What Burns Within by Sandra Ruttan Page A

table with a pen. “Just write down the names of anyone you can think of who’s usually here on Sunday nights. And anyone who worked recently that knew the church group would be here.”
    
Tain introduced himself and extended his hand.
The blond man with the quick smile returned his firm grip. “Luke Driscoll.” The smile vanished as soon as he said his name, like it was an automatic reaction that had slipped out instinctively when he introduced himself, and that he’d suddenly remembered why the RCMP officer was there.
“I understand you’re in charge of the church group.”
“That’s right. We come here once a month, sometimes more in the summer. Just a way to give the kids a change of scenery, a break from the monotony of church services.”
“And which church is that?”
“St. Francis’s.”
“Anglican?”
“Catholic.”
“So that would make you…?”
That quick smile returned, without a hint of annoyance. “A volunteer. Not a priest.”
“Okay.” Tain made a note as he glanced down at the left hand. No ring. “Do you remember seeing anyone unusual, anyone watching the kids when you came in?”
The smile faded as Luke shook his head. “Everyone was in a great mood. We were chatting. We got in quickly. I guess I wasn’t paying much attention to who else was around.”
“Your group comes here once a month?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“How do you decide when you’re coming?”
“Third Sunday of the month. We always come the third Sunday of the month.”
“And who would know about that?”
“Everyone who goes to our church.” He frowned and then shrugged. “Anyone who visited and actually read the church bulletin could know. It’s on our monthly calendar.”
“What about your volunteers? You have the same group every time?”
“More or less. Sometimes there’s a married couple, but they’re on holidays.”
Tain wrote down their names anyway, as well as the names of the other volunteers. “Can you think back to when you were here last month? Did you notice anyone then? Anyone on any of your previous swim nights who paid attention to your group?”
Luke’s face was blank as he stared at Tain, then shook his head. “Really, we’ve never had any problems. Not that I’ve been aware of. And I do ask our volunteers to let me know about anything. You can’t be too careful these days, you know?”
He looked over Tain’s shoulder, and Tain turned to see what had caught Luke’s attention.
“You’re a real mess, Ashlyn.”
She had soot smudged across her nose and on her cheek. Her dark eyes lacked their usual spark, and she’d clipped her hair, which was a beautiful shade of brown with highlights, back hastily. Pieces were falling forward, wisps framing her face.
“You’re not much better, Tain.”
He looked down at his ash-covered clothes. “No, I suppose not.”
Ashlyn looked from him to Luke Driscoll but didn’t introduce herself.
“Mr. Driscoll is the volunteer who organizes the church swim nights. They come here once a month, on the third Sunday of the month, but they’ve never had any problems.”
“Constable Hart,” she said, then looked at Tain. “I didn’t get much out of the staff.”
“What about a membership list?”
“Only after I threatened the manager.”
“You what?”
She held up her hand. “Don’t worry. I told him I was following your orders.”
“Ashlyn…”
“Relax. Mr. Radcliff’s staff couldn’t wait to start filing complaints about his perverted ways. He’s not going to say anything to attract more attention to himself. And I got everything we need. A membership list, a staff list, security tapes for the past two weeks and copies of the maintenance logs. No chance for these guys to doctor the records or conveniently misplace anything. What’s next?”
Tain almost smiled. “Are you differing to my leadership?”
“Hell, no,” Ashlyn said, and her cheeks reddened. She glanced at Luke Driscoll. “Sorry.”
He smiled and shook his head.