Page 27 of Burning For You

He whistled as he strolled down the street, his hands in his pockets.

What a night it had been.

Good. Very good. One for the books.

They’d be chasing the wrong trail now, second-guessing themselves, and filing it away as a mistake. Guess he was sharper than he’d ever been given credit for. Smarter than they thought.

It was a shame it hadn’t flared the way he’d imagined. That part disappointed him. He’d misjudged the burn, rushed the setup, trying to get it done. Tonight just called for it.

It was almost like the truck’s owners had been inviting trouble. He’d seen the kids there the night before with stolen beer, laughter, and a makeshift fire burning in a canister to keep the cold off.

No one said he had to use it the same way.

He’d lit it right there in the bed of the truck. It just hadn’t burned hot enough, or fast enough, even with the wood they’d left behind. Disappointing, sure, but that wasn’t the point.

The point was confusion.

Let them think he was sloppy. Let them believe he didn’t know what he was doing. The truth was far more dangerous... he knew exactly who he was, and exactly what came next.

He was only getting started.

His pace quickened as he slipped into the crowd of kids ringing doorbells, laughter and candy mixing in the air. Someone from school—someone he’d hated—caught his eye and waved. He smiled back, easy and practiced.

Oh boy. This might have been the best Halloween he’d had in ages!

8

GOING TO FIND OUT

The ringing of her bell had her opening the door with the bowl of candy in her hand.

It’d been years since she’d done this and hadn’t realized how much she was missing it.

The quiet reminder of home. Of what a community shared.

No worries. No fears.

Just knocking on the doors of their neighbors and getting a few candy bars.

And what she didn’t hand out, she’d eat while she worked.

But the minute she shut the door, she heard her scanner going off.

Skye waited and listened. Could just be a false alarm like often with the fire department.

Or the police department. Especially tonight of all nights.

There it was though. A vehicle fire.

She waited to get the address, then quickly wrote a note for kids to take two pieces and set the bowl outside her door as she raced away.

The minute she pulled onto the scene she saw the firefighters dousing the flames in the front and the back of the truck.

Interesting and something a bit different.

Which of course made her think maybe it wasn’t the same person.

She was looking around, trying to see if there was anyone else here that might have been at the last one. Most times the guilty stayed to watch the action, but with it being Halloween, there were more people around and half in costume.