Total pages in book: 64
Estimated words: 59146 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 296(@200wpm)___ 237(@250wpm)___ 197(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 59146 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 296(@200wpm)___ 237(@250wpm)___ 197(@300wpm)
She didn’t flinch, flicking through the photos, her jaw tightening with each page she turned. The meanness in her eyes was colder than before. And yeah. My cock sat up and took notice.
“He did this to a woman before,” Juniper said.
“Yeah,” I said. “She’s an ex-girlfriend. The storage unit she rented went up after she left him. He was never charged, but I’d bet my left nut he was involved.”
She tapped the photo -- burn marks crawling up the wall, just like Danner said. “Walk me through how it works,” she said. “What does five gallons of accelerant actually do? Like, physically?”
“You pour it into the right place, it’s a wall of fire before anyone can react. If you stage it, it looks like old wiring or bad luck. But you use five gallons, and it’s deliberate. It’ll burn so hot and fast there’s nothing for arson investigators to test. Especially if the building already stored something like gas or oil. The bastard who did this, he’s done it more than once.”
“So she violated the company’s policy and voided her insurance?”
“You’d think so, wouldn’t you?”
She studied the papers, flipping through and skimming. “I don’t understand the technical aspects of the investigation, but…”
“But?” I prompted.
“If there was a possibility of her bringing in large quantities of flammable liquid, why didn’t the insurance company review the security footage to see? Places like that have to have pretty good security cameras.”
“Good call.” I grinned at her. “Except that, in the days leading up to the fire, the security system had an issue. All the storage renters were notified by email or text and also in writing. That was two days before the fire.”
“Convenient,” she mused, meeting my gaze.
“It certainly is.”
Juniper’s lips curled, and it wasn’t a pleasant sight. Kind of gave me chills while simultaneously bringing all the blood in my body straight to my dick. “You think Brett’s planning to do this again. To my building this time.”
“Yeah.” I started laying out the purchase records Knight had pulled. “He bought ten gallons of racing fuel from less than reputable sources. That’s enough to level the bakery and whatever’s next to it. He also bought trackers. We found the one in your recipe box, but there could be another one.”
“Why now?” she asked. “If the review bombs and the health complaints didn’t work, why torch the place? He doesn’t even get the insurance if I lose everything.”
I shrugged. “Best guess? He wants to see you broken. The cash offer was a test. The fake reviews, the inspectors, your girl quitting. Death by a thousand cuts. Now that you’ve refused to budge, he escalates. He tries to make it look like a freak accident or carelessness on your part. Maybe he even doesn’t try to hide that it’s arson. Maybe he makes it look like you did this and you lose the insurance money, as well as end up in prison for insurance fraud.” I saw her anger grow with each passing second. Though I didn’t want to cause her more distress, seeing her ready to fight suited me much better than tears. “This is straight-up predator bullshit, Juniper. And it ends with you, whether you agree or not. So don’t ask to be involved or even know what’s going on if you can’t handle the fact that this fucker is going to die.”
“You’re not doing anything without me,” she said. “I’m not ignorant, so I’m not going to pretend to not understand what you’re talking about. So I will say this. Either we’re a team, or there is no ‘us’.”
“All right, then.”
She looked contemplative. “You think he’ll use the same stuff? Do things the same way?”
“He’s a creature of habit,” I said. “He uses what he trusts. Knight’s tracking the transactions, but the way this is set up, he can strike and be gone in under two minutes. If we’re not on-site and ready before he lights it, it will be too dangerous to approach. The only variable is degrees of destruction.”
She exhaled, jaw clenched. “I really hate that fucker,” she muttered. “Do you want me to keep the shop closed?”
“I’d prefer it. I know you have bills, but you have to know the club will help you out. We can live here. This place takes care of itself.”
“I’m not worried about my stuff or even how my life plays out from here. I can replace stuff. None of it is as important as keeping that bastard from preying on someone else. You guys do what you have to. I can’t do much, but I’ll be an alibi. I can lie with the best of them when necessary.”
I felt pride twist in my chest. She was made for this. There was nothing in her now that looked like prey. “Don’t worry. It won’t come to that. Knuckles is protective of everyone in Kiss of Death. He’s the club president.”