Page 78 of Through the Fire
“That was right before the fire?”
All he gave her was a slight nod, so she tried to widen her eyes as if she was impressed and a little scared. “Wow. You were that close to a possible murderer? I know you didn’t know that at the time, but doesn’t that freak you out a little, looking back on it?”
She could see him relax a little as he gave her a slightly condescending smile. “’Course not. She was just a tiny bit of a thing.”
A woman. The murderer and arsonist was a woman. It was almost impossible not to start firing questions at him in true interrogation style. Kit turned slightly to focus on Justice as she tamped down the urge to drag the whole story out of him. “It was a woman?”
“Yup.” Her restraint was rewarded when he continued, sounding more relaxed. “Young one, too. Pretty. Had dark hair like yours, but she wasn’t…” Trailing off, he lifted his hand, indicating his face with an awkward gesture that would’ve made her laugh if she hadn’t been so focused on the interview.
“She wasn’t Asian?”
He looked relieved. “Right.”
“Was she white, then?”
“Maybe?” His pauses were driving her batty, since she didn’t know if he was going to elaborate, and the urge to ask a hundred questions pressed on Kit. “Could’ve been Mexican.”
Kit mentally translated that to Latina, and her heart rate sped up. His description matched Elena so closely, but she had to be careful not to force the facts to fit her suspicions. “Isn’t it unusual to see a stranger in town?”
He gave another of his semi-shrugs. “Not really. Mostly keep to myself. Wouldn’t know half the people in town if I ran right into them. I stick to those woods south of town. Heading there now, in fact, to do some hunting. Don’t run into many other people there—except for her, of course.”
“I know someone who looks a lot like that.” Kit pulled out her phone and quickly found the picture of Elena’s driver’s license she’d taken when researching. As she enlarged it so that just the photo filled the screen, she kept an eye on Murphy. She was so close to getting a possible identification, and she was afraid her witness would just wander off into the trees. Holding out her phone so the screen faced him, she said, “Is this the woman you saw?”
He squinted at it and nodded. “Sure looks like the same lady.”
Kit’s stomach swooped with excitement before she remembered that Elena—who’d just been identified as a possible killer—lived in a household of innocent people. “Did you see where she went after she left the burning house?”
“Nah.” He was casual, and Kit was glad her poker face was holding. “Didn’t want to scare her by following her.”
“Probably a good plan.” Justice ran past her, and Kit checked to make sure he wasn’t running off into the woods. He was just playing in the snow, so she turned back to Murphy—who was staring at her wide-eyed. She blinked at his terrified expression, such a change from the relaxed, friendly one he’d just been wearing. “You okay, Murphy?”
“You’re a cop?” He backed away from her, his eyes wide. “I wouldn’t’ve said anything if I’d known… Forget it. Didn’t see nothing. You’ve got no reason to bring me in.”
She held up her hands, trying to convey that she wasn’t going to hurt him—or drag him off to jail. “I’m not going to force you to do anything you don’t want to do. I’m just trying to solve this crime. If this woman is a killer, then we need to make sure she doesn’t hurt anyone else. I just want to keep you and everyone else in Monroe safe.”
For a moment, he paused, and she wondered if she was getting through to him, but then his expression closed down hard. “You cops are all liars.” He rushed backward, almost running, until he reached the edge of the woods. Within seconds, her only witness had disappeared into the trees. She’d only managed to take two steps after him.
My jacket. With a growl of frustration, she realized that, when she’d turned, she’d flashed him the MONROE POLICE DEPARTMENT printed in huge letters on the back of her coat. Shaking off her self-annoyance for stupidly scaring off her witness, she focused on the more critical issue—Sam and his family were sharing their home with a murder suspect.
And this time, she had more to go on than a hunch.
“Wes!” she called. After a few moments, one of the windows swung open, and he stuck his sleep-rumpled head out. Despite the urgency of the situation, the sight of him made her heart twist. “Can you give me a ride into town?”
“Give me four minutes.” After he ducked back inside, the window closed behind him. She was too tense to even smile at Wes’s extremely precise time estimation. Since she’d been taken by surprise by Murphy’s arrival—and testimonial—she hadn’t recorded their conversation. Kit mentally kicked herself for not using her phone to catch at least the last part of the impromptu interview. There was no way Murphy would give a formal statement. Even if they picked him up, she knew he’d keep his mouth closed. All she had was her word against Elena’s.
She called Justice and hurried to the large shed where Wes kept his truck. Her mind spun as she tried to think of the best way to warn Jules and Grace. She decided to tell Theo first. Even if he was skeptical, there was no way he’d let Elena be around Jules and the kids if he knew there was even a chance she’d put them in danger.
They needed to trust Kit—their lives depended on it.
Wes came out of the tower, and Kit instantly felt some of the tension that had been twisting her stomach into a tight knot release. Things would work out. Now that she had more than a gut suspicion that Elena was guilty, Kit would be able to convince the other cops that Elena was an extremely viable suspect, and they’d arrest her before she could hurt anyone else. “Thanks for doing this,” Kit said as Wes got closer to where she waited by the overhead door. “My SUV’s snowed in, and your neighbor just confirmed my suspicions about a possible suspect in the arson-and-murder case. I need to report this.”
“Murphy actually talked to you?” Wes asked, leaning in as if he was going to kiss her but then stopping and stepping back again as if reconsidering. Biting her lip to hold back the smile that wanted to break free at his adorably uncertain stutter-step, she closed the distance between them and reached up to kiss him. Even though she wanted to linger, she knew they needed to get to town, so she started to retreat. Wes stopped her, gently cupping the back of her neck, and pulled her into a final short-but-sweet kiss. Happiness made Kit feel floaty for a moment before she refocused on the Elena situation.
“Yes. He was very forthcoming when he thought I was your ‘girl,’ but he ran away when he saw the back of my coat.” She turned to show him.
“That isn’t surprising.” Wes was quiet as he pressed his thumb to a scanner, and the overhead door started to lift before he spoke again. “My girl?”
Kit raised an eyebrow at him, trying not to smile at his pleased tone. She wasn’t sure why, but pretty much anything Wes did this morning made her feel all warm and bright inside.
