Page 111 of Serial Burn

“The homeowners were Todd and Patty Morgan.” He leaned over to work on his keyboard for a few seconds, then looked up. “Two kids. A son and a daughter. Daughter’s name is Samantha Morgan Ashcroft and the son is Derek Morgan.” He raised a brow. “Derek Morgan could be a coincidence, but I don’t think so. Patty Morgan is deceased. She shot herself the night of the fire. Todd is in an assisted living home. Derek still lives in the house and Samantha lives about twenty minutes away with her husband and three children.”

“Derek’s a professor, Samantha is...”

“...his sister. Yeah. We had the pleasure of meeting her at the school.” He tapped the keyboard. “She was in the Army. Enlisted after high school and was a ... firefighter.”

“Okay, that’s interesting,” Kenzie said.

Andrew nodded. “No kidding. Think her little brother picked up some tricks on how arson works?”

James nodded. “Let’s find both of them and their spouses too. But mostly, I want eyes on Derek Morgan ASAP. If Jesslyn’s father was involved with their mother, then that would explain the nighttime walks.”

“Maybe. But with his students’ interest in the fires and Kenny’s running from the scene ... it’s all connected somehow. What’s Samantha doing now?”

“I don’t see a job status. Looks like she’s staying home with her kids. They’re two, four, and six.”

“Littles,” Nathan said.

“Let’s go.”

TWENTY-SEVEN

Jesslyn stomped a foot, her anger bubbling, but was grateful the room had cooled down significantly. He’d actually turned the air on for her. She was so confused. Was she in danger or not? She was going to go with yes but was still turning over their very weird conversation. He never directly answered a question but insisted he wasn’t a killer. And yet he’d threatened her all those years ago. He’d kidnapped her. He’d played mind and word games with her.

But she was still alive.

And standing there thinking wasn’t going to get her out of the situation. She went to the bathroom and pulled the ceramic lid from the back of the toilet. She then dismantled the piece of wire from the chain that hooked to the handle used to flush. Working quickly, she managed to get the cuffs off, then slipped them in her pocket and shrugged out of the fire coat.

She’d leave the boots and pants on. The heavy sweatshirt over the T-shirt would keep her warm enough. She hurried to the door and examined the lock. The deadbolt required a key, presumably from both sides. Lock picking was not her strong suit. Anyone could open cuffs with a paper clip—or toilet part—but picking a lock was another matter altogether.

So, she was in a room and the only window in the office was theskinny rectangular one. If she broke it, she could try to slip out, but it would be tight...

Slowly, a plan formed. She hurried back to the bathroom and grabbed the tank lid from the toilet and rushed back into the office. Using the lid, she rammed it into the window. The glass shattered and spilled out onto the concrete floor. She ran the ceramic piece around the edges, getting rid of as many of the broken shards as possible, then stopped to listen.

No one seemed to be reacting to all the noise.

Derek Morgan. Professor Derek Morgan. She shook her head, still confused, thinking about everything even as she tried to slip through the opening. A sound from above startled her and she shoved harder, trying to force her body through. It wasn’t working. More footsteps from beyond. She pulled back and studied the window. She just needed a couple more inches. So if she removed the molding, that would give her the extra space she needed. The question was, could she do it before Derek returned?

She felt quite confident in her ability to overpower the man as long as she could take him by surprise. If it came to that, she’d do it, but for now, she looked for something to pull the molding off. She’d get the answers eventually if she could just get out alive.

Because she needed to know who set the fires. And how did Brad’s death fit into the grand scheme of things? Heath had seemed as confused as everyone else and simply wanted his own answers.

Yes, answers please. And as soon as she had Derek locked in his own cuffs, she’d get those answers.

AFTER LEARNING THATDEREKwasn’t at the school, officers went to his home with the SWAT team and, after no response, forced entry to do their search. In the meantime, Nathan and Andrew had made several attempts to reach Samantha Ashcroft by phone with no success. They arrived at her home and pulled to the curb. It wasa lovely home painted a light baby blue, situated on about an acre in a middle-class neighborhood with well-manicured lawns.

Nathan hurried up the porch steps and knocked on the front door while Andrew walked the perimeter toward the back. No sounds came from within, and he highly doubted anyone was home, but he peered through a parted curtain into the den anyway, looking for signs of life.

Still nothing.

Andrew came around from the back. “No one’s here, I don’t think.”

“Yeah.” He looked around. “Let’s see if we can scrounge up a neighbor. Maybe one will have an idea where she is.” They lucked out on the second knock.

“Oh sure,” the seventy-something woman said. “Sam’s probably out looking for a job. She was a firefighter in the Army but said she wanted something different. She finally finished her degree in business a couple of months ago. Got those kids in full-time day care while she looks, so I reckon she’s going to need to find something pretty quick.”

“What day care, do you know?”

“Um, the fancy one on Long Shoals Drive.”

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