Reborn in Fire

ought Ryland wou

t, he returned, carrying a

nd tended to the gash on my arm

fell on the shocking blood mark

nd, but his fingertips trembled and p

.." He gripped my shoulders with a

I had never witnessed before, tears

head in the crook of my neck, his voice choked beyond recognition. "E

as if clutching a

ove, nor di

eavy intoxication, he slumped

oments later, slipped his car keys from

uck me as off from t

too sensitive and refuse

s without a se

a private repair shop I had arranged

llege senior, whom I roused from s

"Spare no expense, inspect the brake s

morning, the

with a high-strength corrosive agent. This tampering was extremely subtle, hidden on the inner side of the line joint, invisible in a standard inspectio

roar echoed

detail, every doubt I had overlooked

ar to bring Theo home from the old estate, and on the road, to d

e stepping into cotton

t, my mishandling in the stor

accident

was Ryland'

roke down for some unknown

to a Rolls-Royce that day,

in had not started yet, so I notic

car frequently without raising suspicion, aside from the drive

o years, her glances at me always carri

t even knowing how m

en dialed a number. "Investigate Jolie Hayes for me, all her bank transactio

ce with the brake inspection report printed ov

e exhaustion of a hangover, and when he saw me enter, a flick

w seemed utte

strode forward to slam the two doc

, look