Page 86 of Watch Your Back (Ariana Jones)

ChapterTwenty-Nine

Damon kissed Ariana and tucked the blankets around her. She didn’t stir. He waited a moment before slipping out of the guest bed and tiptoeing downstairs. The house was dim and quiet.

He grabbed a glass of water and sipped it, watching across the street. Lia and Charles didn’t have as good of a view of Boone and Rita’s house, but it was enough.

All the lights were dark and Boone’s car wasn’t out front. Would probably stay that way. Their neighbor was a jerk — and an arsonist and probably a killer — but he wasn’t stupid. He’d already admitted to the police he had the items to set a building on fire.

Now Damon and Ariana’s home was ash. The blaze had been so hot and so fast to spread through the house, nothing could be saved.

Nothing.

He was in shock, and couldn’t comprehend the news no matter how many times he thought the words, pictured the flames.

At least everything could be replaced. They didn’t have pets or people who had perished inside. Even their laptops had everything saved to the cloud. Insurance would pay for the rest, and even if it didn’t cover everything, they still had his dad’s money for whatever was left over.

Not that money could fix their trauma. They both knew that, after everything they’d already been through. It was one thing to know everything could be replaced, but it was something else altogether to watch their home burn to the ground. It would also take time to rebuild.

He didn’t want to wear out their welcome with Lia and Charles. It was one thing to live next to someone, but living within the same walls could ruin friendships. He and Ari might be better off renting a hotel room for a while.

“Looking for Boone?” Charles asked.

“I hope I didn’t wake you,” Damon said.

“No. I couldn’t sleep either.”

“I keep trying to wrap my mind around the fire. Everything’s gone.”

Charles patted his shoulder. “You two can stay here as long as you need to. At least that’s one thing you don’t have to worry about.”

“We appreciate your generosity, but—”

“But nothing. What else are friends for? You’d do the same for us.”

Damon couldn’t deny that.

“Besides, the house is over four thousand square feet. If you get sick of us, you have plenty of room to hide.”

“Sick of you? That wasn’t my concern.”

“We won’t get tired of you, so there’s no problem. Want a beer? I could find a movie to stream. It’d be more exciting than watching for Boone. He isn’t going to show his face anytime soon. Not if he already admitted to the police that he’s an arsonist.”

“He hadn’t done anything at that point.”

“And now he has.”

“We don’t know that my house was arson.”

Charles lifted a brow. “Are you kidding? Did you see how fast those flames spread?”

“It was already engulfed by the time we got here.”

“They’re going to call it arson. Trust me.”

Anger boiled in his chest. He should’ve done something about Boone long before he torched the house. Instead of confronting him, he should have met him somewhere secluded and beat him to a pulp.

“I’m going to get the beers,” Charles said. “Any movie you want to watch?”

“Fight Club.”

---