The Fire Still Burns

by Crystal-Rain Love

  Fortunately, having a volunteer firefighter for a daughter had apparently influenced the Harlows to protect their home from the possibility of a fire, and an extinguisher was mounted to the kitchen wall.

  Adam grabbed the canister and went into action, dousing the fire, which had been set on the back porch. Flames quickly spread into the kitchen itself thanks to the gasoline which had seeped under the back door.

  Sweat drenched Adam's clothes as he fought against the flames, his heart pounding in his chest with every cough, each second seemed more like a minute. He'd fought fires for years and had definitely fought ones far more fierce than this, but none had frightened him nearly as much.

  All he'd had to lose before was his own life, which seemed a lot less important when compared to the lives of Brynn and Nate. He knew in that moment that whether Nathaniel was his or his brother's, he would do everything in his power to make sure the boy grew up to be a good man, one who knew he was loved. Even if he didn't deserve to be with Nate’s mother and share in his upbringing on a daily basis.

  A second stream of foam appeared from the other side of the kitchen, battling against the remaining flames, and, once the thick wall of smoke cleared enough for Adam to see, he discovered Brynn had entered the kitchen from another door equipped with her own fire extinguisher.

  “I thought I told you to get out of here,” he called out to her, not bothering to hide the irritation in his tone. How could he protect her if she wouldn't even listen to him?

  “You told me to get my mother and Nate out, which I did.” She continued to sweep her extinguisher from side to side. “The fire department and the police should be here soon thanks to the alarm.”

  Adam bit back the words he felt like speaking, deciding to focus on putting the fire out instead of scolding her for her hardheadedness—which he fully intended on doing later. They worked together, coughing and sweating, fighting back the flames until none remained in the kitchen. All that was left once his extinguisher emptied was a wall of flame on the porch.

  “There's another extinguisher under the kitchen sink,” Brynn advised as the sound of a siren indicated the fire engine's approach. “Take it and go out the side door to hit the fire from behind. We might be able to salvage most of the porch if we're lucky.”

  Adam rushed to the sink to retrieve the other extinguisher, but, as he approached the window, he caught movement near the back of the Harlow property. He leaned over the sink, peering closer at the dark shadows of trees until he picked out one that didn't belong. Molten hot fury flooded through his body.

  “What are you doing?” Brynn asked as he studied the lone figure hiding among the trees, watching the damage inflicted by her own hand.

  He cast a glance at Brynn, noted she was handling the fire fine and that the blaze was small enough in size she could contain it until the fire department arrived, if not completely put it out.

  “There's someone watching at the back of the yard, by the trees. I think it's Riley. I'm going after her.” He ran to the side door. “Stay here.”

  “Adam, no! If it's her, she could be dangerous.”

  “I'll be fine.” He paused with his hand on the doorknob long enough to reassure her. “I can't let her get away with what she's done.” He threw open the door and rushed toward the thatch of trees along the back of the yard.

  As he neared, the shadowed figure abruptly turned and fled. The shape and movements were definitely small and female. Definitely Riley. He followed her into the wooded area, carefully dodging around Sycamores and Maples as he struggled to stay on her trail. She'd gotten a good head start and the further he made it into the woods, the thicker the foliage became.

  Adam came into a clearing and found it empty. “Shit!”

  Spinning in a circle, he carefully peered at the surrounding trees, looking for out of place shadows in the darkness. The trees surrounding him were jammed together so thick, very few rays of moonlight crept through the branches.

  He, however, was a sitting-duck in the middle of the clearing. Stepping into the trees without knowing where Riley was could be a bad move, but standing in full view while he didn't know where she was, was even more dangerous.

  He strained his ears, searching desperately for a tell-tale sound. If she'd kept running past the clearing, he would have heard her crashing through the underbrush. The area was far too silent, which meant she had stopped, hidden herself well and was now watching him. Adam had to give her credit. Not one twig snapped, not one breath was audible and she had to be breathing heavy after the exertion spent on running from him.

  He glanced back toward the direction he'd come from. The sirens had stopped, so help had arrived at the Harlow home. Brynn was safe, even if the psychotic teenager returned.

  But what if he didn't catch her now? The police weren't going to stay with Brynn twenty-four-seven because he had a hunch Riley was going to hurt her before she even got to him. He couldn't give Riley the chance to follow through. Her fire tonight had been snuffed out too quickly. She'd come back to finish the job.

  Taking a deep breath to steady his nerves, Adam glanced around once more, still clueless as to which direction the girl had disappeared.

  “Riley, I know you're here,” he called out, making his voice as unthreatening as possible. “We found your sister's diary. We know what Zeke did to her. We know he hurt her. I'm sorry, Riley. I know what it's like to lose a sibling. I know you'd do anything to get them back or at the very least, see justice rendered.”

  Adam studied the area again, searching the trees for movement, but nothing swayed in the still night.

  “I wanted to find my brother's killer, Riley. I wanted to make the bastard pay, but what I found instead was that my brother wasn't the man I thought him to be. Zeke was a rapist, a drug-dealer, and, yes, Zeke killed your sister. I understand why you killed him. He had to be stopped. But what you're doing now, Riley…it's just wrong and you know it's wrong. You have to stop.”

  Adam searched the area once more, again finding nothing. He was going to have to go in and hope his words had actually soaked through the thick wall of vengeance surrounding the girl's mind.

  He'd taken one step toward the north when he heard it, a twig breaking from the south. The girl had either circled her way behind him or else he'd walked past her into the clearing. More underbrush rustled, and he knew he couldn't take the chance that his words had changed her mind.

  Adam lowered himself into a crouch and crept as silently as possible through the trees, his years of hunting with his father aided him in tracking the girl without being detected himself. He silently waited in a crouch, shadowed against two trees as the footsteps neared him. His muscles tensed, ready to spring once his prey reached him.

  Adam saw the small shadowed form and waited with itching palms until she was just ahead of him. He sprang, dropping her to the ground with a thud. Relief swam through him as he started to roll the groaning girl onto her back, knowing that finally, he'd done something right to protect Brynn.

  Then, he saw the face of the woman he'd just tackled and elation left as quickly as it had come.

  “Brynn!” he cried out in surprised anger. “Damn it, you were supposed to wait at the house.”

  Her eyes narrowed into slits, and he could tell he was about to get an earful.

  “Adam, you¾” Her eyes widened the size of saucers and a gasp was the only sound she made as he heard a whooshing noise coming from behind him.

  He moved his head to glance over his shoulder and pain exploded from the back of his skull. Darkness enveloped him as he tumbled over into a black hole.

  ~~~

  “You crazy little bitch,” Brynn screamed, quickly scrambling out from under the weight of Adam's unconscious body.

  Blood oozed from the back of his head, and, although he appeared to be breathing, it was hard to tell how bad off he was in the darkness of night. She quickly rose to her feet before Riley could bring down the big rock she'd used on Adam on her as well
.

  The teen stood before her, decked out in black from head to toe, the sneer on her face as she looked down at Adam contorting her usually pretty features into something cold and hideous.

  Then she had the nerve to look at Brynn and laugh. “I knew you'd run out here to help him. All I had to do was wait for you to show up and distract him.”

  “Why?” Brynn held back angry tears, fighting against the urge to rip the girl apart. She had to remember she was just a teenager, one who was hurting fiercely.

  “An eye for an eye,” Riley said simply as though the answer was obvious.

  “You already settled that score when you killed Zeke. He was the one who hurt your sister, not Adam.”

  “The whole Good family must pay,” Riley growled. “I went to that old bitch and told her what her son was doing to my sister way before she turned up missing, but she said it was all Rachel and that the no-good whore should leave her son alone.”

  Surprise, surprise.

  “Doris Good is a bitch, I'll give you that.” Brynn forced her tone to come out calm. “But she doesn't deserve to die because of it.”

  “I didn't kill her, I barely touched her.”

  “You bashed her over the head, like you did to Adam just now.” Please get up, Adam.

  “They won't die, not yet. I purposely set these fires small. They'll suffer a long time for what they've done to my family. Death would be too quick for them.”

  Goosebumps rose on Brynn’s skin, chilled by the coldness in Riley's tone. The police would enter the woods as soon as Nate told them where she was, but as unstable as Riley seemed to be, there was a chance they wouldn't make it in time.

  She had to keep Riley talking before the girl decided to do something with the makeshift weapon in her hands.

  “Why did you start a fire on my family's property? What did we do to deserve this?”

  “I know a lot about you, Brynn Harlow, more than you could imagine.”

  Brynn frowned. “I've never done anything to deserve having my mother's home attacked.”

  “Zeke told stories, he liked to brag about his conquests. When my sister went missing and I threatened to go to the police, he bragged about a lot of things he'd done, things that he'd done right here in town and had gotten by without so much as a curious glance from the police department.” Riley tightened her hands around the rock, her eyes reflecting crazed desperation. “All because his victims feared him. All because they were too cowardly to stop him from doing the same things to other people.”

  Brynn tried to swallow, but couldn’t produce enough saliva to coat her bone-dry throat. “What exactly do you know?”

  Chills slid down Brynn’s spine. It was nearly summer, but she felt as though she stood in the midst of an ice storm, cold fear coursing through her body at the idea that her deepest, darkest secret had been revealed.

  “I know what happened to you before you left this town.”

  Brynn stumbled backward as the rush of air leaving her lungs knocked her off balance, but she managed to keep herself upright. The last thing she needed to do was make herself an easier target. She fought off her own shame and met the girl's gaze with renewed courage, determined not to fall apart due to embarrassment while Adam still lay bleeding on the ground. Besides, the girl could be going off a guess.

  “Why would Zeke tell you things he'd done if he'd managed to keep them hidden for so long, especially if you were planning on going to the police? That would have been just as stupid as making a full confession before a cop.”

  “He didn't plan on me living to tell,” Riley answered as a cold murderous look flashed through her eyes. “Rachel wasn't the only Wood sister to be abused by Zeke Good. He tried to rape me when I threatened him. When I fought back, he strangled me. He thought he'd killed me, but he hadn't squeezed tight enough. I knew I couldn't outfight him so I outsmarted him and played ‘possum. Fortunately, he decided against hiding me beneath the floorboards. He had to go get a shovel.” An eerie smile stretched over Riley’s face. “When he came back to that farmhouse to bury me, I had the element of surprise on my side. You know the rest.”

  “So you killed him in self-defense, Riley. You could have told the police.”

  “Oh, right. They'd really believe the truth about a member of the perfect Good family. Why didn't you go to the police if it was so simple?”

  “Because it wasn't that simple for me.”

  “That's right, because you were raped by your boyfriend's brother and his gay best friend, who wanted to do him so bad he raped you to split ya'll up.” The teen crinkled her nose. “Zeke laughed his ass off while telling that story. It was so perfect, he said. He knew you wouldn't tell his brother and risk hurting him, and he loved how Cal had ended up leaving town in shame right along with you.”

  Riley shook her head in disgust and dropped the big rock. Brynn let out a breath she hadn't been aware of holding, but quickly gasped it back in when Riley pulled a knife from the back of her waistband. The silver blade gleamed in the moonlight as Riley flexed it in her hand.

  “You know,” the teen said, admiring the blade. “I really did kind of like you and not just because I saw you as a way to track down my sister, if by chance, she was alive…you know, I always had to hold on to that hope even though deep inside I knew she wasn't.” A single tear fell from Riley's eye and the tightness in Brynn’s chest eased a little. If she could keep the girl talking, maybe she could get Adam and herself out of this mess alive.

  “You brought the truth out,” Brynn said in a soothing tone. “Adam and I found Rachel's diary and there are videotapes of many of the rapes Zeke committed—”

  “Liar!” Riley screeched the word into the night. “You're just lying to save your ass. If Rachel had a diary, I would have known, and Zeke didn't mention any tapes.”

  “Zeke probably didn't mention a lot of things,” Brynn responded, her voice shaking so hard she struggled to get the words out.

  “He probably didn't tell you he liked to hide things under floorboards, like he hid your sister's body under the floorboards of that house. He taught your sister the same trick, and that's where she hid the diary and quite a bit of cash. Check her closet. There are loose floorboards there and a lot of money is hidden there. I have the diary at my house. I'll show it to you.”

  “Nice try,” the teen said with a sneer. “But I'm not stupid.”

  “I know you're not. The way you set those fires at key locations was brilliant,” Brynn stroked the girl's ego. “You led us right to Zeke just as you intended. You led us to your sister's murderer. Rachel would be so proud.”

  “Shut up!” Spittle came out Riley’s mouth along with the screamed command. The knife shook in her grasp as she pointed it at Brynn. “You think it matters that they know Zeke killed her? You think that's enough justice?”

  “What other justice is left? Adam didn't even know what his brother was doing. Hurting him is just wrong.”

  “You were the first one.” Riley's hand tightened around the handle of the blade, her arm still shaking with rage.

  “You gave him his very first taste of the sick power he got from hurting women, and you did nothing to stop him from doing it again because of him.” She pointed the knife at Adam's prone form.

  “Justice will not be met until you pay for your inaction, and the Good family is forced to lose all they hold dear. After all, it was because of them that you didn't stop Zeke. Your death and the suffering it will cause Adam Good will make amends.”

  Brynn stared at the knife which was pointed in her direction again and shook her head from side to side. “I didn't know, Riley. I was young and confused. The way it happened…I didn't even realize at first that it was rape. I didn't even think he would do it again.”

  “Because your whole world was you and Adam Good. To hell with everyone else.” Riley twisted her lips into a sneer.

  “No.”

  “You had a responsibility.”

  “I didn't know.” Tears b
urned behind Brynn’s eyes, her stomach twisted with nausea.

  “Well, you know now, and you know many people have been hurt because you didn't do anything to stop that monster. You know my sister was killed.” Tears ran freely down Riley’s face.

  “What was I supposed to do? Kill him like you did? You've become a monster now, too.”

  Riley's eyes flared wide in outrage. “I stopped him.”

  “You tied him up and burned him alive. You left his mother to die in a burning house, and now you're going to kill me. That's not self-defense or righting a wrong. That's murder any way you slice it.”

  “Unfortunately for you, I'm beyond caring about that.” Riley’s voice was dead and empty of emotion. “All I know is the Good family took away my sister, and I will destroy them just as they have destroyed me.”

  Riley stepped toward her and Brynn jumped back. “The police will be surrounding this area soon, Riley. You don't have a chance of making it out of here,” Brynn cautioned, desperate for words that would bring the teen down from her rage-fueled high. If only the girl would think without the pain influencing her, they might all make it out of the woods safely.

  “I really don't give a damn,” Riley responded. “It's time for you to die.”

  With the knife in front of her, the girl ran forward and Brynn instinctively dropped, her bottom landed roughly on the ground of the woods hard enough to send jarring pain through her tailbone.

  She kicked out her legs and spun, sweeping Riley's legs out from under her. The teen fell backward and her head cracked against the hard ground. The stunned girl’s hand opened and the knife fell away.

  Brynn grabbed the weapon and climbed on top of the teenager, pinning her arms to the ground. “It's over, Riley.” She panted as she heard the sound of several footsteps approaching. “The police are here and they're taking you in.”

  “Not without a fight,” Riley growled, ramming her knee into Brynn's groin.