by Marta Perry
“It’s a nice party.” Could he have come up with anything more banal if he’d thought about it for a week? Probably not.
Fortunately Laura didn’t seem to sense anything wrong.
“It is, isn’t it?” She glanced around the room, looking pleased and satisfied. “My first and last here, I guess.”
“You have good reason to celebrate.” At least, as far as Laura was concerned, she did. She didn’t know that another trouble was looming over her.
“I’d celebrate even more if I were able to get a few last things done before I discuss a contract with my buyer.” She glanced at him with a question in her eyes.
“Do you have any idea when the arson investigation will be wrapped up?”
He could only hope his face didn’t give anything away. “I’m not sure. Why?”
“The insurance company won’t pay for the damage to the back porch until the investigation is over.”
“I see.” He was conscious of treading very carefully. “I didn’t realize you were waiting for the insurance company to pay you.”
“Well, that’s why I have insurance, after all. I can understand why they have to be cautious, but I’d like to have it settled. If my buyer and I go to contract before that, I’ll probably need to put the money in an escrow account to cover the damage.”
Luckily she couldn’t see how fast his mind was racing. “I wish I knew how fast it will go, but I don’t. What company are you dealing with?”
She looked at him a little oddly, as if the question hadn’t sounded quite right. “Union Casualty. We didn’t exactly agree to begin with on what the building was worth, but we settled on a hundred thousand. Now that it’s renovated, the new owner will naturally want to re-insure for more.”
One hundred thousand. Maybe it wasn’t a lot, as city real estate went, but it would more than cover the cost of Mandy’s surgery. He didn’t like the direction his thoughts were heading, but he couldn’t help it. Maybe North’s suspicious nature was rubbing off on him.
“Union Casualty’s a reputable outfit.” He tried to sound as if he had only a casual interest. “I’m sure they’ll come through for you.”
Once the arson investigation was settled, and depending upon how it was settled.
He didn’t believe she had started the fire. He couldn’t believe that.
But the insurance, and the need to pay for Mandy’s surgery, gave Laura what most investigators would consider a big enough motive for arson.
The sound of the doorbell brought Laura hurrying down the stairs the morning after her party. If that was the missing contractor, finally showing up, she’d like to give him a piece of her mind.
She wouldn’t, though. She couldn’t afford the luxury of offending him, not until he’d finished the project, at any rate.
She flung the door open before the bell could peal again. But it wasn’t the contractor. Ryan stood there, along with the senior arson investigator. What was his name? North, that was it.
“Good morning, Lieutenant North.” She glanced at Ryan. He stood a pace behind the other man on the stoop, as if to give North the lead.
“Ms. McKay.” North smiled, but his eyes were watchful. “May we come in for a few minutes? There are some things I’d like to go over with you about the fire.”
“Of course.” She gave a fleeting thought to the window cleaning that had been her project for the morning. “Come upstairs, won’t you?”
North glanced into the finished front room as they headed for the steps. “Looks very nice. You’ve certainly accomplished a great deal here.”
“It’s coming along.” Somehow it seemed inappropriate to comment on how much help Ryan had been. The man was his boss, after all.
She led the way into the living room. “Sit down, please.”
“Mandy isn’t here?” Ryan spoke for the first time.
“She’s spending the day with Nolie.” She hesitated, unsure whether she should explain further to North. But why would he care where her daughter was?
She sat down in the rocker, expecting the men to take the sofa, but North pulled over one of the straight chairs from the table instead, bringing it to face her. Something seemed discordant about the gesture, as if he wanted her to know that this wasn’t a social call.
All right, fine. She sat up a little straighter. “You wanted to ask me something?”
He shrugged. “Nothing too important. Just a few things that have come up in our investigation we thought you might help us with.”
We. She glanced toward Ryan. He wasn’t looking at her. Instead he’d pulled out a notebook and was jotting something down. Something cold and hard touched her nerves.
“You made a quick recovery from the fire.” North sounded as if he were making an effort to be casual. “You were lucky it wasn’t worse.”
“Yes. Thanks to the fire department.”
And you, Ryan. Why aren’t you looking at me? The room that had been such a cheerful place the night before, filled with friends and laughter, now seemed to have become a battleground.
“Funny thing about that.” North’s eyes didn’t hold any amusement. “We checked out the accelerant. Turns out it was paint thinner. Same as we found in your cellar.”
She almost said she’d known that. But probably Ryan shouldn’t have told her that.
“The paint thinner I had was in the cellar and the outside door was locked,” she said carefully. “No one could have gotten at it.”
“Only someone inside the house,” he observed.
Someone like you. He didn’t say the words, but he didn’t need to. For a moment the room swirled around her. He was hinting that she’d started the fire herself.
“None of mine was missing,” she said, as if she didn’t grasp the implication. “It couldn’t have been used to start the fire. And certainly the can of paint thinner that I found later in the alley wasn’t mine.”
“Yes, that’s what you told us.” Doubt threaded his words.
“It’s true.” She looked from the suspicion in North’s face to Ryan. Ryan would believe her. But Ryan wasn’t looking at her. Wasn’t defending her.
A spasm of pain clutched her heart. She fought her way free of it. She couldn’t let herself be weakened by Ryan’s defection, not now. Not when she needed every ounce of strength and wit to defend herself.
She faced North. He was her adversary now. “You act as if you think I started the fire myself. Surely you can’t believe I’d be so stupid as to start a fire when my daughter and I were on the second floor.”
He leaned forward, hands on knees. “You might not have realized the fire would spread as fast as it did. You’d be surprised at the mistakes amateur arsonists make.”
Her breath caught, and she had to fight to keep her voice steady. “I’m not an arsonist, amateur or otherwise. This building is all I own. Why on earth would I want to damage it?”
“People will do a lot for a hundred thousand in insurance money, Ms. McKay.” His voice was as smooth as silk. “You might have wanted the money more than you wanted the building. It would have paid for your daughter’s surgery with enough left over to give you a fresh start.”
For a long moment she was speechless. She didn’t look toward Ryan, because she couldn’t.
No wonder he didn’t want to meet her eyes. No wonder he hadn’t defended her from North’s accusations. He was the source of them.
He had betrayed her.
Laura had been numb when Ryan and North finally left. Maybe that had been a good thing. By the time she was getting Mandy ready for bed, the numbness had worn off, to be replaced by pain so sharp it was all she could do to concentrate on the next step.
Yes, numbness had definitely been better. She watched Mandy pull the pajama top over her head and managed a smile at her success.
North had asked question after question, never verging into rudeness, but always pointed and persistent. He’d circled around and around the subject of the fire, phrasing the same question in
a dozen different ways.
Hoping to trip her up, of course. The only reason he hadn’t was because she’d been telling the truth. It would have been impossible to construct a lie and maintain it under that relentless questioning.
And all the while, Ryan had sat silent, taking notes. Not looking at her.
Perhaps that had been the thing that hurt the most. Ryan had never met her eyes, even while North used the information he had given to accuse her.
She bent to tuck the covers around Mandy, consciously trying to block that thought out of her mind. If she let herself dwell on how Ryan had betrayed her, she might fall apart entirely.
She couldn’t. She had to help Mandy prepare for her hospital stay.
The storybook she’d bought lay on the bed, its colorful cover showing a little badger in a hospital bed. She picked it up. “Do you want a story?”
Mandy shook her head, and her fingers moved. Nolie said she’d come and see me in the hospital. She said she’d say a prayer for me.
“That’s good, darling.” Tears stung her eyes. What kind of friendship could she have with any of the Flanagans now?
Can we say a prayer about going to the hospital?
For an instant she didn’t know if she could do that. Then she managed to nod. “Do you want to say it?”
Mandy nodded. Her hands moved.
Jesus, help me not to be scared when I go to the hospital. And help Mommy not to be scared, either.
“Amen,” Laura whispered the word, signing it. Amen.
Mandy slid down into her bed, smiling. She snuggled her teddy bear against her face. Tomorrow I’ll get my new bear. Ryan will bring it to the hospital.
Her throat tightened. How did she explain Ryan’s defection to Mandy? What she’d feared all along had come to pass—Mandy had learned to love him, and he’d let them down.
“We’ll see.” She struggled to smile. “Night-night, sweetheart.” She kissed Mandy’s cheek, adjusted the nightlight, and got out of the room before her tears could spill over.
She sank down on the sofa, wiping her wet cheeks, swallowing her sobs. If she once gave way to them, she might fall apart entirely. She had to be strong for what tomorrow would bring.
Tomorrow. Mandy thought Ryan would come to the hospital, as he’d promised. She knew better.
She leaned back against the sofa, utterly spent, her throat choked with unshed tears. North had demanded that she come to department headquarters tomorrow to make a formal statement. Only the fact of Mandy’s surgery had let her postpone it until Friday.
Friday, when her buyer was due to arrive. How would all of this affect her sale? Could she sell the property if she were under arrest for arson? Maybe she should be talking to an attorney.
The doorbell rang. She pushed herself slowly to her feet. It could be anyone, but she knew who it would be. If she didn’t go down, he’d stand there ringing the bell until she couldn’t stand it any longer.
A wave of anger, hot and strong, swept through her. Stiffening her spine, she stalked down the steps and flung the door open.
“What do you want now? Do you have more questions?”
She’d expect Ryan to step back at the heat of her anger, but he just stood there, looking at her steadily.
“No. No more questions. May I come in?”
She stepped back, letting him enter, but switched on the light in the downstairs room. “We won’t go upstairs. I just put Mandy to bed, and I don’t want her disturbed.”
And I don’t want you in my living room again, Ryan, because it might make me remember when you kissed me.
“That’s all right.” He closed the door. “I won’t be long. I probably shouldn’t be here, but I couldn’t stay away.”
“How am I supposed to react to that? Should I be happy to see you after what you’ve done?”
“Laura—”
“No.” She took another step away from him, holding out her hands as if he’d tried to approach her. “Don’t bother telling me you’re sorry. I talked to you as a friend, and you carried everything I said straight to your boss.”
“Laura, I am sorry. But I didn’t have any choice.”
“We always have choices. You just chose your job.”
“It is my job.” He looked stung. “It’s my duty. Can’t you understand that the only way through this investigation is to bring out the truth?”
“What truth? You and North just want to settle for the easy answer. I have insurance on the property and I need money, so I must be guilty.”
“No.” That almost sounded like pain in his voice, and there was no laughter in his face now. “We’re not looking for easy answers, but you can’t expect me to ignore what you told me. Face it, Laura. It gives you a motive. I can’t pretend that isn’t so because we’re friends.”
Friends. She once hoped they’d be more. Now she knew they couldn’t even be that.
Her throat tightened. She couldn’t go on looking at him, listening to his voice. She had to get him out of there.
“You’d better leave. You want me to make you feel better about what you did, and I can’t. So just go.”
He stiffened, fingers clenching into fists. “I’m not looking for forgiveness. I just want you to understand.”
“I understand. You let us rely on you, and you let us down.” Why was she surprised? Wasn’t that what always happened?
His face was a mask, with only those blazing blue eyes to say a living person was behind it. “I guess there’s nothing I can say to that. At least take my advice and get an attorney. Don’t make a formal statement without one.”
“Aren’t you afraid you’re compromising your job by telling me that?”
He didn’t react to the jab. “There’s someone the family uses that I can recommend, if—”
“No.” She pushed the suggestion away with both hands. “I’ll find my own attorney. You should be happy about that. I won’t involve you.”
“I am involved. I can’t help but be. We’re—”
“Don’t say we’re friends. We’re not.” She wrapped her arms around herself to still the shaking that had begun deep inside.
“I can’t walk away that easily.”
“Do you believe I’m guilty?” She threw the question at him.
“No.” His response snapped back. “I know you’re not.”
“That makes it worse, not better.” She shook her head. “You like to pretend you’re not good at responsibility, but that’s not it. You’re afraid. You may be fearless in a burning building, but you’re terrified of emotional involvement. Well, congratulations, Ryan. You found the perfect way out.”
She yanked the door open. “Goodbye. Please don’t come back. Ever.”
Chapter Thirteen
She’d pulled the vinyl chair as close to the hospital bed as she could, but it still wasn’t close enough. Laura put her hand over Mandy’s, as much to reassure herself as to reassure her child.
Her daughter gave her a quick smile and turned her attention back to the cartoon characters on the television screen. Mandy had been taken by the novelty of having her very own television that she could watch in bed. She had happily settled back against the pillows, not even objecting when she had to put on the hospital’s cotton printed gown instead of her own pajamas.
Laura fought to keep her smile on straight as she glanced at her watch. She’d thought the procedure would be over by now, but it was afternoon already and still they hadn’t begun Mandy’s sedation. Dr. Phillips had popped in earlier with an apologetic smile. An emergency required his attention, and Mandy’s procedure would be delayed.
Clearly that bothered Laura more than it did Mandy. Her daughter seemed unconcerned, dividing her attention among coloring books, television cartoons and her teddy, who sat propped against the bed railing.
Was Mandy’s calm due to those prayers they’d shared the previous night? She couldn’t be sure, but whatever had caused it, she was thankful. Surely God had listened to Mandy’s prayers.
The thought startled her. Was she beginning to fumble her way back to a relationship with God? If so, her friendship with the Flanagan family was responsible for that, and she didn’t know whether to be glad or sorry.
She pressed her palms together, willing herself to be still. If she got up and paced or did anything else to show her stress, Mandy would pick up on it.
The memory of Ryan’s visit certainly didn’t do anything to give her peace. Just thinking about it tightened her throat and squeezed her heart.
She’d been harsh with him, but he’d deserved it. He hadn’t even admitted he was in the wrong or said he was sorry for what he’d done. He’d just expected her to understand he’d acted out of some concept of duty.
Well, she didn’t. She fought to harden her heart against the pain. Ryan had gone, and she was on her own again. That was okay. She was used to that. She didn’t need Ryan or any of his family.
But just at this moment, waiting for Mandy’s surgery, she wouldn’t have minded a little company.
The swinging door creaked, as if in answer to her thought. Nolie peeked around the door’s edge, her smile encompassing both of them.
“Hi, how are you?” Her hands moved with her words. “May I come in?”
“Of course.” Laura rose as Mandy held out both arms to Nolie, then she stepped back so Nolie could reach the bed. “As you can see, we’re waiting out a delay.”
“We heard.” Brendan came in behind Nolie. He looked oddly formal in the clerical collar he no doubt wore for hospital visits, but his smile was warm and the grasp of his hand comforting. “I checked early this morning to see when we ought to come.”
“Siobhan wants to visit, too, but we decided to take turns.” Nolie settled onto the hospital bed, handing Mandy a gift bag. “She’ll stop by later.”
“She—you didn’t need to.” Ridiculous, that her throat was choked by their simple act of caring.
“We want to be here.” Brendan squeezed her hand and then went to the bed to ruffle Mandy’s hair. “How are you doing, Mandy?”