Chapter 2

Lindsey MacDonald looked at the charred remains of the house from behind the police line, shaking his head in disbelief. "You can't find any remains?" He looked over at the detective in charge of the investigation.

"Not so far, Mr. MacDonald. Though the evidence points to both Miss Savage and Miss Morgan having been in that house when it was destroyed. No one saw them leave before the explosives detonated."

Lindsey frowned, shaking his head. "And you don't know who did it, yet."

"No. Sir, if we find out who murdered your girlfriend, we'll let you know."

"Thank you." Lindsey turned away, crossing the street to where his car was parked, pulling out his cell phone to make a call.

"This is James Savage, computer geek. Can I help you?"

"James, this is Lindsey MacDonald..."

"Lindsey!" James interrupted him, his voice cheerful. "I remember you. You were one of the co-workers she said kept her from bleeding to death. Last I remember, she was setting you up with her friend, Shannon."

"Yes, she did. Have you seen the news today?"

"No, haven't checked it yet. Why?"

Lindsey unlocked the door to his car, sitting behind the wheel before he replied. "Alexa's house blew up late last night. Shannon had been visiting her, and..." He paused, closing his eyes against the tears pricking at them. "They're both presumed dead."

There was silence on the other end of the phone line a moment, and then James replied quietly, "I'll have to call you back, Lindsey. There's a call waiting, and it's probably mom with the same news." His tone was odd, subdued, but not particularly upset. Lindsey frowned, about to say something, but the line went dead as James hung up the phone.

Lindsey flipped his phone shut, starting his car, and drove back to his apartment. Once he was inside, he turned on the computer, looking for an address for James Savage. "There you are. We need to have a talk. Starting with what you know about the dissapearence of your sister, and my ex-girfriend."

James cursed after he hung up the phone on Lindsey, glaring at the letter that sat innocently on the kitchen counter of his Manhattan apartment. "Damn it, Alexa, why couldn't you have just told me you were going to test it, and had me dismantle it if it worked? Why did you have to go out with a bang?" He re-read the letter, then picked up the lighter from beside the candles she'd sent him for Christmas. The letter caught quickly, and he dropped it in the sink, watching it burn to ash before washing the ashes down the drain.

He was sitting at his computer, humming as he tried to crack the security on the latest firewall his employer was testing, when someone knocked on the door. "One moment!" He opened the username/password program, telling it to run, before he went to answer the door. "Can I help you?"

"I'm Lindsey MacDonald, we talked about an hour ago." The young man at his door held his gaze. "May I come in?"

James watched him through wary eyes. "Sure. I'm currently on the clock, so it may be a moment before I can be the polite host, but you can make yourself at home. There's root beer in the refridgerator, and glasses are on top of it." He closed the door behind Lindsey before he went into his office, quiting the program, and sending off an email to his employer that he had a guest, and would continue the testing the next day.

Lindsey was looking around the main room when he came back out.

"Looking for something in particular, Mr. MacDonald?" James crossed his arms, watching the other man warily.

Lindsey looked up, and shook his head. "No." He paused. "My condolences on the loss of your sister."

James looked down a moment, nodding. "Thank you. I wasn't expecting something like this to happen."

"No one ever does." Lindsey took a seat on the couch. "You wouldn't happen to know if she had any enemies, would you?"

James snorted. "Other than John MacInnis, no." He headed for the kitchen. "Would you like a root beer?"

"No, thank you."

James grimaced as he pulled out a root beer, wondering how quickly he could get rid of his unwelcome guest. "Do you think John did this?"

"No." Lindsey had followed him into the kitchen. "But I do think you know something more about this than you're telling me."

The young computer geek looked up, his gaze meeting Lindsey's. "What makes you say that?"

"You're too calm about this. You just lost your sister, and you're acting like it's nothing."

"Maybe that's how I deal with the pain of loosing her."

James wasn't expecting to get slammed up against the wall, with Lindsey holding him about a foot off the ground. "Damn it! She was my friend, and Shannon was more than that, and I want to know what happened to them! If you know something, I am going to find out, no matter what it takes."

James shoved back, dropping to the ground, his root beer sloshing out of the bottle. "Look, I don't know anything that is going to help you find them."

"Find them?" Lindsey looked shocked. "They're dead!"

James snorted. "Dead? Not bloody likely. Have they found any bodies?"

"No."

"Which means that wherever they are, they're alive. And there's no way to garuntee you can find them." James straightened his shirt. "If they want to be found."