Page 49 of From the Flames
“Okay.” He wished he knew what he could do to bring this whole thing to an end.
“They did say that once they found the car, they thought that there had been a third person. They said there were signs of someone else but that they couldn’t find them. So maybe they got scared off.” He sounded hopeful.
“Daddy, who got scared?” Grant asked as he munched on a french toast stick.
“No one. Finish eating so I can take you and your sister to school.” Willy’s voice was gentle, but there was no missing the nervous undertones. He slipped away and got the kids to finish their breakfast. Then he got them dressed and packed their lunches.
“I don’t know what to do,” he finally said as he put Grant’s lunch in his backpack. “Should I stay home from school in case they come back? If I don’t, I’m going to worry that someone is going to come and burn us out of our home again. And….”
“Go on with your life as best you can. I have to go back to my place, but I’ll ask Carter about having someone keep an eye on things here.” This was turning into a real production. “Don’t worry. Just call me between classes, and I’ll let you know any updates that I have.” He hoped he was giving Willy the rightadvice. Drawing closer, he pulled Willy into a hug and kissed him. “This will be over soon.”
“How do you know?” Willy asked.
“Because both guys in custody are going to want to save their own skin, and that means that they’ll flip on anyone they can, so I don’t think we have to worry about this any longer. They walked right into a trap, and now we have enough evidence to put them away for a long time. Arson is one thing, but what they did by trying to burn people’s homes is likely to be termed attempted murder, and that’s going to carry a whole lot of repercussions.”
“I know this is over.” He released a deep breath. “And I’ll be okay. It will just take a little time for the immediacy of the situation to fade.” Willy looked into his eyes. “What is it? You look… scared.”
“Is all of this too much?” Kevin asked. “I’ll understand if it is and if you need to walk away. I get it. This sort of thing is more than most people bargain for. I know that being with a firefighter is going to be….” He didn’t know exactly what word to use.
“Special?” Willy supplied, to Kevin’s surprise. “How about hot?”
“Who’s hot?” Grant asked. “I not hot.”
“Just eat your breakfast,” Willy told him. “We have to go soon.” He finished getting the kids’ bags ready and took Kevin’s hand. “We need to talk about everything, but not right now. I have to get these two to school, and then I need to get to the college in time for class. You need to go to the fire station and get in touch with the police to find out what’s going on. We’ll meet back here for dinner?”
“That would be great.” Kevin took a quick kiss and then left Willy’s and headed to the station. He had plenty of work todo and reports that would need to be made. Nothing was ever finished until the mountains of paperwork were done.
Chapter 17
WILLY ANSWEREDquestions all day, because apparently the police and the fire department showing up at your house meant that everyone on campus knew about it in a matter of seconds. Evelyn was good enough not to pressure him for details, because Willy didn’t really want to talk about it. He would eventually, but he was trying not to think too hard about the fact that he could have lost his home for a second time. At the end of the day, he picked up the kids and got them home for their snack.
“Are you sick, Daddy?” Grant asked as Willy sat at the table with them. “Can I kiss it and make it better?”
“Me too,” April piped up, so he got a kiss on each cheek, and he forced himself to smile.
“Uncle Kevin is coming over in a little while.”
Grant climbed down and ran to his room. “I get Legos!” He was so excited, and Willy smiled to himself as April finished her snack. He cleaned her up and got her down. She ran off to get her cart and play food.
By the time Kevin arrived with the dogs, the kids were ready, both of them vying for his attention. He hugged each of them and left them to play before coming to Willy with a smile that sent his insides quivering. He grew warmer by the second as Kevin hugged him tightly.
“What a day,” Kevin whispered.
Willy held him and didn’t want to let go. He wanted to know if the police had anything but was nervous to ask about it, so he stood in Kevin’s arms and let the tension of the past few days finally bleed away.
“I can tell you the latest news,” Kevin said.
“Sure.” He rested his head on Kevin’s shoulder, and he slowly ran his hands up and down Willy’s back, soothing away the jitters.
“The guys we caught are singing like crazy. It seems Kraft and Hobson has been using dodgy materials for years, but it’s been harder and harder for them to cover up, even in Philadelphia, where they seem to have powerful people in their pocket. So apparently when the fire was reported here in town, they sent three people to Carlisle to handle it. The two in custody have given up the third man, and the police are confident they will find him.”
“Is that all there is to it? All of this is to cover up things they did over a decade ago?” Willy asked. “I was hoping there was much more to this.”
“I don’t think so. Sometimes it’s all about money, and people will do some pretty shitty things to protect themselves and their cash. But it seems that with what Red and Carter were able to get from the suspects, they were sent by the bosses to make sure that nothing came to light. As near as Red and Carter can figure, all of the buildings they worked on will need to be inspected from top to bottom. They skimped on materials, including the concrete.”
“Wow.”
“Not only that, but the state police are involved, and they are getting a subpoena for all their records, so it’s likely this is going to bring down the entire business.”
