Never Tell (Detective D.D. Warren #10) - Lisa Gardner Page 0,121

there is hope for us. Maybe there is hope for me.

“We know Conrad knew Jacob,” Quincy murmurs from behind Keith’s shoulder. “If we use I. N. Verness to vouch for Conrad, and Conrad to vouch for I. N. Verness …”

Keith starts to nod. Quincy peers down closer at the screen. They are on it. Meaning my work here is done. I end the call with D.D., head for the door.

“Where are you going?” Keith calls out.

“I’m gonna catch myself a firebug.”

• • •

I START WITH a map of the Green Line pulled up on my phone. It’s a major artery, but then the Boston T system has many of them. Unfortunately, based on where Rocket entered the system, he would’ve passed through several major hubs where he could’ve exited the Green Line and entered any number of other ones. It takes me about thirty seconds to realize the possibilities are endless and I’m not going to get anywhere staring a color-coded mass-transit map.

Instead, I start plotting points. Rocket’s neighborhood. Where I’d think, having conducted his business, he’d head back to. A comfort-zone sort of thing, till the dust settled. Add to that, the location of his drop box. Having performed a major job, he’d also want to collect his fee.

Both of these points are in the exact opposite direction of Rocket’s Lechmere-bound subway. Was he trying to be clever? Knew the police might be watching so deliberately tried to mislead them? Except if he’s that smart, he’d know they’d be waiting for him at home, too. So maybe, in fact, he can’t go back to the hood. He needs a safer place to hang for a while.

I decide to be brave. I dial not D.D. but her second-in-command, Phil, the detective voted most likely to be Father of the Year. He doesn’t like me. I’m never sure what to make of him. I didn’t grow up with a father, so I’m never sure if his perpetual scowl of disapproval is the real thing or a show of affection.

“Does Rocket Langley have a list of known associates?” I ask without preamble. “I’m staring at the T map, and he headed directly away from his neighborhood, which makes me think he may have another place to hang out.”

“D.D. asked you to chase Rocket?” Yep, definite disapproval.

“I’ve met him before.”

“And if you catch him?”

“I pinky promise I’ll only talk to him. Unless, of course, he starts playing with matches. Then all bets are off.”

“Rocket has an older brother and a friend from high school. Both live on the same block, however.”

So much for that theory. “Do you know when he got the gig to burn Dick Delaney’s town house?”

“Actually, we have two detectives reviewing every second of video footage, and the only activity we can find at his drop box is Wednesday morning before the first fire. If he was contracted to do a second job at Delaney’s, we haven’t picked up any contact yet.”

I frown. Rocket had a system. Why deviate from it now? I’d made contact with him last night, but he had no reason to think of me as a legal threat. Instead, I’m his somewhat scary future client. So again …

I get an uncomfortable feeling. Lechmere. Headed toward Cambridge. Where Evie lived with her mother.

Her house.

Her lawyer’s house.

Her mother’s house.

“It wasn’t one target,” I hear myself whisper.

“Excuse me?”

“The initial drop. Rocket wasn’t contracted to burn just Evie’s house. He was contracted to torch three homes, the three places Conrad could’ve hidden a secret. His home, the attorney’s home, his mother-in-law’s home. Rocket is headed to Cambridge, where he’ll hit Evie’s mother’s house next.”

Chapter 34

EVIE

“YOU HAD NO RIGHT!”

Mr. Delaney trails after me, holding out a hand in reconciliation. I’m not interested. I come up against a wall of gawking people, staring at the still smoking building, and feel my frustration double. I’m sick of crowds and media vans and people who treat my life like entertainment. I’m equally sick of my mother and Mr. Delaney, the two people who claim to love me but never tell me the truth.

I veer from the crowd, then think, fuck it. I duck under the yellow perimeter tape. People part instantly as I shove my way through. I assume Mr. Delaney will stay behind. Instead, he plunges into the throng of people behind me.

“Just give me a minute.”

“I don’t want to hear it!”

“One minute!”

“No!”

But now we’ve burst through the sea of people. The sudden onslaught of fresh air stops me. Mr. Delaney grabs my