“Sounds good to me.” Reid smiled his thanks, and the pair entered the lodge.
Jessie skipped in. “Bandit.”
Still sleepy, he sat up, and looked confused.
Jessie studied him with scrunched eyes then looked at Mia. “He looks like he’s pretending to be a lamp.”
Mia smiled at the child’s imagination and went to the kitchen for the coffee. “He was supposed to be taking it easy, but he stayed out all night. It might be good to keep things kind of calm.”
“Aw, no fair. I wanted to be a lamp with him.”
“That should be fine,” Mia said. “Lamps don’t do much moving around.”
“That sounds like being in school and it’s summertime.” Jessie’s lower lip protruded.
Mia thought it best to move on and handed a mug to Reid.
“Thanks.” He blew on the steaming cup and sat on a counter stool.
“How about some orange juice?” Mia asked Jessie and leaned on the countertop next to Reid.
Shaking her head, she pointed at the island. “I wanna play on your computer.”
“You came to play with Bandit,” Reid said.
She pouted. “He’s too sleepy and has to wake up first.”
Reid slid forward. “I’m sure Mia doesn’t have any games for you to play.”
“Nuh-huh. If she can get the internet, I can play Barbie.” Her eyes pleaded up at Mia. “You have the internet? Daddy helps me at home, but he has a big computer and probably doesn’t know how to use this kind of computer.”
Mia set the sleeping laptop in front of Jessie, and she poised her tiny fingers over the keyboard in anticipation.
“It’s not much different than a big computer. It’s just all packed into one little box.” Mia pointed at the touchpad. “Here’s the mouse.” She slipped her finger along the pad, and the computer woke up.
A man’s picture filled the screen. Bald-headed, with large dark eyes, he resembled a mean Mr. Clean.
Jessie jerked her face away. “No. Turn it off.”
“I don’t know where this came from.” Mia looked at the file name.Gladys’s Suspects.“It’s okay, kiddo. Gladys loaded these pictures last night. He might look mean, but he’s just a guy who bought something at their gas station.”
“Nuh-uh!” Jessie started crying, and she tried to push the computer away, but the rubber pads on the bottom held it firmly in place. She pounded on the keys as if she hit the right one it would kill the machine.
“Jessie.” Reid grabbed his daughter’s hands. “That’s no way to treat Mia’s computer.”
“That’s the man,” she whispered. She closed her eyes and cried harder.
“Jessie, what is it?” Mia asked.
Eyes still closed, Jessie pointed at the computer.
“He did it.” Her voice broke on a sob. “He’s the man who started the fire.”
25
Even after Jessie departed with Reid, her fear saturated Mia like a sponge soaking up water. The man, identified on his credit card as Lincoln Pope, grinned from the screen as if taunting her. His eyes glinted like hard steel, razor-sharp and deadly.
Ryan had arrived moments after Jessie had opened the photo and called Russ to join them. Russ had gently questioned Jessie then Reid had taken his distraught daughter home.
