Alone (Bone Secrets, #4)(52)

“My house is on fire!”

He looked in the direction she’d pointed, his pulse rate skyrocketing. A flickering light shone through a wide broken window on the first floor of her house.

“Call nine-one-one now!” he ordered. He jerked the wheel and parked the car in front of her house, flung open his door, and got out. Tori lunged out her door and started toward the house. He grabbed her arm. “Wait! What are you doing?”

She jerked to a stop and stared at her home.

Flames danced inside the home. The fire seemed localized to one area. No other flames showed in the upstairs windows. She seemed transfixed by the flames.

“Could anyone be in there? No pets, right?”

She shook her head.

“I’ll make sure.” He turned her face toward his. Her eyes didn’t seem to focus. “Call nine-one-one now. I’ll check around. Is there a hose somewhere?”

She pulled her phone out of her pocket and dialed. “It’s in the garage. Don’t you dare go in there.”

“I won’t,” he promised and ran up the porch stairs.

He punched the doorbell three times and pounded on the front door. “Anyone here?” he shouted. He pounded on the door again. At least it’s raining. Everything is soaked. It shouldn’t spread outdoors.

A rushing sound and faint roar came from the flames, but no voices. The front window was shattered. He glanced at the flower bed in front of the window, seeing just a few pieces of broken glass. Most of the glass must be inside. Someone broke the window from the outside. He gave a small breath of relief. Someone hadn’t broken it out, trying to escape.

The hole wasn’t large enough for a person to get through, so he didn’t think anyone had broken in. It looked like something had been thrown through the window.

Something thrown to start the fire? Was it started on purpose?

He glanced back at Victoria. She was still on the phone, gesturing with wide hand movements as she talked. He waved at the side of the house, indicating he was going around back. She nodded and pointed at him like a mother does when her kid is in big trouble.

He got the message. Be careful.

Not a problem. He had no desire to step inside a burning house.





Victoria pulled her coat’s collar up over her nose. The scent of the smoke permeated the air in her neighborhood. The fire was out, but firemen still filled her house. Katy and Trinity had arrived fifteen minutes after Victoria and Seth. They’d been headed home from Lacey’s and had stopped, the street blocked by fire trucks.

Katy wrapped her arms around Trinity as she stared at Victoria’s smoking home.

The home didn’t look too bad from the outside. The fire had been put out quickly. There was probably more smoke and water damage inside the home than anything else. Thank goodness there were companies that specialized in cleaning up that sort of mess.

It’s just a house. Things can be replaced.

She sucked in a deep breath.

The firemen had made a disaster in the front yard, which had already been a swamp from the constant rains. Smoke scarred the outside walls where it had poured out the front window. Bulky shadows of men moved inside while others tramped in and out of the home, putting away their equipment.

A small crowd had gathered in the street, under the protection of the giant firs, avoiding the pounding rain. Katy had run to her house and returned with three oversized umbrellas, standard equipment for life in Portland.

Seth held one over his and Victoria’s heads, his other arm wrapped around her shoulders, watching the movements of the firemen. “What a f*cking mess,” he muttered.

She nodded. It was an understatement. How long would it take to get her house back to livable shape? How would they remove the scent of smoke?

“They said something containing an accelerant had been thrown through the window. It was deliberate,” Seth added.

Victoria numbly nodded again. “Arson” was the word on everyone’s lips now. The firemen hadn’t let her in the house yet. They’d promised she could go in to collect a few things soon. Would any of her clothes be wearable? Katy had immediately informed her she’d be staying with them. In a mind fog, she’d agreed.

As if she could sleep tonight.

What a horrible day. For all of them. A deep shudder sped through her body, and Seth pulled her closer. “Cold?” he asked.

“Yes.” It was a good enough reason. Seth was like a furnace. She could feel his body heat seep through his coat and into hers, warming her skin. She needed more of it. Most of her body was freezing. Even her brain felt like it’d been lightly coated with ice; it was numb. Watching Seth pound on the door of the burning home had raised a level of alarm in her that she’d never experienced. He hadn’t been in much danger, but seeing him run toward the fire as she stayed back had ripped a raw spot on her heart.

She’d wanted to keep him safe. And the lack of control over the situation hadn’t sat well with her. She’d been shaking by the time he’d returned from investigating the back of the home. While he’d been out of her sight and she’d spoken with the 911 operator, she’d never felt so powerless.

What was he doing to her? Part of her wanted to shove his arm off her shoulders, while the other half of her wanted to burrow deep into his coat and hide her face, pretending nothing bad was happening.