Chapter 10
CHAPTER 10
The house Anna had lived in most of her life appeared to be a complete loss. The structure stood, it hadn’t burned to the ground, but much of the house was black and ashy in the creeping light of day. One side, perhaps where the fire had started, was blacker than the rest. Instead of a sunny yellow well-cared-for home, what stood before her looked like a dilapidated haunted house.
As she watched firefighters go after the remaining hotspots, she realized she’d never again sleep here. All the things she’d complained about boxing up and saving were gone. Her mother’s treasures, her own clothes, her work laptop, everything but the sundress she wore, one pair of flip flops, and the few personal things she had in her purse — which was still at Colt’s house — was gone. If the fire hadn’t eaten it up, the water used to fight the fire had surely ruined it. Did she even want to go inside to see if anything could be saved? Not really, not right now. How depressing that would be.
Her mom’s car, twenty years old and parked in the driveway, looked to be ok, but she couldn’t be certain. Her own vehicle had been parked in front of a neighbor’s house, since the last time she’d driven it another car had been parked in what she considered her spot at the curb. The Honda was unscathed. She could leave town as soon as her mom was taken care of.
There was no reason for Nina not to head to Florida as soon as possible, and once she was on her way no reason for Anna to stay in Seawolf Beach. The house looked to be too far gone for any kind of repair, and she’d already decided she didn’t want to see what remained inside. What would come next? A bulldozer, maybe. Should they rebuild and then sell? Maybe they could clean the site and sell the lot. Insurance adjustors would lead the way, at least in the beginning.
There would soon be details to handle; arrangements for her mother and insurance came to mind. What else? Her brain was barely working, at the moment. Maybe she was still in shock. Once everything was taken care of she’d be able to return to Nashville in a matter of days. Many of those details, the ones that would take weeks or months, could be handled by phone and email. Her time here, her obligations, were almost done.
At least she’d had her night with Colt. She’d expected that maybe, just maybe, they’d have more. All they’d had was a bit of fun with no promises for tomorrow. She was an idiot for ever thinking there might be more. A long overdue orgasm would do that to a woman.
Nina Miller had been furious with her only daughter for not being in her room when she went to rescue her child. Anna didn’t have kids, probably never would, but she understood the fury, the tears of relief, the way her mother continued to hold onto Anna’s arm too tightly as they watched the firefighters do their jobs.
She didn’t tell her mom to loosen her grip, even though at times fingernails bit into her skin. She got it; she understood the shock and sadness, the panic, the unbearable sense of loss.
Together Colt and the chief had taken charge. They didn’t fight the fire, of course. There were two firetrucks, a number of firemen — paid and volunteers — who handled that arduous job. The local volunteers worked well with the fire department from down the road. It wasn’t the first time they’d joined forces. She recognized a couple of the volunteers from Seawolf Beach, when they stepped away and removed their helmets.
Maxwell contacted the insurance company, which was nice of him since it wasn’t his job. He recognized that Nina Miller was no use to anyone at the moment, and the insurance agent was a friend of the chief. He handed his cell to Nina for a moment, but she wasn’t capable of dealing with much at the moment. Tomorrow, maybe. Colt offered the Pine Street house for as long as they needed it. He said he’d move back to the depot so they could have the place to themselves.
She didn’t want him to move. She wanted him to stay with her. There were two bedrooms. Why couldn’t they put her mother in the spare room and share the bed they’d slept in last night? Her mom wouldn’t like it, and it wasn’t like she and Colt were an actual official couple, but still…
She wasn’t ready to give him up.
Chief Maxwell stayed at the scene with the firefighters while Colt walked Anna and her mother toward their temporary home.
Nina glanced back at her smoldering home often, sniffling and sighing. Each time she squeezed Anna’s arm more tightly, and the shaking of her body increased. She was in shock. When they turned the corner and Nina could no longer see what was left of her home, she focused straight ahead. “It’s lucky I woke when I did. I could’ve sworn the house was moving, though once I was fully awake I knew it wasn’t. My bed seemed to shake, that’s for sure. I must’ve dreamed it, or else it was one of those little earthquake thingies that got out of hand.”
Earthquake thingies… really… “Maybe you dreamed it,” Anna said.
“I suppose that’s possible.”
Colt walked directly behind them, muttering to himself as he had since they’d arrived at the fire.
Anna looked over her shoulder. When she did Colt stopped on the sidewalk, allowing the two women to get several steps ahead before he continued his whisper.
“I told you he was squirrelly,” Nina said in a lowered voice. With her attention distracted, she loosened her grip a bit.
“He’s not…” Anna began, but her protest died on her lips.
Last night had been everything she’d dreamed of, and more. She wasn’t a kid anymore and neither was Colt. She’d liked it, she’d loved it. She wanted more.
It didn’t matter if Colt was off his rocker or not. It didn’t matter if he was squirrelly. In a matter of days she’d be back in Nashville or in Florida getting her mother settled, and Coltrane Hart would become nothing more than a memory. Again.
Damn, she was going to miss him.
“They already think I’m crazy,” Colt said, watching the women he escorted continue on. “We can talk later.”
Jack’s spirit, agitated and glowing and for Colt’s eyes alone, shimmered. “It wasn’t an accident. You have to tell someone! A man walked around the outside of the house and splashed gasoline or kerosene or something everywhere, then he lit matches, one after another, and tossed them at the base of the house. He stood back and watched until he was satisfied with the fire he’d started.”
“I don’t suppose you have a name for this man.”
Jack shimmered again. “No. He seemed familiar but I can’t… I can’t remember. He was wearing a hoodie, so I couldn’t see his face.”
“Couldn’t you have popped out of the house to get a closer look?” Colt asked.
Jack shook his head. “I couldn’t leave Mom. I had to stay. She needed me.”
First Nicole and now this. Colt didn’t believe in coincidence.
“Anna wasn’t home, but you know that.” Jack’s statement came with a glare that didn’t last. “I woke Mom the only way I knew how. It wasn’t easy. The woman sleeps like the dead!”
Did the dead sleep? He wasn’t sure…
Best to focus on the living, at the moment. Whoever started the fire had probably killed Nicole earlier in the day. The killer had been looking for something in the duck picture he’d decided was worth killing for. Maybe he hadn’t found what he’d been looking for and had decided to burn down the Miller house and everything in it.
How could he ask Mac if a particular picture of a duck had been stolen from the antiques store? Oh, by the way…
Why was this happening, and why now ? Was what had happened in the past twelve hours, murder and arson, connected to Jack’s murder five years earlier?
“What the hell were you into?” Colt asked in a lowered voice.
Jack stopped shimmering. His anger faded and was replaced with shame. Colt had seen this expression on his old friend’s face once before, when he’d bullied a shy boy in high school until the kid dropped out. Jack was a jerk, but apparently he could experience shame.
“What have you done?” Colt asked.
Jack disappeared. When Colt turned to look at the women who were walking toward the Pine Street house, the ghost was there, following them.
Colt’s ghost-free house had remained that way for one night. It had been a good night, but dammit, it was over.
Anna couldn’t bring herself to put her mother in the bed where she and Colt had just had sex. Three times. Fortunately the bed in the small spare room was decent. Colt insisted they check for bed bugs, but they found none. He seemed relieved. There were clean sheets in the narrow linen closet in the hallway; she and her mom made the bed, though it didn’t look like either of them would get any more sleep tonight. The sun was coming up. Maybe they could catch a nap later.
Sunday had started early, and with a bang.
They sat at the small, round kitchen table. Colt made coffee as soon as they arrived, and all three of them started the day with a big mug. Caffeine wouldn’t change anything, but it might make the day more tolerable. Couldn’t hurt. Anna’s mind spun with an ever-changing list of things that needed to be done ASAP.
At one point the table had shuddered, as the three of them sat there and tried to catch their breath. It reminded Anna of the occasional weird tremors at her mom’s house. So, maybe not the plumbing… though that didn’t matter now. Not much mattered, with the memory of what remained of her home on her mind.
Colt muttered “no,” once, and the shaking stopped.
“We really need to talk to someone in charge about that,” Nina said absently, as though the mayor or the police chief might have answers or solutions for random, unexplained tremors.
They had more important things on their minds. There had been a murder in Seawolf Beach. Anna hadn’t seen the body, and still the image of a dead Nicole popped into her mind at unwanted moments, while she made a mental list of who needed to be notified about the fire, what had to be replaced today , and when she could get her mother on her way to Florida. There was no reason for her to stay. Anna could get a power of attorney and handle all the gory details herself. Insurance, clean up, potential sale of the property to someone who would rebuild. They wouldn’t get much, but in spite of the savings they’d lost to one of Jack’s schemes, her parents had money set aside. They’d always been savers, setting back a bit at a time so they wouldn’t have to worry in retirement. A retirement her dad hadn’t lived to see much of.
She also thought about poor Nicole whose last hours, maybe her last minutes, had been spent worrying about getting laid. There might’ve been more mundane things on her mind as well, business issues or what to have for dinner. She might’ve been putting together a grocery list. But when Anna had talked to her she’d been bemoaning her lack of a love life.
Much as Anna had done, until last night.
The image of Nicole that continued to intrude on her thoughts reminded Anna that life was truly short. Marking time, as she’d been doing since the divorce, was a waste of that precious time. She’d been in limbo, waiting for life to happen to her instead of making things happen.
She’d eventually return to Nashville, but until that happened… she was finished sitting back and not taking what she wanted.
As if he read her mind, Colt took her hand under the table. He squeezed it. He looked at her and caught her eye.
And in that moment her only thought was… mine .