Burn Zone - A Psion Case File

Chapter Six

"We're dealing with a group of maniacs not just a single perp. Great," Justice replied. Then he looked at the room with Leanne's corpse inside. "But he contained this fire to just one room. He could've let the thing go wild and kill all the other people in the building. Why didn't he?" Justice asked.

"I don't know. I think..." Austin paused as he tried to figure out how to frame his answer. "I think he wanted to meet us. He knew we'd figure out who he was, so he waited here. It's a stupid move on his part, I know but I can tell you he's definitely not all there. The guy's crazier than anyone I've ever met. He knows who and what we are. I don't know how, but I got that much very clearly. It's how he knew to hide his eyes from me."

"So how do we track this psycho down now?" Justice asked.

"I don't know but we need to figure it out," Austin replied, his voice urgent. He looked Justice in the eyes, his face turning very serious. "He's not gonna stop until he burns all the regular people to death. I swear he won't. The guy is completely crazy and there's nothing stopping him from doing it either."

"Yeah there is," Justice responded. "Us."

The different police crews started coming in to deal with the crime scene about fifteen minutes later.

Justice and Austin heard the sirens long before they'd seen the lights flashing in the large window at the end of the hall.

A few minutes later, four cops came trundling up the stairs and started taping off the crime scene. The CSIs and fire investigators showed up next and the coroner was last. Justice and Austin watched the black body bag with Leanne Johnson's remains in it get rolled away.

Justice took one more glance into the hotel room to make sure they didn't miss anything. Inside, he found Leanne's ghost staring back at him. She looked horrible. Her faintly translucent skin had been blackened and cracked by the fire. Her flesh was blistered and swollen, and her face was a mask of ruin and misery. The only thing that wasn't burned were her eyes and they stared at Justice with a terrible sadness. There was a look of grief in them but above all else, a look of complete failure. She didn't say anything to Justice, and he said nothing back. He turned away from her haunting presence and walked back out to their car with Austin.

"Did you see her?" Austin asked. He'd noticed the intent look on Justice's face when they were leaving. It was a look he'd grown accustomed to over the years.

"Yeah," was all Justice would say.

When they were both in the car, however, he turned to Austin.

"Why did he start the other fires?" Justice asked, hoping there would be something there that would lead them to his next target.

"He went after his own family first. Because they were normals and someone told him to. Holstein was the mother's boyfriend. He owned the floral shop that got burned down. Holstein was also in 3 when it got torched. Johnson tracked him there one night, but Holstein was lucky and escaped both times. Then he finally decided to set Holstein's entire apartment building on fire...with him inside."

"What about the hospital? Diversion?" Justice asked. "So he could get to his mom without anyone stopping him?"

"Exactly," Austin told him. "Besides that, killing all those people gave him a rush. He picked the hospital because it was high-profile and would give him a high death count. Only that one didn't go as planned, though. Your doctor friend managed to get everyone out before the blaze could really pick up speed."

"Could you read anything at all of what he's planning on doing next?" Justice asked.

"I don't know. He's a freaking mess, man. It was confusing in there and terrifying. His mind is literally twisted beyond anything I've ever seen," Austin told him.