Page 29 of From the Flames
“What’s going on?” Kevin asked, looking up at him and Chase.
“That fire you got injured in was intentional,” Willy said, bringing Kevin up to date. “And the building was built—”
“By our friends at Kraft and Hobson,” Kevin supplied.
“Yeah.”
“I was just saying that there’s more to this than some building code violations,” Willy added. “These buildings werebuilt over a decade ago. There’s no way that anyone could go after them for these kinds of things. Statute of limitations and all. So there has to be something else.”
“Like what?” Kevin asked.
Willy shrugged. “I don’t know. You’re the firemen. I’m an economics professor. But if you want to know something, I suggest you follow the money. That drives a lot of what people do. People lie, cheat, steal, and kill for money, so why not set a few fires?”
“Okay. But it wasn’t like they would get money from insurance or anything,” Chase offered. “They don’t own the buildings, they just built them.”
Willy had no idea, and it seemed the rest were as baffled as he was. “I don’t think we’re going to come up with any answers staring at each other. Maybe think on it.”
“I need to check on the permits and inspections of this latest building. Maybe there’s something there.” Chase stood, fist-bumping Kevin. “I hope you feel better soon, and I’ll let you know if I find anything.” He left, and Willy locked the door behind him.
“Can we play Legos now?” Grant asked as he hurried into the living room with the dogs behind him.
“Sure,” Kevin told him. “Go get them and we’ll see what we can build.” Kevin sat back, and Willy wondered if this was a good idea. “I’m going to be fine. It’s just a little while.” He must have read Willy’s expression.
“Don’t let him wear you out,” Willy told him and helped April down. Then he put on a movie for her, and she sat entranced on her floor pillow, Benjamin sitting in her lap. The other two dogs took up places on the sofa on either side of Kevin, while Willy grabbed a book he had been wanting to read and sat in the chair to enjoy a quiet evening at home.
The letter box beside the door snapped closed, making him jump a little. It was late for the mail. He got up and found a piece of paper on the floor. Wary, he picked it up and read it, nearly dropping it back to the floor.
“What is it?”
Willy refused to play whatever game the asshole who’d already tried to threaten him was playing. “It seems our friend from the other day has decided to leave us notes. ‘Back off or else!’” He showed it to Kevin and then set it aside. He didn’t want to let it bother him, but it did. What if he decided to burn him out again? “He must really be desperate.” The fear was so real, but he knew he couldn’t let it get the better of him or this asshole would win.
“Aren’t you upset?” Kevin asked.
Willy shook his head, but he knew it was a lie to appear strong. “I kicked his….” He caught himself before swearing. “I took care of him once. I’ll do it again.” Damned cowards. He refused to let that man get to him and ruin their quiet time. Willy sat back down and picked up his book once more, forcing himself to read, but he barely saw the words.
“THAT’S QUITEan ordeal,” Kevin said once April and Grant were in bed. “Does it get easier?”
“Sometimes. Grant never wants to go to bed because he’s afraid he’ll miss something fun, so he tries to stay awake. April usually goes to bed easily, but she was on a tear. Thankfully they are both asleep, and I hope they stay that way.” Willy sat on the sofa next to Kevin, shooing Thumper out of the way. “How is your breathing?”
“It’s okay. I’m still coughing some, but not as much as I was earlier. Everything still aches, but I know that’s going to pass fairly quickly. The pain meds work, but they make me loopy and weird. And of course I slept all day, so I’m wide awake now.”
“Then we can put on a movie,” Willy suggested before turning down the lights. “Just relax.” He was grateful for a little quiet time. “What sort of movie would you like?”
“I don’t know. Something calm and kind of quiet. A little fun.”
Willy pulled up Netflix and found a rom-com set around a wedding in Thailand. It sounded fun and had some nice-looking guys in it. Then he got comfortable and settled down to watch.
About halfway through the movie, Willy paused it and got them both something to drink and a bag of chips. He brought them in and restarted the movie.
“I keep wondering what could be behind these fires.”
Willy leaned against Kevin’s arm as though this were the most normal conversation, rather than a discussion of the motives for arson. “I know. I’m watching the movie, and I keep expecting the entire resort to go up in flames at any moment. It’s kind of a buzzkill.”
Kevin chuckled. “Welcome to my world. Every time I go to the theater or a restaurant, I wonder what would happen if the place caught fire, how I’d get everyone out. It really kind of sucks. I can’t turn it off. Like I know that if something happened here, there are two doors and we’d get the kids and dogs out in a matter of seconds. I also know which windows we could escape from. It’s maddening, and yet….”
“Sort of comforting in a way,” Willy offered. “After the fire, I looked at the same sort of things. There are three fire extinguishers in this place, one in the kitchen, another in the closet right over there, and there’s one in the linen closet near the bedrooms. I wondered if that was enough, but maybe a fire extinguisher in the bathroom is going a little bit too far.” He chuckled. “Still, why would someone want to burn down buildings that they built unless they did something really wrong?” Willy sighed and closed his eyes. “I’m on a hamsterwheel, just going in circles with not enough information to get me anywhere. And I hate it because I want answers, just like you do.”
“Yeah, I know. But I don’t think we’re going to get any through my usual channels,” Kevin said softly. “We’re going to need some help.”
