What Burns Within (9 page)

“Sorry to keep you waiting.” He was halfway down in the chair before he glanced across the table, deliberately wrinkled his brow and then looked straight into the eyes of Alex Wilson. “The officer who brought you in didn’t offer you something to drink? Can I get you a Coke, a bottled water, anything?”

Alex Wilson shook his head, pushing his thick black frames up on his nose.

Tain figured ten-to-one odds Wilson was some technogeek.

“I’m sorry we had to ask you to come down here on the weekend. Did the officer who brought you in explain what this is about?”

His stringy blond hair bobbed as he nodded, though Alex’s eyes had an unusual way of staying fixed in one position, the rest of his head shifting without affecting his gaze at all. Tain glanced at the clock.

Thirty-five minutes and this guy hadn’t said one word. Tain reached for the tape recorder. He cued the tape and recorded the session information.

“Could you state your name for the record please?”

Little lines formed around Alex’s mouth, and his eyes widened just a tiny bit.

“It isn’t a problem for us to record this, is it? It just makes the paperwork easier.” Tain offered him a relaxed smile, like a schoolkid caught trying to skimp on his homework assignments.

Alex’s gaze flickered from Tain’s face to the tape recorder and then he opened his mouth. “Alex Wilson,” he squeaked.

“Could you say that again, a little louder? These old things are garbage.”

Alex repeated his name and ran a hand across his forehead.

Tain found the abrupt change in Wilson’s demeanor interesting, but he wasn’t sure what to make of it.

“Would you mind telling me, in your own words, what happened yesterday?”

“Wha-whaddya mean, what happened?”

“You were at the park near the fair…” Tain prompted.

Alex nodded.

“I need you to answer verbally, for the tape.”

“Ah, ahem, yes.”

“And you found a child.”

The dull, blue eyes popped wide open then, and he coughed.

“Mr. Wilson, can you tell me how you found Nicholas Brennen?”

“Wh-who?”

“The boy you found at the fairgrounds, the one you drove here, to this police station, in your car.” Tain stared across the table at the man, trying to look more indifferent about this interview than he felt. “You do remember bringing a boy to this police station yesterday, don’t you?”

His cheeks turned so red Tain was sure he’d get sunburned from prolonged exposure. Alex coughed. “Yeah.”

“Can you tell me what you were doing when you found him?”

Tain hadn’t thought Alex’s cheeks could get any darker, but somehow he managed to pull it off. “I, uh, I was on the walking path, at the park. The one with the hedges.”

“Okay.”

“He was wandering by himself. Crying.”

Tain swallowed. “Sobbing, calling out or just with tears running down his face?”

Alex opened his mouth to answer, and then his eyebrows merged into one thick line across his forehead, underscoring the wrinkles on his brow. “I th-think just tears running down his face.”

You think?
Tain couldn’t believe this guy. “What happened next?”

“Well, I asked him if I should take him to the police.”

“You asked him if you should bring him to the police?”

Alex shrugged, pushing his glasses up with his middle finger.

“So, let me get this straight. You were on the walking path at the park, the one with the hedges. You saw a young boy walking alone, with tears rolling down his cheeks and you went up to him and asked if you should take him to the police? Not, ‘Did you lose your dog?’ or ‘Are you lost?’ but ‘Should I take you to the police?’”

Alex swallowed and then nodded.

“Why did you think he needed to go to the police, Mr. Wilson?”

“I…I don’t know. I was just trying to be helpful.”

Tain unscrewed the cap on his water bottle slowly and took a sip. This guy was textbook weird. It was too bad Ashlyn wasn’t there. Tain thought it could be interesting to see how Alex Wilson responded to a woman.

Especially a woman like Ashlyn, who knew how to handle herself.

“All right, Mr. Wilson. What happened then?”

“I took his hand and we walked back to the fairgrounds, to my car, while I dialed 911.”

“You dialed 911?”

“Well, I dialed the operator and asked them to put me through to the police….” Alex Wilson shrugged.

“What did the person on the phone tell you to do?”

“I…I don’t know. I just said who I was and I’d found a boy alone in the park and that I was coming to the police station.”

“Why did you do that?”

“Wha…whaddya mean, why?” Alex ran the back of his hand across his forehead.

“You’ve been at the fairgrounds before, right?”

Alex nodded.

“And you live to the south.” It wasn’t a question. Tain knew the answer.

“New Westminster, yeah.”

“And yet you drove Nicholas Brennen all the way here, even though you found him not far from the border of Coquitlam, Burnaby and New Westminster, and you yourself live in New Westminster. See, to me, I’d think you’d know where your local police stations are. And even if you didn’t, why not ask where the closest police station was when you were on the phone? Instead you drove him to the other side of the city.”

There was absolute silence as Tain waited to see what Alex Wilson would say, if he said anything at all. Finally, the man shrugged.

“For the tape, Mr. Wilson.”

“I don’t know what you’re asking. I…I phoned the police. I drove him to a police station. That’s all.”

“Well, Mr. Wilson, you have to consider it from my point of view. You don’t live in this area. You didn’t find the boy in this area. But for some reason you came to this police station with him. You came a long way out of your way.”

Alex’s mouth hung open for a minute, and he pushed the glasses up again, shrugging. “I…I didn’t think. I just drove here.”

“Did Nicholas Brennen say anything?”

Alex shook his head.

“The tape,” Tain said.

“No.”

“Nothing at all?”

“I asked if I should take him to the police. He nodded. I took his hand, brought him to my car and…and…and I drove him here. He didn’t say nothin’.”

“And, sorry, I’ve forgotten. Why did you think he needed to go to the police?”

Alex’s face turned redder than a vine-ripened tomato. “I…I don’t know.”

“What was Nicholas wearing when you found him?”

“A white shirt, blue jeans, white sneakers an—” Alex stopped.

Tain waited, then tried to prompt him. “And?”

“That’s it.” The squeak was back in Alex’s voice.

“Could I get your cell phone number again, just for the record, please?”

After a false start, Alex corrected himself and finally rattled it off. “I don’t see why this is so important. The boy was lost. I brought him here. It’s not against the law.”

“You don’t understand why we’re interested in Nicky Brennen?”

His blond head shook, and then his finger reached for the glasses again.

Tain pulled out the newspaper he’d had folded underneath his note pad, the one with the headline about Taylor Brennen missing and Isabella Bertini’s body being recovered. He tossed it down in front of Alex Wilson. His red cheeks blanched.

“Do you understand now, Mr. Wilson?”

“You’re beginning to look like a permanent fixture around here.”

Ashlyn mustered enough energy to smile back at Adrian Vaughan, who was clearly recognizable in his jeans and T-shirt today, unlike the night before when he’d been wearing his turnout gear at the fire scene.

“I thought you were on nights,” she said.

“Yeah, I’m actually just messing around with cars. My cousin, Aaron, he’s got a bit of a classic he brings by sometimes. Lots of good shop tools around that we can use for free.” He flashed her a smile. “Fringe benefits.”

“You like old cars?”

“Some. Mostly, I just like working on them. Aaron and I have been making modifications to his old Corvette for years.”

She nodded. He’d turned toward her, giving her his full attention, not looking like he was in a hurry to go anywhere. She stifled a yawn. “I’m still on the clock.”

“Since yesterday?”

Ashlyn nodded. “Still smelling like I’ve been caught inside a chimney, too. Is Chief Quinlan in?”

“Should be in his office. Maybe we’ll see you later.”

“I hope not, if you know what I mean.” Ashlyn walked away.

Paul Quinlan looked up at the figure leaning against his doorway. Her typically bright eyes and vibrant smile were overshadowed by dark circles and pale skin. Her mouth was drawn in an unusually hard line. “I hate to say this Ashlyn, but you look like how I feel.”

“That bad, huh?” She sank into a chair.

“Pretty hard night,” Quinlan said. “Rough call.”

“We really need to get into that building.”

“I doubt you’ll find much there.” Quinlan tossed his pen down on the desk, turning around in his chair to face her fully.

“You’re probably right.”

“But you still want to take a look?”

“You know we have to.”

“Technically, the building’s a complete write off. I can take you in, but just you.”

“Constable Tain needs to come with us.”

“So this isn’t about the arsons anymore, is it?”

“I’m still investigating the arson cases,” Ashlyn said. “I’m not giving up on that.”

“But the girl takes priority.”

“Right now, the girl is our best lead to solving the arsons.”

His eyebrows shot up. “Why? Because that other girl was found at the scene of one of the earlier fires?”

“It’s a link we can’t ignore, Paul.” Ashlyn rubbed her eyes. “It’s also a link we can’t have everyone knowing about.”

He nodded. “I understand that.”

“Not even your men, Paul.”