Page 44 of Serial Burn

The kid looked up as requested, but the blank stare was convincing. “Who?”

Jesslyn frowned and glanced at Andrew, who answered her with a frown of his own.

Nathan repeated her name and Kenny shrugged. “I’ve never heard of her.”

“Then maybe it’s all just a coincidence?” Jesslyn said to Andrew. “The fires with the personal connection, the attack at the church, and so on.”

“You really believe that?”

She frowned. “No, not really. I mean, what are the odds?”

“Exactly. I think you’re being targeted. It’s just going to take some digging to figure out why.”

The interrogation room door opened, and an officer entered with a soda and a bag of takeout food that he set next to Nathan. Then left without a word.

“Is this Kenny guy the one who snatched you from the restaurant?” Andrew asked her.

“I don’t know. If I had to guess, I’d say no. His voice is different and I think he’s shorter.”

“Then he’s working with someone?”

“Maybe.” But why? “I’ve racked my brain about all of my cases. There were a few that could be angry enough to come after me for exposing their crimes, I suppose.”

“Then we need to investigate them.”

“Let me keep thinking and I’ll give you some names later.”

Nathan had pushed the soda in front of the young man, who licked his lips and eyed the bag.

“Drink up,” Nathan said. Kenny obeyed and took a few sips, then set the can aside. “All right, Kenny,” Nathan said, “here’s where we are. As you may have noticed, no one’s arrested you yet.”

“I noticed.”

“Wanna tell me why you asked for a lawyer, then changed your mind?”

“No.”

“Okay, then how about you tell me who you’re working with?”

Kenny blinked and straightened, his jaw dropping a fraction before he snapped it shut and dropped his gaze to his hands again. “No one. I’m not working with anyone. I mean I was just there to watch them put out the fire and then you guys were chasing me and here I am.”

“He’s lying,” Jesslyn said.

Andrew shifted and crossed his arms. “Definitely.”

“So, we’re looking for two people? The question is”—she pointed to the suspect—“did he set the fires or was it the guy from the restaurant?”

“Or someone else altogether,” Andrew said.

“Right.” She rubbed her temples, a headache beginning to form behind her eyes. What a mess. And she still had a fire scene to assess. She dropped her hand. “What’ll happen with our friend Kenny, there?”

“We’ll hold him for forty-eight hours, and if we don’t have enough to charge him, then we’ll have to let him go.”

“What if you just let him go anyway?” she asked.

“Sorry?”

“Let him go and follow him. See where he goes, who he talks to, and so on. Can you get a wiretap order for his phone?”

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