Burn You Twice by Mary Burton

Author:Mary Burton [Mary Burton]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Montlake
Published: 2020-09-28T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Missoula, Montana

Tuesday, September 8, 2020

8:00 a.m.

Joan parked in front of the police station and glanced at the fire map Gideon had texted her. His makeshift collection of Post-it notes on a child’s map was a very powerful graphic detailing the regional fires over the last ten-plus years. The clusters were unmistakable, though whether the fires were the work of one or multiple arsonists was impossible to tell. But it was a pattern that could not be ignored.

Out of the car, she hoisted her purse on her shoulder and pushed through the front door. At the front window, she introduced herself to a deputy she had not met before. “I’m here for Detective Bailey.”

The deputy picked up the phone and announced her arrival. “He’ll be right out.”

“Thanks.” She turned toward a bulletin board filled with wanted posters, resisting the urge to pace.

The door opened to Gideon, who regarded her with a mixture of distrust and keen awareness. Cowboy lean, he wore jeans, a light-blue dress shirt with no tie, a black leather jacket, and scuffed boots. His weapon and cuffs were attached to a handmade belt buckled with a silver medallion sporting the BB brand of the family ranch. Shit, why did he have to look so good?

“We have a stop to make before we go.”

“Where?”

“The search warrant for Lana Long’s apartment just came through.”

“I can come, too?”

“Try to hang back.”

She grinned. “Always.”

They drove across town and pulled up in front of the older apartment complex. She followed Gideon up to the second floor, and when they rounded the corner, they spotted the yellow crime scene tape and the two techs. The first tech, Hank, was in his late fifties, with thinning red hair. The other tech, Doug, looked to be in his thirties, and he wore his thick, dark hair slicked back off his face.

Gideon shook hands with both. “Did the manager give you any trouble?”

“Not after we showed him the warrant,” Hank said.

Doug doled out gloves and booties, and when they were all geared up, he let them into the apartment.

Joan worked her fingers into her gloves as she stepped inside. She stood for a moment, allowing her gaze to survey the small space. She moved toward the bookshelf and pointed to the book on arson. “I’ve actually read this one,” she said as she bent down and snapped a picture with her phone. “Covers the motivations and case studies.”

“Don’t think she was studying to be an arson investigator one day,” Gideon said.

Joan rose and moved past the sparse kitchen toward the bedroom. An air mattress worked well on a tight budget. She had slept on her share.

They watched as Doug lifted a pair of neatly folded jeans from the suitcase. They smelled of laundry soap, as if they had just been washed. Lana did not appear to have owned many clothes, but what she had was well cared for. Doug checked the suitcase’s inside pocket. “It’s an itinerary for a flight dated for today. It was bound for Denver.

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