Page 16 of From the Flames
“My daughter played with that for hours sometimes,” the lady said. “But she outgrew it.”
Willy’s own daughter was halfway across the yard. “April, please come back.” He hadn’t even had a chance to check the price.
“She can have it for five if it makes her that happy,” the lady said, and Willy nodded.
“We lost everything when our apartment building burned, and I’m trying….” He hadn’t meant to say anything, and thewords got caught in his throat. He thought they had been moving on, but it still sucked that everything they had was gone. Dammit, April shouldn’t have to be so excited over an old play grocery cart. “And thank you. I’ll take the cart.”
Kevin got out of the car and joined him, his expression confused and maybe a touch angry. He came right over and slipped his arm around Willy’s waist. “Grant, did you find something?”
He sat on the ground looking in a box, his eyes wide. “I was coming out here and found that on my way,” the lady said. “This was my mother’s home, and she had a ton of things for the kids. She was always buying things she thought they might like and then putting them away… and forgetting about them. That was in the front closet, probably for my sister’s boys. Who knows.”
Grant raced over and took Willy by the hand, too excited for words. “Legos,” he said, and Willy looked inside the box. There were a couple of building sets and a bunch of loose building blocks.
“I was going to put twenty on that, but take it for ten,” the woman said as other people pulled up. Willy got his money out for what both kids wanted, and Kevin carried their treasures back and placed them in the trunk.
“Can we eat now?” Grant asked as soon as the car doors were closed.
“Yes. We can get something to eat,” Willy said. “What do you want?”
“Chickens,” Grant declared. “Wendy chicken with sauce.”
April was quiet, and Willy figured she would be happy with a few french fries, so they drove to Wendy’s and got a small order of chicken nuggets and a small french fry. Kevin ordered what he wanted while Willy got the kids settled in a booth.
“I got you something too. I know you take care of the kids and forget about yourself.” He placed a full order of nuggets in front of Willy and offered some of his fries.
“Thanks.” He hadn’t even realized he was hungry until he took the first bite. The kids were busy eating, so Willy felt like he could relax a little. “Is everything all right?”
“No. I keep going over things and coming up empty. Why would someone set fire to a burned-out shell?”
“Because they thought there must be something for someone to find. I know that the building is gone, but I had a few friends there. I could call them so you and Chase could talk to them as well about what it was like to live there. I’d also talk to the maintenance guys for the complex. They had to deal with the building in a way no one else did. They might be able to help you. It’s not like they built the place or anything, but they did have to deal with whatever messes the people who built the place left behind.”
“The police would have spoken with them already, I’m sure.”
“True, but they would question them like police. Did they see anything and stuff like that. If you talked to them, you would ask questions like a fireman. A big difference, I think.”
Kevin leaned over the table and kissed him. “You’re a genius, you know that?”
“Ewww,” came the chorus from next to them.
“Daddy and Kevin, sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g,” Grant sang. There were times when Willy hated preschool.
“That’s enough. Your daddy was being brilliant,” Willy said. “Now finish eating. You were so hungry.” He fake glowered at them, and they giggled and each picked up a fry.
Kevin made a call, probably to Chase, and they talked briefly.
“He’s going to set up a meeting with them for early next week.”
“Good. I keep wondering if there really is something so bad that someone would set fire to what was left. I mean, really, I wonder if they realize that by doing this they’re drawing attention to themselves….” He chewed on a nugget but barely tasted it.
“What are you thinking?” Kevin asked.
“Well, there was a fire and the building burned down. Plenty of questions have arisen, and people want answers. That’s reasonable. So burn down what’s left and make getting them even harder while at the same time convincing everyone that there’s something to find?”
Kevin nodded. “That’s a theory.”
“Yeah, sure. But we already knew there was something there to find.”
“Proof that construction was faulty,” Kevin supplied, but Willy shook his head. “You don’t think so?”
