Don't Look Back (Detectives Kane and Alton)

“Are you hurt?” Atohi opened his truck door. “Get inside. It’s safer.”

“I think I’m okay.” Breathless, she climbed inside and stared at him. “What are you doing here?”

“I work out with Jake every morning at the dojo.” He cracked open a bottle of water and handed it to her. “I meet him there at five.” He glanced at his watch. “I figure I’m going to be late this morning.” He indicated to the house. “Did you forget to turn off the stove?”

Jenna shook her head. “No, someone was planning on burning me alive. They snuck into my bedroom when I was asleep and doused the bed in rubbing alcohol. When he closed my bedroom door, he woke me.”

“Seems to me you’re lucky he didn’t cave in your head.” A

tohi’s eyes narrowed. “So how did you make it out?”

Staring at the flames rising against a still dark morning sky, Jenna sipped the water. In the distance she could hear the firetrucks wailing their arrival. She turned back to him, holding tight to the bottle to stop her hands trembling. “I could hear him moving around. I figured he was setting up the house to make it look like an accident. Same as he did with Carol Dean. I had time to strip off the wet clothes and dress. I’d have confronted him. I had my Glock, but firing in a cloud of fumes would’ve been suicide. I knew he’d open my door to allow the fire to get to me and would probably use the back door to ignite the accelerant, so I waited. When he came back to open my door so I’d burn to death, I slipped out. I headed for the front door, and must have opened it just as he set the alcohol alight. From the screams, I figure the wind from the front door blew the fire on him. I took off and dived behind my cruiser. No one came running out. He’s probably still in there. You know the rest.”

“Did you recognize him?” Atohi pulled a blanket from the back seat and wrapped it around her.

“Thanks.” Jenna shook her head. “No, it was very dark inside and I hid behind the door.” She rubbed her forehead to ease the ache. “I’m just lucky he didn’t toss a match inside my room.” She checked her pockets. Her wallet was inside her coat pocket along with her phone and car keys. “I’ll call Rowley.”

“No need.” Atohi indicated with his chin to Rowley’s truck moving past the firetruck. “I’m sorry you lost all your things. It looks like you’ll be moving into the ranch earlier than planned.”

Unable to take her gaze from the billowing steam pouring from the embers as water from the firetruck’s hoses poured down on the fires, Jenna nodded. “I guess I have no choice. I’ve only lost a few changes of clothes. The cruiser doesn’t look too damaged and my bags are inside. I was planning on moving as soon as the security perimeter is up and running, but the changes I’ve made to the house are finished. It has a good security system so I’ll be fine.”

“What the hell happened here?” Rowley opened the door and stared at them. “Don’t tell me you’ve been targeted?”

“It sure looks that way.” Atohi grimaced. “Jenna got out just before it blew sky high. I figure a gas tank went up. Just as well it was a small one or it would have taken out the whole block.”

“You sure you’re, okay?” Rowley’s gaze ran over her. “You’re sheet white under the soot.”

“I’m fine.” Jenna ignored the headache from hell and slid out of the seat. She handed Atohi the blanket. “The fire crew are going in and I want to see if there’s a body in there.” She glanced up at Rowley. “Whoever did this was burned up in the fire. I heard them scream.”

She stood on shaky knees and leaned against the truck, noticing the dirt on her hands, the singed bits on the arms of her jacket, and the burned holes in the fabric. She swallowed hard, seeing her reflection in the truck’s window. The fire had singed her hair and soot smeared her face in lines. Dust coated her from head to boots. “Let’s go round back and see if they found anyone and then I’ll go by the office and take a shower.”

Walking beside Rowley, she waited for the paramedics to pull up to the curb before stepping with care through the hot water streaming from the blackened shell of the house. The fire chief stood to one side, and she picked her way to him. “Is it safe to go round back?”

“Yeah, but there’s a body. I guess you knew that already, huh?” The fire chief shrugged. “From what I can see, you had an electrical fault, just like the other case. Shame your friend didn’t make it out in time. The gas bottle exploded causing the majority of the damage. Can you give me a blow by blow of what happened before the fire occurred?”

Jenna gave him a direct stare. “I’ll make sure you have a copy of my report.”

She found the body outside the vicinity of the back door. A gaping hole had rendered the house unrecognizable and the burned figure on the ground likewise. A blackened mass replaced what should have been his face, she pushed her hands in her jacket pockets and found latex gloves. She handed Rowley a pair and pulled on her own. “Roll him over, I want to see if he’s carrying any ID.”

“I’m not good at this.” Rowley gagged and walked away to spew in the flowerbed. He came back and shrugged apologetically. “Sorry.”

Jenna smiled at him. “We all do it at one time. Being a cop doesn’t mean you’re not human. Just help me roll him on his left side.” She ran her hand over the untouched back of the man and found a wallet in his pants pocket. She flipped it open. “Lou Dean. I hadn’t even considered him.” She folded the wallet and straightened. “He arrived at Aunt Betty’s Café ten minutes after his brother Errol, the day Carol died. That would have given Lou time to kill Carol, set the scene, and then hightail it to Aunt Betty’s Café before anyone noticed the smoke. I guess we’ll never be able to prove if they planned it together. Errol had an ironclad alibi by being at Aunt Betty’s well before the fire.” She shook her head. “Lou must have believed I’d found evidence against him after we collected his prints and figured by killing me, he’d walk. The idiot didn’t have a brain in his head. Did he really reckon anyone would believe two fires from electrical faults in the same week would fly?”

“Well, he did mix it up a bit.” Rowley rubbed his chin. “He didn’t knock you out before he set fire to the house.” He stared at the smoking ruins. “How did he get inside?”

Jenna shrugged. “As we don’t have a door, I guess we’ll never know. I doubt he forced the lock or he’d have woken me. He did that by shutting my bedroom door. He must have had a key. This place has been a rental for twenty years. Anything is possible.” She pulled out her phone and took photographs of the scene and then waved at the paramedics to collect the body. “Take it straight to the undertaker. Tell Mr. Weems to keep him on ice until I talk to him.”

She walked back to her cruiser. It was a little more damaged than she’d imagined, and Rowley had to pry open the trunk for her to collect her bags. “I hope the insurance covers the damage.”

“You should ask for a new one.” Rowley headed for his truck. “That’s one case solved… well, I figure two. Lou Dean was in the right place at the right time for Carol’s murder and now this.”

Jenna nodded. “It was probably Lou who caused the accident on the highway. That was a warning. This was attempted murder.” She leaned against Rowley’s truck and used her phone to run Lou Dean’s name against the vehicle registration of owners of white trucks in town. She also ran his prints against the ones they’d collected at Carol’s apartment.

As they waited, she thanked Atohi for his help and Rowley drove her to the office. Jenna took a shower and changed. Sometime later, the search gave up its results. Lou Dean did own a white truck and the fingerprints they’d collected at the scene of Carol Dean’s murder matched as well. The call she’d made to the meat-processing plant, Errol Dean’s workplace, confirmed he’d been there at the time of the fire at her house. “Errol Dean is going to walk on both counts. I’ll never prove he was involved, although it sure looks suspicious.” She looked at Rowley. “Write it up and we’ll send a report to the medical examiner. With the evidence we’ve collected and my firsthand testimony of what happened to me, he’ll call an inquest into Carol Dean’s death, and the death of Lou Dean. It’s normal procedure.” She glanced at her watch. “I’ll go write my statement, and when you’re done, we’re heading down to Aunt Betty’s for breakfast.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Rowley grinned and touched his hat. “After what happened this week, no one will stand against you for sheriff. I figure you’ve proved you’re the person to take care of Black Rock Falls.”

Jenna smiled at him. “Are you sure?”