Page 87 of Jack

“Not sure what happened, but when I drove by the market this morning, the bus was still in flames, fire trucks and everything. Jack left about twenty minutes ago.”

She didn’t have time for coffee. Instead, she walked to the door, grabbed her jacket.

Conrad came behind her. “Where are you going?”

She shrugged on the coat. “To the market. Everything he owns is inside that schoolie. And . . .” She didn’t know why her voice shook. “I just . . .”

“Care. Okay, I get it.” Conrad walked over and grabbed his jacket. “I’m going with you.”

“You don’t?—”

“I think I do. You’re not the only one who is worried about Jack.”

“I’m going too,” Stein said.

“It’s a party,” she said and grabbed her keys. “But I’m driving.”

She headed outside, the guys on her tail, her heart thundering. “Who would want to burn Jack’s schoolie?”

“No idea,” Conrad said.

“Maybe it has to do with your missing friend,” Stein said, wedging his body into the back seat.

“Penelope? Why would—” She exhaled. “I hope not.”

“Still missing, huh?” Conrad said. “That’s disturbing.”

She glanced at him. Nodded.

“How do you two know each other?” Conrad asked. If she thought Stein was big, Conrad barely fit in her Chevy Sonic, his thighs the size of timbers, his presence taking up most of the front seat. She’d seen him get into more than a few fights on the ice, so he could probably handle himself just as well as Stein, or nearly.

The thug squad, these two, and she suddenly realized they’d tagged along for protection. For her? Probably for Jack.

Still, sweet.

“We were roommates in college at the U of M and for a year after we graduated. She moved home when her sister’s fiancé was murdered, and that’s when I headed to Nashville, but we stayed close. She reached out to me to do the murder podcast on the Mike Grizz case, and I connected her to Oaken and Boo.”

A line of smoke trailed up into the sky, still dissipating as they drew near town.

She slowed. Traffic backed up around the market, gawkers.

Sheriff’s cars and a fire truck still sat on the lot.

Only blackened shells remained of the schoolie and the car parked next to it, clear casualties of the flames. She parked next to Jack’s Geo and got out, the air soggy, sooty, and redolent of burnt rubber.

Jack stood, his hands in his back pockets, talking with a deputy.

Jenna.Of course. Harper took a breath and walked up to them, followed by Stein and Conrad. She stopped next to Jack. Might have reached out and taken his hand if it hadn’t been tucked away.

He appeared grim, his jaw tight, the loss reflected in the hard stare he gave his former home. What had he called it—Aggie?

“You okay?”

He nodded, drew in a breath. “They’re still trying to track down the owner of the other car.” He shook his head, looked at Jenna. “Let me know when you locate that car.”

“What car?”

He turned and hooked Harper by the arm, walked her away from Jenna. “They caught a car on tape driving by the front of the market this morning. Of course, they don’t have any cameras in the back lot, but they think it might be the arsonists.” He had slipped his hand down to hers, gripped it. Maybe for moral support, but she gripped it back.