Page 41 of On Fire

“That’s what we should be doing.” Nic stands and digs out the three dice from his pockets. He rolls them onto the coffee table. Two stop at four, and one rolls to a five. “It’s just like that.” He points at the table. “All three were left at bomb sites. He’s championing chance.”

“The bomber left one at the Blue Wave because he was in Portland when the other two bombs went off. He returned to the Portland sites after the explosions and left the two other ones.”

“Wait a minute. The bomber returned to both sites?” Carlson should know this. He’s just too stressed.

“It’s pretty common. They want to see results. They feed off the chaos.” Nic’s voice is low. “According to Bryce and Mateus, the bomber is not technically sophisticated. All three bombs are fairly simplistic. Not a lot to go wrong, and if it does, all that happens is it detonates at the wrong time. What’s not simplistic is where the bombs were placed.”

Nic asks Carlson for a laptop, and rests it on the coffee table next to the dice. Carlson opens it for him and then he enters Colton Security’s private site.

He taps the keyboard and three CAD schematics open. He rotates each and zooms in, so we have an insect’s view of the workings of the kitchens. This is data loaded by Luke’s camera. Pretty damn impressive.

With each tap, with each incremental leap closer, it becomes clear that whoever laid these placed them in the perfect spot to cause the worst damage.

“The only person allowed on site after the explosions were either first responders, police, clean-up crews, and investigators,” Carlson says.

“That’s right. What this is pointing to is someone with architectural background, a knowledge of combustibles, and access to the sites. Which points, again, to me,” Nic says with a wry smile.

“Not funny.” Finn is not ready for jokes.

“It points to anyone with a badge. Jesus,” Carlson says again.

“Look—I think it’s going to be easier if I just do my job. If they pick me up or you are ordered to pick me up, then just do it. I’ll handle things when it happens.”

Carlson’s other phone goes off. His police chief phone. He glances down at a text.

He stares at the screen for a moment and then says, “Well, that’s happening right now.”

΅

Finn and I follow Carlson and Nic. He’s taking him in for questioning by two federal agents.

My heart thuds in my chest. I can’t imagine what he’s about to go through. The guy is so private, to have his life opened up by two strangers will be a nightmare.

The car ride is fifteen minutes, tops. During the whole thing, Finn rants about injustice, about how ridiculous this is, how unfair it is. Then he moves from existential rants to focusing his energy on me.

“And so, what about you two?”

“What?”

“I know he spent the night at your place. What’s up, Keller?” He grips the wheel.

“What do you mean, ‘what’s up?’”

“Don’t break his heart, okay?”

“What?”

“Quit saying that.”

“What?”

“That.”

I press my lips together.

He goes on. “Don’t mess with that heart of his. Don’t fall in love and then walk away. You know why he’s so loyal? Why he’s so devoted to me, to Claire, to the company? Because he doesn’t abandon anyone. Ever. So don’t do it to him.”

I feel like I’m clutching my shirt. “I don’t plan to.”