Torch (Unbreakable Bonds 3)

With a growl, Rowe pulled his vibrating cellphone out of his back pocket as he stood in the middle of the sidewalk, watching Noah walk toward him. The phone had been vibrating almost non-stop since they’d left the café, but Rowe guessed it was Quinn calling to tell him that the guy was no longer online.

“You get him?” Quinn demanded without greeting.

“No. Fucker disappeared. You get a picture?”

“Yeah, it’s not great. I’m still cleaning it up.”

Rowe grunted. “Send it to my phone, then run it through the facial recognition software. I want a name by tomorrow.”

“Sure, boss, but these things take time to run through the system. It could take—”

“Tomorrow,” he repeated and then hung up.

“Quinn?” Noah demanded as soon as he was standing at Rowe’s side again.

Rowe grunted, lifting his eyes to look up and down the street. Where could the asshole have disappeared to? Was he still watching them, waiting?

“Sorry—”

“Don’t,” Rowe immediately interrupted. “You kept me out of the hospital today. We saw his face and Quinn at least got a pic. He’s going to run facial recognition. When we get a name, he’ll be easier to track down.”

The phone vibrated once in Rowe’s hand and he immediately pulled up the text that Quinn sent over, holding up the picture so that Noah could see it as well.

“Ward…” Noah started, his name coming out low and unsteady. “The guy reminds me of Ian.”

Yeah, that was Rowe’s exact thought. Big, soft eyes, delicate features, sweet mouth even if it was pulled open in surprise. And young looking. Something about the eyes made Rowe think he was at least in his early twenties, but he could so easily pass for a teen. He did remind him far too much of Ian. This poor guy was likely another one of Jagger’s victims, which made him a special kind of dangerous.

“I don’t think he’s the arsonist,” Noah announced.

Rowe jerked his eyes free of the picture at last, shoving the phone in his back pocket as he started to lead the way back to where he’d parked the truck. “What the hell do you mean? The guy recognized me and ran. He’s the arsonist.”

“No, I think he’s the shooter.” Rowe stopped and looked over his shoulder at Noah, who was frowning as he stared at the broken sidewalk under his feet. He squinted against the sun as he lifted his eyes to Rowe. “That night in the woods, we saw the figure for only a couple seconds in the darkness, but the build is the same. So is the body movement.”

Rowe quickly replayed the chase through the Indian Hill woods against their chase through the street of Covington. Noah was right. The two figures were incredibly similar. They hadn’t seen the arsonist yet, and the two people could be similar in build and movement, but it wasn’t too likely.

“You thinking they’re a team?”

“One starts the fires and the other acts as protection or just a sniper.”

Shoving one hand through his sweaty hair, Rowe scratched his head before swearing loudly as he resumed the walk back to the truck. They’d undoubtedly stirred up the hornets’ nest now. They had a face, which was a start, but there was no way in hell the guy was coming back to the café now. He’d keep Quinn watching for more posts on the chat boards, but he wasn’t hopeful that they’d catch another break.

“You gonna put a bodyguard on Ian again?” Noah asked as they climbed back into the truck.

“I have to.”

Noah nodded. “Okay. I’ll tell him at dinner.”

“Dinner?” Rowe stopped in the act of turning the key in the ignition and glared at Noah as he leaned against the passenger door.

“Yeah, dinner. The evening meal. Comes after lunch.”

“I know what the fuck dinner is. You’re seeing Ian at dinner?”

“More like we’re going to have dinner together,” Noah smoothly corrected. He paused, readjusting the seatbelt strap stretched across his chest. “I’ll try to wait to tell him about the bodyguard after dessert and coffee. Don’t want to ruin his appetite.”

“What the fuck! Why are you having dinner with Ian? Is this a…a…a date?”

Noah shrugged. “Maybe. You know, I can just stay over at Ian’s tonight. Give you time to get your bodyguard in place. I’m sure he won’t mind.”

“Let me think about it,” Rowe practically snarled as he started the truck. This was really turning out to be a shit day.Chapter 12Ian parked his new Chevrolet Volt in one of the open lots and eyed the ominous clouds hovering over the city as he slipped out of the car. It hadn’t been too cold today and he’d hoped he and Noah would be able to take a walk after dinner. Looked like that was out. Too bad. He was looking forward to showing Noah more of his city.