The Arsonist Page 13

  She pulled on her top and had one leg in her pants when her cell phone started to ring. The noise caught her by surprise and she nearly tipped back onto the bed. She opened it without checking the number, half hoping it was Gannon.

  “Hello?” she said.

  “Darcy!” her mother said.

  Darcy’s shoulders immediately straightened. Could this moment get any worse? “Mom.” She braced ready to be reamed out for closing the tavern tonight.

  “Where are you?”

  “Out. What do you need?” Pulling up her pants, she found one flip-flop under the bed and the second by the door. How it got there, she had no clue.

  “I need your help.” Her mother’s voice trembled when she spoke.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “It’s Trevor. He came by this afternoon.” She sounded so shaky.

  Darcy sighed. “I know. I know. He’s mad that I didn’t open tonight.”

  “I don’t think he even noticed.”

  Her mother wasn’t mad at her. Something was wrong. “Then, what’s the problem?”

  “He’s furious that you took last night’s receipts. He said he needed the money. Said he was desperate.” She let out a long shuddering sigh. “I’ve never seen him this angry. Darcy, he threw a whiskey bottle against the wall. Then he went for my purse. I told him to stay out of my wallet but he knocked me down and took what I had anyway.”

  Rage pumped through Darcy’s veins. “Where is he now?”

  “I don’t know.” She started to cry softly.

  “Don’t worry, Mom,” she soothed. “I’ll be right there.”

  “I don’t know what to do,” her mother said.

  “I’ll take care of everything.” She closed the phone and headed down the stairs.

  There was no sign of Gannon in the shop, confirming her worries. Still, she paused at his workbench to leave him a note that explained her situation. She wasn’t sure if he cared one way or the other at this point, but she’d be honest with him, on the off chance he did care.

  Darcy turned the lock and closed the door behind her. She jammed the note in the front door of his garage and headed over to the tavern.

  Nero watched Darcy Sampson leave the note in Gannon’s front door. Immediately, he was intrigued and surprised. It made sense that Gannon would need a woman from time to time but he’d never have pegged those two together. It explained why she was at the fire today and why the tavern was closed.

  Ah, love. It was a wonderful thing.

  Glancing from side to side, he strolled across the street, grabbed the note and replaced it with a pack of Rome matches before continuing on down the street. When he was a half block away, he read it: Mom called. Trevor is in trouble again. Sorry. Call me. D.

  Nero moved to the shadows. He folded the note neatly and tucked it in his pocket.

  Darcy added an interesting wrinkle to the game. She wasn’t supposed to be a part of all this. That was too bad. He’d liked her. And had even thought about the possibility of more between them.

  Closing his eyes, he imagined Darcy lying naked in a bed of red satin sheets, her hair tossed wildly on the pillows. And then the sheets turned to flames. She started to scream as her hair and skin melted into her bones. He was erect.

  Darcy wasn’t supposed to be a part of this game, but she was now.

  And very soon she would burn.

  Gannon didn’t see the pack of matches at first.

  Balancing burgers and sodas in one hand, he dug his keys out of his pocket with the other. He dropped his keys and cursed and then bent down to pick them up. He didn’t expect to be gone from Darcy this long. He’d wanted to be back when she woke.

  He smiled when he thought about her lying next to him in his bed. Nothing had felt so right in a very long time.

  Smiling, he fumbled with the keys until he found the right one and then shoved it in the lock. That’s when he saw the matches.

  He froze and then glanced up toward his darkened bedroom. Darcy was alone, sleeping. And the bastard had been here.

  Panic sliced through him. Tossing the burgers and sodas in a trash can, he quickly opened the door. He took the back staircase two at a time and burst into his bedroom. Darcy was gone.

  A moment’s panic overtook him. Dark thoughts raced through his mind. Had Nero done something to her?

  He hurried to his window that overlooked the tavern and reached for the phone. It was then that he saw Darcy standing in the dining room of the Varsity. She was drinking coffee with her mother. She was smiling.

  The moment’s relief gave way to anger. She’d left. No note. No thank you. No kiss my ass. Nothing.

  What did you expect? She’s a reporter, he scolded himself.

  Darcy listened as her mother detailed her encounter with Trevor. “I told you, Mom, he needs help. He’s just like Dad.”

  Her mother raised a shaking hand to the ice pack on her bruised forehead. “Darcy, it’s not that bad.”

  She struggled to keep her voice even. “Mom, he knocked you down. He took your money. He’s not your sweet baby Trevor when he needs a fix. He’s an animal.”

  Her mother winced. “Don’t talk about your brother that way.”

  “I’m not saying it to be hateful. Trevor needs help.”

  Her mother looked lost. “I don’t even know where that kind of help would be.”

  “We’ll figure it out together, okay? My guess is the county has some kind of program.”

  Her mother dabbed her red-rimmed eyes with a tissue. “The county? I just don’t think we need to take such a drastic step. I mean contacting the county … what if they put it on our records?”

  Darcy laughed though there was no mirth in it. “Mom, it’s not like there’s a huge permanent record out there that Big Brother keeps on us. There are just social workers willing to help.”

  She started to pace. “I … I can’t do it. I can’t turn my baby in.”

  “You’re not turning him in. You are getting him help.”

  Mrs. Sampson’s eyes snapped with anger. “No! And let’s just leave it at that. Trevor had a bad day, is all. He will be better in the morning.”

  Darcy watched her mother walk out of the room. Frustrated, she went into the kitchen and opened the freezer and pulled out a two-gallon tub of chocolate ice cream. She set the container on the counter and dug a spoon out of the drawer. After scooping a generous spoonful, she put it in her mouth.

  It tasted bland, too cold. She took another bite and then another. She was digging out her fifth bite when she realized she was eating just for the sake of it. Ice cream wasn’t going to fix her family or whatever it was she had with Gannon. It was simply going to make her fat.

  She covered the carton and shoved it back in the freezer.

  Darcy pulled her cell phone off her waistband and dialed Paul’s number. It was past seven, but she suspected he’d be there. Work was about all she had at this moment.

  Paul picked up the call on the second ring. “Paul Tyler.”

  “Paul, it’s Darcy. I called to see what you had for me.”

  Paul’s chair squeaked as she leaned forward. “I heard you had another fire down there.”

  Darcy gripped the phone so tightly her knuckles turned white. “Did Stephen tell you?”

  He hesitated. “Glass. How the hell would he know?”

  “Barbara called him.”

  She heard Paul rise from his desk and slam his door closed. “Sorry.”

  “We can still be first on this.” She went to the counter and pulled a pencil and pad of paper out of the drawer. “What can you tell me about the fires?”

  Papers rustled in the background. “There have been two sets of fires like the ones you described. The first set was nine months ago in Dallas, Texas. A restaurant and warehouse burned. Both fires were fast burning and clearly arson. Cases never solved. The second set was outside of Detroit. An abandoned school and a restaurant. No fatalities in any of these cases.”

  Darcy
wrote down all the information. She didn’t see a pattern but maybe Gannon would. “Thanks.”

  “Do you think we’ve got a story?”

  “Yes. I’m more convinced than ever that Nero is alive. The trick is finding him.”

  “Be careful.”

  “I will.”

  She hung up and dialed Gannon’s number. Whatever there was or wasn’t between them, they had a killer to catch. They could sort out their romance or lack thereof after Nero was caught.

  The phone rang four times but there was no answer. The answering machine picked up. She didn’t want to leave a message. Disconnecting, she walked to the front of the tavern. There were no lights on in his place.

  An hour ago, she’d felt so at home in his loft apartment. Now she’d never felt more alone.

  News of the school fire was on the front page of the local paper the next morning. The article referenced the other fires, but the writer didn’t say anything about Nero or serial arsonists. However, it was just a matter of time. Soon the panic would begin. Nero would have the citizens of the small city afraid to enter any public building.

  When Gannon arrived early at the chief’s office this time, the receptionist smiled and stood immediately. “Mr. Gannon, the chief is expecting you.”

  He nodded. “Thanks.”

  The chief came to his feet the instant Gannon entered. Also in the room were the police chief and three fire captains dressed in their white shirts and dark blue uniform pants. They all shook hands.

  When they sat, the chief said grimly, “I’m sorry I wasn’t a better listener yesterday. But I think we will all agree that whether it’s the real Nero or an imposter, we have a serial arsonist on our hands.”

  Gannon pulled the matches from his pocket and tossed them on the chief’s desk. “These were stuck in my front door last night.”

  The chief opened the flap and read the bold handwriting. “Next time you won’t be so lucky. What’s he mean?”

  Tension banded around Gannon’s chest. “He knows I got lucky yesterday. The boy who delivered the clue yesterday wasn’t supposed to drop it off until after one o’clock. But he had a class and a date that he didn’t want to miss so he dropped it off early.”

  “You mean we have a horny boy to thank?” one of the captains asked.

  Gannon nodded. “And Darcy Sampson. I didn’t know where the school was. She found it for me. She pulled the fire alarm.”

  “My kid goes to that school,” one of the firefighters said.

  Chief Wheeler leaned forward. “What do you propose we do, Gannon?”

  Gannon hated the idea of dealing with Nero again. But he’d see it through until Nero was caught for real this time. “Nero is moving faster. But his burn pattern is holding true. The next fire will be a church.”

  “How do we know he’ll stick to the pattern? He’s already changed his timetable,” the chief said.

  Gannon wished he had a crystal ball. “I don’t know anything for certain. Everything I’m giving you is my best educated guess.”

  The chief sighed. “It’s the best we got. Do you know which church might be in danger?”

  “No.”

  “There must be over thirty churches in the area.”

  “It will be a visible target,” Gannon said. “Nero has our attention now and he knows it. He’ll want to keep the tension high.” He turned to the police chief.

  “Maybe we should go public and try to flush him out,” the police chief said.

  Gannon shook his head. “We tried that in D.C. I challenged him. He responded by burning a warehouse. Two people were killed.” He was still haunted by those deaths.

  “We can’t just sit here,” the police chief said.

  Gannon met his gaze. “Get a list of all the churches in the area and we need to start searching them now.”

  “That’s a needle in a haystack,” the chief said.

  “Exactly.”

  Gannon spent the night tossing and turning and the better part of the day working with the fire department. They searched a dozen churches, starting with the oldest ones in the city and working out from there. They found nothing.

  His back ached and his head felt like it weighed a hundred pounds. He headed up to his apartment and flipped on the lights. He glanced toward his bedroom and the rumpled sheets of his bed. Thoughts of Darcy swirled in his head. He’d managed to push her out of his mind most of the day, but now she was everywhere. Her half cup of coffee still sat on the counter of his kitchen and the barest hint of perfume still lingered.

  He jabbed his fingers through his hair. Making love to Darcy had been beyond his expectations. And it wasn’t just the sex. When he’d woken yesterday and seen her lying beside him, something inside of him changed. Until her, he’d been content with his solitude. He’d welcomed the silence. Now he just felt alone.

  He should have called her, found out why she’d left. But a part of him simply didn’t want to know that last night was more about business than pleasure for her.

  “You’re a damn fool, Gannon.” He strode to his answering machine. Its light blinked four messages. Sighing, he hit Play.

  “Gannon, this is Stephen Glass. How about we get together on this arson thing? Could be good for both of—”

  Gannon hit Delete. The second message was from Glass as was the third. He deleted both. As the fourth message started to play, he turned and walked toward the kitchen. “Hey, this is Darcy. Sorry I missed you this morning. Call me.” She hesitated. “I’ve got information from Paul.”

  Darcy. Shoving out a sigh, he headed over to the tavern. It was almost six and the place was nearly deserted. As he walked in the front door, he found her behind the bar. Even from here he could see she was tired. Her hair was pulled high on her head and dark circles smudged under her eyes.

  He held the door for two customers that were leaving and then strode into the bar. She’d not seen him come in and her back was to him when he reached the bar.

  “Have a seat,” she said. “I’ll be with you in a minute. She reached through the window to the kitchen and took two orders from the cook. When she turned and saw him, she nearly dropped her plates.

  Gannon met her gaze. “Figured I could snag a soda.”

  She looked annoyed. “Regular or diet?”

  The edge to her voice stirred his anger. He sat at the bar. “Regular.”

  “Give me a minute.” She delivered the plates and seated another customer. She filled a glass with soda from the tap and set it in front of him. “I’ve been waiting on a call back from you all day. I have news from Paul.”

  It always came back to work with her. “Go ahead.”

  Darcy dug a piece of notepaper from her pocket and read to him about the fires. “If we could find someone in town who’s been to Dallas and Detroit, we might have Nero.”

  He sipped his soda. “A needle in a haystack.”

  “Not really. I think Nero is in your life. I think he is someone you talk to everyday.”

  “Maybe.”

  “Make a list of your friends and acquaintances and I can start checking backgrounds.”

  “I’ll do it.”

  She seated two new customers and took their drink orders while they read the menu. Returning to the bar, she poured a chardonnay and mixed a Scotch and soda. Once she’d delivered the drinks, she met his gaze. “So where do you think he’ll strike next?”

  “This on the record?” He heard the bitterness in his own words.

  She frowned. “Only if you want it to be.”

  It all came down to trust. “I don’t. And this includes leaking info to Glass.”

  She folded her arms. “I told you, Stephen and I are over.”

  It surprised him how much he wanted to believe that—how much he wanted to trust her. “If Nero holds to the pattern, he’ll hit a church next. We’ve spent the better part of the day checking out local churches for traces of tampering.”

  “Anything?”

  There was an edge about
her that made his temper flare. “No.”

  Suddenly, she shook her head. “You know what? I could spend the next twenty minutes dancing around last night, but I’m too tired to play games. Where were you when I woke up?”

  He’d be damned if she’d put him on the defensive. “I had to run out.”

  “Why didn’t you call me today?”

  “Why should I?”

  She shrugged. “Oh, I don’t know. Common courtesy, maybe? I woke up and you weren’t there. So I left you a note and asked you to give me a call. I mean, I’m not expecting you to marry me, but would a call have killed you?”

  He set his glass down. His anger softened. “I never got the note.”

  Her bluster faded a bit. “How could you not get it? I taped it to your front door. You couldn’t have missed it.”

  “It wasn’t there.” He sipped his drink, pleased she hadn’t just taken off. “So what did the note say?”

  “My mom called. More stuff with Trevor.”

  He kept his tone neutral. “He all right?”

  She looked so damn tired, weary. “That’s another story, another day.”

  He’d been walking around all day long, annoyed for no reason. He wanted to touch her now and take her back to bed. “There were matches from Nero on my door.”

  “What?”

  “He’s close, Darcy, very close.”

  Her face paled. “We need to find him fast. What if he gets tired of the game and turns on you?”

  “I don’t think he would.” He frowned as a thought occurred to him. “But you need to be careful.”

  The connection between them had returned. And she wasn’t going to stand here and pretend it hadn’t.

  Coming around the bar, she came up to him. He stood and unable to resist, took her in his arms. Without hesitating he kissed her. Her lips softened immediately and she wrapped her arms around his neck.

  “When do you close tonight?” His voice sounded rough.

  “Ten.”

  He kissed her on the forehead and reluctantly stepped back. “I’ll be back then.”

  “Okay.” She closed her eyes and leaned her forehead against his shoulder. “I spent all day being mad at you and a couple of words and one kiss and I melt. You’ve gotten under my skin, Gannon.”