow, painstaking work, giving him a new appreciation for not only the job Mitch had as an arson investigator, but what his brothers went through in their respective roles too. Rhy, Tarin, and Brady often lamented the never-ending paperwork required of them. Reports and more reports.

His paperwork at the firehouse was nothing in comparison. Sure, they had computerized forms to fill out when they did their paramedic runs, but they were nothing like this.

After working for an hour straight, Colin was no closer to coming up with a connection between the two firefighters and the police. At least, not from what he’d found on social media, but he had to admit, that may not mean much.

His brothers weren’t active on social media. From what he heard, most cops weren’t. They faced enough danger on the streets without giving people a direct link to them via one of these sites.

With a sigh, he closed the laptop and drained his coffee cup. He’d downed the whole pot and could easily drink another.

Was it too early to call Mitch? Probably.

He ducked into the bathroom to shower. When he emerged, he heard sounds of movement from Faye’s room. He was making plans to head out for breakfast when his disposable phone chirped.

A text from Mitch. Call me.

He did so, staring forlornly at the empty coffeepot. Maybe he could sneak into Faye’s room to grab hers to make more. “Hey, Mitch, what’s up?”

“I just got raked over the coals because Chief Kimble hasn’t been able to get a hold of you.” The sound of crying in the background indicated Mitch was home with his kids. “Hey, Trina, it’s okay. You’re fine. She’s walking,” Mitch said to Colin. “But she can’t do stairs. Thankfully, they’re carpeted.”

He knew Mitch had two kids, a little boy named Simon who was three and their youngest, Trina, was about eighteen months old. He didn’t know much about kids, other than what he’d learned recently being around Brady and Grace’s son, Caleb. He had no idea what age kids learned to walk up and down the stairs. “Sorry to hear the chief reamed you out.”

“Yeah, I tried to assure him the best I could, but he wants to talk to you, Colin. And to his daughter.”

“I planned to get in touch today, but it’s barely six twenty in the morning. I figured I should at least wait until seven or so.”

“Chief is up now, so don’t wait,” Mitch advised.

“Okay, I’ll call him next. I’ve been thinking about how the two firefighters were able to track Faye’s cell phone. I’ve been searching for any known connections with police, without success.”

“I hate to tell you this, but we found Daniel Percy,” Mitch said. “He’s not our guy.”

He frowned. “How can you be so sure?”

“Because he’s dead.” Mitch’s tone was blunt. “Died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the temple.”

The shocking news rocked him back on his heels. That was not at all what he’d expected. “What about his half brother, Jayson Sanders?”

“We’re still searching for him,” Mitch admitted. “The police finally spoke to another neighbor who saw him storing a suitcase in his car. He’s still a suspect, but we may need to broaden our search now that we know the brothers aren’t working together.”

“Jayson threatened Chief Kimble,” Colin felt compelled to point out.

“I know, that’s why he’s still on the list. But if he really did leave town, he’ll have an ironclad alibi for these attempts.”

Colin sank down onto the edge of the bed, knowing Mitch was right. Since yesterday, he’d been convinced that Jayson and Daniel had been working together to orchestrate these attacks.

If not them, then who? Who hated Faye enough to try to kill her?

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