Page 122 of Heart of Thorns

“Don’t worry,” Rhys says. “I have his location.”

I nibble on my lip when he brings up Thorne’s whereabouts.

“Where is that?” I ask.

Rhys presses on the accelerator, and I fly into the back of the seat, my heart in my throat.What if something happened to Thorne?If we’re right and Stephen is my arsonist, then he knows we’re close to figuring it out. Thorne put a target on his back by questioning Stephen about Ben.

“It’s the old boxing gym near the stadium. It’s used for storage now.”

“Why the hell is he there?” I ask.

Rhys speeds even faster. “I have no idea.”

CHAPTER 39

THORNE

I am boredout of my mind. I’ve been following Ben for most of the day, and he’s kind of an uninteresting guy. He was in his apartment for a while, then went grocery shopping. Came back, then met up with some guys for dinner.

Now, I follow him toward the outskirts of Shadow Valley. If we continue on this road, we’d eventually end up in Crown Point. Not that it matters—Rhys is with Briar, and as long as I have eyes on Ben, he can’t hurt her.

Like any good tailing cop—my lessons learned from watching crime drama, mainly force-fed by Rhys in preparation for this very moment—I stay at least a block behind Ben’s car. His headlights glow, and he’s a good little driver. He doesn’t speed much, he uses his blinker.

It makes it almosttooeasy.

We end up winding our way back to the stadium, and I groan. If he took a roundabout way just to go to the weight room…

But, no. He parks across the street from an old, run-down building. I kill my headlights and stop, too, still a good distance away. The building is vaguely familiar. I think it was a business a few years ago.

A boxing gym, maybe?

But it’s empty…

Wait. It’sempty. That’s the point.

I lean forward, squinting through the darkness. Ben parked just before the streetlight, and it silhouettes him as he gets out of the car and jogs across the street. He pauses at the front door, then yanks open the doors and enters.

Holyshit. It’s happening. I grab my phone and dial 9-1-1, my finger hovering over the green call button. As soon as I see signs of flames or smoke, I’ll dial. He’ll be caught red-handed.

A giddiness overtakes me, and I can’t stop my wide smile.

He’s a fucking idiot, and he’s gonna go to prison for this.

A car turns onto the street farther down, coming toward me. It pulls in behind Ben’s car, though, and a second later, someone gets out. The guy has broad shoulders, but the rest of his figure is obscured in an oversized coat. He hurries across the street and fiddles with the door, then steps away. He goes around, disappearing down a side alley.

That’s weird.

I watch for a long moment with my brows furrowed. The not knowing what’s going on is kind of killing me.

What am I supposed to do? Call the cops and say… someone broke into an abandoned building and then another guy joined him?

Yeah, right.

I shut off my car and close the door quietly. Not that anyone would notice a slamming door. Maybe. Either way, I use my stealth skills and stick to the shadows, crossing the street and approaching the weathered building. There’s an empty parking lot on one side, and an alley separating it from another building.

Since the alley is closest to me, I pause at the opening and scan for movement.

Nothing.