Chapter 31
Hunter stood at theedge of the street.Ash fell from the smoke in the sky.The acrid smell burned his nose.
He could see the flashing lights, the neighbors huddled in groups, the officers moving, but the firefighters stood back from the house.The hoses were on the ground, as if they were waiting for the fire to get bigger.
Two of the three front windows were blown out, flames escaping the house.
He grabbed the back of his neck, looking at Baddy."I don't understand."
Those were three words he refused to say when he lost his hearing.It was bad enough that he had to go through life trying to read lips and situations, asking what, and again, all the time.To admit that he was stupid was another weakness of his.
Baddy smacked his arm."Booms."He pulled apart his hands, widening his fingers."A lot of them."
Was that why the firefighters weren't getting closer to the burning house?
He looked behind him.A policeman had taken Annie and Leigh away.Hunter's chest tightened with worry.He had no idea if that was good or bad until he learned Jason's location.
"Why did they take Annie and Leigh?"he asked.
Baddy shook his head."She was here...Probably think...questions...fire."
"Did Leigh start the fire?"He grabbed a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket and lit one."Did you see any handcuffs on the girls?Did it look like they were under arrest?"
Baddy shrugged, patting the air to let him know he was talking too loudly.He inhaled deeply.Sonofabitch.
He felt fucking useless.
A police cruiser sat in the driveway.The same one he tailed all week.Jason should be in that house.
He had a bad feeling that he knew who was responsible for the fire.
He took a drag off the cigarette."I need to go to the police station."
He had failed to keep them safe.He had one fucking job.God damnit.
He clenched his fist.If he could've heard what the police said.If he could've heard what happened at the house.If he could fucking hear, he could've stopped it all before it spiraled out of control.
Instead, the silence he lived in was tearing the one woman he wanted away from him, and there wasn't anything he could do.
Now the cop had them.And Hunter couldn't go after them.
