Page 24 of Sheltered

“Got it. I’m on it.”

“Thanks, Blaze.”

“No problem. See you later.”

Avalon and I said goodbye and disconnected. The next thing I knew, I was in my truck and on my way to meet up with Leo and Hanna.

When in pulled up near Hanna’s place of business, I wasn’t surprised to see multiple fire trucks, police cars, and Leo and Hanna amongst a crowd of people.

I got out of my truck and made my way toward them. Leo had his arms wrapped around Hanna, who was devastated. Her face was red and splotchy, a result of the tears she’d been crying.

Leo saw me making my approach and jerked his chin up at me. Once I was standing in front of them, he said, “Hey man. Thanks for coming.”

“It’s not a problem at all. What happened?” I asked.

“One of her houses went up in flames.”

“Was anyone hurt?”

Shaking his head, he replied, “No. Nobody was staying in that house.”

That was strange. “Was it just a single house that caught fire?”

Hanna nodded against Leo’s chest, strands of her hair stuck to her tear-stained cheeks.

Even though she was lucky not to lose all the homes she had, I didn’t think mentioning that would make the situation seem any better. “Do you know how it happened yet?”

“It was intentional, but we don’t know who it was,” Leo shared.

“What? You’re telling me someone purposely set this fire?” I pressed, feeling more than slightly alarmed.

He nodded. “Hanna saw them as they were running away from the property. Two masked men. Somehow, they managed to stay out of view of the camera.”

“Two of them?”

“That’s all I saw,” Hanna rasped.

My eyes shifted to Leo. “You think they could be connected to what happened at the pub?”

“It’s certainly possible,” he said.

I thought on it for a moment. “If that’s the case, it would rule out someone having an issue with the owner of the pub. I hate to say this, but two completely random attacks might mean that another one isn’t far behind.”

“Oh, no,” Hanna worried.

Sending an apologetic look her way, I said, “I’m sorry. That was insensitive.”

Just then, two officers and the fire chief made their way over to us. Shaking his head, the fire chief sent a solemn look in Hanna’s direction and said, “I’m sorry to say it looks like a complete loss there.”

Tears rolled down her cheeks. Leo did the best he could to comfort her, but I could see the wheels spinning in his head. There was no doubt he was frustrated and had a loose hold on his emotions.

For the next few minutes, I alternated between listening to the discussion Hanna and Leo—mostly Leo, since Hanna was far too distraught—had with the officers and the fire chief and watching the way Leo handled it.

Maybe someone else wouldn’t recognize it, but I could easily see the war he was waging inside his head. But no matter how frustrated and angry he was about what happened at Short and Sweet, he managed to balance that emotion with the strength and love Hanna needed.

I found myself thinking about Harlow in those moments, believing I’d be feeling something similar if I had been in Leo’s position and Harlow in Hanna’s.

Once the officers took off, Leo looked at me and said, “Hey, I’m going to be focused on the helping Hanna get through this nightmare for the foreseeable future. I know we’re not officially working on this case just yet, but I can’t sit back and do nothing about it now. Do you think you’d be able to?—”

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