The Last Flame - Part Three

What The Fire Leaves Behind

Veronica Dahl stared at the gold lighter in her hand and hated that something so small suddenly felt heavier than it ever had before. It was ridiculous. She knew that. It was a piece of metal, a little scratched up, a little worn down, and completely worthless to anyone who did not know the story behind it. The problem was that Veronica was starting to understand she never actually knew the whole story. Inez Carerra had given her the lighter years ago, and Veronica had spent all that time believing it represented the complicated connection between them. Now Cassandra Voss sat across from her claiming that the story started long before Veronica ever touched it.

The room stayed silent. That bothered Veronica.

She preferred anger. She preferred threats. She preferred someone making a mistake she could use against them. Cassandra did none of those things because Cassandra understood something most people did not. Sometimes the cruelest thing you could do was give someone the truth and let them figure out what to do with it.

“You’re lying.”

Cassandra looked at her.

“No, I’m not.”

“You expect me to believe Inez stole this from you.”

“No.”

“Good.”

“I expected you to defend her.”

The answer landed harder than Veronica wanted. She hated that. Cassandra knew she hated that.

“You set all this up.”

“Yes.”

“The case.”

“Yes.”

“Rachel Mercer.”

“Yes.”

“She doesn’t exist.”

“No.”

Veronica laughed quietly. There was no humor in it.

“You created an entire missing person investigation just to get me here.”

“No.”

Cassandra leaned forward.

“I created one you couldn’t ignore.”

That was worse. Much worse. Because she was right.