Burning Truth (Lost and Found Columbus #3)

Chapter 20

20

A ddie did not want to go talk to Russell again, but she felt like she had to do something. The big black and white clock on the wall steadily ticked down the time, and it was almost at the cutoff time Severn had given her.

Eric had just arrived with the camera, and she’d changed into a decent blouse she’d stuffed in her purse. Then she pulled the ponytail holder out and fluffed her hair. Pulling out her makeup bag, she added a bit of makeup. Within seconds, she was a little more presentable.

“Are you sure you want to do this,” Johnson asked, her mouth pursed.

“I feel like I have to,” Addie admitted.

“Is this place seriously about to explode?” Eric asked, his eyes a little wild.

“We don’t know,” Addie said, shaking her head. “That’s why we’re going in to talk to him. Don’t say anything, Eric, I mean it. You sit or stand in the corner and just film, no getting a better shot, and all that. The public is not going to see this footage, so it doesn’t matter. We don’t have time for your theatrics.”

He paled and his eyes widened a little, but he nodded.

“This is going to take some acting on your part,” the detective told her, stepping close. “He probably suspects we’ve found the storage units, but use that info sparingly.”

She shifted, pulling her cell phone from her pocket. “Excellent! They just found the IED at the Shipley building. And the one at substation 19 has already been dismantled. So, we’re still missing two. The police academy covers a pretty large area, but we have the cadets searching as well as the bomb squad. And I know the team is working from the basement up in this building. Russell is going to want to peacock, but try to get him to admit where he put them. I know that’s a reach, and your conversation will go where it needs to, but keep an eye on the clock. We have less than twenty-five minutes before I have to get you out. And even if the public doesn’t see this footage, it will probably be used in court.”

Addie nodded, filing the info away in her brain. This was going to take some finesse.

She gave Eric a hard look as they walked out of the room and to the other door. “Just keep your mouth shut, Eric.”

He nodded again, his eyes wide, as she let them into the room.

Russell looked up with a smug smile. “I knew you’d be back, Addison. And it’s a good thing, too. We’re almost out of time. Where is my phone?”

Addie sat in the chair opposite Russell, and Eric stood to her left, shooting down the middle of the table.

“It took a bit for Eric to get here,” she said. “I have nothing to do with your phone.”

“And you cleaned up,” he said, smiling approvingly. “You don’t quite look your best, but it’s at least better than what you had on before.”

She didn’t respond to the dig. “Why don’t you tell the viewers your point of view? I know you feel like you’ve been cleaning up the city with the fires you’ve set, but why don’t you give the reasoning behind your actions?”

Russell launched into a long-winded rant against the city and the bureaucratic machine that ran it. She had to agree with some of his points. There was a lot of corruption in the city. Did she bring up his own shady past?

Sure. Why not?

When he paused to take a breath, she broke in. “To be honest, though, you have to admit you’ve been part of the problem. You told me earlier that you basically blackmailed your boss to keep your job when you were arrested at the Shipley building. Isn’t that right? To sweep everything with Victoria under the rug.”

Russell glowered at her. “I used some information I had at my disposal to encourage my executive director to keep me on, yes.”

“Blackmail.”

“Yes, I guess you can call it that. But it goes back to a bigger problem…”

Addie glanced at the clock on the wall. They were down to twenty minutes.

“And what is it you plan on blowing up today, Russell?” she said quickly, before he could launch into another rant. “Explain to the people of Columbus how you are making their lives better by setting their homes on fire. And planting IEDs in news vans and high schools.”

Anger sparked in his eyes, but he didn’t let it out. He was very aware that he was on film, being recorded for posterity.

“You’re being dramatic, Addison. I’m not burning people’s homes. I’m,” he started, but she spoke over him again.

“But you did, Russell. You burned Nelson alive. He and his innocent mother, correct? And you burned Victoria Sincenze. And Mama Kate. You tried to burn my cameraman and my boyfriend. How did any of them have anything to do with the corruption in the city?”

Russell stared at her with fury in his eyes. Fury that would be visible on camera.

Addie cocked her head. “This all goes back to Victoria, doesn’t it? She shut you down repeatedly, and you had to show her what a big man you are, by stalking her from the shadows, just like you’ve been doing me. Right, Russell? I’ve read the reports, and all the things you did to her. If we test the DNA of that bone you left outside my car, is it going to come back to Victoria?”

Russell barked out a laugh and sat back in his chair a little. “Oh, Addison. You’re so much smarter than anyone gives you credit for. How did you know?”

It had been a shot in the dark, really, but she wasn’t going to tell him that. “It makes sense that you would want to keep a trophy from your first kill.”

He leaned forward, his handcuff chain rattling. “She was more than that!” he snapped. “I loved her.”

She gave him an incredulous look. “Right…” she drawled. “You loved her so much you killed her.”

Tears suddenly filled his eyes. “I didn’t mean to. I just meant to scare her, but the fire, she got out of control and she took Victoria.”

Addie stared at him, trying to make sense of the words. He thought of the fire as ‘her’.

“And it was easier to kill the next time, wasn’t it? You knew there were people in the warehouse. And you didn’t know them, so it was like a blip on your radar, wasn’t it? I remember meeting you at that fire, and you seemed surprised when I said there may be people in there.”

“I didn’t know there were people there, but it didn’t matter. The place needed cleaned up. Cops were in there every hour of the day. It was ridiculous. They should have been patrolling and enforcing the laws. Instead, they were hanging out at the coffee shop and wasting taxpayer money.”

She let that sit out there for a minute. If, by chance, an audience did see this broadcast, his crazy needed to shine through.

Addie glanced at the wall clock. Eighteen minutes.

“It was a little shocking to me that you got caught yesterday, Russell. But I think you planned it, because you’re not stupid.”

His eyes flashed, and he grinned. “Yeah, I did. It was exciting because I didn’t know if they were going to shoot me or not. I rode that adrenalin rush for hours. The fire was disappointing, but there wasn’t a lot of fuel.”

Addie shook her head, wondering how she could get him to tell her where the IEDs were. She knew where two of them had been placed, but she didn’t know where the other two were. At least, not for sure. Central Headquarters for the Columbus Police Department was a good bet as the ‘finale’, but it could even be more than one device.

Addie leaned forward, her voice low and steady. “You know, Russell, it’s fascinating how you justify your actions. But I wonder—if you really cared about cleaning up the city, why would you risk innocent lives? People like Victoria and those in the warehouse?”

Russell’s expression hardened, his jaw tightening. “You don’t understand a thing, Addison. They were in the way. It was necessary. I thought you were beginning to understand.”

“Necessary?” She raised an eyebrow, feigning disbelief. “Are you saying that burning down buildings and killing people is part of your noble crusade?”

He leaned back, crossing his arms defiantly. There was disappointment in his expression. “You don’t get it. You’re just a pawn in their game, doing your little news pieces while the real corruption festers beneath the surface. People like me, we take action.”

“Action?” Addie scoffed, shaking her head. “You call this chaos action? You think anyone will rally behind you after all this? You’ve made yourself the villain, Russell. And for what? A few twisted ideals?”

His eyes flared with anger. “You think you can twist my words? You’re just trying to provoke me. But I know what I’m doing. I don’t need your approval. I thought you were going to be the one for me. Get me my phone!”

“I’m not trying to provoke you,” she said, her tone calm but firm. “I’m trying to understand why you’ve put the city at risk. You know you can’t win, right? Severn will find what you’ve done. And then what? You’ll be remembered as a madman, not a martyr. Just another sick monster.”

Russell jerked up in his chair, his mouth curling with fury. “Don’t call me that,” he snarled.

“What? Sick or monster? They both apply to you.”

He hissed at her, jerking at the cuffs on his wrists.

“Addie, the police academy IED has been found,” Gabbie said, and it almost scared the shit out of her. She’d completely forgotten about the earpiece. “Severn is on site below you.”

Some inner tension both ratcheted up and eased at the same time. She didn’t want him in danger, but if an IED needed disarmed, he would be the one to do it. And he would never let her be hurt. She had faith in that. She had faith in him.

Russell looked like he was going to stroke out. He glanced at the clock on the wall, and if she had any doubt that he’d planted a bomb here, it was gone when she saw the look of panic on his face. They were down to thirteen minutes. That looked like fear for his own life.

“She’s coming for you, Russell,” Addie said softly, and his manic gaze swung toward her. “You’ve teased her enough. You’ve used her, and now it’s time to pay her price. The fire is going to eat you up and spit out your bones. Maybe I’ll keep one of your bones…”

“Get me my phone,” he said, and there was now more than a hint of desperation in his voice.

Addie shook her head. “They’re not going to give you your phone. That is completely off the table. The only way you’re going to make it out of this building without burning, without feeding her, is if you tell me where the IED is. And how to dismantle it.”

He shook his head, his face contorting. “No, you won’t leave me here. You’ll burn too.”

Addie stood up from the table and backed away. “No, I won’t, Russell. I’m not chained to the table. I’m leaving this room in two minutes, and I’m leaving you here unless you tell me where the IED is. After what you’ve done to me, I will have no problem walking out that door and leaving your ass to burn.”

Russell paced back and forth, to the extent the chain would let him. He looked at the clock and twisted his arm, as if waiting for it to magically unfasten. He looked like a cornered animal.

“Let me go, Addison,” he said, voice firm.

She gave him a laughing look. “Seriously? Do I look like I have a handcuff key on me?”

“Get the detective, then,” he said, waving his free hand at the window. “I know she’s standing there watching.”

“Yeah, she is, but she told me to find out what you were planning. So far you haven’t told me anything we didn’t already know.”

He stared at her for a long moment, as if testing her resolve. “Fine,” he snapped. “I put a device in the Shipley building.”

Addie rolled her eyes. “Yeah, we figured that out.”

Russell clamped his lips shut, looking a little shocked.

Addie rolled her hand to tell him to get on with it. “We’re on a timeline, Dunn.”

He glowered at her. “There are two at the police academy. One in the dorm and one in the cafeteria.”

“Noted,” Gabbie said, and Addie knew she would relate the information. It was a challenge to keep the reaction off her face, but she had to. “Already knew that.”

“There’s no way,” Russell snapped. “Not unless you…”

His voice trailed away.

“Found your hidey-hole,” Addie finished. “Yes, we did. And your map and your phones. We’re just confirming with you what we’ve already figured out.”

The monster glanced at the clock on the wall. “Then I think I’m done here, if you have all the answers.”

Addie cocked her head at him. “It would be nice if you confirmed the Finale.”

A smirk curled his lips. “Ah, so you haven’t figured everything out, then. Hm, that’s a shame.”

He rocked back in his chair, arms crossed, like he was enjoying a show.

Sanctimonious ass. Yeah, that wasn’t going to fly. “Well, good luck being chained to the table, Russell. You’d better hope Severn is better than you think he is.”

She headed toward the door, nodding her head at Eric to lead.

“You’re not done, Addison,” he snapped. The chains jangled as he shifted, but she didn’t look at him. She opened the door for Eric to walk through, then she went through, closing the door firmly behind her.

“Addison! Addison!”

Addie was surprised when she was met in the hallway by Severn’s grinning face and strong arms.

“You were brilliant, beautiful. We couldn’t have done that any better.”

She drew back from his hug, looking up into his face. If he was grinning, surely they’d found all the IEDs. “Did you find them all?”

He shrugged lightly. “We think so.”

She smacked his arm. “What do you mean, you think so?”

He laughed at her. “Yes, I believe we found them all. The second one at the Police academy threw us a little, but they found it. There were two here, as well, but they’ve been taken care of.”

“Addison!” Russell yelled, and she could hear the panic in his voice.

They stepped into the viewing room, where Johnson was smiling softly, her arms crossed beneath her breasts.

“I didn’t think you’d have the gumption to leave him hanging like that,” she said, reaching to pat Addie’s shoulder. “Good girl. He’s sweating bullets right now. And I have a feeling…”

She’d no sooner said the words than Russell was yelling for her again. “Addison, there’s one in the closet in the northwest corner of the basement, and one in the Deputy Chief’s office on the fifth floor. If you uncuff me, I’ll dismantle them!” he cried.

She looked at Severn, and he nodded. “We got them. We might step outside the building for a minute, just in case he’s got something hidden up his sleeve, but I think we’re safe enough.”

They watched Russell scream for a minute as he kept glancing at the clock, then they very calmly walked out of the building. Severn kept his arm around her shoulders, and Addie was appreciative of the support. It had been a harrowing day, and she was more than ready to be done with all of it.

Once the bombing time elapsed, plus a ten-minute cushion, the few staff still there headed back inside.

Russell hadn’t moved, but he sat glaring on the other side of the glass. Addie would have laughed if she had more energy. He’d been had, and he knew it. Maybe they should have let him know that Severn had found the IEDs. But that would have been too easy. And no fun. Yes, maybe it was a little evil, but, oh, well.

“He will not be happy when we get him out of there and take him to booking,” Johnson said, laughing. She turned to face them both. “I have to tell you how much I appreciate everything you both have done for the department. And the city of Columbus. We never would have found him if you two hadn’t worked together.”

Addie looked up at Severn. He wore a satisfied expression, and he shook Johnson’s hand when she held it out. “It was our pleasure,” Severn said, then he looked down at Addie. There was an intensity to his expression, and she understood what he was telling her.

“It was,” she told Johnson, “although I’m very glad it’s over.”

They all nodded.

Eric leaned in to her line of sight. He’d been following along with the group like a lost puppy. “I feel like it would be criminal not to do a finish piece on this night,” he said, and she heaved a sigh.

“Yes, you’re probably right,” she said.

“ Good evening, Columbus. I’m Addie Kingston and tonight we bring you an update on the shocking series of arsons and bombings that have plagued our city over the past few months. Thanks to the tireless efforts of law enforcement and the bravery of our community, we can report that the individual responsible for these heinous acts has been apprehended and is in custody.”

She motioned to the glass of the interrogation room. Russell still sat inside, looking dazed.

“Earlier today, authorities arrested Russell Dunn, a former city employee, who stands accused of not only setting multiple fires but also of planting Improvised Explosive Devices throughout the city. Thanks to thorough investigative work and a critical tip-off, all devices have been safely located and dismantled, ensuring the safety of our neighborhoods.

“This case has revealed not just the dangers posed by one man’s obsession, but also the resilience of our community. Families displaced by the fires can now begin to heal, and with the swift action of our police department and the Lost and Found Investigative Group, the threat has been neutralized. We can all sleep peacefully, without fear, tonight.”