Page 138 of Into the Fire

He was a few minutes early, though. Of course, that had nothing to do with being anxious to see her.

Right.

Mouth curving up, he pulled out his phone and began scrolling through texts and email. Saturday couldn’t get here too fast for him—assuming Bri didn’t bail on their date, thanks to the new development in the case.

But unless Wallace or someone else related to one of the people on the expanded list offered more than her friend had at lunch today, they were back in a holding pattern.

Not great news for the case, but a green light for romance.

A reasonable trade-off, as far as he was concerned.

His smile broadened as Bri’s Toyota turned the corner and pulled up behind him. This might not be a date, but it was better than nothing.

He met her in front of her car.

“Thanks for coming, even though you may have wasted your time.” She angled away from the wind that had picked up over the afternoon. “I tried to call him again half an hour ago. Another roll to voicemail.”

“Spending a few minutes with you is never a waste of my time.”

A hint of pink bloomed on her cheeks. “You have a silver tongue.”

“You inspire eloquence.”

“See what I mean?” She shot him a teasing look. “Getting back to business ... in light of how hard Wallace pressed us to keep his daughter’s case on our radar, I doubt he’d ignore a call from me. So I assume he hasn’t received my messages.”

“Possible. He could be out of town and out of cell range. Or he could be having phone issues.”

“If it’s the latter, he may be here. Let’s give it a shot.”

He fell in beside her as they walked up the stone pavers toward the front door, but halfway there, a fiftyish woman exited the adjacent house, lifted a hand in greeting, and crossed the lawn to join them.

“May I help you? James isn’t home.”

“We were hoping to talk with him.” Bri pulled out her creds and displayed them for the woman. “Do you know when he’ll be back?”

After giving Bri’s ID a quick read, the woman furrowed her brow. “Is this about his daughter?”

“It’s a related matter.”

“That was such a terrible tragedy. She was all he had left in the world. A lovely young woman.”

“She seems to have been.” Bri returned her creds to her purse and steered the conversation back on track. “Do you know when Mr. Wallace will be home, or how we could reach him?”

“He’s at his little cabin near Steeleville. The cell service there is spotty. I do have the sheriff’s number down there in case of an emergency. I could give you that if it’s urgent. James won’t be home until Thursday afternoon.”

“Our business can wait until then.” Bri pulled out her keys. “Thanks for the information.”

“No problem. Sorry for butting in, but I always get his mail and keep an eye on the place while he’s gone. Youpeople appeared to be reputable, but it never hurts to be careful.”

“That’s true. Thanks again.” Bri pivoted and started back toward their cars.

Once out of earshot of the woman, Marc spoke. “Do you want to contact family members of the other people on the list or wait until we talk to Wallace?”

“Let’s wait. I spoke early on with the ones who were related to the victims on Les’s original list, and they’d all accepted the accidental ruling. Wallace was the one most interested in further investigation.”

“Okay. Once you hear from him and set up a meeting, let me know and I’ll be here.”

“I hate to take you away from your other work again for what could be a conversation that leads nowhere—like the one I had with Alison at lunch.”

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