by Pj Fiala
Chapter Eighteen
Greg glared at Tommy for a few beats before turning his glare on Gunnar. When Gunnar put his arm around Emma and pulled her into his body and kissed the top of her head, Greg turned and walked to Tommy’s cruiser to have that conversation.
Gunnar squeezed Emma again. “You good?”
Emma whispered, “Yeah. You don’t think he would have done this, do you?”
Gunnar shrugged. “I don’t know, babe. You know him better than I do. Do you think he could have done this?”
Emma looked at the burned out house and closed her eyes. “He’s spoiled and likes to get his way, but I don’t think he would resort to this. It seems too random for him. And, even though he’s a giant asshole, he wouldn’t put a baby in danger like that.”
“Unless he drove by and saw them packing up. We’ll see what Uncle Tommy has to say when he’s finished talking to him.”
A fire investigator walked out of the house, carrying bags of evidence, followed by three assistants. Each of them carried large cases and boxes to a waiting truck. Emma and Gunnar saw the fireman they spoke to last night speaking with the investigator and Gunnar took Emma’s hand and walked toward him, hoping for some news. The fireman looked over and saw them walking toward him and he held up his hand signaling them to wait a moment. He finished his conversation with the investigator while Emma and Gunnar waited for him to come to the edge of the barricade to speak with them.
“Good morning, folks. How are you today?”
“We’re good. Can you tell us anything?”
The fireman looked at both Gunnar and Emma and nodded once. “It was arson. The accelerant was in a clear bottle. Doubtful we’ll get any fingerprints with the fire, it burned hot. The living room sustained the majority of the damage; however, the remainder of the house is smoke damaged. The back bedrooms may be able to be cleaned, but the contents are ruined—not just by the fire, but the water as well. My assistants and I took as much evidence as we could gather and will look it over, compare it with any other arson cases in the area and look for any trace evidence. It’ll be some time before you can get in there. And I suspect your insurance adjuster will need to see things as they are, so I wouldn’t do anything until they can see it. Sorry folks, I know this is difficult.”
Emma offered him a small smile and held her hand out to shake his. “Thank you for the information, we appreciate it.”
Gunnar also shook his hand and he and Emma walked back to his truck. “Okay, so why don’t you call Ashley and give her this news, tell her about the apartment and ask if she knows when they’ll be back. Then, I’ll call Bryce and make sure the unit is ready for them.” Gunnar kissed her forehead and pulled his phone out of his pocket. “I’m going to call Dad right now. He and Mom are worried about you.”
Emma sat in Gunnar’s truck, staring at Ashley and Ron’s house with a lump in her throat. She hit Ashley’s number and took a deep breath waiting for her to answer.
“Hey Em, any news?”
“Hey, Ashley. Gunnar and I are at the house right now. The investigators just left and confirmed it was arson. They said the living room is damaged, and anything left in the house is probably lost from the smoke, fire, and water. I’m so sorry, Ash.”
Emma sat twirling her hair around her fingers as she quietly listened to Ashley cry. Her heart was breaking for her sister. After Ashley composed herself, she said to Emma, “I don’t even know where to begin. Where will we live in the meantime?”
“Ash, Gunnar’s Uncle Bryce owns apartment complexes and they have a unit available for you and Ron. It’s a two bedroom and Gunnar says they’re nice units. It’s ready when you get back here.”
Hearing her sister sob on the phone caused Emma’s tears to flow freely. “Oh, gosh, tell Gunnar thank you so much. When I get back, I’ll give him a big hug. I feel relieved. Now, we’ll just need something to sleep on.”
Emma’s head popped up, “Ash, I have all my furniture in storage back in Chicago. I’ll go and get it for you. When do you think you’ll be home?”
“Emma, that’s a long way for you to go. I don’t want to put you out.”
“No. I’m doing it. Besides, it’ll save me from paying for the storage unit. My furniture is newer and nice and it’s sitting in a storage unit not being used. I insist. I’ll have it here when you get back. It makes me feel like I’m helping in some way.”
Gunnar quietly climbed into the truck and sat listening to Emma talk to her sister—so eager to help, no matter the burden to herself. No way in hell was she going back to Chicago on her own. Not with that asshole Greg creeping around.
Emma hung up and rested her head against the back of the seat. Gunnar reached over and placed his hand on the top of her head, massaging it. They sat quietly for a few minutes before Gunnar broke the silence.
“You’re not going to Chicago by yourself. I’ll go with you. We’ll leave early tomorrow morning. We can be in Chicago by eleven if we leave by seven. We can load up the trailer and be home in the evening. Or, better yet, if you want to take off work on Monday, we can spend the night in Chicago, go to dinner, stay in a nice hotel, and come home on Monday. You can show me where you used to hang out.”
Emma grinned thinking that would be fun—a road trip of sorts. “I have some friends who’ll help us load the trailer. They helped me move out. I’ll give them a call, you’ll love them.”
“They aren’t guy friends, are they?”
“As a matter of fact, they are. Two of them are hot, hot, hot.”
Chapter Nineteen
After the sun had been up a couple hours, they packed their overnight bags into Gunnar’s truck. His mood felt lighter than he’d felt in a few days.
“I’ll run in and fill up a couple travel mugs and be right out,” Emma said as she strutted back to the house.
Gunnar watched the sway of her ass and a grin split his face. “I’m a lucky fucker, that’s for sure,” he mumbled to himself.
He walked to the back of the Rolling Thunder trailer he’d borrowed from his dad to check the locks on the tailgate. The chirp of his phone broke into his thoughts.
Tapping the “answer” icon he said, “Yeah?”
“So Emma’s house burned down, huh?”
Gunnar froze at the voice on the other end. That voice grated on his nerves. At a loss for words, his breathing picked up, the hammering of his heart vibrating his whole body and the slight trickle of sweat forming on his scalp threatened to bring him to his knees.
“No words I see. I told you to come and see me, but you didn’t. I told you I wouldn’t take no for an answer. Believe me now?”
Gunnar’s jaw tightened, his back ramrod straight as his eyes instantly went to the door Emma had gone through.
“What. Do. You. Want?”
“Ahh, so you can speak.” Chuckling. “So, I expect you to meet me at Dianna Simpson’s house. You know it, right? Your biological father’s home?”
“He’s dead.”
“Yep, he is. But, we need to discuss some of his activities before his death and a certain little box of goodies you have that belongs to me.”
Gunnar’s lip curled into a sneer. “I don’t have anything that belongs to you or anyone else.”
“Ahh, but you do. It was wrongly given to you and I want it back.”
Gunnar watched Emma step out of the garage door. Her beautiful face creased into the most brilliant smile and her blonde hair flowed down her back, swaying as she walked. The halo it created around her head seemed as though God himself was telling him she was an angel sent especially for him.
Quickly looking at the pavement under his feet, he ground out. “I’m leaving town this morning and won’t be back until Tuesday. It’ll have to wait until then.”
“Right, Daddy Dog gave you his trailer to take out of town.” More chuckling over the phone as Gunnar’s eyes roamed the surrounding houses and the street. He didn’t see anyone sitting anywhere watching.
Hearing E
mma’s boots tap on the pavement of the driveway, Gunnar quickly added into the phone, “I’ll call you when I get back. We’ll talk then.”
Quickly tapping the end call icon, he shoved his phone into his back pocket while reaching out his hand to take the cup of coffee Emma offered. She tilted her head to the side as her eyes roved his face.
“You all right?”
“Yes. Yeah. It’s fine.”
Her pretty brows furrowing, she pursed her lips then nodded a couple of times before sipping her coffee.
Gunnar turned, jerked on the trailer closures and twisted his head towards the truck as he briskly strode to the driver’s side and climbed in.
Emma hurriedly followed his lead and climbed into the passenger side of the truck.
“You’ve been getting these mysterious phone calls lately and they upset you. Won’t you tell me about them?”
“It’s nothing. Just some jerk. Don’t worry about it. You have enough to deal with right now.”
Twisting her lips, she stared out the window. She wanted to say more, but she didn’t want to pry either. Actually, she wasn’t sure what her place was with him. They were sort of living together now, but they didn’t really know each other in the respect that they knew all things about each other. And she did have a lot to deal with right now. But her conversation with Molly kept rolling around in her head. Joci said Keith, our biological father, used to get mysterious calls at all times of the day and night, and then he would disappear for a while. At least he hadn’t disappeared. Yet. But Greg had gotten weird calls just before she caught him cheating. She didn’t want to think of Gunnar cheating on her, but these calls were starting to get on her nerves.
“So, these friends of yours, were they also friends of Greg’s?” Gunnar flicked a gaze at Emma.
Emma took another sip of the strong coffee in her hand and smirked. “No, they hated Greg. Thought he was an asshole. I don’t know why I didn’t see it sooner. I guess it was just easier to stay than to leave—until he cheated on me, that is. These are friends I met when I first moved to Chicago. Grace lived across the hall from me for a few years and we became friends right away. She met Steve and they moved into a different apartment. Then there’s Trey and Jon. I met Trey at work; he’s a paralegal too, and I met Jon when Trey met him and they started dating.”
Gunnar thought about that for a while. He was a nervous wreck today. He was usually pretty confident in himself. But meeting Emma’s friends was important. If they didn’t like him, they would let her know, and that could make her think less of him. Especially since they had all hated Greg and told her about it. If they didn’t like Gunnar, she might find it necessary to listen to them this time.
Watching the look crossing his face, Emma chuckled. “They’re going to love you, Gunnar. You’re nothing like Greg.”
Gunnar glanced over at Emma and saw her grin. He nodded his head once and watched the road ahead of him.
Emma sat up and slid her left foot under her right leg on the seat and twisted her body so she was looking at Gunnar.
“Do you think Janie would have thrown that Molotov into Ron and Ashley’s window?”
Gunnar’s brows furrowed. “I really don’t know, Em. I’ve told you, I don’t know her or anything about her. And how would she know where they live?”
Emma’s face scrunched up, “From hospital records. She knew I was living there with them. We talked about it when Tyler was born.”
Gunnar’s eyebrows rose as he thought about it. “I don’t know what to say. I guess we should tell Uncle Tommy about her so he can take a look at where she was when the fire started.”
As they drove into Chicago, the GPS woke Emma. She opened her eyes to see they were close to the hotel. She stretched and looked over to see Gunnar watching her breasts as she stretched.
“You have a one-track mind.”
He snorted, “You’re the one sticking her tits out. Not my fault I enjoy the view.”
Emma grinned and sat up straighter.
“So…this hotel. Do I want to know why you know about it? It isn’t special in some way, is it?”
Emma giggled. “Yup, pretty special. I’ve had some great times there.”
“Fuck.”
Emma laughed out loud. “Gotcha. Jon is the manager at the hotel, and I’ve been there with him and Trey for parties in the past. Jon comps rooms when they’re available and I’ve stayed a couple of times after a party and once after Jon and Trey had an anniversary soiree.”
Resting on her elbows, Emma leaned over the console, offering Gunnar a full view of her fantastic cleavage due to her tank top slipping down. “I’ve never stayed there with Greg or any man for that matter—other than Jon and Trey.”
Gunnar glanced over at her. He looked at her cleavage and then back up to her eyes. He loved looking at both, but her eyes were mesmerizing. Deep brown eyes framed by thick black lashes.
“Okay.”
Gunnar turned the truck and trailer into the parking lot at the hotel, parking a distance away due to the length of the trailer. He and Emma jumped out of the truck and started walking towards the entrance. As soon as they were in step with each other, Emma wrapped her arms around Gunnar’s waist and squeezed him tight.
“Thank you again for helping me with this. I really appreciate it.”
Gunnar stopped, and facing Emma, he wrapped his arms around her shoulders and squeezed her back.
“I meant it when I said you don’t have to thank me.”
“There you are. I was figuring you would be here soon.”
Emma turned with a smile on her face at the familiar voice. She ran forward and jumped into the arms of a man Gunnar hoped was Jon. He caught her easily and laughed with her as a slightly jealous Gunnar watched.
Emma turned as soon as the man set her down. “Gunnar, this is Jon. Jon, this is Gunnar.”
Gunnar walked forward and shook Jon’s hand. Jon had a nice firm handshake and sparkling blue eyes looking right into his. Tall and lean, Jon’s sandy brown hair shone in the sun as his perfectly tanned face split into a brilliant smile. Even Gunnar had to admit he was good-looking.
“It’s nice to meet you, Gunnar. Emma’s told us all about you and your family. I think our girl is smitten,” he said, winking at Emma.
“Nice to meet you. I’m afraid she hasn’t told me as much about you, but hopefully we’ll get to know each other better in the next day or so.”
“Count on it. Are you ready to check in?”
Emma and Gunnar both nodded as Jon walked them into the hotel. He took care of their check in and went outside with them to help them with their bags. Jon personally walked them up to their room and smirked as he opened the door. He stood back to let them walk in ahead of him and chuckled when he heard Emma shriek.
“Oh my God, this is beautiful!” She spun around, admiring the room.
“I upgraded you. I hope you enjoy this suite. It’s way popular with the newlyweds.”
Gunnar looked around the room and smiled down at Emma. “I don’t know. Do you think you can be comfortable here?” He unsuccessfully furrowed his brows and tried to frown.
“I’ll make do. You?”
Gunnar laughed. “I’ll make do, as well.”
Jon chuckled. “I’ll leave you two to freshen up and use the facilities. I have one more thing to take care of before I can leave. I’ll call Trey and have him head over to the storage facility.” With that, he ducked out of the room.
Gunnar gently grabbed Emma’s hand and began pulling her toward the bed when her phone rang. Gunnar ducked his head, plopped a kiss on her lips and nodded toward the bathroom as she pulled her phone from her back pocket.
“Hey, Grace. Where are you?”
“I’m at the mall. Where are you? I’m trying to decide between trying on another outfit or not.”
“Not. We just checked into the hotel and are leaving to go to the storage facility and start loading up my stuff. Jon is calling Trey and we’ll be there in
about twenty minutes.”
“Okay. I don’t need to spend any more money anyway. See you in about half an hour.”
Chapter Twenty
They heard squealing and both looked up in time to see Grace running toward the unit. “Brace yourself, babe,” Emma said to Gunnar with a smile on her face. She walked toward Grace and they hugged fiercely.
“I’ve missed you so damn much, Em.”
“I’ve missed you, too. Oh, look at you. You look so good.”
“Oh, I haven’t even shown you the best part of me. Look.” Grace opened her loose fitting sweater to a little bump on her belly. “I’m pregnant.” She squealed a bit louder.
“Oh my God, Grace.” Emma gently placed her hand on Grace’s belly gently and stared at her friend. “When are you due?”
“November. I found out about a month ago. We haven’t said anything to many people. I wanted to be through my first trimester before we said anything. But that’s officially tomorrow.”
Emma hugged Grace again. When they pulled away, Gunnar had walked over and Emma smiled at him and then Grace.
“Grace, this is Gunnar. Gunnar, this is Grace and baby,” she said motioning towards Grace’s barely-there baby bump.
Gunnar held out his hand only to have Grace slap it away and hug him instead. He chuckled as he pulled away and Grace looked up into his face with big eyes.
“Holy dimples. Shit, Em! He must get his way all the time with dimples like that.”
Emma threw her head back and laughed. “He does, but lucky for me he doesn’t abuse it.”
Steve, finally catching up with Grace, came forward and shook Gunnar’s hand. “Steve.”
“Nice to meet you. Gunnar.”
“Sorry guys, we aren’t trying to be rude,” Grace smirked.
“Yes, I could see you eyeing up Gunnar. Nice, babe.” Steve’s short business haircut gave the impression he held a professional job. His light tan slacks and button-up shirt finished the appearance, but the easy smile and quick wink at Gunnar removed the stuffy impression and put Gunnar at ease.