by Laura Scott
What if the Preacher had escaped but was burned beyond recognition? If no one had been able to identify him, he could have ended up as a John Doe somewhere. Could right now be walking around Sevierville under a different name.
But even so, she felt certain she’d recognize him. Especially since she knew he’d been burned.
She thought back to the man she’d chased across Sampson’s parking lot. When he’d looked at her, she hadn’t noticed any obvious scarring to his face. Granted, she’d only gotten a brief glimpse of the man, but a scar would have stood out in her memory. No way was he the Preacher.
Linc emerged from her room looking handsome as ever. She mentally rolled her eyes at her own foolishness. They didn’t have time for this nonsense.
“Hey, thanks for the coffee.” Linc made a beeline for the pot. “Are you hungry? We could order breakfast.”
She inwardly winced at the cost of ordering room service. “No, I’m fine. We can grab something quick and cheap on the road.”
Linc sipped his coffee, but the wary expression in her dark eyes set off alarm bells.
“You told me I could go with you to visit Kevin Leib,” she reminded him. “The girls need to go to class anyway.”
“I was thinking they’d be better off playing hooky.” He lowered his cup and moved over to sit beside her. “Jayme, this firebug put a GPS tracker on your sister’s car.”
“Captain Barstow confirmed that?”
“Yeah. I had the Honda towed to the garage so we can try lifting fingerprints off the rear bumper, where the device was found.”
“That sounds promising.” She felt a buzz of excitement at the thought of nailing this guy. “And once we talk to Kevin, we may know more.”
“Jayme, you should stay here with the girls. Let me talk to Kevin.”
“Please don’t make me sit here all day with nothing to do.” She held his gaze. “The girls will be fine with a movie, but yesterday dragged by so slowly I could barely stand it. I’m not used to sitting around doing nothing.”
He sighed heavily. “Jayme, I can’t stand knowing you’re in danger. I told you before, I need you to be safe.”
“I’ll be safe with you.” She offered a wan smile. “Devon is a nice guy, but he’s so young . . .”
“Devon?” Jayme tried not to groan at the interest in Caitlyn’s voice. She turned to see her sister combing her long blonde hair. “He’s coming back to watch over us?”
“Yes,” Linc confirmed. “He’ll be here soon. I called to let him know about the firebomb at the cabin and our new location. He sounded upset to hear about what happened but is grateful everyone is okay.”
“Cool,” Caitlyn said. “But what about our class?”
“You’ll have to skip it,” Jayme told her. “Shouldn’t be a problem after you skipped out of work this past weekend.”
Her sister winced. “Look, it was one time. One fun concert. It’s not like Annette and I make a habit of blowing off work. And I can’t skip today, it’s our hardest class, lecture in the morning and lab in the afternoon.”
Jayme could feel the beginning of a headache pulsing in her temple. “One class isn’t going to impact your ability to graduate.”
Caitlyn scowled. “But I like my classes.”
“The last time you didn’t listen to me a fire broke out in the cabin,” Jayme reminded her.
“I know, but couldn’t Devon take us to school, sit with us, and drive us back here? I don’t think that’s putting us at an unnecessary risk.”
“Linc? I’ll leave this one up to you.” Jayme wasn’t sure what the right answer was anymore. She just wanted this guy caught, and soon.
Linc’s phone rang, and he stood and moved toward her bedroom for privacy. Jayme strained to listen but couldn’t hear much.
He was back in less than a minute. “No need to head to Nashville,” he said.
Her stomach clenched. “Why not?”
“Just heard from Kevin Leib’s parole officer, he reached out to save us a trip. Turns out Kevin was in jail all weekend after starting a fire in an old warehouse in Nashville.” Linc stared at her. “He’s an arsonist, but not our perp.”
Jayme closed her eyes and rubbed her temple. It was good to have one name taken off the suspect list, but it wasn’t like there were dozens of others.
They’d reached another dead end.
Chapter Eleven
Linc swallowed a wave of frustration. He’d really hoped Kevin Leib was their guy. An arsonist for hire had made the most sense since the pattern didn’t fit the typical firebug. Finding and arresting the arsonist would lead him to the person who’d ultimately decided to target Jayme.
The way these attacks were escalating, he needed something to go on. And soon.
“Now what?” Jayme asked, looking dejected.
“I don’t know.” He hated feeling so helpless. He stared at his phone. “I’ll check with the Memphis parole office. They never got back to me on our other suspect, Terrance Foley.”
“Um, I hate to interrupt,” Caitlyn said. “But Annette and I really want to attend our classes today. Skipping lab means we’d have to take some sort of make-up session or we won’t graduate. Besides, we only have the two classes, the lecture at ten and the lab that starts at one. We’ll be finished by three.”
He glanced at Jayme who shrugged. “I’m not sure what to do. I don’t want them to be in danger, but this is their last semester before graduating. Do you think Devon can keep them safe while they attend?”
“Probably.” While the firebug had tracked them to the cabin using a GPS device on Caitlyn’s car, he believed Jayme was the main target. Meeting Jayme’s intense blue gaze, he sensed she realized that too.
“Thank you, Linc!” Caitlyn flashed a smile. “You’re the best.” She turned toward her friend. “You want to shower first?”
“Okay.” Annette turned and disappeared into the bedroom.
He called Terrance Foley’s parole officer in Memphis, but again, no one picked up on the other line. “This is Arson Investigator Lincoln Quade, I really need to talk to you about Foley as soon as possible.” He rattled off his phone number, then disconnected the call.
“Over six hours to drive to Memphis,” Jayme said grimly. “Would be nice to know the guy was there before making the trip.”
“Exactly, I’m not taking the trip until I talk to this guy. For all we know, he’s been in jail too.” A thought struck him. “You’ll need to stick with me while the girls are in class.”
Jayme held up her phone. “I’ve been texting with Sandra, one of the physical therapists from the clinic. Apparently, they want staff to come in and help clean the place up. They’re paying us while we’re off, so it seems a reasonable request. Once the girls leave for class, you can drop me off if you need to do more work. I’ll be surrounded by people.”
He hesitated, trying to decide what to do. His plan had been to interview Leib, then review the debris from the cabin fire. The scene will likely be hot, but he could still take a look around. Having Jayme at the clinic for a few hours gave him the time he’d need to do that.
“Okay, that sounds good,” he finally agreed. “But you need to make sure you stay near the others. No going off alone.”
“I won’t,” Jayme promised.
A knock at the door had him crossing over to look through the peephole. Devon stood there, again dressed casually. He heard the bedroom door shut and glanced back to see that Caitlyn had disappeared inside the bedroom she shared with Annette, probably because she was dressed in her sleepwear. He opened the door and drew the young officer inside. “Thanks for coming.”
“I heard about the Molotov cocktail,” Devon said with a frown. “I can’t believe that guy tried to burn the place down.”
“Actually, I’m not convinced that was his intent.” Linc sank into one of the chairs. “Why toss just one of them? And why into the living room onto the sofa?”
“To take you out of the equation,” Jayme sa
id quietly. “If you were hurt, the arsonist could have come in and grabbed me.”
“We need to catch this guy before he does anything worse.” Devon looked far more serious today, which was reassuring.
“I’m trying.” His tone sounded testy, so he tried to soften it. “Unfortunately, I’m running out of suspects and haven’t uncovered any new leads.”
“You’ll find him, Linc.” Jayme reached over to rest her hand on his arm. “I have faith in you.”
“Is there something I can do to help?” Devon asked.
“You can keep Caitlyn and Annette safe while they attend classes today,” Linc said.
“What about Jay—Ms. Weston?” Devon glanced over at her.
“I’m heading over to help clean up the PT clinic.” Jayme’s smile didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Since the fire was aimed at me, it’s the least I can do.”
“I’ll drop Jayme off at the clinic, you stick with the girls.” Linc waved a hand at the suite. “The plan is that we’ll all return here late afternoon.”
Devon slowly nodded. “You’re the boss.”
Linc wondered if Devon thought he was off his rocker for allowing Jayme to go to the PT clinic. He pulled out his phone and stared at the screen. Nothing from Terrance Foley’s parole officer.
He hoped and prayed there would be some clue outside the cabin fire. Something he could use to track this firebug.
It nagged at him that this guy hadn’t made a single mistake.
Linc wanted to believe that he would because no one was perfect. Considering the way the attacks were escalating, this guy was bound to slip up. To leave something behind.
But that needed to happen sooner rather than later.
They sat in silence for a few minutes. “I’ll check on the girls.” Jayme rose and crossed over to their room.
“You really don’t have any solid leads?” Devon asked quietly. “Ms. Weston must have given you an idea of who might want to harm her.”
“There are two possibilities, but neither have panned out so far.” Linc filled Devon in on the Preacher and Marco Edgar. He glossed over Jayme’s and Caitlyn’s experiences with the Preacher, but he could see the story disturbed the young cop.
“Just when you think you’ve heard it all,” Devon muttered.
“Yeah.” Linc rubbed the back of his neck. “The GPS tracking device concerns me. We need to be extra vigilant about checking to make sure our vehicles are clean.”
“I should have thought of that possibility,” Devon admitted.
“Me too.” Linc couldn’t quite shake off the guilt that he’d missed it. “But at least we know what to look for. I need you to be on high alert while the girls are in class. Report in if you see anyone with a scar or who generally looks out of place. I can’t imagine our arsonist will blend in well with the college crowd.”
“I will.” Devon’s expression was serious and determined. “No one will hurt them on my watch.”
Linc glanced over his shoulder, the women were still inside the bedroom. “And that means no flirting. I know the girls are very pretty, but you can’t afford to be distracted.”
Devon winced, then nodded. “I understand.”
“Good.” Linc clapped him on the shoulder. “I’m counting on you.”
“Linc, I don’t need you to pay me for my time today.”
He lifted a brow. “Why not? That was our deal. I pay you to protect the women while I’m unable to be there.”
“I know, but they’re in danger, and it doesn’t feel right to take your money.” Devon leveled him a look. “This is what cops do. We protect those in danger.”
“Yes, but we don’t usually work for free,” Linc felt compelled to point out.
“It’s still part of the job,” Devon insisted. “I don’t want your money.”
His opinion of the young cop went up several notches. Maybe yesterday Devon had taken the job thinking it wouldn’t be a big deal, but today, he had his head screwed on straight. “We’ll argue about payment later.”
Devon looked exasperated but didn’t say anything more as Jayme emerged from the bedroom.
“They’ll be out soon. You’ll need to stop for breakfast along the way.” A hint of a smile flashed over her features. “They’re both starving.”
If anyone knew what it was really like to go without eating, it was Jayme. He wondered how many meals she’d skipped in order to make sure Caitlyn had something to eat. Probably more than he wanted to know.
He admired Jayme so much. What she’d accomplished despite all the strikes against her. The way she’d cared for her sister over the past thirteen years.
He couldn’t bear the thought of the arsonist getting to her.
“I’d be happy to take them through a fast-food drive-through for breakfast,” Devon said. “It’s not a problem.”
“Thanks.” Jayme reached for her purse, but Linc held up his hand.
“I’ll take care of it. It’s part of our protection detail,” he added.
“We can settle up later.” Devon stuck his hands in his pockets, clearly determined to be an equal partner in this.
“Sorry to keep you waiting,” Caitlyn said. She and Annette had both showered, but they were still wearing the same clothes as yesterday.
They all were, except for Devon.
“Not a problem. Are you both ready to go?” Devon asked politely.
Caitlyn glanced at Jayme for a brief moment. “Are you sure you’re okay with this plan?”
“Fine. But you stay with Devon at all times and come straight back here after class,” Jayme said firmly. “No arguments.”
“Got it.” Caitlyn turned toward Devon. “We’re ready.”
“Take the back exit,” Linc said. “Do your best to stay out of sight.”
The girls looked at each other, then nodded.
“I’ve got our exit strategy planned out,” Devon assured him. “And I’ll be vigilant about the car too. Don’t worry, I’ve got this under control.”
“Good.” Linc forced a smile. “Be safe.”
A minute later, he and Jayme were alone in the suite.
“I hope I didn’t make a mistake letting them go to class,” Jayme murmured. “I’ll never forgive myself if something happens to them.”
“I don’t think they’re the target, Jayme. And Devon will watch over them. We had a good talk, and he’s well aware of the danger and the precautions he needs to take. He’s a cop, I know he’ll protect them with his life if necessary.”
Jayme paled. “I hope it doesn’t come to that.”
“Me too.” Linc glanced at his watch. “We should head out soon. I’m sure you’d like to grab a bite to eat.”
“Okay.” Jayme looked around the room, then checked for her room key. “Let’s go.”
He led the way down the hall to a back stairwell. “I know we’re on the sixth floor, but down is relatively easy, right?”
This time she smiled for real. “Right.”
When they reached the lobby, he took her through another rear door that was labeled as the employee exit. Ignoring the sign, he opened the door and glanced around the rear parking lot. Seeing nothing out of place, he turned toward Jayme. “Stay here, I’m going to check the SUV again for a GPS device.”
“Okay.”
He strode toward the car and went down on his haunches, checking beneath the entire undercarriage of the car. He took his time and thankfully didn’t find anything. He returned to the doorway where he’d left Jayme. “All clear. Let’s go.”
“This is the same route Devon took the girls?” Jayme asked as they hurried over to the vehicle.
“Yes.” He opened her door, then ran around to the driver’s side. “Why?”
Her smile widened. “Just thinking about how much they’ll complain when the time comes to head back up to the sixth floor.”
He chuckled. “But not you.” He started the car and drove around the building. “You’d never complain about something as mundane as goin
g up six flights of steps.”
“It’s nothing compared to walking through the mountains,” she agreed. “Although I’m definitely out of shape now.”
“You’re not.” Thinking of how great she’d felt in his arms had him changing the subject. “What would you like for breakfast?”
She waved a hand. “Anything that has a breakfast sandwich is fine.”
Linc made sure to take a circuitous route away from the hotel, checking often to make sure they weren’t followed. When he was satisfied, he pulled into the first fast-food joint they came across.
After getting their food, he backed into a parking spot so the rear bumper was up against a nearby building.
Jayme opened the bag of food and handed him one of the sandwiches. Then she took hers but didn’t unwrap it. Instead, she surprised him by reaching for his hand.
Humbled, he gently squeezed her fingers, bowed his head, and prayed. “Dear Lord, we are so very grateful for Your guidance and protection. Please continue to show us the way to safety. Amen.”
“Amen,” Jayme whispered.
“Thanks for joining me in prayer.” He reluctantly released her hand so he could unwrap his sandwich. “You’re an inspiration, Jayme.”
“What?” Her eyebrows rose in surprise. “Why? I only did what was necessary to survive.”
“Yes, but under extremely difficult circumstances. I lost my family to a fire when I was twelve, but my aunt Becca swooped in to take care of me. I know you did the same thing for Caitlyn.”
“You’ve suffered a lot of loss, Linc.” Her gaze was intense. “I’m not sure how you managed to survive that.”
“None of it was easy,” he agreed. “We’re both survivors, Jayme. And God will always be our strength.”
She nodded but didn’t say anything more. He knew the idea of God and faith was very new to her. Yet he was proud at how far she’d come in the few short days they’d been together.
When they’d finished eating, he went through the drive-through again for coffee, then hit the road. The physical therapy clinic wasn’t far, and when he pulled up, he was glad to see several other clinic employees were already at the site as well.
