“Did you know they contacted the secretary of the interior and reported your uncle for resettling the village of Klawock?” He sneered.
She blinked. “What?” The village of Klawock? What was he talking about?
“And now the secretary of the interior is coming to Alaska to look into the matter himself.”
“I . . . ah . . . That’s why you hired the arsonists?”
Her father took a step closer. “It’s one reason. The other had to do with what I found when I searched your room.”
“You... you searched my room?” The breath whooshed from her lungs.
“I got a little curious when I learned you’d been donating hundreds of dollars a month to charities without my knowing.” He sent her a sharp smile. “After all, I keep close tabs on your mail, and I certainly would have noticed letters sent to charities on a monthly basis. Imagine my surprise when I pulled up a loose floorboard and found a stack of notes from the charities. Those letters all thanked you personally, but do you know who they were addressed to?”
She closed her eyes.
Her father slammed his fist against a small table beside one of the chairs. “Look at me when I’m talking to you!” He waited until she opened her eyes before continuing. “I asked if you knew who they were addressed to. And don’t try lying.”
“Yuri.” She nearly choked on his name.
“That’s right. Yuri Amos, brother of Alexei and Sacha, both of whom have caused nothing but problems since we moved to Sitka. So, yes, I burned their shipyard. That family deserves to be ruined, and I won’t stop until they are.” Her father took a step toward her, the anger on his face replaced with a cold, controlled rage. “You’re going to pay for your part in this, Rosalind. You’re going to pay very dearly.”
He pulled back his fist and slammed it into her ribs before she had a chance to curl in on herself.
28
Yuri couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt so tired. It was almost as though his entire body was ready to collapse into sleep, and yet his mind wouldn’t let it. His hair was still damp from the bath he’d taken, but the scent of smoke still clung to his hair and skin, and judging by the way the kitchen smelled, the whole family would probably need to take baths for a week straight before the stench of smoke dissipated completely.
“At least it was only the lumber.” Sacha ran a hand through his damp hair from where he sat directly across the table from Yuri.
“What are we going to do?” Kate rubbed a hand over the bulge in her belly, as though the gesture might somehow protect the child growing inside her.
Yuri glanced around the table, where his siblings and their spouses had gathered. They should probably all be in bed. The children certainly were. But here they were, seated around the same table they’d gathered at after they’d buried their mother, then their father and his second wife, and then their brother, Ivan.
It only seemed fitting to sit here now.
“I’m sure Jonas will launch a full investigation,” Alexei said from where he slouched at the head of the table. “This wasn’t an accidental fire, and we captured one of the arsonists. He’ll talk eventually.”
“The other two probably left the island while our building was still burning.” Sacha grabbed one of the teacakes from the platter at the center of the table, then tossed it into his mouth, swallowing so quickly he couldn’t possibly have tasted it.
“How badly did this fire set us back?” Mikhail picked up a cup of tea, only to set it back down on the table without taking a sip.
“Several thousand dollars in lumber.” Alexei blew out a breath, his shoulders sagging. “Like you said, it’s a setback, but it didn’t ruin us.”
“It could have,” Nathan gritted, his jaw hard. “Had you not been there when the arsonists came.”
“And had it not started raining.” Sacha tossed another teacake into his mouth, once again swallowing after barely chewing. “I know the entire town was trying to prevent the flames from spreading anywhere else, even in our shipyard, but without that rain, I’m not sure we would have been successful.”
“The Caldwells are mad that Secretary Gray is coming for a visit,” Alexei said flatly. “They blame me. The governor said something to me about it just yesterday. I bet that’s why they did it.”
“I was wondering if they did it because they found out we have their seal ledgers and they wanted to destroy the evidence.” Mikhail picked up a teacake but didn’t eat it.
Yuri hadn’t thought of that, but a chill traveled through him at the idea. “I don’t think they know. I saw Rosalind in town today with Millicent and Jane and Freya. If her father knew about the ledgers, I can’t imagine he’d let her out of the house.”
And Rosalind’s father definitely would have injured her, but he wasn’t going to think about that. Two more days. That’s all the longer they had to keep the ledgers secret before he could whisk Rosalind away.
Pounding sounded on the front door. “Is anyone there? I need help.”
Alexei met Mikhail’s gaze; then they both stood from the table and rushed to the door.
