UNCONTROLLED BURN by Nina Pierce Page B

without Reese or Alex falling off the short end of the pier into a quagmire of shit.
    He fell back against the seat. The paradox sucked beyond belief.
    Hanging the key on the shifter, Glenn grabbed his cell phone. He’d call Tony to help Alex with the Friday night crowd, feed the animals, then read through the research and identify the most damning evidence. After the tavern closed, he’d bring the pig blood to the wine cellar and confront Alex. If he was satisfied with the explanation of her actions, they would sort through the papers together and cull out the details implicating her. Tomorrow, they’d deliver the briefcase to Colton’s team and satisfy RISEN with a sanitized version of the facts.
    He hadn’t come up with any other solution.
    Of course, Glenn didn’t even want to consider the train wreck scenario if Alexandra had no explanation for the most recent deaths. At the moment, blind with worry, he couldn’t even see down that track.
    Glenn slid the briefcase under the seat, punched the tavern’s number into his cell and got out of the truck and headed down the path to the barn. As the phone at his ear rang, he shook his head at the state of his life. He’d left the barn lights blazing this morning when he’d left. That wasn’t like him at all.
    A person picked up at the same time the answering machine began playing Alex’s recorded messages about tavern hours. When it stopped, he heard the raucous sound of firefighters and the Friday night pool tournament.
    “Hey, Alex, it’s Glenn.”
    “She’s not here. This is Tony.”
    Tony only came in when things at the bar were really busy. Shit . Obviously, not a good night to be telling the guy he wasn’t going to make to the tavern. “Busy night?”
    “You could say that.” Frustration colored his words. “Where are you?”
    “Let me speak to Alex, I’ll explain to her.”
    “I just told you. She’s not here. Katie said Alex headed out to your barn about a half hour after she got here.” Tony spoke briefly to a customer before returning to the phone. “Listen, is everything all right with you two?”
    “Yeah, it’s good.” That would explain why the lights were on in the barn. “I must’ve just missed her.”
    A heavy sigh filled Glenn’s ear. “Listen, I hate to ask, because obviously you’ve got your hands full with something else, but we could really use another bartender and waitress. It’s a regular night at the fire station around here. When you coming in?”
    Glenn wasn’t sure when O’Malley’s had become the hangout for the local boys on their off hours, but he rather enjoyed their humor and their rowdy manner. Firefighters were definitely a breed all their own.
    “I’m not coming in tonight either.” Worry quickened his steps. Where the hell was that woman? It wasn’t like Alex to call out on a Friday night. Something was up. Glenn quickened his strides. He hoped to hell she’d simply come to feed the animals. Then he could talk to her without anyone else around. Maybe she’d actually tell him the truth. “You should be all set. Let Bob handle the kitchen and pull Chris to help at the bar. Katie can handle the crowd.”
    “Chris left on Alex’s heels.”
    “Where the hell’d he go?”
    “Not sure. But the way he stormed out, I don’t think he’s coming back.”
    “Shit.” What the hell was happening to his family? It didn’t seem possible that Chris was also rolled up in this mess, but what the hell did he know? He’d missed all the signs of Alex’s deceit.
    “Yeah, you can say that again.”
    “Listen, I’m sorry to do this to you, but just call in a couple of the college kids. They’re always looking for extra hours.” The wind shifted and even the pungent odor of pigs couldn’t mask the copper odor of death floating on the breeze. Glenn spun in circles, trying to locate the source.
    “Listen, we can shut the tavern down for the night if you need me to,” Tony said. “If you and Alex