CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

 

The fire in the basement of S.A.W. House forced all of the staff and residents to evacuate. Selene and Quinn had quickly thrown on some clothes and driven to the shelter. They now watched from across the street as the Bluffs Bay Fire Department worked on extinguishing the blaze and saving the building.

“What happened?” Selene asked Maria Lopez.

“I don’t know,” she stammered. “I think someone smelled smoke and figured out it was coming from the basement. Next thing we knew, everyone was being told to get out of the house.”

“Thank goodness no one was hurt,” Selene said. The same could not be said for S.A.W. House. She wondered if the shelter would still be structurally safe after this, assuming the fire department was able to save it. Or would the women who so desperately needed it be left out in the cold and at the mercy of their abusers?

Selene felt Quinn’s protective arm around her, providing needed comfort after what had been a nightmarish few hours. First there was the anonymous caller linking Quinn to The Woods murders. And now this. Could the two possibly be connected?

“I’m so sorry,” Quinn said. “It’s a hell of a way to begin a new day. But we’ll get through it—together.”

“I know,” Selene muttered. She needed Quinn now more than ever and was grateful that he was there for her. She wasn’t going to allow some unknown caller to question Quinn’s character.

A few minutes later, Selene conferred with Harriet about the fire. They hugged and shed some tears.

“These things happen all the time,” Harriet said sadly. “But you just don’t expect it to hit you where it really hurts.”

“Yeah, I know,” Selene moaned, as they watched the fire being brought under control. “Was someone in the basement smoking or something?”

The basement was used mostly for storage and a place to hang out, though an occasional guest slept down there when all the rooms upstairs were full. Smoking was strictly prohibited at S.A.W. House, but that didn’t stop some occupants from breaking the rules every now and then.

“I can’t answer that,” Harriet said. “If so, nobody was down there when we discovered the fire. My guess is that it was faulty wiring or some other electrical problem. Even though the place has been refurbished, it’s still really old. Who knows what’s going on behind those walls that no one can see?”

Selene acknowledged that, and hoped the problem wasn’t one that would be too costly to fix. She was thankful for the smoke detectors.

Quinn and Julian McKenzie joined the two women.

“Look who I found,” Quinn said. “Or maybe it was the other way around.”

“Ladies.” Julian nodded solemnly.

“I’m glad you guys showed up so quickly,” Harriet said.

“Yeah, so am I. A few minutes later and, well, let’s not even go there...”

“Do you have any idea how the fire started, Julian?” Selene asked.

“That’s what I was coming to talk to you about.” He ran a hand over the stubble on his chin. “The full investigation is yet to come, but a witness reported seeing someone—possibly a male—running from the building.”

Selene winced, glancing at Quinn and back. “Are you saying the fire was deliberately set?”

“I’m saying it’s a possibility, pending further investigation. Do you know anyone who’d want to set fire to the shelter?” Julian asked.

Selene looked at Quinn and Harriet, imagining what they were both thinking.

Michel Giovanni.

Selene certainly could not dismiss the notion outright, given Michel’s threatening and weird behavior. Then there was the strange call she’d gotten early this morning. Was his warning about Quinn foreshadowing the fire at the shelter?

Selene wondered if the caller’s intention had been to burn down S.A.W. House to get back at her for providing refuge for battered women.

Or could this somehow be tied to the murders of women in The Woods by an unknown killer?