by Melody Anne
“Let’s go talk to the chief,” Owen said. He still didn’t touch her, though she found herself leaning closer to him. She didn’t quite make their bodies touch, but she was taking silent comfort in his presence. She was sure she’d realize that was a mistake, but for now she didn’t care.
Mistakes simply helped a person grow, helped shape them into who they were supposed to become. No one could be perfect, not even those who strove for that. Human error was what made us all human.
The two of them walked to where Chief Eric McCormack leaned against the fire engine. He kept his eyes on his men, but he let them do their jobs. He looked up and nodded at Owen; then his focus was solely on Eden.
“I’m sorry, Eden,” he told her. “I know this is impossible.” He didn’t offer any other words. What else could he say? That it was going to be okay? That she’d be fine after a good night’s rest? That she wasn’t losing everything she owned? No. He couldn’t say any of that because it clearly wasn’t true.
“Hi, Chief,” she said, her voice quiet, hard to hear over the noise of the fire and engines. She cleared her throat and tried again. “What happened?”
There was a tremendous boom, followed by the team of firefighters calling out to make sure everyone was accounted for. She turned, already knowing what she was about to see. The roof of her house had just collapsed, and the walls were folding in. There truly would be nothing left but ashes.
She nearly lost it again.
Even though she’d told herself there was zero hope of recovering anything, she’d still prayed she could at least get those precious things her father had given her. A few tears slipped from her eyes before she could stop them. She faced the fire as she discreetly lifted her hand and wiped them away. She pulled her hand back and saw how black it was. The ash was flying through the air, and her tears were going to be obvious to anyone who cared to look at her.
“We smelled gasoline as soon as we got here,” the chief said.
Eden’s stomach clenched more tightly. She’d known this fire had been deliberately set, but the chief was confirming it. “Of course, we have to have an arson investigator look at it, but we know what we smelled.”
“Yes, you don’t do your job as long as you without knowing,” she offered. “I don’t understand who’d do it.”
“Here’s a hint,” the chief said, holding out a letter. “It was taped to the side of your mailbox. One of the guys grabbed it, and I read it. Keep it in the plastic. We might be able to lift some prints.”
Eden was stupefied as she took the plastic-wrapped letter from the chief. Someone had left her a note. What in the heck did that mean?
There was only one sentence typed out in a standard Times New Roman font. There was no signature, nothing to give even the remotest hint of who had left this for her. She couldn’t help but recall the notes that had been left for her friend Keera not too long ago. That case was still open.
Had Eden been pulled into this strange universe that seemed to be devouring their entire town? She didn’t understand how. She’d never done anything—at least that she could think of—that would make her a threat.
“What does it say?” Owen asked. There was such worry in his voice that she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt he had nothing to do with this. She’d known that all along, but hearing the concern and barely masked fury in his tone sealed that knowledge.
This was Owen—her Owen. No, he wasn’t hers anymore, but she knew he could never hurt her this badly. She knew he was too honorable a man for that. She didn’t say anything, simply handed him the note. She wasn’t sure she could even speak right now.
Owen read the note out loud: “Sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong will get you burned.”
It made it even worse to hear the words spoken aloud, made it all too real. She might be in danger, though that seemed impossible. What did it matter? she decided. They’d already taken everything they could from her. All she had left was her work.
Her eyes narrowed as her tears disappeared. If they thought this would scare her, they’d produced the opposite effect. She was suddenly furious, angrier than she could ever remember feeling.
She was going to find them . . . and they’d pay. They’d all pay. She’d die before she’d quit. They’d taken enough from her, from the town she loved. They’d just made the wrong enemy. She wasn’t as weak as she might have seemed. There had to be a ringleader. But whoever was in charge also had minions, and she’d get each and every one of them.
Turning, Eden looked at the shadows cast by the bright blaze, somehow feeling them out there, feeling the monsters who were lurking in the dark.
“I will find you!” she screamed.
Neither the chief nor Owen said a word, but their gazes followed hers.
There was no reply. But she somehow knew she’d been challenged. And she also knew they were aware the challenge had been accepted.
Game on.
He was close.
Close enough to hear Eden’s challenge. He’d been smiling at her devastated look, but at her words, the grin fell away. He’d thought he’d broken her, thought he’d sufficiently scared her, but he quickly realized she wasn’t who he’d thought she was.
He now knew scaring her would never be enough. She’d have to die. It didn’t matter to him. What was one more casualty in a war?
He tried to smile again, but he was no longer in the mood.
Turning, he walked away from the flames. No one noticed. They were too busy. He was just another concerned community member. He was the last thing on their minds.
But Eden wouldn’t always have Owen around to protect her. Even if he was there, it didn’t matter. They would both die before this was over.
His smile finally returned.
Yes. Game on.
Chapter Twelve
Eden was shivering. Her anger drained as quickly as it had appeared. This was too much for one person to bear. She knew she was ready to fall to the ground, knew there wasn’t a heck of a lot more she could tolerate. She was sort of surprised to find herself still standing.
She almost smiled when she remembered what her father had always said to her: No matter how bad a day you think you’re having, I promise there’s someone else in the world who has it so much worse than you do. Don’t focus on the negative; appreciate the positive and be grateful you don’t know what truly bad is all about. That was the kind of man her father was. That was the man who’d been taken from this earth too soon. Why him? Why take him when there were so many people out there who didn’t appreciate the life they’d been given?
Her shaking grew worse, and that’s when she felt the comforting embrace of Owen’s arm as he circled her waist. It wasn’t an intimate gesture. It was one offered in comfort. He wasn’t able to stand idly by any longer when she was obviously going off the deep end.
“You’re going to be okay,” he assured her.
She wanted to be strong enough to push him away, to tell him she didn’t need his comfort. But she’d be lying, not only to him, but to herself. Her father had also told her it was okay to lean on someone stronger once in a while. He’d assured her she’d be that stronger person some days, and someone else would be the next time. It was a circle, where none of us were meant to be alone, none of us were meant to always carry the burden.
“I’ll be fine,” she finally said, actually feeling that she was going to be. No matter how bad it got, it wouldn’t last. No matter what the situation felt like, it couldn’t possibly be as bad as she imagined. Why did people want to go to the worst-case scenario right out of the starting gate? Why not think more positively? Because we’re all human, and that means we’re all slaves to our fragile emotions.
She didn’t need to stand there watching as the flames took the rest of her house. It was accomplishing nothing to do that. The best way for her to get this mystery solved was to get away . . . to think.
“Can I have a few minutes alone?” Eden asked. She hated asking permission, bu
t she had no idea where she was even going. Obviously she couldn’t stay in the house. There wasn’t a house there.
“Where do you want to go?” Owen asked.
She looked around. There was a pond down a side trail. It was why she loved this house so much. Not only was the neighborhood wonderful, but she got a piece of nature while still being in town.
“I’m just going to sit on the dock for a few minutes,” she said.
Owen looked as if he wanted to refuse. That instantly put an iron rod straight up her back. She hadn’t needed anyone’s permission in a very long time. She shouldn’t have asked. She should have just demanded.
“Let me walk you down,” he said.
“Owen . . . ,” she began, but he held up a hand.
“I’m not trying to micromanage you, but someone set your house on fire and left you a threatening note. I just want to make sure they aren’t hanging around to finish up what they started.”
Eden tried to find fault in his logic. But he was correct. She was too worn out to talk, so she simply nodded. As much as she wanted his arm wrapped around her, she wouldn’t admit it, so she walked about a foot away from him as they made their way to the dock.
The moon was full, giving them plenty of light, since the farther away they got from the fire, the less light they had. They made it to the dock, and Owen looked around for several moments before he seemed satisfied.
“I’m just a shout away,” he told her.
She nodded again. He turned and left her. Eden gratefully sank to her butt and took off her shoes, letting her feet hang over the dock into the cool water. They tingled from the cold, and it was good, letting her know she was still very much alive.
Eden looked down into the blackness of the water rather than looking up at those deceptive stars. She wouldn’t be able to see many of them, anyway, since most of the area was covered in smoke. But she didn’t even want to see one breaking through the moonlit clouds. She wondered if she’d ever like stars again. At this particular moment, she didn’t care.
It was late, but Eden felt the need to speak to someone who wasn’t going to get emotional on her, someone who would make her think of anything other than the fact that she was homeless with only the clothes on her body, a broken car, and some cash. How sad her life had become.
She was twenty-seven years old, single, alone, with a job she didn’t love, and a life she didn’t understand. She wondered if other people had these sorts of thoughts, if they wondered what in the heck the purpose of life truly was. She was sure they did.
A fish came up and nibbled on her big toe, and Eden was shocked when she found herself smiling. She might even be in a halfway decent mood if she had a fishing pole in her hand. Some people found fishing boring. She found it relaxing, especially on a hot summer day with music playing low and a cold beer in her hand.
Sure, the music scared away most of the fish, but every once in a while, a brave one would latch on to her hook. It wasn’t about what she caught; it was about the act of doing something so mundane, so leisurely.
Pulling out her phone, she decided to call the arson investigator to fill him in on . . . well, on basically nothing. She didn’t really have any information for him, but he’d been the one to choose her to talk to people. Or, more aptly, he’d picked her law firm, and her boss had picked her.
The call was answered just as she was about to hang up. “Hello?”
She realized it was getting late. “Hi, Ron. Sorry to bother you at this hour. I didn’t bother looking at the time,” she said hurriedly.
“Eden? What’s wrong?” He’d seemed distracted when he’d answered, but he was instantly on alert at the sound of her voice. She wondered if there were many emergencies in this line of work.
“Nothing’s wrong, exactly,” she said. “My house just burned down.”
There was a short pause on the other end of the line.
“Are you okay?” he asked, talking to her as if she were a small child.
“I wasn’t home when it happened. I got here just in time to see the aftermath,” she told him before pausing. “There’s something else I need to tell you, though, that I should’ve already.” She pushed out the words quickly so she couldn’t take them back. She didn’t want to lose this job. It was what she had right now, and it was better than being stuck inside an office at her desk all day long. But she also didn’t want this investigation damaged because she hadn’t been honest with all the parties involved.
“What is it?” he asked. She couldn’t tell by his tone if he was waiting for good or bad news.
“I’ve had a relationship with one of the people being investigated,” she said.
There was another pause, this one a little longer.
“How much of a relationship?” he finally asked.
“We were a couple for about three years, but it ended ten years ago.” That was until six months ago, when she’d jumped his bones in his kitchen. She decided she didn’t need to add that.
She could tell Ron was doing the math in his head.
“You were teens?” he asked.
“Yes, but you know small towns . . .” She trailed off. Not everyone knew small towns. Maybe Ron had never been to one in his life.
“It’s Friday night and there isn’t anything we can do right now. But I’m going to have to talk to my bosses and see how they want to proceed with this. Why don’t you continue to do your job this weekend, but make sure you’re keeping detailed notes,” he finally said.
She let out a relieved breath. She might not be on the case come Monday or Tuesday, but at least for now she could still focus on it.
“Thank you. That’s exactly what I want to do,” she said.
“Tell me what you know,” he said.
She spent the next couple of minutes informing him about the injuries on the mountain earlier, and of her conversations with both Owen and his brother. She didn’t try to come to any conclusions on what she’d found so far. She wasn’t supposed to. That was Ron’s job.
“You’re doing great. I’ll be sorry if you have to be replaced,” Ron told her.
“So will I. At first I didn’t want to do it, but I’ve come to sort of enjoy it . . . well, that is, when my house isn’t burning down,” she said with a humorless laugh.
“I’m truly sorry about that, Eden,” he replied. She heard some noise in the background, and it sounded as if she might have interrupted him. Not all people worked twenty-four-seven. Most people had families or friends to hang with. Yes, Eden had friends. But she just didn’t want to talk about any of this anymore, so she wasn’t planning on seeing any of them.
The background noise at his house increased, and Eden told him goodbye. She got off the phone and sat there at the dock for a few minutes longer. When her feet were completely numb, she pulled them from the water and waited for them to dry enough to put her shoes on.
She was on wobbly feet as she stood and began making her way back up the trail to her diminishing home. She wasn’t surprised to find Owen at the top of the trail. He was far enough away to give her privacy, but close enough to get to her if she let out so much as a peep of distress.
He always had enjoyed being the knight in shining armor. It seemed at least that much about him hadn’t changed. She feared she might be planning on making another mistake with him—maybe even tonight.
Why fight it?
Isn’t that what she’d thought before? Isn’t that what she’d been doing when she’d lost her father? But she truly did have nothing else to lose at this point. Maybe she should simply jump in with both feet one more time.
Chapter Thirteen
“Why don’t you come home with me?” Owen asked.
Before she replied, he knew her answer. She shook her head. “No, take me to the motel,” she said.
“That’s foolish, Eden,” he insisted. “I have a huge house. I’ll leave you alone if you come with me.” He wasn’t sure he’d be capable of keeping that promise, but he’d give i
t one hell of a valiant effort.
“No,” she said again. He was growing more frustrated by the second. He didn’t want to leave her alone, especially after that note she’d been left.
“How about going to Roxie’s, then?” he asked, though it killed him. He didn’t want her at his brother’s place. He wanted her with him.
“No,” she told him. “Take me to the motel.”
He was quiet. “What about your dad’s place?”
She winced visibly. “You know I can’t stay there,” she whispered. He felt like an idiot for even bringing it up. Of course she couldn’t stay there. He knew he wouldn’t be able to stay in his parents’ house if something were to happen to them. He really needed to spend more time with them.
“Then come home with me,” he tried again.
When she looked up, there was a change in her eyes. There was determination and something else that had him tensing. The look in her eyes said something he didn’t want to even hope for.
“Take me to the motel . . . and come inside with me for a little while.”
He knew she was trying to distract him. And Owen had to admit it was working. She was beautiful, sexy, and he needed her more than he needed oxygen. So what if he was a fool? He’d take what she was offering, because that was one step closer to his ultimate goal of having her forever.
Without further argument, he placed his hand on her back and led her to his truck, bypassing the firefighters who were still putting out the blaze that had completely consumed her home. There truly wouldn’t be anything left. That was something they were going to have to face tomorrow. But he’d be by her side so she wouldn’t do it alone.
Eden scooted over to the middle of the seat as they began driving down the road. Owen pressed his foot down on the accelerator, needing to get her into a bed as soon as possible. Many people handled grief in different ways. If it was escape she was looking for, he was glad she trusted him enough to do it with him.