Blue Smoke

Minger’s.”
    “He’s not there.” Reena got shakily to her feet. “He can’t be there yet, even if he drove straight back.”
    “Go,” Trippley told her. “We’ll stay with this.”
    She moved quickly, stripping off her protective gloves on the way out. “If he’s trying to push this through tonight, he may go for my parents, my brother or sisters.”
    “They’re covered, Hale.”
    “Yeah.” But she made a rapid series of calls anyway.
    “Don’t leave the house,” she told her father. “Nobody leaves the house. I’m on my way to John’s now. I don’t want anyone stepping foot out of the house until I say different. I’m going to get back to you as soon as I can.”
    She hung up before he could argue. “He isn’t staying around here. Maybe in the county, but not in the city. Maybe down in D.C.”

    “We’ve got cops flashing his picture at hotels, motels. It’s a lot to cover.”
    “He’d go for high end. He’s not tapped out, and he thinks ahead. He’s got ID, he’s got a credit card to match it. Playing the traveling exec, maybe. A few days at one location, move to another.”
    She popped out of the car when O’Donnell braked behind the engine. There was a clenched fist in place of her heart, though she could see the fire was contained, nearly suppressed.
    She moved quickly toward Steve. “Gas lines?”
    “No leaks. Word is the fire was contained in the bedroom. Smoke alarm deactivated. Woman out walking her dog saw the smoke, called it in.”
    “Where is she?”
    “Right over there. Nancy Long.”
    “Nancy? Gina and I went to school with her.” Finding her in the crowd, Reena walked over. Nancy held her excited terrier on a leash with one hand and her husband’s arm with the other.
    “Nancy.”
    “Reena. God this is awful! But they said Mr. Minger wasn’t home. Nobody was inside. I saw smoke. Susie was making such a fuss I gave up and took her for a walk. She was just peeing when I looked up. Maybe I smelled it, I don’t know, but I looked up and I saw smoke coming out of the window. I didn’t know what to do, I guess I panicked. I ran over and beat on Mr. Minger’s door, shouted for him. Then I ran home. I couldn’t even dial nine-one-one my hands were shaking so hard. I had to yell for Ed to do it.”
    “You might have saved John’s house. And if he had been inside, you might have saved his life.”
    “I don’t know. I’m just sick about it.”
    “Did you see anyone else? Someone out walking, someone driving away?”
    “No. I didn’t see anyone, not then.”
    “Not then?”

    “I mean, there was nobody out walking around except me.”
    “Maybe you saw someone earlier?”
    “Housetraining a new puppy means you’re outside a lot. Before we went to bed I took Susie for what I thought was our last walk of the night. I was just opening the door to go in, and I saw this guy walk by. But that was earlier, near to midnight, I think.”
    “You didn’t recognize him?”
    “No. I wouldn’t have paid any attention, except he glanced over when I spoke to Susie, and he kind of waved. And I thought, I wonder who’s getting lucky tonight?”
    “Lucky?”
    “He had one of those long white flower boxes, and I thought how Ed never brings me flowers anymore.”
    “This was around midnight?”
    “Right around.”
    “I’m going to show you a picture, Nancy.”
    R eena stood in John’s kitchen, stared at the Sirico’s takeout napkin on the counter. She put the evidence marker in its place, then bagged it.
    “John’s on his way back.” O’Donnell closed his phone. “It’ll take him two, three hours. You want to get started on this or wait until he gets here?”
    “Can you handle this for now? I want to check on my family, then get the samples we’ve got so far in.”
    “Take a uniform.”
    “That’s my plan. He could’ve waited on this. Given it another day or two, made sure John was home. Having us scramble tonight was more important. He was just waiting for me to click to who he is.”
    “There’s a unit sitting on your house now, men front and back.”
    She managed a smile. “That’s going to piss him off.” Her belly tightened when her phone rang. “Hale.”

    “Too bad he wasn’t home. He’d be frying now.”
    She signaled O’Donnell. “That must’ve been a disappointment to you, Joey.”
    “Hell, the cop’s bitch was enough for tonight. I thought of you when I was doing her, Reena. Every time I raped her, I was thinking of you.