Page 67 of Serial Burn

Surely, meeting her aunt at a bank would be all right, wouldn’t it? They’d enter at separate times. If anyone was watching Jesslyn, there wouldn’t be any way to put the two of them together at the bank. And someone could watch the street to see if anyone followed her. But what if someone had been watching them at the hospital? Then they’d already know who Carol was. The thought chilled her. “When?”

“I have a pretty full day today since you sent me packing and wouldn’t let me stay with you.”

“Aunt Carol—”

“I can do it in a couple of hours if you can wait that long.” She paused. “Or I can just go by the bank and pick up the pieces and bring them to your house.”

No way. She bit her tongue on the words. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.” It was a very, very bad idea for more reasons than one. “How much is the jewelry in the box worth?”

More silence. Then another sigh. “Today? Probably forty or fifty grand.”

Jesslyn choked. “What?”

“Your father had a lot of groveling to do, Jesslyn.”

She flinched, glad her aunt couldn’t see her reaction. She just realized Kenzie and Lainie had moved back into the kitchen to give her privacy. Tears pricked at her eyes. How she loved her friends and their thoughtfulness. “I’ll meet you there, but don’t leave your house until I text you, okay?” The extra caution might be the equivalent of shutting the barn door after all the horses were out, but with the threat she’d received and Kenny on the loose, Jesslyn didn’t figure it would hurt.

“Sure.”

She hung up. “You guys can come back in.”

They returned and took their former seats while she sent a group voice text to James, Cole, Nathan, Kenzie, and Andrew.

I need to run an errand related to the case. It’s about the jewelry found at the scenes. But I need help. Are any of you free?

Kenzie looked up and Jesslyn smiled at her. “You don’t have to answer to the loop.”

“Okay.”

The thumbs-up emojis started coming in. The only one not available was Andrew. And he sent a sad face with a tear on his cheek. It was fine. With the others, her plan should work.

Cole

Do I need to bring any of the other guys?

The SWAT team? It was probably a little too much for this. She responded with a negative, then outlined her plan by voice text again. Kenzie nodded and Lainie frowned. Clearly she wasn’t a fan.

But it was the only thing she could think of that would keep her aunt—and herself—safe while doing a necessary part of the investigation. Which was her job.

NATHAN GOT THE TEXTwhile he and Andrew were scouring security footage from the homes and businesses around the Endurance Empire Gym. “What is she up to now?” he muttered.

“Sounds like she’s got a plan about something,” Andrew said, even though Nathan hadn’t expected an answer. “Sorry I can’t help.”

Andrew had already told him he’d promised to help his folks with their bookstore and would be leaving as soon as they were done with the footage. Nathan tapped back that he was available and turned his focus back onto the screen. One person had caught his eye a few seconds before he stopped to check his messages. He used the cursor to drag the footage back to the part where he thought he recognized someone. “Hey, check this guy out. He looks familiar to me. What about you?”

Nathan enlarged the frame as much as he could without distorting the image, and Andrew narrowed his eyes. “Kenny?”

“That’s him, yes, but we knew he was there. What about the guy standing a little bit back from him?”

His partner leaned in and took a closer look at the area where the cursor pointed. “Is that the other guy from the student center? Brad Granger?”

“Pool Table Brad.” He nodded. “That’s him.”

“Interesting he and Kenny were there at the fire together.”

“Isn’t it, though?”

“I’m guessing you want to talk to Brad again?”

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