Chapter Ten
SUMMER SAT AT the kitchen table staring wretchedly into her cold coffee, the fingers of her right hand resting lightly on the cross around her neck.
She never took this necklace off; it was her last link to Marco, and she often felt he was with her when she touched it.
Maybe he had been protecting Nikki and Jacob when she couldn’t.
Summer knew it was a stupid superstition, but she sometimes wondered if his spirit was still around, kept close by this gold chain.
She could hear Jacob and Nikki talking to the forensics guys out in the yard.
Summer didn’t even want to think about the blacked doorway and the few remaining stumps of the front porch.
And the back door was nearly as bad. The attacker had firebombed both entrances to make sure whoever was in the house would find it almost impossible to get out.
At least the slew of firefighters had left twenty minutes ago, confident any risk of a flareup was now gone, taking with them their muddy footprints and loud voices.
Summer was so lost in her own thoughts she didn’t hear Nikki coming down the corridor until she burst into the kitchen, and Summer stood in a rush, guilt twisting her insides.
Nikki’s pretty face was drawn into lines of tension, her long hair falling out of the hasty bun she’d tied it up into earlier this morning.
“I’m so sorry,” Summer said hurriedly. “Your beautiful house.” Tears pricked at the back of her eyelids.
This was all her fault. If she hadn’t taken refuge here, Nikki’s place would never have been targeted.
“I don’t know what to say. If there’s anything I can do, if I can help in any way.
I want to pay for all the damages,” she added with a lift to her chin.
Nikki said nothing for a few seconds, but her face softened as she looked at Summer.
“Don’t be silly,” she replied. “That’s what insurance is for.
” As she came closer, Summer noticed a smudge of charcoal over Nikki’s left eye, and the guilt twisted sharply once more in her belly.
This poor woman had had to flee her burning house, breaking the window in her bedroom to get out.
And now her charming cottage was scarred and blackened, and yet she was the one showing Summer compassion.
“I already told you, we got out okay, and thanks to Jacob and my wonderful neighbors, the damage is minimal,” Nikki added.
Summer had previously heard Nikki and Jacob’s account of their escape.
They had gone back to bed after M?rten and Summer left for their run, ostensibly to grab an hour more sleep.
But it was clear the loved-up couple hadn’t been sleeping when, fifteen minutes later, Jacob heard something suspicious and got up to find smoke pouring through the front door.
He’d broken the bedroom window and gotten them both out unharmed, raising the alarm as he did so.
Then he’d turned the garden hose on the flames at the entrance, while some of Nikki’s neighbors helped her do the same at the rear, which saved the house from complete destruction.
Summer’s heart clenched as she remembered Nikki’s face, white as a sheet when they’d first arrived back.
She’d been terrified, almost swaying on her feet.
The only thing keeping her upright was Jacob’s solid presence beside her as firefighters and police swarmed all over the house.
She had recovered quickly, however, soon yelling at a firefighter to stop trampling all over her beloved azalea bushes and telling the police officers to please ask her first if they needed anything moved.
But that didn’t make her raw emotions at the time any less valid.
“But. Oh, God… it could have been so much worse,” Summer groaned.
“What if you’d been asleep and hadn’t heard the fire start?
What if—” Summer daren’t finish her sentence.
What if they’d been burned? Or died of smoke inhalation like that poor child Jacob and told her about.
Her shame was so strong that she doubled over as pain sliced through her stomach.
“I know you want to blame yourself, but you shouldn’t.
” Nikki bent down so she was level with Summer’s face, the other woman’s blue eyes intense and fixed on hers.
“Like I said before, I know what it’s like to need a place of sanctuary, and I was happy to let you stay here.
Stop letting the guilt crush you. You need to have your head screwed on right if you’re gonna outfox this fucker, and overwhelming guilt will not help you.
” Nikki’s use of the curse word made Summer straighten up; in the short time she’d known Nikki, she’d never heard her swear.
“If you’re going to feel anything, you should feel angry at whoever did this.
Get mad,” Nikki continued, slapping her closed fist into the palm of her other hand.
“You need to fight, Summer, not give in. Otherwise, he will win.”
Summer considered the other woman as they stood almost nose to nose in the middle of the kitchen.
Nikki’s compassion was going to be her undoing.
Summer didn’t think she could be so forgiving if the tables were turned and it was her house that’d been partially destroyed.
But perhaps she was right. She had to stop feeling sorry for herself and start standing up for herself.
If not for her own safety, then for the safety of those around her.
“Okay?” Nikki asked, narrowing her eyes at Summer, hands on hips.
“Okay,” Summer replied slowly.
“Good.” With that, Nikki gave Summer a quick, hard embrace, then let her go. “I think the cops are finishing up, and the insurance assessor will be here soon. It’s not as bad as it looks,” Nikki finished kindly as she busied herself tidying the kitchen.
“That’s true,” Jacob said, entering the room, M?rten close behind him. “A good carpenter will have it fixed in a few days. There was no major damage to the roof or any of the walls. We put it out before that could happen.”
“Yes, that’s correct,” M?rten added, his eyes anchored on Summer’s as if trying to gauge her mood. “The destruction is minimal; it can be repaired, and then the house will look like new.”
She’d forgotten in all her panic over Jacob and Nikki’s safety just how good M?rten looked in a pair of running shorts.
She’d been shocked to see how muscled and tanned his legs had been, and she’d barely been able to force herself to look away from those powerful thighs when he’d emerged from his room earlier this morning.
And that tight black T-shirt, which did nothing to hide the hard walls of his stomach, tapering off to a narrow waist, as well as how it stretched so tightly over bulging biceps.
Oh God. And now seeing him again, she was hit with a second wave of that same smack of lust right in the groin as her gaze traveled up and down his torso of its own accord.
Blast, she was in trouble. He was too sexy for his own good. Too sexy for her own good.
She’d also forgotten that she was supposed to be mad at him.
He’d kissed her this morning, and then rejected her, as if that kiss had been the worst mistake of his life.
As anger seemed to be the easier path to choose, she raised eyebrows at him defiantly.
He wasn’t getting away that easily. She had a long memory, and just because he was being all solicitous and sexy now, didn’t make everything okay again.
But before she could come up with an appropriate retort, Jacob said, “Everyone take a seat. We need to figure out what our next steps are, and I can bring you up to speed on what Miller and I have discussed.”
Jacob’s FBI partner, Agent Claire Miller, had arrived at Nikki’s house seconds after she and M?rten had returned, looking way too cool, collected, and professional for that early in the morning.
Her first act had been to make sure Jacob and Nikki were both okay, and Summer could see the genuine care and concern she had for her new colleague and his girlfriend.
But after a few moments’ perusal of the burned sections of the house, the lines of unease had cleared from her brow and she’d taken Jacob aside for a tête-à-tête, then left again soon after.
“Miller is back at HQ right now, to talk to our boss and organize a few things.” Jacob’s gaze zeroed in on Summer. “Things that will affect you, Summer,” he added.
“I already know what my next step is,” she muttered half under her breath as she took a seat. “I need to get out of here. So this can’t happen again.” When Summer looked up, three pairs of eyes were all staring at her in disbelief.
Jacob was the first to break the heavy silence. “I agree.” His reply caught her by surprise.
“Oh, good, I—”
“Miller thinks you should go into witness protection. She’s talking to the boss about taking you to a safe house this morning.” Jacob said, his face deadpan.
“What? No.” This was the last thing Summer had expected.
Jacob held up a hand to stop her protestations.
“Miller and I agree this is the same MO as the other arson attacks the FBI have been investigating. In all the previous blazes, the perp set fire to both the front and rear entries to prevent the occupants from escaping. This has Tyrone King’s stamp all over it.
We’ve confirmed by your description that the guy you saw in your stairwell wasn’t actually Tyrone, which means he’s brought someone else in to do his dirty work.
Whether it’s just to scare you into submission, to get you to hand over those photos, or worse, we’re not sure yet.
But either way, you’re in extreme danger. ”
Summer faltered, knowing that by worse, Jacob meant Tyrone wanted her dead. “Yeah, I get all that…” she said eventually, once she got past the idea someone wanted to murder her. The last thing she desired was to go into witness protection, however.