Chapter 10 #7
My phone alarm goes off, and I look at it, 5:00 a.m. I feel like I just went to sleep. I turn over, and the other side of the bed is empty. I get up and walk to the bathroom. After washing my face, I go back to the bedroom and change into my clothes I packed last night.
I hear talking in the kitchen downstairs, so I head down there to see if I can get a cup of coffee. Before I turn the corner, I hear Andy and Logan talking about the fire. Logan assured him he didn’t leave anything on in his kitchen because he never cooks.
I decide to let myself be known as I come around the corner and quietly wish them both a good morning. Logan smiles and turns around and makes me a cup of coffee. He leads me to the table, and the three of us sit down.
“Gia, Logan and I were just getting ready to review the footage; do you want to be included in this?” Andy asks.
“Yes please, I am hoping that we can figure out what is going on,” I tell him.
As the three of us sit at the table, coffee in hand, Andy logs into the cloud to watch the footage. The video picks up someone in all black, and the hood is up on their hoodie. So, this was intentional. Logan swears under his breath and then gets up to get another cup of coffee.
“Andy, you know what this means. Someone is out to get me, and I have no idea who I pissed off. If Mason wasn’t cleaning equipment late last night and had not heard the alarm go off, that fire could have spread to Gia’s apartment, and she could have died from smoke inhalation.”
“Gia, didn’t you hear the alarm last night?” Andy asks.
“No, I was exhausted, more than usual. I might have drunk a little more at Sara’s than I should have, but I normally can hold my wine.”
“What exactly did you do when you got home?” Andy asks.
“ Exactly? I walked to the fridge, took out a bottle of water I had in there, drank what was left in the bottle, washed my face, brushed my teeth and then hit the bed. If Mason hadn’t been pounding on the door, I probably would have never woken up,” I tell him.
“Do you still have the bottle that you drank from last night?” Logan asks.
“Yes, it is in the trash in the bathroom. Why? What are you thinking?” I ask him.
“Not sure, but we need to get it tested just to make sure you weren’t drugged,” Logan states.
I can’t even imagine anyone doing that, but now I am getting a bit worried.
“I’ll call Detective Margot Malone to come and talk with you. She’s a good friend of Kenzie’s, and I trust her. We’ll let her decide how to handle this. Also, I am going to have a meeting with the entire staff at lunch today to discuss this issue,” Andy shares.
I look at Logan.
“Yeah, Margot will get to the bottom of this,” Logan said. He gives a little chuckle. “Neither of us was a fan when we first met her, but she turned out to be a good cop and has helped us out of a few binds.”
We all agree that between the arson investigator and Detective Malone, we are going to let the professionals handle it.
I offer to make everyone breakfast, and of course the guys agreed. Apparently, Kenzie went to pick Trina up from a friend who agreed to watch her during last night’s crisis.
I made French toast, eggs and bacon. The guys barely talked, just moaned as they ate. I am glad someone likes my cooking. I don’t get to do it very often. We all clean up the kitchen, and then Logan rides his bike, and I drive his truck back to the gym.
Carol stops by the front desk to inquire why she was called in for a meeting. I told her that something had happened last night, but Andy will share the details.
The meeting was held in Logan’s space since it is the biggest area we have for meetings.
Kenzie was manning the front desk, and as luck would have it, no one had actual classes from 12:00 to 1:00 p.m. on Fridays.
Most of the staff were extremely surprised at what happened.
A lot of quiet side discussions were taking place while Andy was speaking.
Logan sat next to Andy and was watching everyone, trying to get a feeling of who might know what.
After the meeting was over, I had to get back to the front desk.
Logan walked with me and gave me a kiss on the forehead and then went back to his area for his next class.
Around 2:00 p.m. the arson investigator, James Boersma, asked to see me.
Andy came to get me, and we walked into his office.
After Andy left, shutting the door behind him, Mr. Boersma started asking me questions about the fire.
I told him that I was completely dead to the world, and I never heard or saw anything.
I told him that Andy, Logan, and I were watching the security footage, but we couldn’t identify the person who came up the steps to the apartments.
“I ask that you keep this information to yourself, but it was arson. A small fire was started in the kitchen, but it was made to smolder more than actually burn the entire place down.”
I know the look on my face must have changed, as he told me not to worry, but he didn’t want me to stay up here at night for a few days.
Great, I am sure Kenzie is not thrilled to have two additional adults in her house.
I thanked Mr. Boersma, and I then went back to the front desk to find my cell phone.
I then texted Sara to ask her if I could crash there for the next few nights.
I know I should have told her what happened, because as soon as she received the text, my phone rings.
“Gia, what is going on? Did Logan do something? You know I told him if he breaks your heart I would fucking kill him.”
I had to laugh, little Sara talking to big Logan that way, huh.
I share with her the fact that there had been a fire in Logan’s apartment, and the arson investigator confirmed it was arson.
I also tell her that Logan isn’t going to be home until late for the next two nights, and I was told not to stay in the apartment at night for a few days.
I explained that we stayed at Andy and Kenzie’s last night, but I don’t want to impose as they have a family and need their space.
She agreed I could come after I get off work, but she did have a date with Mason tonight.
I said it would be fine, that I need another night of uninterrupted sleep, and that she shouldn’t do anything I wouldn’t do.
We hung up, and I finished my day. As I headed up to the apartment to grab some items that I will need for the next few days, I remembered that my bag of toiletries was at Kenzie’s place. Oh well, I will just use the extra that Sara keeps around for just these types of visitors.
As I was coming down the stairs, Logan was coming up. He saw my bag and wanted to know where I was headed. I told him that I didn’t want to impose on Kenzie and Andy, that I would be staying at Sara’s tonight.
In his deepest Dom voice, he says, “Gia, you will not be alone tonight. I will come to Sara’s after I am off at the club. I will call you when I arrive so you can let me in, okay?”
“Yes, Sir.”
Logan gives me a long kiss and then pats my ass and tells me to be careful.
I make my way to the back of the gym to the parking lot, and while putting my stuff in the car, Marco walks up and says hi.
He asks me about the fire, but I tell him I don’t know much, I was sound asleep, but I was happy Mason was able to wake me and get me out of there.
He gave me a hug and then headed to his truck.
Someone was sitting in the passenger seat, but I couldn’t quite make out who it was.
I didn’t know he was dating anyone; good for him.
At least he wasn’t pining for me anymore; that was getting awkward.