Chapter 22
Nina stared at her house. She could still have been inside there with the walls burning around her. Her house. She’d saved hard for the deposit, and then the day she’d gotten the keys, she had walked through each room smiling.
Now it was burning.
“It only takes ten minutes for the heat in a room to become so intense that everything combustible ignites at once,” Finch said, unraveling her hose. His voice was low and measured, and Nina thought he sounded like someone who had been trained not to get agitated in a crisis.
She was agitated—scared and angry.
Lynx handed Mabel to Nina and went to his brother. “You’re not going back in there, Finch. We don’t know what we’re dealing with.”
Now that her eyes had adjusted to the darkness, Nina could see Finch’s fierce expression and clenched jaw as he studied her home.
“It’s not worth it, Finch. Wait for the fire truck,” Lynx added.
As if on cue, the sound of sirens reached them, and then the flashing lights appeared at the end of the street, red and blue reflecting against her neighbors’ house.
Doors slammed, and the thud of feet brought Dan and his uncle around the corner.
Behind them came Lucas and Jett Hyland, the local plumbers and volunteer firefighters. Both wore helmets and protective gear.
“Everyone all right?” Sheriff Dans said, reaching them first, his gaze sweeping over Nina and the cat in her arms before moving to the house.
“Yes, Sheriff.” Nina pulled the blanket tighter around her shoulders. The night air was cold now that she could feel it. “Finch got me out.”
The sheriff’s eyes moved to the McAllister brothers.
“We were driving by and smelled the smoke,” Lynx said, shooting a glance at Finch, who was still looking at the house.
Nina watched the sheriff’s gaze travel slowly from Finch to the house and back again, expression unreadable. He then went to talk with the Hyland brothers in low, clipped tones.
“You warm enough in that blanket, Nina?” Dan asked, circling an arm around her shoulders and pulling her in for a quick hug. He smelled of coffee, and right then she desperately wanted a cup.
Before she could answer, Finch crouched by her, and started unlacing his sneakers.
“What are you doing?” his brother asked.
“Foot,” he said, looking up at Nina.
“What?”
“Lift your foot up. I’m going to put my sock on it before your toes go numb,” he explained as if it were obvious, which it absolutely was not.
She did as he asked because the cold was almost painful on the soles of her feet now. The warmth of his sock enclosed her foot and felt good. It was a small gesture, but to her, it meant so much right then. He was taking care of her, and she was going to let him—for now.
“Are they going inside the house?” Nina asked, watching as the Hyland brothers jogged back around the front.
“That’s what they do,” Finch said, nudging her to follow. “I can’t see flames, and no windows are shattering, so hopefully the fire is isolated, and they can put it out before too much damage is done.
When they reached the front of her house, it was to find the Hyland brothers unrolling a hose and taking it to her front door. They then used a long metal rod with a fork on the end, and forced her front door open. Lowering their helmets, they headed inside.
“Isn’t that dangerous?”
“It’s what they do,” Lynx said, his voice easy, though his eyes weren’t. He was watching the house as intently as Finch was. “Firefighters, remember?” he added. “They’re not just those really annoying brothers who used to steal the cookies out of our lunch boxes anymore.”
“I punched Jett once for doing that,” Dan said before he went to join his uncle near the truck.
Nina stood tense, sandwiched between the McAllister brothers with Mabel pressed against her chest, the cat unnaturally still and unsettled from the smoke, or perhaps picking up something from the humans around her.
She kept her eyes on the front door as Dan and his uncle watched together from a short distance away.
People had come out of their houses to stand on the street, all worried at the commotion in their usually peaceful neighborhood.
When the Hyland brothers came back out what felt like hours later, they dropped the hose and headed for Dan and his uncle. Nina and the McAllisters followed.
“Fire was mainly in the bathroom, but the smoke has filled a lot of the house,” Jett Hyland said. “We put it out, and like I said, it hadn’t really taken off yet.”
“Hard to tell for sure with all the smoke and water, but is it possible you left your hair straightener on, Nina? I found it plugged in and sitting on a towel.”
“No! Absolutely not. I’m careful with that, and I always turn it off,” she said.
“We’ll know more when the sun comes up and the smoke has dissipated,” Sheriff Dans said, his voice steady. “Right now you need to find somewhere to stay tonight because it won’t be here.”
“She’s coming home with us,” Finch said at the exact moment Dan opened his mouth to offer another alternative.
He shut it again, eyes on Finch.
“There’s—” Nina began.
“It’s decided,” he said, cutting her off in a way that made Nina’s spine go rigid.
“No, it’s not decided,” she said. “You can’t just—”
He put his hand over her mouth.
The audacity of it stunned her into silence. She stood there, wrapped in a blanket, wearing his socks, with his hand pressed lightly over her lips, and she was so shocked that she let him do it.
“Excellent,” Dan said and had the nerve to look relieved. “Right then, you take her with you, and we’ll work through what needs doing here and check that the fire is out with the Hylands before we leave.
Nina sank her teeth into Finch’s hand.
“Ouch.” He dropped it, but he didn’t look sorry.
“Nice move,” Lynx said smirking as his brother shook out the pain she’d inflicted on his palm. “But he’s right,” he continued, more gently. “You’ll be safe with us for the next few hours, and tomorrow we can re-evaluate.”
“I have friends I’d be safe with, and further to that, why am I unsafe?”
“Slip of the tongue, but the McAllister cottage is the best place for you right now,” Dan added. “Finch is ex-military. Lynx is a big man. You’ll be safe tucked away there.”
“You think I’m in danger, don’t you?” Nina pressed.
“We can’t know anything yet.” His uncle’s voice was careful. “But it pays to be cautious, considering what we’ve recently learned about your past and the two, now three incidents you’ve had.”
Three. She hadn’t been thinking of them as incidents. Nina had been thinking of them as coincidences or bad luck, but now her house had caught fire, and they thought it might be her hair straightener. But she knew she hadn’t left it on.
“Oh my God, you think someone set this deliberately?”
“We’re not saying that, but we need to be cautious,” the sheriff said.
“You haven’t noticed anything else, have you, Nina?” Dan asked so only their group could hear. “Anything that seemed off in any way?”
The oil slick on her driveway surfaced in her mind. Had that been from someone else’s car? She told them about it now, and the day she’d come home and her house was unlocked.
“Someone left all her cupboards open,” Finch said slowly, with a measured calm that told her he was choosing his words with care.
“Remember, Nina? You told me that you came home and found your kitchen cupboards open. You thought because it was just after your mother’s service you might have forgotten to close them. ”
He pressed his hand briefly into her spine as he spoke, a small, deliberate signal which she understood.
He was covering for the fact that he’d been in her kitchen that night.
He’d found the cupboards open, not her. He’d closed them himself, thinking she’d left them that way, and said nothing until now. It had been the night they’d made love.
She nodded slowly. “Yes. That’s right. I told you that.”
Sheriff Dans made a note on his pad. Dan was quiet for a moment, looking at her, and then he said, “You’ll need to come into the station tomorrow morning.
We’ll sit down properly and go through all of it.
Plus, we’ll need to assess the damage, and you’ll have to contact your insurance company, Nina.
” He glanced at Finch. “Keep her safe tonight.”
“That’s the plan,” Finch said.
“I don’t understand any of this,” she said suddenly.
“I know, but we will,” Sheriff Dans said. “Go with Finch and Lynx, and try to get some sleep. We’ll work everything through tomorrow.”
Her house, with both hers and her mother’s things inside it. Her carefully chosen furniture and linen. The curtains she loved and her chair. It would all smell of smoke now, but it could have been worse. Even now she could be standing here watching her house burn down.
Was she in danger? Was there a possibility that any of this had something to do with her father? Or was the fire her fault? No, I did not leave my straightener on.
Her thoughts spiraled, the way thoughts did when fear had control of them.
“Come on.” Finch’s hand settled on her elbow, guiding her forward.
Mabel let out a small, subdued meow. Even the cat seemed to understand that tonight was not the night for theatrics.
“I don’t want to leave my house,” she said irrationally.
“I know, but you have to. Now, it’s cold, and snowing, plus there’s no more you can do tonight,” he said, nudging her forward. “So let’s go.”
“Are you all right, Nina?” her neighbor who lived on the left asked.
“I’m okay,” Nina called back. “Mabel too.”
Finch guided her to his pickup. She climbed in the driver’s side after he’d opened the door, and slid across the bench seat with Mabel still in her arms.
“Don’t you think I should bring my car?”
“We’ll get it tomorrow,” Finch said.
“Thank you,” she said quickly as Lynx got in on his side. “And it’s just for a night.”
Neither brother spoke. Finch started the engine, and the heater kicked on, filling the cab with a low, steady warmth that made Nina realize how cold she’d gotten standing out there.
Mabel, restless and displeased, meowed for release and then scrambled free of Nina’s arms. She climbed across the seat and settled on Finch’s lap.
“I don’t understand any of this,” Nina said, watching the dark houses slide past the window. She was fighting hard to keep herself together. “I never leave my hair straightener on, so this has to be deliberate, don’t you think?” she asked, needing one of them to tell her she wasn’t going crazy.
“We can run through this tomorrow, Nina. You need some sleep now.”
“What if it’s him?” My father.
Finch shot her a look before returning his eyes to the windshield. “I told Lynx the details of what has been going on, Nina. I trust him.”
“If it’s him, why not just come and see me? Why not knock on the door like a normal person? Or does he want me dead because I’m his daughter?”
“I don’t think he wants you dead, Nina,” Finch said calmly. “You need to settle down now, and we can work through this more tomorrow.”
How was she supposed to settle down? Nina had lost her mother, the woman who’d been the one constant in her life.
She’d found out she wasn’t born Nina Winters, but someone else, and that her father still lived, and he was a criminal.
And now she was sure someone had set her house on fire.
If ever she’d needed a reason not to settle down, those would be good ones.
The McAllister land appeared ahead then, and the outside lights of the cottage were burning warm and gold when they pulled up in front of it. The main house to her left was in darkness.
“Are we going to wake your parents? Because that seems—”
“You’re staying in the cottage,” Finch said, cutting the engine. “Come on.”
“I don’t have any of my things.” She heard the desperation in her voice and stomped down the panic.
“You don’t need anything tonight. We’ll go back in the morning and get what you need,” he said, already out of the truck. “Come on.” He held out a hand to her.
She took it and let him lead her into the house.
Inside, someone had left the light on, and the woodstove still threw out heat.
“I’ll take the sofa,” Lynx said and lowered Mabel gently onto the cushions. The cat landed, regarded the space with suspicion, then leaped off and began a methodical investigation.
“Nina is sleeping in my bed,” Finch said. His voice was matter-of-fact. His eyes weren’t. He was watching her with that steady, unnerving gaze.
“I-I can’t—”
“Right, that’s settled then,” Lynx said. He looked from his brother to Nina and then away. “See you both in the morning. And, Nina, I’m really sorry about what’s happening. But you’re safe here. Dan and the others will get to the bottom of it.”
He disappeared down the hall, and Nina heard a door close.
The silence that followed was loud.
“Do you need anything?” Finch asked. “A drink. Something to eat.”
“Finch.” She stopped. Tried again. “I’m not sleeping with you. I can’t—” The words didn’t come out the way she wanted and held no strength.
He didn’t argue. Instead walking to the kitchen, where he set down a saucer of water for Mabel, and then he took a blanket from the cupboard.
Nina then watched him twist it into a horseshoe shape on the floor in front of the woodstove, a perfect little bed that Mabel would absolutely love.
Then he got a glass of water and held out his hand.
“Let me look after you, Nina.”
She put her hand in his and Finch led her down the hall to his room. He closed the door behind them.
“Why were you there on my street tonight, Finch?”
“I felt something wasn’t right.”
He nudged her gently toward the bed, and, after lowering the glass onto the nightstand, pulled back the covers. “Get in, Nina.” Finch dragged the blanket from her shoulders.
She did as he said, suddenly too exhausted to do anything else.
The sheets were cold as Nina slid across them to the other side of the bed, where she lay on her side and watched him strip down to his shorts.
Finch then switched off the bedside lamp, and the room went dark.
Nina felt the mattress dip, and then he was there beside her.
Big hands turned her so that her back met his front, pulling her into the solid warmth of his body without a word.
He pressed his lips briefly to her hair. “For now, you’re safe with me. Sleep, and tomorrow we’ll work through all of it, together.”
Nina stared into the dark after Finch spoke and thought there was absolutely no way she would sleep.
Not with him at her back and her mind full of what had happened.
She was wrong. Within minutes, the night caught up with her, and the warmth had her eyes closing, and then she felt the darkness pulling her under.