Page 51 of Serial Burn

They agreed and soon found Brad at the pool table. Andrew approached while Nathan and Jesslyn hung back. Nathan was slightly jealous of how nice the place was. It had been expanded and was a huge improvement over the board games and vending machines when he’d been a student. Now they had a full-service café on one end, a large seating area in the middle, and pool tables, Foosball, and air hockey games on the other end.

Andrew stepped forward, showing his badge to Brad. “Hi, Brad, you got a minute?”

The young man froze for a split second before he forced a smile and set aside his pool stick. “Sure. Can I help you?”

Jesslyn nudged Nathan. “You catch the body language?”

“He’s going to run, isn’t he?”

“Just a feeling he might be considering it.”

“I’ll cover the side door.”

“I’ve got this one.”

Nathan made his way to the other exit, a wall of three sets of double glass doors, while Jesslyn stayed close to the one they’d entered. His phone rang and he glanced at the screen. Eli. He sent the call to voicemail.

Andrew motioned to an empty couch and Brad walked over to drop down on the edge of it. Nathan glanced at Jesslyn and she shrugged as if to say,What do ya know? He didn’t bolt.

Twice in one day. Nathan was glad, because there was no way he could give chase. He moved closer to hear the conversation. Jesslyn did the same.

Brad’s eyes bounced on each of them before settling back on Andrew. “What’s going on?”

“We’re talking to friends of Kenny’s.”

The kid schooled his expression into a questioning look. “Okay. What about him?”

Andrew explained the situation, and with each sentence, Brad’s face turned a shade whiter, and his eyes widened, nostrils flaring. “You really think he set the fires? No way. He wouldn’t.”

Well, those who believed in Kenny’s innocence were unanimous. He was even starting to think they were chasing a dead end.

He saw Jesslyn glance at her phone and frown, then tuck it away. Andrew continued questioning Brad, who was about as much help as a case of the flu. On purpose or was he hiding something? Then again, who liked a visit from the FBI, so could he really read anything into it?

Andrew finally stood and handed Brad his card. “Can you call me if you think of anything that might be related to the fires and Kenny?”

“Sure.”

Which sounded more like, “Don’t hold your breath.”

Nathan’s phone rang and he held up a finger for Jesslyn and Andrew to wait. “Hi, Lindsay.”

“You have a minute?”

“For you? Always.”

“I’ll make this brief, I have a meeting I have to run off to. I checked the database of crimes matching the one perpetrated on Jesslyn at the restaurant. There’s nothing that matches up perfectly in this area or a two-hundred-mile radius. The ones that kind of came close are six women attacked in the parking lot of various restaurants, two had someone waiting in their cars and were snatched, but they caught the guy when he tried to kidnap an off-duty female police officer. She put him in the hospital for a month.”

Good for her. “Anything else?”

“A few more random attacks, but nothing about any women being taken from the bathroom of a restaurant.”

“Okay, thanks for letting me know.”

“Talk to you later.”

Nathan hung up and they tracked down Heath. He had the samereaction as his buddy. Complete surprise that Kenny was a potential suspect in the fires. Also about as helpful. Toby, it turned out, was in the hospital recovering from a ruptured appendix. It didn’t mean he didn’t know anything, but he wasn’t the one setting fires. He’d ask one of the detectives to go by the hospital and talk to the guy.

“I don’t know,” Jesslyn said after they were out of earshot. “I’m not getting the vibe that they were involved, and I’m not getting one that they weren’t. The only vibe I’m getting is that they’re nervous about cops snooping around, and that could be because of any number of reasons.”

---