Fair Warning. Hannah Alexander
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closed his eyes and recalled a detail from the fire last night. He’d come out of the apartment with Mrs. Engle and seen the row of vehicles in the carport across the drive from the lodge, specifically checking to make sure none had been damaged. He’d seen an unfamiliar small dark red SUV among them.
Coincidence? Had to be. But what if it wasn’t?
“Doc, are you there?” Captain Frederick asked.
“Yes, sorry. Jolene did believe the wreck was deliberate?”
“She said it was deliberate, but we all know that woman likes to overdramatize everything.”
“Something just occurred to me, Captain. I may be overreacting here, but it’s possible that Willow Traynor might drive a red Subaru Outback. She looks enough like Jolene in low light that someone could have mistaken Jolene for her. I made that mistake myself.”
“Where is Ms. Traynor right now?”
“I hope she’s safely shopping with my sister, but I think I’ll make sure. Meanwhile, a friend of mine was having a replacement key made for Willow’s car. He had to get the particulars from Preston because I didn’t have them. I wasn’t involved in that conversation.”
“Better keep your friend away from the car. We don’t want to pass up any leads, even if they seem far-fetched. We’ll need to check out that car first.”
“Check it out?”
“What if someone did intentionally run Jolene Tucker off the road because they mistook her car for Ms. Traynor’s? If they were serious enough to do that kind of damage, and if they discovered later that they had the wrong car, they might take it another step and set a booby trap of some kind. Stranger things have been known to happen.”
“I’ll call my friend now. Then I think I’ll take a drive out to the complex.”
“Can you get us the key?” the captain asked. “The officers can jimmy the lock with no problem, but it would be better if we didn’t have to.”
“If we have Willow’s permission, I’ll gladly give the police the key. I’ll just have my friend meet us there.”
“They’ll get her permission before they make any attempts to enter the car, of course. I don’t suppose Ms. Traynor would know about anyone who might have a reason to hurt her, would she?”
Graham thought again about his conversation with Preston. Would she? “It’s possible, Captain.”
“Well, this could be a long shot, but right now we don’t have any other leads on any of the fires that were set last night.”
Graham remembered the other fires that had spread the department so thin last night. “Are you telling me they were all arson?”
“That’s right. All three of them, same M.O., same everything.”
“Was last night the first time this has happened?”
“First I’ve ever seen. How’s Mr. Black doing?”
“He’s in a lot of pain right now.”
“Think he might have made an enemy? Maybe a former renter?”
“We haven’t had any complaints.”
“Well, you just let me know as soon as you find Ms. Traynor, will you?”
Graham promised to do so, then hung up, praying that he was jumping to faulty conclusions, praying that they all were.
He pressed Ginger’s speed dial number, hoping against past experience that this time, for the first time, she would actually be carrying the cell phone he’d given her.
Nope. Not Ginger. She’d probably left it in her car somewhere, relegated to the glove compartment, or perhaps beneath the seat.
He left a message on her voice mail, knowing she probably wouldn’t check it. In fact, her phone could even be out of juice.
And he needed to talk to her right now.
Chapter Six
D ark eyes hovered in the thickness of night, staring up at Willow from the coffin, their depths drawing her down. Something…they wanted her to know something…
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