“Let me show you something. Come with me.” Paul walks to the back of the house where the garbage cans were kept. “I’ll have to send samples off to the lab to test for accelerants, but I’ve been at this long enough that I can tell you with ninety-nine percent accuracy that the fire was intentionally set right here. See the scorch pattern on the ground around where the garbage cans were?” He points to the semicircle of blackened earth that extends out from the house.
“Someone used way too much fuel, thinking that would make the fire burn hotter and faster. Lucky for us, they don’t know much about arson investigation because they’re actually making our job easier.”
“So, back to my original question. Do you have any enemies here?” Matt waits for Layne to answer.
“I don’t know if she wants to kill me, but Margot and I have had words recently. And my ex-boyfriend showed up here a couple of days ago wanting to reconcile, and just this morning I made it clear that wouldn’t happen. But honestly, even though I’d never take him back, I don’t believe he’d do this,” Layne replies.
Paul looks satisfied with her answer, and Matt quickly scribbles a few notes. “What’s the ex-boyfriend’s name? We can verify his whereabouts easy enough,” Matt replies. “And I already know the Warner family very well.”
“Bobby Shaw. He was staying in the Hideaway Hotel in Summerton,” Layne replies.
“The smoke damage was fairly extensive, especially on the back part of the house. It’d be best if you stayed somewhere else until the damage can be repaired. The smoke is still strong inside, even in the rooms the fire didn’t reach,” Paul adds.
“She’s staying with me,” I state matter-of-factly.
“You’ve finally moved on. Good for you,” Paul replies.
“Is that why you and Margot had words?” Matt asks. “Because you’re dating Ace?”
Layne recounts all the details of her run-ins with Margot for Matt, including what she heard Margot saying to Zoe before she even knew who Margot was. When she finishes, Matt nods and puts his notepad away. “Are you staying in our fair town for a while, in case I have more questions or updates?”
“I’m not going anywhere.” Layne’s reply is directed to Matt, but she’s looking at me.
“Hey, Chief,” one of the firemen calls out to Paul as he approaches. “We’ve finished clearing the house. No one else was inside. There’s no sign of any lingering heat in the walls or anywhere else. We’re heading back to the station now.”
“Thanks for the update. Tell your men they did a good job tonight. I’m proud of every one of them,” Paul replies.
After Paul and Matt walk us through the house to get Layne’s personal items, they both leave with promises to contact us with any updates. With the commotion died down and everyone else gone, I draw Layne into my arms and hold her tightly to me. “I’ve never been so scared in my life. Those few minutes when I thought I’d lost you… I don’t ever want to go through that again. Layne, I never believed I’d love someone the way I love you.”
“You saved me,” she replies, her voice thick with emotion. “I would’ve died if you hadn’t been here when you were. What made you come up here?”
“I ended up working late and was on my way home from work and saw the flames shooting up above the roof.”
“What time is it?” Layne’s head pops up from my shoulder, and her eyes are wide with concern.
“It’s a little past midnight. Why?”
“Zoe hasn’t come home yet. Something must be wrong. Something must have happened to her,” Layne cries.
“Relax, babe. Let’s try calling her cell phone before we rush off into the night. She may have a good reason for not coming home tonight.” Although, I don’t know what reason that could be since she’s due in a just a few weeks.
Her cell rolls to voice mail repeatedly over several calls. Even though it’s well past midnight and it’s entirely possible her phone is silenced, Layne and I strike out to find her. We drive every route she could possibly take from the grocery store to the house, but there’s no sign of her car anywhere.
“I’m calling the hospital,” Layne decides. “They may not tell me any specific info, but they can at least tell me if a young, very pregnant girl has been brought in for emergency services.”
After calling our local hospital and being assured that no pregnant girls or women of any age have been brought in tonight, Layne checks the hospitals in bordering towns, but Zoe is nowhere to be found. The anxiety level inside my truck is stifling and I can’t shake this feeling of being unable to fix everything.
When it rains, it fucking pours.
“Layne, it’s nearly three in the morning and we haven’t found her yet. She’s probably at a girlfriend’s house. Maybe they fell asleep watching a movie or something. Let’s get some sleep and we’ll start again tomorrow. I’ve already called Matt, but since she’s an adult, they officially won’t list her as a missing person for twenty-four hours. He said he’d do some checking around unofficially. He’ll call if he finds her anywhere.”
“There’s really nothing else we can do at this point. I probably won’t sleep at all tonight from worrying about her. Is this what it’s like to have kids? Do you constantly worry about River’s safety and live in fear of what she may have to face?”
“Every damn day.”
* * *