Page 47 of Fear of Flames
“I wish they’d stop saying that,” Michelle said.
“Right. Well, Ali, I wanted to lead with the Timothy Wells story because things are getting even more interesting. Yesterday it came to our attention that a man with the same last name?—”
“Holdcraft.”
“Right. Dennis Holdcraft was identified as the victim of a house fire in Iron Falls, Massachusetts. Tell our listeners what we’ve learned about Mr. Holdcraft.”
“He served in the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department for over thirty years with many commendations. After the death of his wife, he retired and moved to Iron Falls. Get this…his wife died in a house explosion eight years ago.”
“Whoa, that seems like a coincidence.”
“It gets more interesting with their only daughter’s home exploding. On top of that, Iron Falls is two and a half hours from Foxborough.”
Michelle gasped. “They can’t possibly be insinuating my father had anything to do with that boy’s kidnapping.” Her comment made them miss a little of the podcast.
“…happening in Massachusetts?”
“And Indiana, Kenzi. That was where Ms. Holdcraft lived. The Iron Falls sheriff, Ralph Perkins, told sources that Ms. Holdcraft was seen in Iron Falls prior to her father’s demise. When the sheriff couldn’t locate her, he contacted IMPD to notify Ms. Holdcraft of her father’s passing and request she contact him.”
“Contact him?”
“Yeah, IMPD made a statement that Sheriff Perkins wanted to talk to Ms. Holdcraft about possible involvement in her father’s death.”
“You don’t think Michelle is involved in her father’s death?” Kenzi asked.
“I don’t know, but she’s missing, and her mother and now her father perish in house fires- slash-explosions.”
Kenzi inhaled. “Three fires.”
“I think we need to take a trip to Iron Falls.”
Kenzi laughed. “It’s like you can read my mind. I hear it’s cold, so pack some boots and a warm coat.”
“We’ll be back after a word from our sponsor.”
Fletch turned down the volume. “Fuck, that took a turn I wasn’t expecting.”
“Are they saying…? Is Ralph Perkins insinuating I was involved in my father’s death? Are the podcasters?” Her voice rose an octave. “There’s no way my father was involved in a kidnapping or child trafficking. Is there any way the two events could be connected?”
Fletch inhaled.
Chapter
Twenty-Two
The motel in Rapid City was similar to the place they’d stayed a day before—threadbare carpet, an outdated television, cracked-vinyl-covered chairs near a worn laminate table, and thin towels. The difference was that this motel room had two standard beds instead of one queen. Fletch wouldn’t say he was disappointed, but he was.
While he didn’t know what the future would bring, having Shelly near let him know she was safe—safe from Perkins and whoever he worked for. Fletch had been thinking about his last conversation with Denny. The old man’s gut was right. If Fletch hadn’t stayed out in Denny’s work shed, he didn’t want to think about what would have happened to Shelly.
He knew. There would have been two bodies in the house instead of one.
He kept his word to Denny. After a few days of being with her, it had morphed into more than keeping his word. Fletch knew about dangers others never noticed. People disappeared every day. Shelly could have been one of those statistics. Hell, she was. He was the one who knew she was alive. His plan was to make sure she stayed that way.
Last night, when he held her as she fell asleep, the closeness was as much for him as it was for her and completely out of character. He was possibly getting attached. In his line of work, that wasn’t a good thing. Having someone you cared about was a liability. Once he got to the complex, they would sort it out.
Fletch knew he needed to come clean with Shelly, tell her more about where they were going and what her future may be. He heard the water in the shower running. They’d had a long night of driving and now was time for sleep, not the time to start a conversation that would most likely take hours. Assuming Denny was right, Michelle Holdcraft would need to stay missing. It wasn’t fair to keep her in the dark.
“The water is hot,” Shelly said as she came from the bathroom.
