AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Go in there and tell them you love them. Tell them the whole fucking story.
But he didn’t. He was already late and… he was a fucking coward.
Gray had spent the morning trying to determine the identity of the young woman who’d told Vandal her secrets. But all he had to go on was arrest records and rumors about “Billy’s girls.” He’d called and texted Vandal and gotten no response. He’d even sent uniforms to check his typical haunts, but they hadn’t had any luck.
His mind wandered as he stared at his notes. The girls who died were probably a lot like Nancy. Most of them probably felt like they didn’t have any other choice, like no one would help them. Until Gray was assigned to the first murder, he hadn’t thought about Nancy in years. He knew that, realistically, there wasn’t much he could have done for her, especially without any adults on his side, but he still felt like he’d failed her. He wouldn’t fail these girls, neither the dead ones who needed justice nor the living ones who were potential victims.
He startled when his phone rang. Bryce’s name showed on the screen. He slid his thumb to answer. “What’s up?”
“I wanted to give a heads-up,” Bryce said. “A call has gone out for a fire, a big one, at Billy Andreas’s compound.”
“Oh fuck. Do you know any details, whether anyone is suspected to be inside?”
“Nope, just the location.”
“Okay. I’d better go. Thanks.”
He wasn’t going to make it home for dinner. Not like he’d knew what the fuck to say to Jack and Mason anyway. Jack had the night off if Gray remembered correctly. He and Mason would have plenty of time to talk about how much of an ass Gray had been.
As he headed to Thornton’s office, he sent Mason a text. Fire at Andreas house. Home late. That would have to do for now.
When Gray and Thornton pulled up at the scene half an hour later, the flames were out, but smoke still rose into the darkening sky. They got out of the car, flashed their badges at the uniformed officers who were keeping onlookers back, and crossed the barrier.
Thornton approached the chief, waiting while he talked into his radio. When he looked their way, Thornton said, “What can you tell us?”
The man frowned. “We’re trying to keep this quiet for now, but we’ve got four bodies in there. One might be Andreas himself.”
“And the others, any idea who they are?”
He shook his head. “They’re too badly burned to ID, but one body is most likely an adult male. The others are smaller, possibly older kids.”
The lunch Gray had eaten hastily formed a lump in his stomach. His phone buzzed, interrupting his morbid thoughts. It was Vandal.
He pointed to his phone. “It’s an informant. I’ve got to take it.”
Thornton nodded.
“Is it true? Did Andreas’s house just burn down?” Vandal asked as soon as Gray answered.
“Part of it’s still standing, but yeah.” It wasn’t like the fire could be kept secret. News crews had been on the scene since before he’d arrived.
“Was Billy there? Was anyone else?”
“I can’t discuss that.”
There was a long pause. Gray was worried Vandal would hang up, but finally, he said, “It’s like Jenna said, this guy is out for revenge on Billy.”
“Jenna. So that’s her name.”
“Um… yeah. She’s going to call you. You’ve got to listen to her.”
Gray tensed. He needed to keep Vandal on the line. “I’ll call her now if you’ll give me her number.”
“Can’t do that. But she’ll call you. I promise.”
“Just give me her contact information. You know me. I won’t share it.”
Vandal ended the call.
