Safe From the Fire (19 page)

He
watched the flames, feeling excitement surging through him.  His pants were
tight, so he freed himself, stroking his dick to a dizzying climax as the fire
raged and concerned neighbors took notice of the incident.

It
was finished.

MATT
COULD BARELY KEEP up as Grace ran down the hallway of the little hospital
across the bay toward the ER.  When she saw Adam sitting up, one arm wrapped in
bandages and a few new welts on his face, but
alive
, she burst into
tears.  Matt’s heart broke for her even as rage filled every blood vessel, and
he was relieved when she moved to carefully envelop her brother in a watery hug
– one more second and he would have snatched her so tightly that he would
probably have done some damage. 

Instead,
he clenched his fists and started counting.  When he reached a hundred and
thirty-seven, he felt the red cloud starting to settle, and focused on the
other bed in the room.

“Oh
no, Cal!”

Matt
hurried over to where Cal Iverson was swathed in bandages all along his left
side, but also alive as he opened one pain-filled eye to focus on Matt.

“Althea?”
he whispered.

“She’s
on her way, Cal.  Don’t fret,” said Dr. Jocelyn Griggs, stepping into the room,
looking pale.

Jocelyn
was Bright’s Ferry’s long-time doctor and liked to remind people who crossed
her that she was the one who had helped usher them into the world in the first
place.  She might be tiny, with silver-shot brown hair and a few creases in her
sharp features, but she was still at the top of her game.

She
checked Cal’s chart, clucking, and then moved over to examine Adam’s pupils as
Grace reluctantly let him go.

“Silas,”
he said, “Silas is dead.”

“What?”
asked Matt.

“He
was with us, unloading the delivery to the Banks house after we closed up the
shop for the day.  He didn’t want to come at all.  But then he got caught in
the blast.”

Adam
was shaking, and Jocelyn gently helped him lay back, tucking his blankets in
before drawing Matt and Grace back into the hallway.

“He’s
still in shock,” she told Grace, “but he was lucky.  A few nasty burns on that
arm, but apparently he was behind the truck when the blast went off.  Cal got
caught in it, and poor Silas – he was a mean kid, but no one deserves to die
that way.”

She
shook her head.

“I’m
going to have them keep Adam overnight just to be safe.”

“I
need to question Cal,” said Matt, grimly, and Jocelyn nodded.

“I
don’t know how much good he’s going to be to you.  He’s on some pretty serious
pain meds.  Excuse me.”

She
stepped away to greet Althea and get her up to speed, clasping her shaking
hands and speaking in a low, gentle voice.

“Are
you going to be okay here by yourself for a few hours?” asked Matt.

“I
have to call my Mom and Dad, and check on Fiona,” replied Grace.

Matt
took her shoulders.

“I
want you to prepare yourself, Grace.  We’re going to have to ask Adam a few
questions.  I can hold off until tomorrow, but it has to be done.  He’s the
only real witness, because I don’t think we’re going to get much out of Cal. 
Okay?”

He
held his breath, but Grace only nodded and surprised him by flinging herself into
his arms to hold on tightly, burying her face in his chest.  He wrapped her
close, nuzzling her temple, breathing in her scent.

“Hey,
it’s going to be okay,” he said.

She
nodded, but didn’t say anything, only moved her head to find his mouth with
hers, a kiss of comfort, of solace as she softly tangled their tongues
together.  Matt tasted tears and couldn’t help squeezing her harder, until she
gasped into his mouth.  Cursing himself, he loosened his grip, but she only
stroked his chest soothingly for a moment before letting him go.

“Call
me later,” she said, and turned to step outside, already dialing.

Matt
gulped down the emotion that clogged his throat and stepped back into the room.
Adam was asleep, his young face painfully pale against the white sheets. 
Althea was still outside talking to Jocelyn, so Matt dragged a chair close to
Cal’s bed and sat down.

“Cal? 
Can you hear me?”

Cal
opened his good eye to focus on Matt.

“Do
you have any idea what happened?”

A
tiny shake of his head.

“Did
you see anything strange?  Anything at all?”

“Heard…beeping…”

“You
heard a beeping sound.  Like a microwave or an alarm clock?”

A
tiny affirmative.

“I’m
going to head over there now and take a look, but if there’s anything you know
that can help us, please – ”

Cal
rolled his eye over to Adam’s bed.

“Toolkit,”
he managed, “Borrowed.”

“Adam
borrowed the toolkit we found at the Murphy’s.”

Cal
nodded again, and then seemed to lose focus.  Althea stepped inside and hurried
to her husband’s bed, and a grim Matt offered his sympathy and support, and
then hurried away.

It
was going to be a long night.

GETTING
BURNED REALLY FUCKING hurt
, Adam thought to himself as he carefully pulled on
his jacket over his damaged arm.  Dr. Griggs had let him come home this morning
and it had only taken ten minutes of Grace’s fussing before Adam had insisted
that she go to work.  They were short-staffed as it was, with Fiona rushing to
stay by Cal’s side.  The thought of Fiona made him sad, and he doubted she’d
want to flirt with him now. 

“One
of us needs to earn a paycheck, Gracie, and since it doesn’t look like it’s
going to be me anytime soon…”

The
hardware store was closed until further notice and even if it weren’t, the last
thing Adam needed was to be confronted by a bunch of locals who assumed he’d
tried to blow up his boss.  Plus, his arm was going to be painful for a few
weeks.  The doctor had warned him that burns take time to heal and Adam thanked
God that no one had been hurt back during his house-burning days.  Knowing that
this was what it felt like made all the difference in the world.

Those
days are behind me.
 

Grace
had left him with a list of strict admonishments that he quickly decided to
ignore, and proceeded to make plans to go out.  He couldn’t stay inside all
day.  His arm throbbed like a toothache and he didn’t want to overdo it on the
meds, which made him foggy anyway.  The best solution was to get out of the
house and try to keep busy.

Russell
looked relieved to see him when Adam opened the door.

“Man,
I thought you were cooked,” he said.

“I
lucked out,” Adam responded.

“How’s
Cal?” asked Russell as they headed to his car.

“Not
good.  He’s in for a ton of surgery, skin grafts and stuff like that.”

“Shit.”

“Yeah.”

“So,
where are we going?” asked Adam, wincing as he buckled his seatbelt.

“I
have to stop off at the office to pick up my paycheck and then, whatever you
want to do, bro.”

“As
long as we can get out of town for a few hours, I am open to anything.”

He
noticed that Russell’s hands were glued tight to the steering wheel and there
was tension along his frame.

“Something
bothering you, Russell?”

Russell
laughed, though it didn’t sound quite genuine.

“Oh,
I did something stupid and Darryl is pissed at me.  You know how it is.”

“Sure. 
What did you do?”

“Screwed
up an order.  You know, I’ve got new appreciation for Pops.  He held it all
together and always knew what to do.  I’m okay with the guys, but I don’t have
a head for the business.  I keep fucking things up and Darryl says we’re losing
clients.”

“I’m
sure it’ll work itself out,” offered Adam, supportive.

“Yeah.”

Russell
turned on the radio, cranking it up as they peeled away down the street.

At
the offices, Adam sat in the car, waiting for Russell, and was surprised when
the young man exited the double-wide with Darryl on his heels.  They were
yelling at each other, and though a few workers glanced in their direction,
nobody stopped to interrupt.  He was too far away to make anything out, but
Adam frowned when Darryl pointed at him in the car, still yelling.

Russell
returned, red as a beet and utterly furious.

“Are
you all right?” asked Adam.

“It’s
just this thing.  I told Darryl I’ve got it under control, but he thinks I’m
just making it worse.  Let me give you a tip, bro.  Don’t ever work with
family.  Hey, you know we could go see if there are any fish left in Ridley’s
Pond.  What do you say?”

Adam
mustered a smile, his mind whirring.

“Sure,
why not?”

GRACE
YAWNED, RESTOCKING BOOKS from the metal book cart to the secluded Biographies
shelves at the back of the library.  Between fires, disasters, and epic sex
with Matt Harris, she couldn’t remember the last time she’d had a decent
night’s sleep.

“Excuse
me, Miss, I’m looking for something hot and sexy and guaranteed to keep me up
all night long...I remember it had a purple cover and really liked having its
pages turned.”  His voice was low and husky and teasing.

Grace
smiled to see Matt leaning against a bookcase.

He
looks tired,
she thought.

“You’re
in a good mood,” she said.

“I
think the smell of paper turns me on,” he replied, gently crowding her up
against another bookcase to nibble on her throat.

“Lucky
me.”

She
explored his shoulders and back under his jacket, oddly enjoying this slow,
undemanding flirtation.  The kind of guys she met in the clubs didn’t really
spend time on simple affection, and Grace was surprised to find that she liked
it, though the swell of emotion in her chest reminded her why she should shy
away.

That’s
how you get hurt, Grace…two more minutes.

Grace
could feel him swelling against her stomach, but there was no urgency, just
playful hands and light brushes of lips until Matt rested his forehead against
hers with a sigh.  She wrapped her hands around his neck, massaging the tight
muscles there with a soothing murmur.

“Do
you want to hear it?” he asked, clearly reluctant.

“Tell
me.”

“Well,
there’s almost nothing left of the Banks house, and if Adam had been anywhere but
behind that truck – it’s a miracle Cal survived at all.  We found the remains
of a small incendiary device – ”

“A
bomb?” she hissed, shocked, as Matt nodded.

“With
the internet these days, anyone with a toolkit and a little ingenuity can build
a small bomb.  What’s really strange, though – the Banks house was under
construction.  I mean gutted.  There wasn’t anything in there worth burning.”

He
stroked her waist for a minute, his hands framing her hips, and then slid them
up to cup her face.

“Grace,”
he said, hesitant, “It really is miraculous that Adam came out of this
relatively unscathed.”

“Unscathed? 
Have you seen his arm?”

She
pulled back, annoyed.

“I’m
serious, if he had been a foot or two in
either
direction…”

“It
was a close call.”

Matt
rubbed the back of his neck, anxious.

“I’m
not supposed to be telling you this, but the Chief asked us to consider the
idea that Adam – ”

“No.”

“Grace,
it’s just a theory.”

“
No!
 
Adam may have been a terror as a teenager, but he’d never put anyone in
danger!”

“He
burned three houses down!  The fact that nobody got hurt is pure luck! 
Otherwise he’d have gotten much more than a slap on the wrist and a couple of
years in juvie!”

“Keep
your voice down!”

Grace
glared at him and turned back to her stack of books, slamming them back into
their slots with a complete lack of care.

“Why? 
Why would he do something like that?” she finally demanded.

“To
punish the town, maybe?  They took away his freedom, and look how they treated
your family after the fires.  Look how they treat you now!”

Grace
scowled at him for a long moment, and then –

“I
don’t believe it.”

“Grace
– ”

His
face was a thundercloud, his body tense, but she didn’t care.

“And
if you do, you’re not the man I thought you were.”