Page 88 of Lost Lake
He rolled free and took a quick look at the cabin area. The blast had kicked debris across the clearing, splintered boardsscattered, and a twisted chunk of metal lay farther off, half-buried in the dirt.
Eyes still wide, El rubbed her hands up and down her arms. “What was that?”
“The propane tank,” he said. “The reason I made sure we moved this far from the building.”
On her side now, El inched closer to him. She glanced in Price’s direction. His gaze was fixed on the cabin as if fearing another explosion.
She took Gabe’s hand and lifted it to her mouth for a butterfly-soft kiss. “You could’ve just saved my life. Not once but twice.”
He pressed his lips on her hand, too. “You’re way too important to me to lose you. Especially not after losing Kenna. It would kill me.”
“I don’t want to lose you either.” She squeezed his hand and let go.
“You don’t know how badly I want to kiss you right now.”
“You’re wrong. I want the same thing.”
Price cleared his throat and started toward them.
El lifted her shoulders and sat up, her detective persona solidly in place as she faced Price. “I can hear firetrucks in the distance. Meet them at the trail entrance and escort them back here.”
He took a last look at the cabin and jogged down the trail.
She turned her attention to Gabe. “We need to read Ulrich’s witness report. Maybe see if she gave him additional information. If not, we’ll talk to her.”
“Sounds like a plan,” he said.
“After that, it’s time we interview Silas Tinsley,” she said. “Jonas Trent, too.”
“I doubt they’re personally involved in holding Lucy, but one of them sent a flunky to take care of her. The person who set this fire.”
“You could be right. First, we check in with Hayden to find out what background information he located on them. Should tell us if either of them has military or law enforcement experience. Could mean they’ve used the special chokehold before. Because if they did then…then we could find Lucy and a killer all in one clean sweep.”
Three hours later, El and Gabe took seats in the hospital employee lounge, waiting for nurse Caitlyn Armstrong to join them. El had read Ulrich’s report from the witness interview and wanted to leave immediately to ask additional questions, but as the lead detective on the cabin investigation, she’d had to interface with the fire department.
A good thing. It had allowed her and Gabe to give their eyewitness accounts of the fire, origination, and explosion to the captain. El and Gabe believed they were looking at arson. So did the captain. But no one in their small department was skilled in arson detection to confirm their theory, so he’d called in a state arson investigator, who would arrive in the morning.
“Did I do something wrong?” Caitlyn asked as she took a seat in one of the squeaky vinyl chairs across from them. “I mean, I told that other detective everything I know.”
“Absolutely nothing wrong.” El offered her a smile. “We appreciate you reporting the situation and your cooperation.”
“Then why are you here?” Caitlyn began gnawing the pink lipstick off her lower lip.
“I’m the lead detective on the case, and I find it helpful to hear directly from a witness what they observed. So if you don’t mind, could you tell me what happened?”
“Sure, but I can’t be gone for more than fifteen minutes or I’ll screw up the entire department schedule for the day.” She let out a slow breath and launched into the same story that Ulrich had noted in his report.
She didn’t change her story, meaning she was more than likely telling the truth. Or she could be a great liar. She might’ve been at the park for a different reason than running, and she didn’t want anyone to know. Maybe she was having an affair and meeting in a deserted parking lot in the middle of the night. Could be one of many reasons she might lie.
El needed to dig deeper to see if she could catch a contradiction in her story. “Were there any other vehicles in the parking lot?”
She shook her head. “Just mine.”
“If you don’t mind me asking,” Gabe said. “Isn’t it kind of dangerous to run in such a remote area alone?”
Caitlyn cocked her head. “Honestly, I think the seclusion makes it better than my usual trail because not many people even know that one exists.”
“So, you don’t usually run there, then?” El followed up.
