Page 27 of Serial Burn

“Yes, Eli.Think. I’ll let Mom know one way or the other.” Why hadn’t she called or texted him herself?

Eli had probably volunteered because he had more to talk about.

“One more question,” his brother said.

And here it came. “Yes?”

“Um ... I know you’re not interested in talking to me about the past, but there’s a new doctor with our practice who has a lot of experience dealing with childhood trauma. I would like us to go together if you’d be—”

“Bye, Eli.”

He hung up and resisted the urge to smash his phone against the wall. What in theworldhad gotten ahold of his brother. They’d gone years without talking about the worst day of his life—had in fact gone out of their way toavoidtalking about it, burying it deep, pretending it didn’t happen—and now, all of a sudden, in the last three months, they couldn’t have a conversation without Eli dredging up that day and refusing to leave it alone even after Nathan insisted. Which was typical. If Eli wanted something, he didn’t let much stand in his way of getting it. Except Nathan no longer played by his big brother’s rules.

“Everything all right?” Jesslyn asked from behind him.

He turned. “Yes. Fine.”

“Hm.”

She didn’t believe him. He didn’t either. “It’s my brother,” he said. “He’s driving me batty about something that happened years ago. I keep telling him to drop it and he keeps pushing.”

“I’m sorry.”

He waved a hand. “Forget it. He’s been a selfish handful all his life. It’s a boring topic. We can move on to a different one.”

“All right. I called to check on Mr. Christie and he’s still being kept in a coma.”

“And probably will be for a while from what I understand. It’s why we’re not there at the hospital waiting for him to wake up.” He sighed. “Jesslyn, we need to think about who is after you. Any thoughts?”

“No, not really. I mean, someone who’s mad I didn’t approve their building because it wasn’t up to code? Or an arsonist I put in prison with my testimony who’s now out? Or an arsonist’s family member who decided it was a good time to get revenge for putting away their loved one? It could be any number of people.”

“And we’ll check on all of that.” He nodded to the den. “Wanna sit back down?”

She yawned. “Well, there you go. All of a sudden I’m struggling to stay awake. I need some more caffeine.” She walked to the Keurig and fired it up.

“It’s the adrenaline rush and crash,” he said. “Not to mention the knock on the head. How’s that feeling anyway?”

“Ibuprofen is my friend.” When her coffee was ready, he followed her back into the den, and they took their respective spots on the couch. “What’s next?” she asked.

“You get some rest?”

“No, I can rest later. I need to figure this out.” She pulled her phone from the end table and tapped the screen. “I keep coming back to this jewelry. I’ve seen that mark before, I just can’t remember where or when or...” She shrugged. “I think it was as a child, but I’m not sure why I think that.” She shivered and grabbed the blanket from the back of the couch to pull it over her. “You know, after my family was killed, I went to live with my aunt Carol.”

“Right. I knew that.”

“About two weeks after I was starting a new life in a new town with a new school, trying to navigate the grief and just ... not crumble, I woke one night to a man in my room.”

He grunted. “What? Who?”

“I don’t know. I remember being terrified of him, then wondering if it was a dream. Then totally convinced he was real. But now ... I’m not sure.”

“What happened?”

“Nothing. He just looked at me and then turned and walked out, shutting the door behind him.” She paused. “Sometimes, I thinkhe said something, but...” She frowned. “I don’t know. Dreams change, right?”

“Maybe. And you don’t know who it could have been if he’d actually been a real person?”

“Not a clue.”

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