The Fall(19)

The house was quiet when I opened the back door. Honestly, I was surprised. I wasn’t sure what I expected, but compliance wasn’t it. The door down to the basement had been bolted from the outside, so unless Sofia had X-Men powers I didn’t know about, there was little chance she’d been able to get out. But it didn’t mean she wouldn’t try. Possibly smash something against it.

“I’m back.” I pulled open the door, allowing her to walk back up the stairs and into the main part of the house.

She looked pissed. Like her time down there had marinated her bad mood, the attitude amplified as she stepped into the living room.

“Wow, thanks. Couldn’t have worked that out on my own.” The sarcasm dripped from every word, as did her displeasure. And I couldn’t help the smile that crept across my face, enjoying both.

“Change of plans, we’re staying here for the next day or two. I’ll evaluate then.” I didn’t bother giving her the particulars. Partly because I hadn’t decided when we’d mobilize, and partly because I enjoyed pissing her off. Besides, the less anyone knew the better, less chance of someone f*cking it up.

“I need to call my boss. My shift starts in less than an hour.” She ignored my statement completely, disregarding my plan for laying low as she held out her hand for my cell. “You said I could call.”

It was a statement, not a question.

“Yeah, I changed my mind.” I folded my arms across my chest, my smirk getting wider. “Figured it was better you didn’t say anything.”

In all honesty, I couldn’t trust her. And while she had been compliant up till now, I couldn’t be sure she wasn’t biding her time. She still had her piece and ammo, and that was as big of a concession as I was going to make. The risk of a tip off far outweighing any concerns her boss might have. Besides, by the time her shift started, it was no longer going to be an issue.

“That isn’t smart,” she snapped, unable to keep her annoyance under wraps. “They’ll come looking.”

Ignoring her, I walked over to my computers, the monitors coming to life with the flick of the mouse. She followed close behind despite the lack of invitation, her mouth no doubt not done with whatever she needed to say and I didn’t care to hear.

“I have a gun. I could easily shoot my way out of here.” She barely took a breath before continuing. “And if this is about my safety then surely I should have a say in it. I’m trained, I’m not a liability.”

She watched as I sat at my desk, my fingers twisting the knob of the small handheld scanner that sat beside the monitors, the static pop making her flinch as I adjusted the volume. The garble slowly formed into coherency, the efficient yet impassive voices of dispatchers tossing words back and forth with units in the field.

“That’s my address.” Sofia’s focus bored into the scanner, like eyeballing it would give her any further clues. Her hands gripping the back of my chair so tightly, the leather creaked in protest.

“Hmmm, sounds like it.” Cue my lack of surprise as the word suspected explosion and fire were attached to the current description of the property. The state of the occupants had yet to be ascertained.

“What the hell?” Sofia’s hand moved to her mouth, the sharp intake of air whistling past her lips.

“Sounds like there was some kind of fire. Huh. I guess that negates any questions that will be asked. It will take some time for the fire department to comb it for a body.” My eyes moved to hers, the lids had peeled back to maximum.

It’s not how I usually liked to operate, a little sloppy if I was honest. But I had limited time and even less resources, so a trip to Wal-Mart was not in the cards. So I worked with what I had, the result a little messier than I would have liked, but no less effective.

“What did you do?” She blinked back in disbelief; her head shaking like that would suddenly make it less real.

I didn’t bother lying. No reason, besides it was probably going to be on the next news bulletin anyway—the blast rocking surrounding houses.

“I pulled your gas line from behind your stove. Then it was just a matter of cranking your heating and waiting for either the spark from the thermostat or the pilot light to ignite. Hard to know which it was. Gas is unpredictable when it’s pissing out. Good thing you weren’t in there.” I shrugged, slowly turning to face her. “I hope you have renter’s insurance,” I said coolly, the edges of my mouth cranking a little higher.

“You bombed my f*cking house.” The words spat out of her mouth as her fists white-knuckled at her sides. “You bastard! You could have killed someone. I have neighbors. What if—”

“You’ve forgotten I don’t give a shit.” I quickly ended her list of possible scenarios I hadn’t been paid to care about. “You think I give a rat’s ass if your dumbass neighbor got toasty? Newsflash, they aren’t my responsibly.”

I wasn’t stupid, unless there were bone fragments, teeth—anything that could yield DNA, all I’d done was buy us some time and leveled her house. But it was a hundred percent the right call.

On paper it looked like madness, drawing attention to her and by virtue to me. The arson/suspected murder investigation sure to throw her name into the spotlight. Add in she was a highly respected member of the force and whose daddy happened to have a questionable employment history. And that was the kind of story that Matt Lauer jerked off to at night. So why paint an even bigger target on my back? Easy. Nothing like hiding in plain f*cking sight, the mayhem giving me just the kind of cover I needed. Every * on both sides of the line would be stalled trying to gather details while we ghosted. Oh, and detonations gave me a hard-on.