Page 80 of Sweet Somethings

"He said the opposite to me."

Travis's story matched the one Doug had told him. Had Chief Winters turned them against each other? He was still thinking about that when he saw a car pull up in front of the house and Doug Winters got out.

"What is going on?" he muttered.

Doug paused when he saw Travis on the porch, but then he squared his shoulders and came forward.

"Did I miss the reunion notice?" Doug asked.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"We need to talk about the fire." Doug shot Travis a look. "It's good you're here, too. Saved me a trip to try to find you."

"I don't want to talk about the fire. I'm looking for a job," Travis said. "I'm a grown man with a kid to feed. That old story isn't of interest to me."

"Well, it is to me," Doug said. "Let's go inside."

Without waiting for an invitation, Doug pushed past him and then Travis followed.

The three of them stood awkwardly in the empty living room.

"You got chairs anywhere?" Doug asked.

"I don't think you'll be staying long enough to sit," he said, folding his arms across his chest.

"I might be. I was talking to Juliette last night and she said if I really wanted to know the truth, I should look for it." Doug let out a breath. "So I went down to the police station today and I asked them for the case file regarding the fire. I read through each of our statements and the other interviews that were conducted. It seems that none of us actually accused the others of setting the fire."

"What?" Travis asked in surprise. "That can't be true."

"It is true. My father played us off against each other."

"Even you—the golden boy?" Roman asked.

"Even me," Doug replied, looking him straight in the eye. "I think he wanted to make sure I never talked to either one of you again. It worked."

He thought about that. It made sense. "All right," he said slowly. "So we weren't rats, but no one stepped up and confessed. Unless none of us were guilty. I know I didn't set the fire."

"Neither did I," Doug said.

"Or me," Travis put in. "I was the last one in the park, but I stopped smoking when you guys left. Kathy Marson snuck out to meet me. We made out for a while, and then she went home and so did I. Everything was fine."

"You never said you were with Kathy," Doug said with a frown. "I didn't see that in the file."

"I didn't tell anyone. I didn't want to get her in trouble for sneaking out after curfew. And her house had just burned down. She was devastated. But she knew I didn't have anything to do with it."

Doug nodded. "I believe you, Travis, and I believe you, Roman, because it turned out there were two other suspicious house fires in the county that year. They weren't in Fairhope, but they weren't that far away. One of those houses was located next to a park as well. The other was near a school playground. No suspects were ever arrested."

He was surprised at that new piece of information. "I don't remember hearing about that."

"I don't, either," Travis said.

"It wasn't in the newspapers," Doug admitted. "The police report said the fire investigators couldn't find a definitive link. But I believe the real reason there was so little follow-up on this fire was because my father was protecting me. He probably wasn't a hundred percent sure I was innocent. I'd been disappointing him all year. And he hated you, Roman. He thought you led me down the wrong road."

"Only you were right there next to me, not behind me," he reminded Doug.

"I know." He handed Roman the file folder. "You can read through it. You'll see that I'm telling you the truth."

"So what do you want from me now?" he asked.

---