by Brenda Novak
He heaved a sigh. “Maybe it was an accident. Warren could’ve been smoking over here instead of at his place. He could’ve tossed a butt where he shouldn’t have. But that Honda I saw...”
“It was Noelle’s car?” Lourdes asked. “Noelle drives a Honda?”
“Yes.”
“When did you notice it?”
“Right after the first wave of firefighters arrived.”
“Are you sure it wasn’t another one of the men, coming to help? Or that Noelle wasn’t dropping someone off?”
“I’m positive. She didn’t stop long enough to let anyone out. Besides, that car’s old and distinctive. I don’t think I’d confuse it. She pulled in, circled around the parking lot and then got the hell out. The sight of her gave me the creeps—made me feel like she was coming back to survey what she’d done. As if she was excited about it.”
It was hard to believe someone would go that far, but Lourdes knew it happened occasionally. “Are there any security cameras that might tell you what happened?”
“No, there’s never been any need for that sort of thing. I’ve never even considered it.”
“Still, if this is arson, they should be able to tell once they get the fire out, and things cool off.”
He didn’t respond. He just kept staring at the plant as though seeing it go up in smoke was so terrible he couldn’t look away.
“You have insurance, don’t you?”
“I do, of course, but this will be a serious disruption to my business. And who knows whether the insurance company will step up the way they should. Insurance companies are notorious for doing everything possible to reject a claim or make some exception or other.”
She wished she could offer him more consolation. “I’m sorry, Kyle. I feel awful about this.”
“It’s cold out. You should go home,” he said.
“You’re worried about me being cold? I’m the one who’s wearing a coat—your coat. Here, you take it. That sweatshirt can’t be doing much to protect you from this wind.”
He waved her off. “Keep it. I can’t feel anything.”
She folded her arms to protect her hands from the biting wind. “If it’s her, if it is Noelle, she’ll be in real trouble. Maliciously setting a fire is a felony, isn’t it?”
“I don’t know about anywhere else, but it is in California. If she’s convicted, she’ll go to prison.” He shook his head. “She’s so used to getting away with all the shit she does. People around here have been putting up with her bad behavior for years. Her family’s been doing it her whole life. But maybe she’s finally gone too far.”
* * *
It took the firefighters more than two hours to put out the fire and make sure everything was properly soaked. Kyle was numb by the time it was over. He sent a text to Morgan. He knew she turned off her cell at night and wouldn’t get his message until morning, but he didn’t want to call the house and wake her. Morning would be soon enough for her to receive the bad news. She could try to get word to the rest of his employees then, at least as many as she could catch, so they wouldn’t drive in to the plant for nothing.
With a final, heartbroken glance at what he used to be so proud of, he and Lourdes got in his truck to return to the house. He’d tried to convince her to go back ahead of him. There wasn’t any need for her to be out so late in such cold weather. But she hadn’t been willing to leave him. She’d said friends didn’t leave friends in the middle of a crisis.
He was glad she’d clarified their relationship—since the line between friends and something more had blurred beyond distinction right before Warren showed up.
On the one hand, the timing of that interruption couldn’t have been worse, Kyle thought. Neither he nor Lourdes had obtained the physical satisfaction they’d been seeking. He was so upset by what had happened to the plant that a heavy dose of sexual frustration on top of it made him even more bad-tempered.
But it was possible that Warren had knocked at just the right time, since the interruption gave them a chance to step back and reconsider what they were doing. Kyle couldn’t imagine that having sex with Lourdes would make her life any less complicated—or his any easier when she left.
He needed to get into a good fistfight, he decided. He’d never been the type to throw punches, not unless he had no choice, but he needed some sort of outlet...
“Are you planning to tell the police about your suspicions, or wait and see what they say about how the fire originated?” Lourdes asked.
He slowed as he turned onto the road, leaving the remains of his plant behind. Chief Bennett had been there, along with two other Whiskey Creek policemen, but they’d been busy helping the firemen, then putting up barrier tape so no one would get too close or enter the building until it could be deemed safe. When he’d spoken to Bennett, Kyle hadn’t mentioned the Honda he’d seen. He figured there’d be time for that later. Bennett had said he’d call Kyle in the morning, so Kyle knew he’d have an opportunity to express his concerns before too long. “I’m not sure. If they plan on doing a thorough investigation, I might wait.”
“Your insurance company will probably insist on a thorough investigation, even if you don’t. Anyway, in the meantime, if you don’t speak up, are you going to let Noelle know you saw her?”
Kyle didn’t get the chance to answer that question. He’d just parked in his driveway when another pair of headlights glinted off his rearview mirror. Someone had pulled in behind him.
“Who is it?” Lourdes twisted around to look, but because of the glare, she probably couldn’t see more than the front grille of his stepbrother’s Chevy Tahoe.
“Brandon.” He assumed his stepbrother was alone—until he got out and saw that Olivia had come, too.
“Kyle, I can’t believe it, man.” Brandon slammed his car door and closed the distance between them with his usual purposeful stride. “What the hell happened?”
Kyle spread out his hands. “Wish I knew. How’d you hear?”
“Our neighbor’s part of the volunteer force,” Olivia explained as she joined them. “When he got home and saw that our lights were still on, he knocked. He figured we’d want to know.”
“It could’ve waited until tomorrow. You two certainly didn’t need to come out so late.”
“Yes, we did,” Brandon said. “You should’ve called me right away.”
“Why? So you could watch the plant burn like I did? I couldn’t save a damn thing from my office or Morgan’s. The computers, the files, the furniture—hell, even some of the walls are gone. I didn’t get there in time. But, by the grace of God and some great volunteers, the fire was extinguished before it destroyed my equipment and inventory.”
Olivia had no makeup on—proof that she and Brandon had been going to bed. She could’ve let Brandon come alone, but she hadn’t. She seemed truly concerned. “Do you have any idea what caused it?” she asked.
Kyle felt the weight of Lourdes’s gaze. She was wondering if he’d accuse Noelle. It was difficult not to. To his mind, there was no chance that fire had started on its own—or because of Warren smoking. He’d pretty well dismissed that possibility. Seeing Noelle pull into the parking lot at that particular moment had been too coincidental. “No,” he said. “Not yet.”
Singling out his house key, he gestured for them to follow him to the porch. He had too much adrenaline flowing through him to feel the cold, but Lourdes’s nose and cheeks were pink. She’d been standing outside too long already. “Let’s go in. I, for one, could use a drink.”
“I’ll take one, too,” Brandon said.
While Kyle unlocked the door, Brandon spoke to Lourdes. “I bet you weren’t expecting so much excitement when you came out here.”
“No. There’ve been a lot of things I didn’t expect.”
Kyle guessed Brandon wanted to que
stion that statement. He wondered what she was referring to himself. Moving in with a stranger? Hearing Derrick admit his affair?
Or was it the fact that they’d stripped off all their clothes and nearly made love a couple of hours ago?
Briefly, the vision of Lourdes’s breasts flashed in Kyle’s mind—along with the memory of their taste and feel. He wanted to tell Brandon and Olivia to go home so he could drag her back into his room, wanted to forget everything that had just happened by losing himself in her. Only then did he think he might be able to sleep.
But he pushed that thought aside. What he’d been feeling when they were together before the fire had nothing to do with friendship. He wanted a real relationship, which meant that making love to her now was the last thing he should do. His plant had been severely damaged; he didn’t need to give himself any more reason to be angry or disappointed.
“What do you have to drink?” Brandon asked. “I hope it’s stronger than wine.”
“I’ve got some whiskey somewhere.” Kyle focused on Olivia and Lourdes. “You two planning to join us?”
“I can’t,” Olivia said.
“No, thanks.” Lourdes shook her head. “After breathing in all those nasty fumes, my stomach’s upset.”
Kyle handed a shot to Brandon. Then he gave Lourdes and Olivia each a glass of water and dropped onto the sofa. “What a night,” he murmured, and that started them talking about the fire again—how he’d found out about it, whether there’d been any chemicals left too close to other chemicals or Warren had been lying about where he’d been standing with his cigarettes, who’d locked up earlier and what Kyle’s next steps would be. He paid a lot for hazard insurance, but he’d never expected to need it. He supposed he’d call his agent in the morning, and his agent would explain what to do next.
“This won’t hurt you too much financially, will it?” Olivia asked. “I mean...you know Riley will drop everything to help you rebuild as soon as possible.”
“Riley has a wedding coming up,” Kyle pointed out.
She took a sip of her water. “I’m handling most of that, and it’s the slow season for construction. I bet he’ll jump right in. And if he can’t, I’m sure your clients will understand. It’s not as if you had any control over this. It was just an unfortunate occurrence. Could’ve happened to anyone.”
Kyle wasn’t feeling nearly as optimistic that he’d be able to throw himself on the mercy of his clients and expect any special consideration. There’d probably be a few who could wait, but... “I sell primarily to large commercial users, Olivia,” he said. “They don’t give a shit whether I’ve had some bad luck. They want their solar system to go in when it’s scheduled to go in. And if they can’t get the panels from me, they’ll get them from someone else. I’ll try to counteract that with some discounting to get them to hold out, but it’ll hurt my bottom line, even if the insurance covers the other losses.”
She grimaced. “But you’ve worked so hard. How long will it take to get the plant up and running again?”
“I have no idea.” He stared at the liquid in his glass. “They wouldn’t let me go in, even after the fire was out. Everything was too hot. And they were afraid more of the roof would collapse.” He wasn’t sure he could’ve tolerated the fumes, anyway. The firemen claimed they were toxic and, judging by the terrible stench, it was easy to believe. “It’ll take time just to determine the extent of the damage—let alone go through the process of getting everything fixed or replaced.”
“Could it have been faulty wiring?” Brandon asked.
Kyle’s curiosity about what they might be able to tell him suddenly overcame his desire to keep his suspicions to himself. “You don’t happen to know where Noelle was tonight, do you?”
The room stilled. Even Lourdes’s eyes flew to his face. But if Noelle had a believable alibi, he’d rather learn about it now. The thought that she might have sabotaged his success out of petty jealousy, resentment or revenge infuriated him.
“Why would you ask that?” Olivia said.
He attempted a careless shrug. “No reason. Just wondered if...if she managed to get her job back at Sexy Sadie’s, or if she came over to hang out with you or you met her for a drink—”
“Noelle’s been spouting off, saying some stupid things. I told you that before,” Olivia said. “But she would never purposely set your plant on fire, if that’s where you’re going with this. Why would she take the risk? What if someone was in the building? What if you were there, working late like you so often do?”
“I’m sure she could see that my truck was parked here. And all the lights were off at the plant, except for that one pole light outside.”
“She’s done some really dumb things, some thoughtless and selfish things. But she’d never go that far.” Olivia looked at Brandon for confirmation, but he surprised Kyle by frowning at her apologetically, as if he wanted to agree with her for the sake of support but couldn’t do it for the sake of honesty.
“I wouldn’t put it past her,” Kyle said, hoping to draw any fire Brandon’s lack of support might cause. He didn’t want to get his brother into an argument with Olivia just because Brandon saw Noelle the way he did.
Fortunately, it worked.
“You think it was her!” Olivia set her glass aside and rose to her feet.
Lourdes shifted as if she was tempted to say something but didn’t.
“No,” Kyle said. “Never mind.” Damn it. He should’ve kept his mouth shut. He couldn’t trust himself at the moment; he was too angry. “I’m sure she didn’t do it.”
“Now you’re just telling me what I want to hear,” Olivia said. “Well, you may think it was her, but I don’t.”
“Have you heard from her tonight?” Brandon asked his wife.
Olivia gaped at him. “Brandon, stop! Not you, too.”
He lifted his hands. “Kyle’s my brother, babe. And she’s the only one who’s got a grudge against him. It makes sense to tie down her whereabouts. If she really has nothing to hide, you don’t have anything to worry about.”
Brandon’s words must’ve seemed reasonable, because Olivia’s shoulders slumped. “Have they even established that it was set on purpose?”
“Not yet,” Kyle said. Which was why he should’ve waited. One minute he told himself to hold off; the next he was dying to hunt Noelle down.
He needed that fight he was spoiling for. Sitting here drinking was far too innocuous, especially since he couldn’t keep from looking at Lourdes—and wanting her in spite of everything.
“Then why are you even asking about her?” Olivia demanded.
“Because he saw her there,” Lourdes replied as if she couldn’t resist speaking up. “Tonight.”
The blood drained from Olivia’s face, and her eyes were riveted on him. “Noelle was there? When?”
Kyle finished his drink. “After the fire broke out.”
“A lot of people probably showed up after the fire broke out,” she said. “Stanley, our neighbor, told us he’d never been to a fire that had so many people running around.”
“I’m not arguing with that,” Kyle said. “We don’t have too many emergencies in Whiskey Creek, so they attract plenty of attention.”
“But Stan was referring to firefighters,” Brandon said. “Noelle’s not a volunteer, so...what? She came to watch?”
“I’m not sure what she came to do,” Kyle admitted and repeated what he’d seen and how quickly she’d driven off.
Olivia bit her lip. “So you’re not positive it was her car. You said yourself that it was difficult to see. That there was a lot of movement and chaos and smoke.”
Kyle exchanged a look with Brandon. “That’s true.”
“Fine.” The narrowing of her eyes suggested she wasn’t happy that Brandon was taking his side. “I’ll call her. Rig
ht now. And I’ll ask where she was tonight.”
“It’s late,” Kyle said. “Let’s see what the police find. I only brought her up because I was hoping you could tell me she was with you all evening.” Besides, at this point he just wanted them to go home before the negative emotions charging through him busted out in some way.
But Olivia wouldn’t listen. She hesitated briefly, then reached into her pocket for her cell phone.
They all watched as she held the phone to her ear and moved toward the fireplace. “Hey, there you are. I thought maybe you’d gone to bed, but you’re usually such a night owl.”
Noelle had obviously answered; Kyle felt his pulse gallop even faster.
“I was just calling to see if you’d heard about Kyle’s plant,” Olivia said. “No?” She sent them a glance that suggested this gave her hope. “There was a fire there tonight...It was bad—just about burned down...What? They have no idea...Of course it’ll set him back...Don’t say that. You might be mad at him right now, but he’s been really good to you...Our neighbor told us. He’s a volunteer...Because we were just finishing a movie...I feel so bad for Kyle. He’s devastated—”
Kyle gritted his teeth. If Noelle had set the fire, he didn’t want her to know how badly it’d hurt him, that she’d hit her intended target with a direct bull’s-eye. He wished Olivia would hang up. He’d heard enough.
“Anyone would be,” Olivia went on. “Of course he has insurance, but it’s not that simple. It’ll cover some of the losses, sure. But insurance doesn’t always take care of everything. And what about the orders he’ll lose while the plant’s down? The clients who can’t wait for him to deliver their solar panels will have to go somewhere else...”
It was difficult for Kyle not to snatch the phone away and accuse Noelle of lying. Even if she hadn’t set it, he knew she’d seen it.
“What’d she say?” Brandon asked when Olivia finally finished her call.
“She seemed genuinely surprised,” Olivia replied.
“That’s bullshit!” Suddenly too agitated to sit, Kyle stood. “She knew about the fire before you told her. I saw her there. Why would she pretend otherwise?”