Burning Truth (Lost and Found Columbus #3)

Chapter 16

16

A s soon as they climbed in Severn’s truck, she tilted her head back against the seat and closed her eyes. She was so emotionally wrought, and she just needed some quiet time.

“Addie,” Severn murmured in her ear. Then he stroked his fingers along her cheek. With a lazy smile, she opened her eyes. They were in a dark parking garage, and it took her brain a moment to realize she’d fallen asleep. “Where are we?”

“In the hospital parking garage. I thought you’d want to see Jake before we went to work.”

Nodding, she sat up, looking at the time on the dash. “Oh, my gosh! I closed my eyes for like, two seconds.”

It was more than an hour since they’d left Lost and Found.

“Well, you were sleeping really well, so I just drove the outer belt a couple of times.”

She stared at him incredulously. It probably took at least thirty or forty minutes to drive all the way around the city, and that was assuming there was no traffic. “You did that for me?”

Unbelievably, his cheeks seemed to go a little pink. “Well, you needed some rest. I texted Ron and told him you were coming in a little late, considering everything that had gone on.”

Addie leaned over the center console and wrapped her arms around his neck. It wasn’t especially comfortable, but she didn’t care. “Thank you for that,” she said, kissing his neck. Then she drew back enough to kiss him on the mouth. There was still a hint of smoke to him, but she didn’t care. Severn ran his fingers into her hair to hold her head, and she forgot about her discomfort. He took her mouth like a starving man.

When she drew back, she was smiling. “You know, I can’t wait to get rid of this damn stalker, because I want to enjoy my time with you without dangerous crap hanging over us.”

Severn snorted. “You won’t want to hang out with me once this is all over.”

She drew back, because she’d heard the serious note in his voice. “Um, gonna disagree, buddy.”

She could tell it was in his mind that they were done once they’d caught the arsonist. Well, she would have to disabuse him of that notion. Maybe not right this second, though. She had a feeling she would be screaming into the wind.

“We’ll talk about it later,” she said, and slipped out of the truck.

There was a cop outside of Jake’s room on the fourth floor. They had to show ID to get in to see him, which she was okay with. Her friend grinned behind an oxygen mask when they walked in the door. Then, surprising the crap out of her, his eyes filled with tears. He held a hand out to Severn.

“Dude, you saved me,” he said, his voice so rough and raspy it sounded like it hurt.

Severn shook his hand. “Are you all right? Just smoke inhalation?”

Jake nodded, leaning back against the mattress. “Yeah, but I used to smoke, so they want to keep me overnight. My oxygen isn’t coming up the way they want it to.”

Addie frowned. “You’ll be okay, though, right?”

Jake nodded. “I think so. Just paying for my past sins,” he said, and laughed lightly. The laugh turned into a cough, though that didn’t let up. Addie cringed as she listened to her friend struggle for air. When he finally settled down, she gave him a pointed look. “Maybe more than overnight.”

By the resigned look on Jake’s face, she knew he thought the same.

“Well,” she said, trying to give him something else to think about. “You’ve screwed me. I have to work with Hoffbrau tonight.”

That sent Jake into another coughing/laughing spell. Eric Hoffbrau was a part time cameraman, and he had the emotional sensitivity of a three-year-old.

“You’ll be okay,” he said finally. “I’ll get out of here as soon as I can.” He looked at Severn. “Thank you, man.”

Severn waved a hand in acknowledgement, and they left.

Addie looked at Severn as they went down the elevator. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

He nodded. “I didn’t get nearly the exposure Jake did. I’m fine.”

She wrapped an arm around his waist and leaned into him. “I was terrified you were going to die. I can’t remember ever being that scared in my life. I think that’s why I’m so exhausted.”

He pulled her close, and she felt him drop a kiss to the top of her head. “Your emotions tired you out.”

“And now I have to go in and be bubbly and charming on camera. I’m not looking forward to it.”

“I know you’re not. But we have to give the PD time to gather more evidence. Legal evidence. I don’t know how much they’re able to use of what we give them. Gabbie doesn’t always follow the letter of the law.”

“You don’t say…” Addie said, laughing. “Is she, like, former CIA or something?”

Severn snorted. “Or something.”

Addie was intrigued. Maybe once this mess was all over, she would ask her out for lunch or an outing.

Severn drove them to the station, and she went into the dressing room in the back to find something to wear. Normally, she wore her own clothes, but she hadn’t had a chance to run home and change since the van. She was already running late, and Ron gave her the stink-eye as soon as she walked in. She’d waved at him and continued on. After everything that had happened today, she refused to take any shit from him.

Before she’d even gotten her hair done, the intercom was calling out for team 3. Addie rushed out of the dressing room, slipping her tennis shoes on as she left. No one would see her freaking feet, and she needed the comfort and maneuverability.

Severn met her in the studio. “I heard something about a bomb-scare at a high-school football game. But then I also heard something about a jumper downtown.”

Addie cringed. She didn’t want to go to either. Detective Johnson was investigating her stalker/bomber, though, so if either of them sounded like they were done by Monster, she probably needed to go to it.

She felt her phone buzz, and she pulled it out of her bra. “Ron says we go to the bomb scare.”

They took off. She wasn’t surprised to see Dan at the front door again. She knew Severn would want his own subtle backup, rather than the undercover police.

“Hey, Dan.”

“Hey, Addie. Gonna be a boring night?”

She barked out a laugh. “I seriously doubt it.”

It was a beautiful evening outside. The sun was setting, and a cool breeze had moved in. The van they climbed into was a nondescript white loaner, because their normal van would be in evidence for the foreseeable future. Eric Hoffbrau sat in the front seat, vibrating with excitement. Eric wasn’t a bad guy, but he had aspirations of moving to Hollywood to film real movies. So, he went into every scene with a theatrical eye. His frenetic energy didn’t let him settle on one scene, though. He would move Addie five or six times before he got the ‘perfect’ shot. Jake just always knew where to position her, but then, he’d been in the business for over twenty years. Eric was a film major, working his way through state college.

“Oh,” he said, his eyes widening. “We have ride-alongs tonight?”

“Yes,” Addie said firmly. “This is my boyfriend Severn and his buddy Dan. We’re heading to Taft High School, Eric, for a bomb scare.”

“Yup! Just got the text message! We’ll be there in ten minutes.”

This van was configured more like a passenger van, so Dan settled into the passenger seat up front, and Severn settled in the bench seat beside Addie in the row behind. As soon as they were strapped in, she reached for his hand.

“I think something bad is going to happen tonight,” she murmured to him. Eric and Dan were chatting about something, and whatever the subject was, Eric was getting enthusiastic, motioning with his hands as he drove.

“I think so, too,” Severn said, his mouth pulled down in a frown.

Addie reached up and brushed her fingers over his chin. He had the slightest divot there that she hadn’t really noticed before. Her eyes traced across his lean face, and the scars, his beautiful eyes, and she cupped his cheek. Tears burned in her eyes, and she drew in a quivering breath. “I don’t want you hurt,” she said, her voice husky. “Today in the van, you were incredible, but you didn’t even hesitate. The next time something like this happens, I need you to hesitate, because I will be devastated if something happens to you, Severn Moran.”

Severn winced and looked down for a second. Addie watched his throat work, and she realized he was struggling with his own emotions. When he looked up, there was something in his expression…

“I’ve never had anyone worry about me, or care if I made it out alive. Not since I lost my team. So, I appreciate you saying that, Addie, and I promise you, I won’t throw myself into danger recklessly. Your safety is paramount to me, and I won’t do anything to put you at risk. I’m the best chance you have of surviving this madman, so I will stay by your side until this is done.”

They met in a blazing kiss, then, and Addie knew she could tell him more. She could tell him she was falling in love with him, but she worried it would freak him out. Severn wouldn’t think it was real. He’d say it was the sex or some kind of savior crush, but Addie knew her own heart. And she knew that if something happened to Severn, it would destroy her. In just a few short days, he’d taken her over, heart, mind and body.

They slowed for a stop at a traffic light about a mile from the school. Traffic was backed up as so many people tried to leave the stadium. Horns blared and fingers flew. Drivers were blocking the intersections, even through the lights. There were a few cops in the area trying to direct, but people in fear for their lives didn’t like to listen to reason. And with as many fires and fire bombings that had been going on in the city, they were more likely to believe a bomb threat could turn into actual danger.

They were sitting at a blocked intersection when her phone pinged in her pocket. Dreading what she would see, she drew it out. That was the notification sound of the platform Monster had been using to contact her.

This is going to make your career, Addison. You’d better get through that traffic so that you can see better.

Fear sliced through her in a cold wave and she turned the phone so Severn could see. Monster was watching them. Right now. Was he in one of these cars? She responded before she could think twice. My career is fine. Please, please don’t do anything. Don’t blow anything up. You’ve already killed so many people.

The little blinking dot told her he was responding. It’s mostly only cops left in the area now.

INNOCENT cops! What did they do to you? And there may still be kids in there!

Severn was talking on his phone as he scanned the area. The van was creeping forward, but it was slow.

Addie tried to think about what she could do to derail another bombing. She felt so useless.

Maybe you should offer to meet with me so I don’t burn anything else.

She stared down at the words, her brain shorting out. Then her stomach quaked, and she could have been sick, but she breathed through it. She tilted the screen toward Severn, and he shook his head firmly.

“No fucking way, Addie.”

“If it would get him to stop burning? I totally would.”

She had to try to talk him down first. The need to burn is a psychological thing. You can’t just turn it off.

You’re right. I denied myself for a long time, but I’m tired of living with all the lies.

What lies???

The lies that government officials like to tell people to keep them in line. They’re all corrupt.

Maybe we can meet and you can tell me about it. On the record or off the record. Either one.

Oh, I’ll talk to you soon enough, Addison.

Off to the left, there was a huge blaze of orange, and then a percussive blast rocked the van. Addie stared in horror as the stadium where they were heading blew up.

“Oh, my God,” she breathed.

Severn started yelling at Eric, and then they were bumping up over the curb and heading toward the bright blaze. They were driving through the grass of the school grounds, navigating around the lines of traffic. As soon as the stadium blew, other cars near the blaze started driving into the grass, and she saw a few people running. They were screaming and crying, and Addie could only hope that there was no one inside.

They stopped several hundred feet from the blaze, and she realized it wasn’t actually as big as she’d thought at first. It was a high school stadium, so there were bleachers with an announcer’s box up top, and a clubhouse down at the bottom. The clubhouse was the only thing burning now, but the bleachers had been destroyed. If there had been a game going on, many people would have been killed.

Unfortunately, the clubhouse was attached to the school, so if they didn’t get it under control…

There were two cops standing out in the paved parking lot. One was on his radio, and a female officer was helping an older man through the lot and away from the fire.

Her phone buzzed, and she gathered it from the floorboard where it had fallen as they’d jounced across the grass.

You owe me. I let them live. Next time I won’t be as nice.

Fury raced through her, and she set the phone down. If she responded to him right now, she might make it worse.

They made sure the cops were okay and that everyone was out of the stadium by the time the firefighters got there. The clubhouse was still burning as Addie reported on the bomb threat that turned into the blaze. It was one of the hardest broadcasts she’d ever done, because she wanted to call Russel Dunn out, live, on the air. She was so pissed. But she couldn’t do that. She would not be responsible for sending him into hiding.

When she was done, Severn angled his phone toward her. It was from Detective Johnson. The undercover team spotted Dunn in the church bell tower a quarter mile away. They apprehended him on the Captain’s orders, and he was in possession of the remote that triggered the explosion.

Addie blinked at Severn. “They arrested him? It’s done?”

Severn shrugged slightly. “Looks like it.”

Addie burst into wracking sobs and curled into Severn’s arms. He held her tight and murmured into her hair that everything was going to be okay.

Severn didn’t have the heart to tell Addie that it probably wasn’t over. There was no way Russel Dunn would have been caught if he didn’t want to be caught. Severn had a feeling that this was all part of an act.

And he had a feeling it involved Addie.

He held her until the storm of tears was over, then he wiped her face and pressed a kiss to her clammy forehead. “Are you okay?”

She nodded, though she seemed to do it automatically. Then she seemed to become aware of all the surrounding people. Some of them were probably taking pictures.

The building still blazed behind them, and it looked like it had started in on the school, but the firefighters were giving it everything they had.

“We should get the footage back to the station,” she said, her voice subdued.

“I’m not sure where Eric is.”

She snorted, and he was glad to see some life come back into her face. “Sometimes you have to remind him we’re on a timeline.”

Once they got everyone corralled back into the van, things were a little more normal. Dan was excited that Dunn had been apprehended, and they had to give Eric the highlights of what had been happening.

Ron seemed a little subdued as well. They trooped into the editing room, but Ron waved them off as soon as he saw them. “Take her home and make her sleep,” he told Severn.

Without argument, he turned Addie around, and they made their way out to his truck. She dozed off on the way home and only roused when they pulled into her driveway.

“I’m so tired,” she said wearily, and he could see it in her expression.

“I know you are,” he said, taking her bags from her. “Go get a shower, and I’ll be in after I lock up.”

She didn’t argue. Severn Locked up the house and set the alarm and went through the motion notifications on his phone. Mostly the breeze moving something outside the house. Then he headed upstairs.

Even though he’d taken one shower, it was nice to take another one. The scent of smoke set him on edge, and he certainly didn’t want it in bed with them. The scent of the soap Addie had just used distracted him from the anxiety biting at him.

It had been a long day, and he understood why Addie was so exhausted. He was as well, but he was a little more used to working after an emergency. His tiredness was more physical than mental.

Once he’d scrubbed himself a couple of times, Severn stepped out of the shower and dried off. He pulled on a pair of undershorts and headed into the bedroom. Even as tired as she was, Addie had stayed awake. Lifting the sheet up, she welcomed him into the bed.