Into the Fire

by Margaret Daley

  With a pout on her face, Ashley dropped her head for a few seconds.

  “In fact, we can’t stay too long. It’s getting late.” Kane ruffled Ashley’s hair. “Maybe another time, princess.”

  Her younger sister lifted her gaze, all evidence of a frown gone. Ashley looked right at Maggie. “And go to the movies?”

  “Of course. I love to go to the movies.”

  “Me, too.” Ashley gave Maggie a smile. “Next week?”

  “Ashley!” Kenny said in his “adult” voice.

  “That’s okay, Kenny. Ashley, isn’t next weekend filled with activities centered around Seven Oaks University’s Centennial Celebration?” Maggie caught Kane’s gaze, thoughts of their upcoming date causing heat to flood her cheeks.

  “Oh, yeah, I forgot. Mommy said something about that.”

  “There’s going to be a huge barbecue and fireworks Friday night with lots of activities at the school on Saturday, so I have a feeling you all will be busy.” Kane rose. “We’d better get a move on it.”

  As dusk settled over Seven Oaks, streaks of orange, yellow and rose painted the sky. Maggie strolled next to Kane with the children running ahead toward home.

  After depositing Ashley and Kenny in their apartment, Maggie turned to Kane. “I can fix a couple of sandwiches for supper.”

  “Sure. But maybe I should prepare the food.”

  “I had my second cooking lesson. I’m not that bad.” Maggie unlocked her front door and entered.

  “Okay. While you’re making the sandwiches, I’ll fix the coffee.”

  Maggie headed toward her kitchen. “I got a new coffeemaker and put Henry’s back with his possessions. David and another officer had just finished going through all the boxes.”

  “Yeah, he called me and told me he didn’t find another flash drive.”

  “There were probably only two.” Maggie withdrew the ingredients she needed from the refrigerator, then reached for the utensil drawer.

  She stopped and looked at it. Why was it slightly open? “I’m sure I shut this earlier.”

  Kane glanced at her. “What? The drawer?”

  “Yes. It wasn’t closed all the way.” She was being paranoid. She shrugged. “Right before we left for the movies, I was in a hurry. I might have left it open in my haste.” She retrieved a knife from the drawer and shut it all the way. “I hate not feeling totally safe. It makes me question everything.”

  “I’m sorry about that, Maggie.” Kane switched the coffeemaker on, then angled toward her. “I wish I could change that. The offer still stands. If at any time you want out of your rental contract, I’ll let you at no cost to you.”

  No! She was finally getting to know Ashley. Today was the first time she didn’t feel like a stranger to her own sister. “I’ll be fine. It takes more than an intruder to get to me. I’ve put this all in the Lord’s hands. It’ll work out.” Maggie busied herself putting the ham and Swiss cheese on the bread, then topping them with tomato slices and lettuce.

  “How can you say that with what’s happened?”

  “Easy. If I didn’t believe that, what would I have? Nothing really. God gives me hope. We all need that, especially during the tough times. My faith held me together when my adopted mother rejected me. God doesn’t reject—only people.”

  “When I witnessed a friend die before me, I begged the Lord to make things different. He didn’t. The war still raged around me. I still had people I know die or become wounded.”

  “You’re here now. You have a full life. The Lord never guaranteed that life would be easy, but He did guarantee He would be with us every step of the way. Holding us up, making us stronger.”

  The scent of coffee spiced the air. Maggie cut the sandwiches into halves, then picked up the plates. “Grab two mugs of coffee, and come into the living room. We’ll eat in there.” With the constant reminder of Henry’s murder, she was having a hard time staying very long in the kitchen.

  Maggie took a seat on the couch and placed the food on the table in front of her. When Kane came into the room, she put two coasters down for the mugs as he sat next to her.

  Maggie caught sight of the marble mantel. “I always built fires in my fireplace every weekend during the winter in St. Louis. This one is beautiful.”

  “I’ll have to come up and enjoy yours. That’s the one thing my apartment in the basement doesn’t have and I miss.”

  “Why did you move downstairs?”

  “After I was injured and came back to the States to recover, I had trouble climbing stairs. I converted part of the basement area into an apartment and fulfilled a dream of having a workshop. For a while I used the back door in the basement as an entrance.”

  “So, you didn’t have a workshop until a few years ago?”

  “No. Making furniture became a kind of therapy for me. Still is.”

  “I’m impressed. You got awfully good in a short amount of time.”

  “I spend a lot of time in my workshop.”

  Hiding away from people. She’d spent a lot of time in her room while growing up and later in her apartment doing that very thing. This move forced her to come out of her comfort zone in order to discover what she wanted to know. That didn’t mean she didn’t get the urge to do what Ashley often did—hide.

  “How long did it take you to heal from your injuries?”

  * * *

  Kane stared at the grate in the fireplace across the room in Maggie’s apartment. He hadn’t healed. But he couldn’t say that. Then she would ask him more questions about his injuries. He wasn’t ready to open himself up to her pity. He still could remember Ruth’s reaction. The first time he’d seen it in her eyes, something died in him that day. So, when she left him, he hadn’t really been surprised. He’d been a lousy companion.

  “It took a few months before I could comfortably use the staircase to the first floor,” he finally said, feeling her gaze on him. He reached and picked up his sandwich although his stomach knotted in a tight ball.

  “What happened between you and your fiancée? Edwina said she went to your parents’ house with you while you recovered, but she came back alone and moved from Seven Oaks right after that.”

  He’d been so glad Ruth was gone by the time he came back to town. At least he hadn’t had to live with the constant reminder that he’d lost more than his leg that fateful day in the Middle East. “I’m not the man she fell in love with. She recognized it and put an end to our engagement.”

  “I’m sorry,” Maggie murmured, delving into her own sandwich.

  Kane started to say she had nothing to be sorry for, but his throat constricted around the words. Lay everything out on the table now before you end up hurt again. The words were there in his mind, but he couldn’t get them past his lips.

  Finishing her last bite, Maggie wiped her mouth with a napkin, then shifted toward him. “Do you like to jog? I’ve been looking for a running partner. Come jogging with me tomorrow afternoon.”

  “I don’t jog.”

  “But you look like you’re in shape.”

  “I go to a gym.”

  “I promise I’ll go slow. It would be fun to have someone to run with.”

  Kane shot to his feet. “No!” He scooped up his empty plate and marched into the kitchen. At the sink, he washed off the dish and then put it in the drainer.

  “I’m sorry.”

  He spun around. “You have nothing to be sorry about. Not before. Not now.” A pressure tightened about his chest. He pulled air into his lungs, but it didn’t seem like enough. “I can’t run well because of my leg.”

  “Oh. I’m so—” Maggie attempted a grin that faded instantly. “I shouldn’t have pushed.”

  He covered the space between them. “And I shouldn’t have shouted. I used to jog all the time.” He combed his fingers through her hair and held her head. “Please accept my apology.”

  “No problem.”

  But her hurt leaked through her words and wounded him. He shouldn’
t be so touchy, but before his injury, he’d always been very athletic and enjoyed doing anything that pushed him physically.

  Maggie moved from his touch and put her own plate in the sink. “It’s been a long day. We probably should discuss what we should do next about Henry’s murder, but I’m just too tired to make sense out of all that’s happened. How about tomorrow afternoon?”

  “Fine. I should hear back from my friend at Henry’s old school. Vince has been away, but his wife said he’ll be home late tonight.”

  “Good. I’d love to know what Henry was like in Nashville.”

  “I doubt any different.”

  “Which means he may have made some enemies there?”

  “Yep, but I don’t think the person who killed Henry lives anywhere but here in Seven Oaks.”

  Maggie’s shoulders sagged. “I was afraid you would say that.”

  “Are you still afraid someone is looking for something in this apartment?”

  “I guess not. But I’ll feel better when it’s settled.”

  Kane started for the front door. “Come to the workshop after church tomorrow. We’ll talk then.”

  He paused in the entrance, wanting to drag her into his embrace and kiss her again. He needed to keep his distance. He wasn’t good at relationships. Ruth had made that loud and clear to him when she’d left him.

  “Good night, Maggie.”

  The sound of the door closing reverberated down the hallway. He stood in the corridor, the urge to go back into her apartment and tell her everything so strong that he had to force himself to move toward the stairs.

  * * *

  With her palm flat against the wooden door, Maggie leaned into it, trying to visualize Kane walking away from her apartment. She’d gotten a glimpse of the hurt that Ruth had wielded by leaving him.

  She turned away, heading toward her bedroom. Passing her office, she decided to check her e-mail before going to bed early. Through a doctor she knew at the hospital, she’d discovered the address of the fireman who had been the arson investigator back in the 1980s. She’d contacted him several days ago and hoped he’d answer her about the Johnsons’ house fire.

  Sitting down at the desk, Maggie breathed deeply, a faint odd odor hanging in the air she couldn’t identify. Of course, it hadn’t been that long ago she’d been around a lot of people at the movie theater and ice-cream parlor, and this was the first time she’d been alone and quiet enough even to focus on her surroundings.

  Glancing down, she noticed the drawer on the left-hand side was slightly open, too. She’d read her messages earlier today and had no reason to get into that drawer. She pulled it toward her and examined its few contents—mostly pens, paper clips and pencils.

  As her laptop booted up, she scanned the office and could find nothing else out of place. And if she were truthful with herself, she’d probably left the drawer open.

  Since the break-in a few weeks before, she questioned everything to the point she was driving herself crazy. Worry had become her way of life, and she didn’t like it. Lord, I have to learn to turn it over to You. What I can’t control is in Your hands.

  When her e-mails appeared up on her screen, she ran down the list and found a response from the retired arson investigator. After reading it, she called Kane.

  He answered on the third ring. “Hi. Is everything okay?”

  “Yes, the arson investigator I told you I was going to contact e-mailed me back. He now lives in Lexington, and he’s willing to meet with us. Are you up for a road trip one afternoon this week? I can get off either Tuesday or Wednesday.”

  “Wednesday. I’m only working a half day. We can leave after lunch or get lunch on the way to Lexington. It’s about an hour away.”

  “Great. Lunch and a visit with Mr. Preston. Good night.” Maggie hung up and immediately typed a reply, setting up an appointment to talk with the arson investigator at three.

  Weary, she made her way to her bedroom and quickly dressed for bed, switching on her sound machine she used to drown out noise during the night. She wasn’t even going to bother to read because as tired as she was, it wouldn’t be long before she was asleep.

  Chapter Eight

  An alarm blared. Maggie shot up in bed and stared at the darkness surrounding her, trying to orient herself to the sound still blasting the stillness.

  Not my clock.

  Then it dawned on Maggie what it was. Her fire alarm!

  A pounding at her front door propelled her from bed. Grabbing her robe and donning it, she raced from the room and in the hallway met a wall of smoke pouring from her office.

  Maggie spun back into her room and frantically scanned for anything to put over her mouth and nose. Snatching up a T-shirt lying on the chair nearby, she held it to her face and turned back to the hallway. Running low, she headed for her front door.

  Suddenly it burst open, and Kane hurried into her apartment, his chest rising and falling rapidly.

  He saw her. Relief moved across his features. “I called the fire department. Edwina was up and heard your alarm. She’s getting everyone else out of the building. Get out now.”

  Maggie straightened. “It’s coming from my office.”

  How long had the alarm been going off? Had she slept through some of it?

  She shook off the cobwebs of sleep still clinging to her mind and grabbed Kane’s arm as he passed her. “Where are you going? Aren’t you leaving, too?”

  “In a sec. I may be able to stop the fire.” He held up a large fire extinguisher he was carrying.

  “Then I’m coming with you.”

  He thrust his face into hers. “No! Leave now!”

  “What if something happens to you?”

  “Didn’t you tell me to put my trust in the Lord? I’m in His hands.” He directed her to the door and gently pushed her out into the hallway.

  Pandemonium erupted around Maggie in the corridor. Kyra, in a robe, tugged a sleepy Sean by her while Marcus Quinn cradled Ann to him as he came down the steps from the third floor. Vicky’s door opened, and she and the children surged out of the apartment.

  Maggie sent a prayer of thanks to the Lord as she took Kenny’s hand and started for the staircase.

  “Where’s Uncle Kane?” the boy asked, glancing back toward Maggie’s place.

  “Good question.” Halfway down the steps, Maggie checked to see if everyone in the building was heading out the main entrance. They were—except for Kane.

  She released her grip on Kenny, and over the noise of confused voices and children crying, she said to Vicky, “I’m going to drag Kane out of here. I’ll be out in a minute.”

  “Don’t. He can take care of himself.” Dropping Ashley’s hand for a second, Vicky grasped Maggie’s arms to stop her going back up the stairs.

  The idea that Vicky cared about her now stirred the anger Maggie had managed to suppress lately. It was too late. Pushing the feeling aside, she concentrated on the here and now. “I’ll be fine. I’ve been taking care of myself for years.”

  Maggie jerked free at the same time Ashley’s eyes widened and her hand went to her mouth. “Rosie is still in the apartment. I’ve got to get her.”

  “No, you can’t.” Vicky grabbed for her youngest.

  But Ashley was already running up the stairs. Vicky started after her.

  Maggie blocked her. “I’ll get her and send her back down. Go. Make sure Kenny gets out all right. Where’s John?”

  “Studying at the library. It was too noisy in our apartment.”

  Maggie whirled around and raced back up the staircase to the second floor. She wasn’t going to let anything happen to her kid sister. She couldn’t lose her.

  Inside Vicky’s place, she scanned the area and decided to head for Ashley and Kenny’s room. Near the hall the little girl rushed out of her bedroom, holding the snake that her brother had brought home from school.

  “You’ve got to get out of here.” Maggie scooped Ashley into her arms and rushed toward the hallway a
nd safety.

  The scent of smoke assailed her nostrils. Maggie quickened her steps. At the top of the stairs, she put Ashley down as Vicky climbed the steps two at a time.

  “Go to your mom.” Then to Vicky, Maggie asked, “Did Kane come down yet?”

  “No.” Her birth mother snatched Ashley up into her arms and hurried down the stairs.

  In the distance the sirens wailed as Maggie reentered her apartment and called out, “Kane!”

  Each second she didn’t see or hear him heightened her panic that the smoke had gotten to him. Through the haze, Maggie started for her office, holding the T-shirt over her mouth again.

  How was she going to drag Kane from her apartment if he passed out? This ran through her mind as she searched her smoky surroundings.

  His eyes watering, Kane popped his head out of the doorway. “I think I’ve taken care of the fire. I think it started in the trash can by the desk. Thankfully I came when I did. The drapes had caught fire. This whole place could have gone up.” Coughing, he gripped her arm and rushed toward the corridor. “Let’s get out of here and let the firemen do their job.”

  Started in the trash can? How?

  Sweat coated her face, her eyes were stinging, too, from the smoke. Coughing racked her as she raced down the stairs. Fires have been known to restart from just one spark. She prayed Kane had completely put it out.

  When Maggie emerged from the building, the tenants stood by the street. The firefighters scrambled from the fire engine when it came to a stop. A quick scan confirmed everyone was accounted for, and Maggie sagged against Kane in relief.

  * * *

  “What am I going to do?” Maggie asked, sitting in Edwina’s apartment later that night. “My place reeks of smoke, and the office will have to be completely redone. I guess I can move back to the dormitory for the time being.”

  “Nonsense. You can stay here. I have an extra bedroom for when my grandnieces and nephews come to visit. I’m just glad Kane put it out when he did and that each apartment’s ventilation system is separate.”