Jensen interrupts me. “Don’t give me that bullshit, Walk.”
Rubbing the back of my neck, I conclude that I can share this with him. “Yeah, it was Derek.”
“Fuck,” he mutters. “I don’t know how I’m going to tell my guys. This isn’t just a huge loss for the department. Derek was family.”
“I understand,” I console, then lead him on with my own interrogation. “Jules mentioned the Medal of Valor.”
“Yeah, Derek was like a bloodhound for fires,” Jensen corroborates. “He knew where to go, what to do. He could predict what the fire would do before it happened, and because of that, he’s saved almost twenty people. That serial arsonist has had us working overtime.”
That’s interesting…
“Could I see your reports for the last six months?” I keep my face blank, not offering so much as a hint as to where I’m going with this.
Jensen’s brows scrunch together. “What are you thinking?”
“I don’t know yet,” I lie.
Jensen rests his hands on his hips. “Will it help you catch who did this to Derek?”
“Hopefully.”
“I’ll have them dropped off at the station later today,” he says with an edge of determination I’m relying on.
“Thanks.” I reach my hand out to him. “Give me a call if you think of anything.”
“Of course.” Jensen clasps my hand and shakes.
Evergreen trees blurtogether as I head back toward the station, melding into one green smear mixed with white dots from the snow resting on the branches as I drive along County Road 20 alone. The sky is just barely starting to change colors, signaling the coming of dusk. Static crackles over my department radio, making me tense even more.
I turn up the music, hoping that the melodies of blue-collar life, nostalgia, and faith will help clarify the speculations swirling around in my gut.
Blinding headlights flash in my rearview mirror, obscuring my vision for a moment. I roll my eyes and speed up to get away from the overzealous high beams.
I don’t like that someone in my own backyard could be out there committing heinous crimes and I not know about it. Part ofme wants to be wrong, but another part wants to catch him and make him pay in blood.
Levi, Santiago, and I are usually on top of the shit going down in Evergreen Falls. We take care of our own.
A quick glance shows me the same truck about forty yards still behind me. He’s been there for the last several miles.
On a hunch, I slow and take the next turn and the next after that. When my mirrors don’t light up, I slow to the speed limit and go back to the case at hand.
Back to the basics. What do I know?
I know that the victim is Derek Holt, age forty-two, multiple years with Evergreen Falls Fire.
Derek has risen in popularity over the last few months and was up for the Medal of Valor.
Derek was killed by a sharp object to the throat, then tied up on a cross, placed in an empty field, and set on fire.
Blake was first on scene.
The clash of metal on metal scrapes my ears as my body is jolted forward, and I almost bang my head on the steering wheel.
“What the fuck?”
Searching for the cause in my mirrors, I find the same beams, but they’re much closer as the lifted truck attached to them rides my tail.
Did that guy just hit me?
