Safe From the Fire (24 page)

“Easy,
Darryl,” he said, but backed up into the house, with Darryl advancing.

Darryl
waved him into a hard-backed chair and took up a position near the stairs.

“She’s
really got your dick in knot, doesn’t she?” he said, and Matt gripped the edges
of the chair to steady himself, “If you hadn’t been so concerned with proving
baby brother had turned over a new leaf to make her happy, I could have left
you alone.  Russell didn’t even set the fires, you dumb shit.  It was me.”

A
sharp cry had Darryl swinging his gun around to aim at Grace and Adam coming in
the front door.  Matt didn’t breathe.

“Don’t
move a muscle, Harris, or I’m going to put a bullet in your slutty little
girlfriend’s brain.”

He
waved the siblings inside, and then grabbed a handful of bungee cords from the
pile of construction materials and packing supplies just inside the doorway of the
unfinished parlor behind him.  Darryl tossed them to Grace.

“Tie
him and your brother to the chairs, nice and tight.  I’m guessing you’re good
at that.”  His smile was nasty.

Grace
complied, securing them to the hard chairs.  Darryl was watching closely, so
she had no chance to tamper with the knots, to loosen them.

“Let
Grace go, Darryl.  She has nothing to do with this,” said Matt.

“It’s
too late for that.  The only way this works is if I don’t leave any loose
ends.  That’s the only way that I – and Russell – are safe.”

Reaching
into his pocket, he hit a few buttons on his phone, and there was a small
BOOM!
that rattled the house on its foundation, followed by smoke seeping up from the
floorboards, from the kitchen, and in the vents.

Matt
looked horrified at the inescapable truth – Darryl Lansky had set fire to his
house.

GRACE
FELT THE TEMPERATURE rising as smoke started to fill the room and flames licked
along the door from the basement.  She had to act quickly.

“You
don’t want to do this, Darryl!  You never wanted to hurt anybody, right?  Cal
and Silas were an accident,” said Grace, pleading.

“Shut
up!  What I want is everything to go back to normal!  And that can’t happen if
I let you live.”

He
trained the gun on Matt, and Grace stood in front of it.

“Don’t! 
Please.  I love him.  You can’t do this!”

Swearing,
Darryl stepped forward, flung her to the floor with a hard shove, and pulled
the trigger just as Matt twisted his body as far as the bonds would allow, and
then jerked back with a cry as the bullet hit his shoulder. 

“No!”
cried Grace and Adam at once.

Darryl
seemed pissed to have missed, but suddenly Russell raced through the door, his
face a mess.

“Darryl,
wait!”

He
jolted at the sight of the gun, stopping short.

“How
did you get here?”  Darryl frowned.

“I
stole Dr. Griggs’ car.  Don’t make this worse!”

“I’m
fixing it Russell.  Wait for me outside.”

Darryl’s
eyes were wide and bright as the fire started to spread, and Russell coughed,
his eyes watering.

“Listen
to Russell, please,” pleaded Adam.

“You
don’t get to talk!” screamed Darryl, “You were supposed to take the blame!”

“This
is my fault, Darryl, you can’t take it out on them!  I’m the one that went for
the cheap materials and installed the drywall.  It was only a matter of time before
people would have started getting sick.”

“So
you had to burn all the buildings to hide what Russell did,” said Grace.

“It
was toxic,” said Matt, and Grace was horrified by how much blood he was losing.

“They
have to die, Russell, and this house needs to burn.  Or the cops will know.”

Russell
threw his hands in the air.

“They’re
going to know!  Even if you kill them all, the cops will know.  Soon everyone
is going to know!  What do you think is going to happen to the company after
that?  What’s Pops going to say?”

“I
was trying to look out for you.  That’s the only thing he wanted me to do.”

But
a note of horror crept into Darryl’s voice.  Russell’s voice was caught between
panic and terror.

“And
you did.  But now I’ve got to look out for you.  This is really bad, Darryl. 
Please.  It’ll be okay if you just let me help you.”

For
a long moment, Darryl stared at him.

“It’s
ruined.  No matter what happens from now on, I ruined it.  So the answer is no,
Russell.  I can’t let you help me,” he said, and in one swift move, pushed the
gun up to his head and pulled the trigger.

BANG! 
THE SOUND OF the shot was not as shocking as the splatter of Darryl’s brains
across Matt’s unfinished floor.  Russell stood there looking shocked as his
brother’s body tumbled to the floor, the gun dropping from his hand.

Matt
was too focused on the fire to feel any sort of relief or remorse.

The
flames were creeping up the walls now, hissing and crackling as the wallpaper
melted, and Grace knelt to try and work the knots free.

“I
can’t loosen them!” she cried, “They’re too tight!”

“Grace,”
said Matt, keeping his voice even, “Run into the kitchen and get a knife.”

She
nodded and was back in seconds, slashing at Adam’s bonds.

“Adam,
get Russell out of here. Call Evie.  We’ll be right behind you.”

“But
– ”

“Now!”

Adam
jumped into action, grabbing Russell and steering him toward the door as the
flames climbed higher.

Grace
tried to hurry and Matt winced as she nicked his arm.

“Sorry,”
she said, “Oh God.”

“It’s
okay,” said Matt, keeping an eye on the flames and the cloud of toxic smoke
that was quickly filling the room, “You’re doing fine.  And just think, someday
you can tell our kids about the time you saved my life while the house burned
down around us.”

“I’m
so sorry, Matt,” said Grace, desperate, “I didn’t mean to push you so far.  I
keep forgetting that you may not be ready.”

“I
was afraid I hurt you,” said Matt.

Grace
paused, shocked.

“That
was the most incredible thing I’ve ever done. 
You are the most incredible –
”

She
stopped and focused on the ropes, which finally came free.  Matt wasted no
time, flinging Grace over his good shoulder and using a throw blanket from the
couch to beat a path to the door.  They emerged into night and chaos, gasping
for air, and Matt had never felt anything better than the spray of water on his
face as Rafael, Lance, and his other firefighter brothers let loose.

“You’re
fighting fires without gear now?  You’re going to make the rest of us look bad,
man,” joked Rafael, hurrying forward to lift Grace down and help them toward
safety.

Matt’s
shoulder was in agony, and behind them his house was a raging fireball, but
Matt ignored these minor details and wrapped his arms around Grace, who was
still gulping sweet air into her lungs.

Wiping
the soot from her face, he kissed her, sending up a prayer of thanks when she
kissed him back.

“I
love you, too,” he said.

GRACE
ADMITTED TO HERSELF that Evie was usually right, but although the town did
indeed seem back to normal the following morning, there were a few changes,
some subtle and some not-so-subtle.  News of Darryl’s guilt and subsequent
suicide had spread like..well…wildfire…and Grace was curious to see how story
would affect Adam’s life in Bright’s Ferry.  

It
started when Althea stopped by Grace’s house early this morning with an update
on Cal, who was improving, but had a long way to go.  She surprised Adam by
asking him if he’d run the store for them until Cal’s return.  Shocked and thrilled,
Adam could only nod as she handed over the keys.

The
second surprise came when Dreyer stopped by the library main desk to ask about
Matt and offer his sympathy over her ordeal, with no irony whatsoever.

“Enjoy
it while you can,” said Fiona, who was pale from stress and a lack of sleep,
but had regained her sass now that Cal was on the mend, “I think he likes Cal
more than he’d like to admit, and it’s messing with his empathy circuits.”

Matt’s
house was a loss, which was tragic, but he reported that he just felt lucky to
be alive.  Anything else was gravy.  He’d be staying at Grace’s for a while.

Forever
if I can manage it,
thought Grace. 

Matt’s
shoulder was on the mend, and since he’d help bring down a dangerous arsonist,
apparently the town had pushed him back into the ‘hero’ category.

The
object of her affections walked into the library wearing a sling, and Grace
hurried forward.

“Aren’t
you supposed to be in bed?”

“You
weren’t with me, so I figured, what’s the point?  Just got a call from Evie. 
Russell came in, gave a full report.  Apparently when Russell installed the
toxic drywall, Darryl tried to have it switched out, but it was too late, and
they stood to lose a fortune if it became a problem.”

“What’s
going to happen to Russell?”

“He
might serve some time.  His company is going under, though.  Old Mr. Lansky was
less than thrilled with his two sons.”

He
wrapped his good arm loosely around Grace’s waist.  She tensed out of habit and
then relaxed, ignoring the curious eyes that watched them.

“God,
you look hot today.”

Grace
looked down at herself – the simple purple plaid skirt and sweater were downright
conservative by her standards.

“We
should have gotten your eyes checked last night, too.”

“I’m
thinking about those garters you have on under your skirt.”

“Oh,
well that’s okay, then.”

She
slid her arms around his neck, careful of his wound.

“Wanna
go make out in the stacks for a while?” he asked, nuzzling her cheek.

“I
have a better idea.”

Grace
grabbed the microphone and hit the “on” switch.

“Attention
library customers, the library will be closing in ten minutes so that Fiona can
go visit her step-father in the hospital, and so that I can go take care of my
boyfriend, who just saved the town from disaster and proved that my baby
brother didn’t have anything to do with it.  Anybody who has a problem with
that can bite me.”

She
caught Fiona’s laughing eye and as her friend started dealing with the
customers checking out their last books and heading out the door.

“You
go ahead.  I’ll lock up behind me,” she told Fiona, loudly enough for everyone to
hear it. 

“I
see you’re taking Adam’s advice about standing up for yourself to heart.”

“In
my own way, yes.”

Grace
tugged him into the shadowy stacks at the back of the library and he wasted no
time, sliding his lips down her throat while he slid a hand up her skirt.

“Mmm…garters.”

“We
have to be careful for a while.  I don’t want to do anything that will damage
your arm.”

“What
arm?” mumbled Matt as he sank to his knees to nose her skirt out of the way.

Grace
threaded her hands in Matt’s hair and leaned back against the book case,
letting him slide her thigh over his good shoulder, licking a worshipful line
along one black lace garter.

“Ever
done it in Natural History before?”

“There’s
a lot of things I haven’t done,” said Grace, her heart clenching as Matt smiled
back at her, an answering hint of wariness and hope in his eyes.

“Me
too,” said Matt, “We should make a list.”

“A
long, long list,” said Grace.

And
they smiled at each other for a long moment before Matt lowered his head and
proceeded to rock Grace Mallow’s world.

THE
STUNNING REDHEAD ENTERED the Bright’s Ferry Sheriff’s Department to find a
cool, gray-eyed deputy frowning over a mountain of paperwork at the front
desk.  She looked up at the newcomer, taking in every detail in one
comprehensive sweep – from the faded but stylish coat to the worn boots on her
feet.

“Can
I help you?”

She
stepped up to the desk, twisting her fingers as she pulled off her gloves.  It
would be winter soon, and the days were getting cold.

“I
was looking for Deputy Arnetto.  Is he in?”

“You
mean Sheriff Arnetto?”

“Yes,
of course.  Last time I saw him, he was still a deputy.”

Sheriff.

“Can
I give him your name?”

She
hesitated.