15. Carolyn
15
CAROLYN
“ O h, God,” I whimpered when Zach turned the last corner. The second Alex was in my driveway we’d bolted from the house and made the short trip to All That Sparkles. Emergency vehicles blocked the street, their lights flashing in the smoky air. Ahead, I could see flames pouring from the front of the store and reaching upward.
As soon as Zach pulled to the curb, I grabbed for the door handle, but Zach gripped my arm. “Wait for me,” he said. How could he be so calm when my world was on fire? “Rushing now could just get you into trouble.”
I hated that he was right. It was an active fire scene, with all the hazards that entailed. I wondered, though, if he ever lost his cool. The night of the robbery, when he’d confronted me about Austin, his mask of control had slipped—but that was a rarity. Even when I broke our engagement, he’d said nearly nothing, expressed nothing.
I would bet his heart rate wasn’t even accelerated. Mine was racing, but I waited until he was beside me before moving forward. Together we negotiated the maze of hoses, trucks, and firefighters doing their job. Despite the emergency service’s response, what I saw was devastating. The front windows and door were blown out, with flames licking up their frames. The recently refurbished interior was ablaze, fire streaking up the walls and across the carpet.
Firefighters kept a steady arc of water flowing in, but the flames seemed resistant to it. Black smoke rolled from the brick building. At least there was no wind to fan the flames and blow the smoke at us.
Zach’s hand never loosened on my arm as we made our way to my mother and Charlotte standing across the street from the store. I drew strength from his touch—which I badly needed, because I had to be the strong one here. I saw that immediately. Grimy tears streaked my sister’s and mother’s faces. Zach let go of me when I put my arms around them, but I could feel him close behind me.
“What happened?” I asked Charlotte.
“We’d just closed for the evening. Everyone was gone but me.” My sister’s words sent a chill down my spine. “I wanted to finish some paperwork. I was in the office when I heard a crash and explosion and then everything was on fire.”
“Are you hurt?” I grabbed my sister’s trembling hands.
“No. I made it to the back door. I almost forgot the new code for the mantrap, but I remembered and got out.”
“Were you here, too?” I asked my mother.
“I was parked in the alley waiting for Charlotte,” Mom explained. “We were going to have dinner together.”
“All the merchandise is safe in the vault, but the store…” Charlotte trailed off. The store was a barely controlled inferno.
The upsides were that our inventory was safe in the fireproof vault and no one had been hurt. I needed to cling to those two positive facts, because it would be so easy to succumb to despair. Instinctively, I looked around for Zach, wondering when he’d left my side. I spotted him talking to a man wearing a white fire helmet with Chief written across the back. When he caught my gaze, he returned to me.
“The chief says the fire’s almost contained,” he said.
“It is?” I asked. It didn’t look it to me.
“From what he says, they were able to hit the fire from the back and drive it out the front, so the damage, he thinks, is all in the display area.”
“I pulled the doors closed on the office and repair room as I exited,” Charlotte said, impressing me with her ability to think things through even while under pressure. “Hopefully, that minimized the destruction there.”
“The brick of the building also slowed the fire,” Zach said, putting his arm around my waist as we stood watching. I resisted the urge to rest my head on his shoulder.
Within minutes, the flames lessened, and the charred interior became visible under the powerful floodlights from the fire trucks. I felt a wave of sickness at the sight, but I forced myself to stand taller. My family and employees would be looking to me. I needed to put up a good front.
As I stepped closer, I could see that the interior was gutted, but the building still seemed structurally sound. It wasn’t a total loss, as I’d feared, and it hadn’t spread to the businesses on either side of us.
“We can rebuild,” I said to Charlotte and Mom. “This is why we have insurance.” Would my insurance pay if this was arson? Charlotte’s description of a crash and explosion made me question how the fire started. I didn’t want to bring up the possibility, but it was on my mind.
An hour later, I convinced Charlotte and Mom to go home. The flames were out, and firefighters picked through the debris looking for little flare-ups. The danger was past.
“We’ll leave two men on duty during the night,” the chief said when he came to speak to me. “They’ll make sure it doesn’t reignite—and stand guard.”
“Guard?” I questioned.
“To make sure nothing gets moved before the fire inspector arrives in the morning.”
“Can I go in?” I wanted to see how bad the damage was for myself.
“Not tonight, miss. We have to make sure the building is safe to enter. You can go closer, though, and look in.”
With Zach at my side, I approached the store and stood on the sidewalk to peer in. Mucky water still ran from the building, soaking my hiking shoes. Zach shone a flashlight into the building. Water dripped from the ceiling. The shiny chrome display cases were twisted wrecks. An upholstered chair near the cashier’s desk still smoldered. The screen that hid the vault had been burned away, exposing it. It was charred on the surface but appeared undamaged.
“We should go home. There’s nothing more you can do here tonight,” Zach said from next to me. “And you’ll need some sleep to face this in the morning.”
I nodded, knowing he was right, but it felt as though I was abandoning my responsibility by leaving. After another look, I let him lead me away.
Zach
I wasn’t surprised to see Colin, as well as Alex, in Carolyn’s living room when we arrived back there. Chance was with them too, and that felt right. This was the kind of time when family needed to come together.
“Thanks, guys,” Carolyn said to them. “Was Austin okay for you?”
“We gave him beer and chips for dinner, and he passed right out,” Alex said, causing Colin to punch him lightly in the gut, but Carolyn gave them both a wan smile.
“He ate mac and cheese with applesauce,” Chance clarified.
“Good choice,” she said. “How’d you…?”
“I’ve had some recent experience with a kid that age,” Colin said. “We haven’t heard a peep.”
“I’ll look in on him and be back down,” she said.
“Go to bed,” I said. She was dead on her feet, although I knew that her exhaustion was more emotional than physical. “I’ll be up in a few minutes.”
“I need a shower first,” she said, which I could hardly argue with. We both smelled of smoke after standing at the scene for hours. “Thanks again for babysitting, guys.”
“No problem,” Colin replied.
As soon as Carolyn went up the stairs, I turned to the others. “What are you hearing?” Chance was my best resource—he’d probably fixed the cars of half the people in town, which meant he heard all the news, including the buzz within the firehall and police station.
“I made a couple of calls.” Chance kept his voice low. “There’s nothing official yet, but the sense is that the fire was deliberate.”
“Charlotte said she heard a crash and an explosion.” Her words had given me plenty to think about as I’d watched the store burn.
“Molotov cocktail through the front window?” Colin suggested.
“Maybe. Those windows are pretty thick, though.” Because of the nature of the store, the plate-glass windows were extra strong. I didn’t think someone could throw hard enough to shatter them.
Chance picked up on his idea. “You’re thinking it was propelled through in some way.”
“Yeah.” I considered the type of weapon necessary for the job and didn’t like it.
“That’s dangerous shit,” Alex commented.
“No kidding,” I said. Whoever was behind this was accelerating his game. “I may need you guys.”
“Always ready,” Alex said.
“We’ll take a look around outside before we leave,” Colin added. “Maybe hang out a bit. You take care of Carolyn.”
I said good night and let them out. After that, I checked the doors and windows before going upstairs. The shower was just shutting off, so I looked in on Austin. Out in the yard, I recognized a dark shadow as Colin and knew my family had my back. That gave me a little breathing room, but it didn’t solve the problem. I needed to find the son of a bitch who was behind this—and soon.
I went into the guest bathroom I’d been using and took a fast shower, I went to Carolyn’s room and slid into bed next to her. She immediately curled into me, and I felt the dampness of her tears against my skin. All I could do was hold her for the night and request a promise from her.
“I just want to know why,” she murmured, her voice hoarse from crying. She hadn’t cried at the scene. Instead, she’d comforted others and been a tower of strength. “Why is this happening?”
“I don’t know, sweetheart, but I’ll find out.” And when I did, I’d take care of whoever was behind it.
“You’ll find out?” she echoed. “Then you don’t think it was accidental either?”
“Not a chance.” I admitted to her what I’d refrained from saying in front of her family. “Which is why you have to promise me you’ll be safe and take a step back. I’ll put together a team tomorrow and get an investigation in motion.” I had my family and I was pretty sure Chance had other buddies we could rely on. “The police will probably take it seriously now, too. You can leave it to us from here.”
She huffed at that. “I’m not going to sit around while you swoop in and play hero.”
At that, I rolled us both over, pinning her beneath me. I framed her face with my hands, gently rubbing my thumbs over her cheekbones. I wanted her desperately, but before I could give in, we needed to come to an understanding.
“This situation is far too dangerous, sweetheart. It probably was before, but arson shows that the perp has escalated his attempts. I know what the business means to you, but your life means a lot more to your family and to me and Austin than the store. Promise me that you’ll let the rest of us handle it.”
Her eyes were dark and sorrowful. I wanted to kiss away the pain I saw there, but not until she promised to take a step back from her investigation.
“If you put it that way, I promise,” she whispered. “You’ll get him, won’t you?” I nodded, making a silent promise of my own. “Good. Make love to me, Zach. I need you tonight.”
I kissed her then, slow and deep until her body relaxed and her arms wrapped around me. Taking my time, I trailed kisses down her neck and shoulder, working my way to her breasts. She sighed when I flicked my tongue over a nipple and gasped when I took it in my mouth.
“That’s so good.” Her voice was a soft purr. “More.”
I moved to her other breast, giving it attention until she moaned my name. Still kissing her soft skin, I made my way to the apex of her thighs and teased them open. I knew her body so well, her scent, the feel of her, what made her come. With that knowledge, I feathered my tongue over her clit, garnering more moans as the tension built in her.
I could always read her body, and I adjusted the pressure as her pleasure grew. She writhed beneath me, and I lifted her legs, placing them over my shoulders as I pinned her in place. I wanted to go slowly, to savor every moment as I watched her come undone, but the more she moved, the more desperately I needed to thrust deep inside her and take my own pleasure along with hers.
Licking the full length of her slit, I pulsed my tongue as she moaned and clutched at the sheets. I slid two fingers inside her, twisting my hand to find the special spot that would drive her wild as I continued to lick and suck. Carolyn’s moans soon turned to pants, and I pressed harder, wanting to bring her over at least once before I took my own pleasure.
With a cry, she shifted her head from side to side, her body trembling beneath me as her climax rocked through her. A few moments later, I felt her fingers on my head, tugging at my hair.
“Inside me,” she murmured. “I want to feel you, all of you.”
After pausing for just a second to get a condom, I did as commanded, rising up and entering her heat, which was still pulsing. Resting on my elbows, I moved inside her, setting an erratic pace that I couldn’t seem to control. When her muscles tightened around me and she sobbed my name, I kissed her, pouring my love for her into every movement of my body, every bit of pleasure I could bring her until my own orgasm ripped through me.
I rested my head against her shoulder to catch my breath. Then, rolling onto my back, I pulled her close to me and stroked her back until her body softened with sleep. I didn’t know how long she’d rest, but I’d be there for her when she woke.