The Fire Still Burns Read Online Free PDF

at the loss.  Presumably, he had been tied to a column which stood in the middle of the house, then, the arsonist had soaked him in gasoline before dousing everything in sight, making a trail so he or she could be safe and clear before tossing the lit match.
    His death would have been excruciatingly painful and, for that, Brynn was sorry.  No living creature deserved to endure that much pain, even if they regularly inflicted pain and misery on others, a talent Zeke mastered.
    Brynn squatted in front of the column where Zeke had suffered his last moments and spoke to him as though the charred column were his tombstone.  “You're dead, Zeke, and Cal took his own life after stealing my money, so I'm back home again.  Who'd have thought I'd be involved in finding your killer?  I guess you want justice.  Ironic that you would want that, but then again, you always did have a swelled ego.”
    Laughter escaped her, the rough sound holding no trace of joy.  “Of course you would want the one person who was able to hurt you to be punished, even though the people you hurt never got any justice, did they?  Except for this one, that is.  I'll find the killer, Zeke, because it's the right thing to do, but I hope you burn in a hell far hotter than the one you burned in here.”
    Brynn stood and shook her head to shake out the negative thoughts inside it.  Wasting time thinking of the things that happened before she had left home ¾ the way everything she'd ever planned for fell apart ¾ wasn’t useful to her at all.  Recalling the way Adam spoke to her at the other site definitely wasn’t productive.  She was going to solve this case, grab the money, and go.
    The fire had burned out large sections of the roof so she was able to see the stars twinkling overhead.  She'd missed the stars, she realized sadly.  Her son, Nate, had been amazed by the thick blanket of them his first night in Black Bear Gorge.  A smile escaped her as she remembered how in awe he'd appeared, and how hard he hadn't wanted it to show, trying to exude a level of aloof coolness all pre-teens struggled to uphold.
    The stars reminded her it was time to call it a day.  In addition to dried sweat and dirt coating her clothes and some skin, she hadn't been able to find anything useful in the daylight hours and she certainly wouldn't find anything in the dark.
    Disappointed by the lack of physical evidence, but still determined to succeed in her job, she walked through piles of ash toward the large gaping hole that used to be the side of the farmhouse, wanting nothing more than to soak away the smell of smoke in a tub of bubbles and sleep for at least half a day.
    A loud creak from a dried out board sounded above her.  Brynn turned her head to the left just in time to see a beam swing in her direction.  Before she could move, something hit her from behind and she landed hard against the floorboards, air leaving her lungs with a whoosh .  Debris and dust flew in the air as a beam landed right where she’d stood a moment before.    
    “Are you all right?”  A deep voice she knew all too well asked as she was helped to her feet. 
    “Yeah, Adam, I'm… I'm fine.”  Her answer little more than a croak, her chest hurt from the polluted air rushing back in to her lungs.
    Adam looked up, his eyes widened.  “Let's go.”
    The rumbling sound above gave her all the warning she needed that this was not the time to argue. She ran with Adam out the opening, narrowly avoiding having the ceiling fall in on top of them.  They stopped by their parked vehicles and turned to see the farmhouse cave in.
    “What the—” Adam doubled over, hacking hard enough to produce an organ.  “—the hell did you do in there?”
    “I karate-kicked one of the supporting beams,” Brynn snapped through a wheeze, fear adding to her short temper.  “What do you think I did?  I'm not stupid.”
    “I know, I know.  That just scared me to death.”  He rubbed his