Page 54 of Burn for Me
Gray wasn’t sure what he’d expected, but the room visible through the open door definitely wasn’t it.
There were racks stuffed full of plants in bloom. Bright and bold colours, pastel and pale, all kinds of plants filled the shelves. He’d never seen so many plants outside of a plant nursery before. It all seemed a little strange. But it was only when he stepped into the room and took it in fully that his blood ran ice cold.
In a corner of the room stood a shrine. The walls were papered with hundreds of photos. And right in the middle, a huge canvas print photo, taking centre stage and highlighting the beauty of the subject.
The shrine and all the photos on the wall were all dedicated to Kitty. A timeline of his feelings for her over the years. Some of the photos dated as far back as their days at school together. Note cards peppered the walls, interspersed between the photos – notes of things he’d sent her, done for her, a record of all he’d done in his attempt to win her love.
One card stood out. It was dated the day Archie had set Kitty’s apartment alight, with himself locked inside. He’d gone to her in a last-ditch effort to win her affections. He’d known, all along, that Lee was the arsonist, and he’d intended telling her it was her friend that had burnt her business to the ground. He’d never had the opportunity to tell her though, when Lee turned up unexpectedly and the chance was lost.
Archie had known everything about Lee. What she’d done, that she’d been in prison instead of “away on an extended business trip”, all of it.. And he’d intended sharing his knowledge with Kitty.
Gray could feel all eyes on him as he stood trying to take it all in. He’d realised, from the way Kitty spoke, that Archie’d had a thing for her for years. He just hadn’t realised quite how deep that “thing” had run. Squaring his shoulders, fighting the nausea in his gut, he indicated to Fourie he was good to go.
They’d systematically gone through the apartment. Bagging evidence, making notes, taking photos. Anything that seemed of interest, they’d bagged, tagged, and photographed. Finally, it seemed they were done. Gray couldn’t wait to get out of the apartment and away from the shrine room, as he’d dubbed it.
Standing outside the apartment building, he attempted to gather his composure. Fourie came over to let him know they were on their way, and he’d be in touch to organise a meeting soon. Shaking the other man’s hand, Gray said his goodbyes.
Turning to Kyle as the others left, he wiped a hand over his face. Blowing out a breath, he looked at his friend.
“Ace, we can never tell Kitty what we found in there. She’s had more than enough to deal with. And I’m not sure this won’t push her over the edge. She’s been strong up until this point, but I’m not sure she’s strong enough to take another blow this big.”
“Yeah, I hear you, bud. Nobody needs to know about this.”
“Thanks, man. I really appreciate it.” Gray gave Kyle’s shoulder a squeeze. “Thank god this day is done. Now let’s get the hell away from this freak show and go get a drink.”
Chapter Nineteen
After a long threeweeks in hospital, Kitty was finally going home. She couldn’t wait. She’d been fortunate that the bullet Lee had fired at her had done minimal damage.
With her left arm still out of action for another couple weeks, and no apartment of her own, her mother had insisted she come home to recuperate. Much as she enjoyed her independence, she was actually looking forward to going home and letting her mother baby her for a while.
Gray, too, was being super attentive and sweet. He was spoiling her rotten, and she could get used this kind of treatment. If she didn’t know any better, she could almost swear he felt guilty for what had happened to her.
If truth be told, she was still reeling with shock. She, Morgan, Archie, and Lee had all gone to school together. Morgan, Lee, and Kitty had been best of friends. Inseparable. How had none of them seen Lee’s spiral into mental instability? How had they not known that she had lost her grasp on reality a long time ago? That she’d been a serial arsonist, responsible for an alarming amount of fires?
Things she hadn’t really understood in the past made better sense now. When Lee had suddenly disappeared some years back without so much as a word, she and Morgan had been beside themselves with worry. Out of the blue, a couple of months later, Lee had phoned them from an unknown number to say she was travelling with the band she did promotion for.
While she promoted the band, Lee didn’t generally travel with the band when they went on the road. She told them she’d been given the opportunity to travel with them on their world tour and had no idea when she’d be back. Kitty and Morgan had been perplexed at how things had played out back then. Now? Now it all made sense.
They hadn’t seen how badly their friend had needed their help. But the thing that puzzled her the most was how Lee had been able to hide her descent into madness. Nobody had seen it coming. And then it had been too late.
Lee was now incarcerated, awaiting her trial. It would be some time before the case could be finalised. Yet, somehow, she’d managed to make a phone call to Kitty while she still lay in hospital, recovering. The woman had ranted, screaming abuse and threats of retribution, before Gray had taken the phone from her nerveless fingers and cut the call. He’d reported it to the prison authorities to be dealt with. But the interaction had left Kitty reeling.
Her doctor had suggested she talk to someone to deal with the trauma of being shot and then terrorised by a woman she had counted as family. Not forgetting that a man had committed suicide in her apartment, in a gruesome manner. When she’d agreed, Dr Russo had sent a colleague to see her in her private ward. She’d taken to the quietly spoken doctor, Dr Mason as she’d introduced herself, immediately. She knew, without a doubt, that Dr Mason was the right person to help her slay her demons and put her ordeal at Lee’s hands to rest.
But, for now, she wanted to go home. She craved the familiarity of her mother’s house.
It had beena pleasant surprise when Gray had arrived with her mother to fetch her. She hadn’t been expecting to see him until that evening. But it was so typical of Gray to be so thoughtful.
A wave of nostalgia hit Kitty as she walked into her childhood home. Yes, she’d been home to visit, but it was the first time she’d actually be staying at her mother’s house since she’d left for college years ago. And the memories held within those beloved walls assailed her as she walked down the hall to her room.
Very little had changed. Other than the bed linens that had been updated in the years she’d been gone, the room remained pretty much the same. Almost as if time had stood still, waiting for her return one day. Feeling the burn of tears, Kitty blinked to hold them at bay. She moved slowly around the room, touching childhood knick-knacks that had meant so much to her then.
Hearing a sound at the door, she turned to find Gray leaning against the jamb. Without a word, he opened his arms to her. Moving into his body, Kitty soaked in the warmth of his embrace. Resting her head against his chest, she listened to the strong, steady beat of his heart beneath her ear. A feeling of a homecoming of a different kind settled over her. Like she belonged there.
“Your mom asked me to come call you. She apparently has a surprise for you.”
She not only heard the words but felt them rumble through his chest.
