Trial by Fire by Terri Blackstock Page A

leave me threatening messages!” she shouted.
    â€œIssie, what have you gotten yourself into?”
    The question would have enraged her if she hadn’t been so exhausted. She rolled her eyes and shook her head. She didn’t have the heart to tell him that it very likely had something to do with his own son. “I don’t know,” she said. “That’s the bizarre thing.”
    â€œHave you called the police?”
    â€œNo. They left a note telling me not to, and frankly, I don’t think I want to mess with them right now. Will you come get me or not?”
    â€œI was asleep, Issie. I’m not even dressed.”
    â€œWhat don’t you understand?” she bellowed. “Someone has been in my apartment. You’re my brother! I don’t have anybody else to call!”
    â€œAll right, all right,” he said. “I’ll be right over.”
    â€œCan you put Lois on the phone until you get here? I’m a little spooked.”
    â€œLet me see if I can wake her up.” She knew he expected her to tell him not to bother, but she was too frightened to be selfless right now. After several moments, Lois came to the phone. “Issie, what’s going on?” her sister-in-law asked irritably.
    Blinking back her tears of frustration and indignation, Issie told Lois what had happened while she waited for her brother.

Chapter Nine
    W hen they got back to her brother’s house, Issie spent two hours convincing Mike that they were not to call the police. She didn’t want to provoke whoever was after her, she said. She needed a few more clues before she went to them.
    But the truth was that she didn’t want to implicate Jake.
    When Mike and Lois finally went back to bed, Issie stayed up waiting for Jake to come home. She didn’t know what had gotten into her brother, raising a teenage boy without a curfew. He should know better. If not from his own teenage days, then from hers. She had been a wild one, staying out sometimes all night, watching the sun come up with her dates, then sleeping all day. It wasn’t a very productive life, she knew. It hadn’t been until she started showing her own self-imposed discipline that she’d even been able to get through her paramedic training. Now she saw Jake following in her footsteps, and the thought worried her.
    He rolled in about 4:30. When she saw his car drive up, she went to his bedroom and sat on his bed. She wanted to surprise him.
    It worked. He came in and flicked his light on, saw her on the bed, and sucked in a breath.
    â€œIssie, what are you doing here? You scared me to death!”
    â€œI couldn’t stay home tonight,” she said through her teeth. “My tires were slashed at Joe’s Place, and then when I went home, someone had been in my apartment.”
    She could see the guilt on his face, but he straightened and tried to look innocent. “Oh, really? Did you call the police?”
    â€œNo,” she said. “You can tell whoever it is that I didn’t call them. But I won’t be manipulated by a criminal. I want to know what you know right now.”
    Jake threw up his hands as if he couldn’t believe the accusation. “Issie, how would I know anything about this?”
    â€œBecause in my mind it’s no coincidence that after I came to your playground and saw what you were up to, my tires get slashed and a dead cat turns up in my bed!”
    â€œDead cat?” he asked. “Gross!”
    She nodded. “Yeah, it’s gross, all right. Thank goodness for your father. He came over and got it out of my apartment, but I’m afraid the mattress is ruined. So now I’m stuck for four new tires and a new mattress if I want to sleep in any kind of peace, not to mention the fact that I don’t know how they got into my apartment. But I was thinking that maybe someone who had a key let them in.”
    â€œI don’t have a key to your