I exhaled the regret. My insides clawed with the echoes of children’s voices, still caught in the walls.
“This is for you,” I whispered as I stepped outside.
I turned and looked up at the flickering light at the top of the stairs.
“This is for all of you.”
I let the image return—the one I’d seen during Olivia’s funeral.
“For us,” I whispered to her.
And smiled as the vision dissolved in the growing flame.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
“That went up quickerthan I expected,” I announced, blowing out a breath.
After exiting Bellamy House, I’d been ferried across the road to the neighbouring paddock where June and Dax were waiting. We’d climbed into the tray of Dax’s ute, just like the time he and I had done surveillance in the same location. Except this time, instead of the house looming over us, it was crumbling in front of our eyes.
Now all that remained were the back and side walls of the lower level, and the blackened skeleton of the framing.
It looked like the dark bones of something long dead—finally exposed. The house that had masqueraded as a place of care was revealed for what it truly was. The next step was to bulldoze and dispose of the remains, though that wouldn’t happen for weeks. There was more training scheduled first, more teams coming in to investigate and determine the cause of the flames.
“Hell of a show,” Dax replied, his legs dangling off the edge of the ute and his arms folded against the cold. “Youwere a hell of a show.” He smiled, looking back at me where I sat leaned against the cab window wrapped in his two wool blankets.
I took my eyes off the remains of the house and met his gaze. “You think?”
He nodded. “Did I tell you how much I enjoyed your outfit?”
I chuckled, looking down at the red fabric doing precisely nothing to shield me from the early morning chill. “Oh yeah? I think some of the cadets might’ve disagreed. And Mayor Akari. And Denis.”
“What do they know? And I definitely wasn’t the only one enjoying it.”
I waggled my eyebrows and shuffled over to sit beside him, our legs swinging together off the tray. “Well, they’ve got good taste—what can I say?” I laughed. “The mayor does too.”
“You think so?” he chuckled.
“I do.”
Noticing the cool box for the first time, I opened it to find it full of beer. I wanted a magic bag like that—except one that produced money and lip balm on command.
I twisted the caps off two bottles and handed one to Dax.
He raised his in a toast. “To new beginnings.”
I smiled, clinking mine against his. “And trying something new.”
Our eyes locked for a few moments before I couldn’t handle the sensations building in my body.
A quick peek at Dax’s digital watch told me it was after 4 a.m. We were long since the last people here. June had left as soon as she was sure the house wouldn’t survive the blaze. Most others had left at eleven when the main event had wound down.
I couldn’t go. Not yet. I wanted to see the sun rise on its bones.
“Hey isn’t your shift finished?” I asked, bumping his shoulder.
Dax glanced at his wrist. “Four hours ago.”
“What? You stayed all this time?”
