36. Friday, August 23, 100 A.M.
When the Chief and Kacy get back to the house, Andrea is waiting up in the kitchen.
“I called Phoebe and Delilah,” she says. “Everyone knows, everyone’s praying.” She opens her arms to Kacy.
Kacy lets Andrea hug her for only a second. “I can’t talk about it,” she says. “I’m so tired I feel like my head is going to topple off my body.”
“Get some sleep,” Andrea says.
“Will you—”
“The second we hear anything,” the Chief says.
Andrea waits until she and Ed are in their bedroom before she says, “What the hell happened, Ed? Do you think Coco set the Richardsons’ house on fire and then ran?”
“I’m not sure what happened,” he says. “Is that a possibility? Yes. Is it possible Leslee heard about the fire and pushed Coco off the boat? Yes. Is it possible Coco fell? Yes. Who set the fire is a secondary concern. Nobody was hurt, although the house is a total loss. The garage is fine.”
“Is that where the Richardsons are staying tonight?”
“They’re sleeping on the boat.” The Chief sighs. “Stu Vick will have an inspector there in the morning. My concern is finding Coco.”
“Obviously,” Andrea says.
Ed tries to pry one of his loafers off with the toe of the other while standing up and nearly falls over. Andrea takes his arm, leads him to the bed. “I can’t believe this happened when you were so close to finished.”
“Zara wants me to give her the case and just advise from afar.”
Andrea laughs unhappily. “You’ll never do that.”
“I overheard Dixon saying that I’m looking at this as some kind of swan song.” Ed finally kicks his loafer off. “That’s not what this is. We know the girl. She stayed with us.”
“You don’t have to explain. I know you’d never walk away, nor would I want you to.”
Ed is grateful he doesn’t have to quarrel with Andrea on this point. He drops his head in his hands. He feels dizzy; his gut is churning up a cement of fritto misto and steak and cannoli. Does his arm tingle or is that his imagination? Did he set himself back six months with all the stress of the night? He takes a deep breath. Andrea helps him out of his sports coat, then kneels in front of him and unbuttons his shirt like he’s a child. If this night had ended like it was supposed to, she would be unbuttoning his shirt for another reason.
Once Ed gets into bed, he makes sure his phone is plugged in and the ringer is on. The helicopter has returned to Woods Hole; the track-line searches will resume at first light. At Ed’s behest, Lucy has agreed to keep one boat out searching for the rest of the night.
Andrea turns off the light, the Chief closes his eyes. A part of him thinks Coco did set the fire and then run—and that same part hopes she gets away with it.