Chapter Thirty-Five

Grace blinked her eyes open. The lake surface glimmered from the glow of the night sky filled with stars and a half moon. The ground was hard and cool beneath her. She pushed herself up and shook sand from her clothes. Her neck groaned when she turned it. She was too old to be doing stupid things like falling asleep on the hard earth.

It was time to go back and face the music. She slid into the car and turned her phone back on, secretly hoping Blaise had called.

Her screen lit up. Chloe had called three times but hadn’t left a message. Grace turned the ignition key and eased the car back down the dirt road.

Her phone lit up again. “Chloe, what’s up?”

“Mom, oh my God. The house. It’s on fire. You’ve got to come home right now.” Chloe yelled into the phone over the sounds of sirens and shouts.

She hit the brakes. “What? How is the house on fire?” There must be a mistake. Was this a joke? She slammed down the gas pedal, and the car lurched forward.

“Can you hear me? The house. It’s on fire. Where are you? I’ve been trying you for like thirty minutes. When are you coming home?”

“Are you all right? Were you in the house when it started?” Grace yanked on the wheel to turn left, and the tires squealed in protest.

“I’m fine. When I got here, I saw the smoke and called nine-one-one. The sheriff and the fire department arrived at the same time.”

“I’m so glad you’re okay. I’m on my way. I’ll be there soon.”

****

Red and blue lights threw up their brightness all over Dogwood Drive. Sheriff vehicles and two firetrucks blocked the road. Grace swerved to the curb and jumped out of the car, leaving the door open, and ran. The smell of burnt wood permeated the air. Smoke drifted up through the branches of the poplars. Neighbors, wearing their pajamas, lined the sidewalk across the street from her house. Her house.

She pushed through some of the deputies and firefighters standing back.

“Hey,” someone called after her.

“Chloe.” She grabbed Chloe by the shoulders and turned her around. “My God. Are you all right?”

“I’m fine, Mom. Really. The house is another thing. All that work for nothing.”

“What happened?”

“I don’t know. Cash and I were having dinner at Jake’s. We had a stupid fight. He left. When I realized he wasn’t coming back, I came home. You know the rest.”

“Excuse me, ma’am. I’m Captain Hanover. Are you the owner?” A tall man with black curly hair and the greenest eyes she had ever seen stood beside her. He wore his full firefighter gear, and his face was smudged with soot.

Was she technically still the owner? “I live here.”

“She’s the owner.” Beau’s voice traveled over the noise.

Grace turned to him. “What are you doing here?”

“Ma’am, we’ve contained the fire. There was only some damage to the kitchen and one bedroom. Could’ve been a lot worse.”

“What started it?”

“We’ll start looking once things cool down a bit. For tonight, you’ll want to find another place to stay. We don’t want you inside until we can search the place. We’ll be back in the morning.” He turned and walked to the group of firefighters now rolling up the hose and stripping pieces of their gear off.

“Hanover, over here,” a male voice shouted from somewhere near the house.

Captain Hanover ran in the direction of the shouts. Grace scanned the crowd still standing and gaping at the house. Jud stood huddled with some friends, their heads bent together.

“You two can stay at my place.” Beau’s voice dragged her gaze away.

“Thanks, but I think we’ll just get a hotel room.” She wasn’t ready for his kindness. His words still stung. She hadn’t even had a chance to tell Chloe what she knew.

“Nonsense.” He glanced at Chloe, then back at her. “We’re practically family.”

“Mom, I don’t want to stay at a hotel.”

Of course she doesn’t. Grace’s head hurt. She needed time to think and make a plan. “Someone should call Hoke and tell him about the house. He’ll need to be involved.” She hoped their things hadn’t been completely ruined. Would they be able to get in the house tomorrow to grab them? She still wanted to get on the road. Now there was more reason than ever.

“I’ll call Hoke in the morning. For now, come back to my house.” Beau put a hand on Chloe’s shoulder, ready to lead her away.

Cash came running down the street. “What happened?” His chest heaved in between words.

“The house caught fire,” Chloe said.

“Who would set the house on fire?” He rubbed his side.

“That’s what we want to know.” Captain Hanover returned holding up a gold lighter smeared with soot. He eyed Cash dressed head to toe in black, his thick eyeliner smeared from sweating. “Found this by the kitchen. It’s what started the fire. Whoever did this wasn’t trying too hard to hide it.”

“That’s my grandfather’s lighter.” Cash reached out and wiped the soot away to reveal an engraved S.

“He likes to play with fire,” Jud shouted from his spot on the sidewalk. His buddies bent over laughing and slapped him on the back. Yeah, hilarious.

“Ask the loser about it.”

“Jud, shut up.” Grace said.

The sheriff sauntered up to them and glued his stare on Cash. “Where you been tonight, boy?”

“He was with me.” Chloe jumped in.

“I’d like to hear it from him, miss.”

“I was with Chloe until an hour ago. Then I was just walking around. I sat at the park for a while.”

“In the dark?” the sheriff said.

“I needed to think.”

“Sheriff, he didn’t do this,” Grace said.

The sheriff hitched up his pants. “I’m not saying he did. I just want to know where he was.”

She stood between Cash and the sheriff. “You don’t need to know any such thing. He isn’t a suspect because he didn’t do it.”

“He’s started fires before. Why not this one?”

“I didn’t do this. Are you crazy?”

The neighbors had moved in for a closer view. Grace wanted to scream at them to go back in their homes. Mind their own business. Someone had taken a picture with their phone.

“You’re the pyro, cousin. My money’s on you.” Jud had moved in closer.

“Jud, go home.” Grace gritted her teeth. She yanked her phone out of her pocket and dialed Blaise. It rang and rang, finally landing in voice mail. Damn. She hung up.

“Jud, you think this boy started the fire?” The sheriff spoke to Jud as if he were an authority.

“I think he did. He started a fight with me the other day and got me fired. He’s always causing trouble. He set that house on fire back where he lives, and he got sent here to do community service at the library. Who else would do it?”

Cash clenched his fists. “Why would I set Grace’s house on fire? I like her, and my dad likes her.”

Jud shrugged. “Maybe it was ’cause her daughter didn’t like you.”

Cash lunged. Beau grabbed him. Jud jumped back. “See? See? He’s always starting something. Why not another fire?”

The sheriff grabbed Cash by the collar. “Let’s go to the station and talk this out. Give you some time to cool down from whatever it is got you pissed off. You can tell me more about that lighter.”

Cash yanked away. “You can’t take me in. I didn’t do anything.”

“You can’t talk to him without his father present. Cash is still a minor.” Grace jumped in again.

“He can call his father from the station. We’ll conference him in.” The sheriff led Cash away.

“I’ll go with him,” Beau said. “Try Blaise again.”

Grace called Blaise three more times. “Answer, please.” But the call ended in the voice mail again. He must’ve been on stage by now. Or he just wasn’t answering any calls from her.

The crowd had thinned out once the fire trucks had left. Jud and his friends stayed until the last person walked away.

Grace turned to Chloe. “What did you two fight about? Tell me because his life could depend on it.” The idea that Cash could get in trouble for this was choking her. She had to prove to the sheriff it wasn’t Cash. Never would be.

“He’s still mad at his dad for leaving. I tried to make him understand, but he didn’t want to hear me. I said he has to learn to accept his dad for who he is. Focus on the good stuff Blaise does and not the bad stuff. I mean, Blaise went back on the road for Cash, didn’t he? That’s what I’m trying to do with Dad. He’s not perfect, but he’s still my dad.”

Grace’s heart swelled. “You’re one smart young lady. I’m so proud of you. Let’s get down to the station and see if we can’t help out. I’ll keep trying Blaise.”