The Fire Still Burns (23 page)

“What is it?”

“What do you think?” he bit out.  “They just found a second body in a burning house within a matter of months.”

“This has officially become a homicide investigation,” Brynn stated, “and I guess that means they don't want our input.”

“Well, according to Sheriff Clarkson, all we've been doing is playing footsie anyway.”  He sunk down onto the couch, clenching his jaw tight enough for a visible indentation to show.

“Are they getting outside help?”

“You know they will.  It's just a matter of time before the state police roll in and take over.”  Adam balled up his fist and brought it down on the cushion between them.

“We've still got time.”

“Brynn.”

“They don't know what we know.  We have Rachel's diary.”  She waved her hand toward the diary and notes on the coffee table.

“And what does that diary say?”  Adam stared off into space, but his pain was clear.  He already had a good idea of what the diary's pages contained.

“He was definitely dealing drugs,” Brynn answered.  “Rachel also wrote that he coerced her into having sex with other men for money, which he kept most of.”

“So he was a drug-dealing pimp.”  He closed his eyes and rested his head against the back of the couch.

“Basically.”

“How could he have done this without anyone knowing?”

“He did it out of town.  He said he worked in Gatlinburg so nobody questioned him.  I imagine he held his part-time job there to provide cover, but he got his real money from drugs and pimping Rachel out on occasion.  He probably didn't spend his money here so no one would be the wiser.”

“He stayed gone sometimes.  Maybe he had a place out of town,” Adam conceded, opening his eyes to meet her gaze.

“It would make sense.  He'd keep most of his stuff there, and, obviously, he wouldn't want his business following him to Black Bear Gorge.”

“So why didn't he just leave this town?”

“Why haven't you?”  Brynn ran her fingers along the hem of the shirt she wore.

“This is my home,” Adam said sternly.  “I don't have dreams of big money or anything like that.  All I've ever wanted is a family and the ability to provide shelter for them.  I had all that here.  Or, at least, I thought I'd have it,” he added, looking at her with regret evident in his gaze.

“Why didn't you marry after I left?”

“There was only one woman I ever saw myself walking down the aisle with.”  His eyes glistened as he ran his gaze over her.  “If it couldn't be you, then it just couldn't be.  I wasn't taking a substitute.”

Brynn’s heart skipped a beat, the simple act of breathing grew harder.  “I'm sorry your plans didn't work out. We shared that dream.”

“Why does it have to be past tense?”

Because your brother screwed it all up, she wanted to say, but instead chose to change the topic to remind Adam they still needed to find the heartless snake's killer.

“The diary also indicated that Zeke was doing something to girls.  Something Rachel didn't come out and say, but it was something I assume he'd done to her.  Maybe the prostitution.”

Adam winced at the word, and Brynn felt sorry for him.  How had he come from such a messed up family?  There were times in the past she'd found herself praying that the bad blood of the Good family wouldn't spread into her own son.  The thought of the people he came from sent chills down her spine.

“I still can't believe it.”  Adam broke into her thoughts.  “Zeke was my brother.  We were raised the same, to be good people.  My mother drove us nuts with her preaching all the time, but we listened. We knew what was right and what was wrong.”  His eyes widened.  “If my poor mother ever finds out, it'll destroy her.  She'll never be able to accept that Zeke did these things.”

She'll never admit it, either.

She knew damn well Doris Good was not the saint Adam thought her to be.  Brynn wasn't even sure she was a Christian.  She'd tried to tell Adam's mother the truth of what happened all those years ago, but the woman wouldn't have any of it.  She'd labeled Brynn a whore, a tempting snake in the Garden of Eden, Eve bearing the apple…

“Brynn?”

“What?” She shook herself out of the awful flashback starting to insert itself in her brain.  “I'm sorry, I zoned out for a moment there.”

Adam patted the cushion next to him, gesturing for Brynn to slide closer to him.

“That's a dangerous suggestion, Good,” she said, knowing she wanted to get as close as possible to him but fighting the urge for both their sakes.

“Why do you call me that?”  He narrowed his eyes on her.

“Why do I call you what?”

“Good.  You never called me by my last name before you left here.  I don't like it.”

She cringed under the hard look he gave her, feeling like a child being admonished.  “I'm sorry, I wasn't aware you didn't like to be called by your last name.”

“What I don't like is you using my last name against me to distance us,” he clarified.  “I let it slide when you first came back to town and we were thrust into this situation together, but, over time, I think we've progressed past being enemies.”  He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees but kept his head turned toward her.  “Yet, you keep throwing my last name at me as a barrier.  I know you still have feelings for me.  Why are you fighting them so hard?”

“I already explained that to you.”  She squirmed under his unrelenting stare.

“You gave me lies.  The problems between us and the situation with your son we can work out, unless there's more you're not telling me.  Does this have to do with my brother?”

Brynn’s heart thumped heavily in her chest beating so fast that passing out became a possibility.  How could he know?  How could he have figured out?

“Do you think I'm tainted because I have his blood?” 

He knew nothing.  Brynn shifted between sweet relief and deep sorrow. It was so unfair that Adam had to bear the weight of his brother's sins, that he'd believed in someone so horrid.  All because they shared blood, a fact he had no control over whatsoever.

“Of course not,” Brynn responded, touching his cheek lightly.  “You're not your brother.”

I just wish I'd known that the night I followed him into the room where Cal was waiting for me
.

She damned herself once more for the stupid mistake that had ruined both their lives.  “I'm just putting up barriers because I don't want to hurt my loved ones again.  I can't do it again and live with myself.”

“I trust you not to hurt me,” his words were branded with sincerity, “and I know you will do right by your son.  You don't have to shut me out to take care of him.”

Brynn dropped her hand and expelled a shaky breath.  “Adam, we need to solve this case before we examine our relationship any further,” she said in hope of moving the topic away from dangerous territory.  “People, including your brother, have been killed.  Property is being damaged, and someone very unstable is out there walking free.  This is bigger than what is happening between you and me.”

Adam cleared his throat, slowly nodding in agreement as he scooted back a fraction, straightening against the back of the couch.  “You're absolutely right.  So, we have motive for Rachel Wood to kill Zeke.  Either she wanted out of the lifestyle he'd drawn her into or…you mentioned she wrote about him doing something bad to other girls.”

“It seemed like she was compelled to stop him,” Brynn stated, glad to be discussing something which didn't directly involve her and Adam.

“But, someone killed her, too.  She didn't just drop dead of natural causes beneath the floorboards of a house.”  Adam turned his body to fully face her.

“We don't know yet for a fact who died first, but they couldn't have killed each other.  One could have killed the other, but—”

“There has to be a third party involved,” Adam finished her sentence.  “Who would want to kill Rachel?”

“If she was helping Zeke with the drugs, a deal could have gone wrong and she got caught up in it.”

“A jilted boyfriend, angry that she carried another man's child?” Adam suggested.

“You knew her.  Who cared for her?”

“Jimmy Nelson had a mad infatuation with her,” Adam supplied.  “The boy got googly-eyed and tongue-tied whenever she was near.  I'm sure he didn't like the thought of her with other guys.  If he knew she was doing it for money…if he knew my brother was involved…”  Adam tightened his hands into fists and Brynn covered his hand with her own, easing some of the tension from him.

“So we've got Jimmy Nelson on the jealousy angle, but he really did seem sincere in thinking Rachel was alive and had just run off,” Brynn stated.  “What other enemies did your brother have?”

“Obviously, if he was dealing drugs, a situation could have gone terribly bad, or if he was doing something to girls that Rachel really wanted to stop…”

Brynn groaned inwardly, realizing Adam was never going to detach himself enough to thoroughly explore what could have happened.  In his mind, he knew Rachel had killed Zeke, and then someone had killed her.  But, in her gut, Brynn knew that couldn't be right.

Still, she had to take him through this as gently as possible until it came time to slap him in the face with the facts.  “So, what if the same person killed them both?  Who do you know who would have wanted to take out both of them?”

Adam thought about it, chewing his bottom lip as he worked out an answer.  “Someone I hadn't even thought of before,” he answered after a few minutes of deep thought.  “Stacy Willinger.”

“Why would she want to kill them?”  Brynn blinked in surprise at the sudden suggestion of Stacy’s name.  “Correct me if things changed after I left, but Stacy knew Zeke worshiped the ground she walked on and used him to get closer to you.  And she finally got you,” she added bitterly.  “I hardly see her getting into a jealous rage over Zeke and one of his girlfriends.”

“She never had me,” Adam said firmly, his eyes dark.  “Ten minutes was all she got, and she knew damn well it meant nothing to me.  Believe me, she got off on the fact Zeke adored her.  This last year he grew more independent of her, finally tiring of her games.  Maybe she decided she wanted him after all and didn't like the fact he had Rachel.”

“But he had other girlfriends, too.”

“Rachel was pregnant.  Maybe Stacy thought she couldn't compete with the mother of his child.”

“A child he didn't want.”

“Stacy might not have known that.”

“Adam,” Brynn said, seeing the possibilities but too aware of the obvious.  “Although that all sounds plausible, we can't ignore the fact that Rachel was found beneath floorboards, which is exactly where your brother taught you to hide things that would get you into trouble.”

Adam looked away, his lips thinned as rosy color infused his cheeks.  “He also taught that hiding place to Rachel,” he bit out.  “Maybe he taught it to Stacy, too.  It makes sense.  She killed Rachel out of jealousy and hid her, maybe Zeke hid the body for her.  Even though he'd grown away from her a little, you remember how obsessed he was with her, all the fights we got into because she liked me and I didn't even want the woman.  If she snapped her fingers, he'd do her bidding, no doubt about it.”

“But why would she kill him?”

Jeez, Adam.  How many straws are you going to grasp at?

“She got scared,” he answered with a shrug.  “Thought he might tell somebody, so she covered her tracks.  Maybe she just got really mad at him.  I don't know.” 

Brynn thought about it, saw how the scenario could work, but her gut said no.  “Adam, I think your brother killed Rachel, either because she wouldn't abort the baby or because she threatened to stop him from doing something to some other girl, and then I think someone else he had hurt finished him off.”

Adam shook his head, obviously in denial.

“Adam, think about it.”  She rested her hand on his muscular shoulder and suppressed the shudder of awareness the move sent through her. 

Focus, Brynn!
  “Rachel has been missing since before he was murdered, since before all these fires started.

“Whoever is starting the fires is starting them in places that are associated with him.  His best friend's grandparents' home, the football field where he played—the arsonist even left his jersey as a clue—and, then, the very house Rachel's body was hidden in.”

“So, you're saying the arsonist is telling us my brother killed this girl and all the fires have just been to lead us to this conclusion?”

“I think so.”

“Who would know, Riley?”

“She did attack you.”  Brynn looked at the blossoming color on Adam’s cheekbone, evidence of the incident.

“Stating my family would pay for what Zeke did to her sister.”

“But, she had no idea her sister's body was in that house.  You saw her.  She couldn't have faked her reaction,” Brynn stated firmly, recalling the girl's sorrowful wails, how she'd kept repeating that she'd almost lost her sister again.

“She's a high school student, she would have access to where his retired jersey was kept.”  Adam rubbed his chin.  “And her family lives above their store which is located right by the football field.”