Occasionally, I worked with my father and brother on my days off, but not lately.
He removed his hard hat and placed it on a pile of laminated wooden floorboards that sat against the far wall. Various tools were strewn about the corners of the room, and wires ran from the kitchen to the living room and back. I had to be mindful not to trip over any of them. I spotted my father’s lunch cooler on the floor next to his open tool chest.
The smell from the sawdust that covered much of the floor filled the air. The bare white walls closed the room off from the kitchen. Save for the incomplete flooring and the thin layer of sawdust over everything, the house looked almost ready for sale.
“I had a day job too.” My father said in response to my previous comment. “Didn’t stop me from leaving and setting all this up.” He held his arms out wide. “It was for you boys. To leave a legacy with you two.”
I said, “I know, dad. Maybe one day.”
My father started Alvarez & Sons a few years after retiring from the police force. When Cameron retired from the military, he began working with our father in the home renovation and construction company. The business had grown over the years.
“I need to ask you something,” I started, changing the subject.
He opened a can of Coke he’d pulled from a cooler that sat on the floor. “What’s that?”
“I need your help on a case I’m working on.”
He frowned, wrinkling his brow. “An arson?”
I nodded and approached, taking a seat on the cooler while he sat on the pile of wooden boards.
“I think there’s a serial arsonist in Williamsport.”
“You think?”
“I know,” I replied. “What happened to Corey wasn’t an accident.”
My father ran his hand through his graying hair and whistled. “What’s your proof?”
That was the reaction I’d expected from him. I could see the etched lines in his forehead deepen as he stared at me expectantly. The investigative wheels in his mind churned.
“Over a year ago, we got a call for a house fire—a woman at home with her two children. They made it out alive but suffered some smoke inhalation. The investigators determined the fire started from some embers that flew out of the fireplace. The husband insisted that his wife never left the fireplace unattended while it was lit and never left the guard down.”
“You believe him?”
I dipped my head. “He said that they’d had a fire in one of their first homes. Since then, the wife was vigilant about that sort of thing.”
“But…”
“The brass determined the fire was accidental.”
My father listened, not saying anything.
“There are other fires, but they got dismissed as arsons for one reason or another. Then there’s what happened to Corey.”
“Hm, tell me all the details.”
He knew that Corey had lost his leg, but I’d never told my father specifics.
I ran down the events that happened that night through gritted teeth. I hated even thinking about that night. The heaviness of what could’ve happened, whatdidhappen, always weighed on my shoulders like a boulder. No matter how many times I replayed that night in my mind, I couldn’t get it right. I couldn’t stop Corey from losing his fucking leg.
“Did you get pictures?”
I retrieved my phone from my pocket and opened the photo gallery. “These were sent to me by one of the firefighters on scene on the night of the fire. I fucked up by not waiting around and calling in the investigators. I rushed out of there to get to the hospital.”
I tightened my hand around the phone. Guilt coursed through me. Maybe if I’d waited longer and done my damn job right, I could’ve caught this son of a bitch sooner. I wouldn’t be having to go back and forth with Murray about whether this was even arson.
“You have that look on your face.”
