“They did.” I took another large gulp of vodka. I leaned my head on my hand, elbow resting on the bar. “How’s the investigation going into the fire? We both know it was deliberately lit,” I said with barely contained annoyance. He was sitting in a bar drinking when people around him were getting murdered.
He placed his glass on the counter and met my face with a steady, solemn look. “Is there anyone who might want you dead?”
Shock dropped my jaw. “You can’t be serious?!”
He was, very.
“A young girl moves to a town in the middle of nowhere, a place where the only people who live here are born here, and then a forest where she lives that has stood for hundreds of years burns down a few weeks after. People are killed. You have to ask yourself why? Are you running from anything?”
I barked a brittle laugh. “Nothing that wants to kill me.”
“You certain?”
“Have you considered the possibility that the developer, who seems awfully keen to build in a particular spot, has run off? And a man who told him ‘over his dead body,’ is now dead. Could it be the developer might have something to do with it? I know it’s a stretch.”
Behind us the men at the table burst into hooting laughter. One of them slammed his palm down so hard on the table my shoulders twitched.
Matt rubbed at his brow. “Just covering all bases, Amy.”
“Yeah, well that’s one base no home runs will be scored from.”
He nodded slowly, scanning the bar, his eyes falling on Dahlia as he took a sip of beer.
“Surely proving the fires were deliberately lit is the first thing you should turn your attention to. Those poor kids, they . . .” I shook my head and trailed off.
He sighed like the weight of it pressed down on him, sagging his shoulders. He fidgeted with the glass, watching a trickle of condensation slide down the side.
“It’s hard to prove. I’ve been working on it, but investigators concluded it was caused by a lightning strike. You can’t argue with the experts.”
I regretted my harsh tone. It was a tough job, and he was friends with the Millers. He would have known the kids, and Cindy and Luke. I looked closely at him. Large bags sat under his eyes—he obviously hadn’t had much sleep lately.
“If it wasn’t an accident, we will find out, one way or another. That’s a promise,” he said bitterly.
“I’m sorry, Matt. I know you’re doing all you can. Let me know if I can help in any way.” I reached out to touch his arm in a show of compassion.
Suddenly, inexplicably, I was transported to a timber-clad bedroom.
There was a woman in front of me with sleek black hair. She was lovely, with tanned skin, warm brown eyes, and she was crying. She had a paisley print overnight bag on the edge of a dusty-pink quilted bed, and she was pulling clothes from drawers and putting them neatly inside.
“I can’t take it anymore, Matt. You’re never home.” Her eyes brimmed with tears. “And when you are home, you’re not with me.”
Matt hovered in the doorway. “I’m sorry, Maya, please don’t go.” Matt’s voice quaked, and his eyes glistened. “We can fix this, please just stay.”
“You can help by staying out of fires,” he said. I snapped back to the bar as he took a large sip of his beer.
“You should go home to Maya, Matt. She needs you,” I blurted out.
He stared at me like I’d just sprouted a second head. I stared back equally shocked at what had flown from my mouth. He tilted his head and narrowed his eyes. “How do you know my wife’s name?”
“Um . . . I’m not sure. Someone must have told me,” I stammered. Grace, it was Grace—she’d told me. Maya had been in the bar on my second shift looking for Matt. The rest was just my crazy-ass head.
He polished off his beer. We sat in awkward silence. I rubbed my forehead and avoided eye contact.
“Another beer?” Grace asked.
“No thanks, Grace. I’d better get back to it.” He stood, collecting his hat, then gave me a tentative look. “Stay safe, Amy.”
I didn’t respond. I was still bewildered as I played thedelusionlike a movie in my head. I couldn’t even blame the drugs this time.Am I going insane?My chest squeezed tight, and I drained the last of my glass.
