Dane had torched my entire life.
Chapter forty
MAGNOLIA
Isat in the Wilders’ living room, nursing a hot toddy, Pickle purring like a lawn mower in my lap. I was in shock and kept toying between bursting into tears and wanting to get up, walk out of the house, and head home to get some sleep.?
But I had no home. Home was now a pile of soot on the corner block of McDonough Street, along with everything I had worked so hard for.?
It had been hours since the fire started, and still, no one had seen Dane. The fire chief, holding court in the Wilders’ dining room, told Eunice and Vance that it was a good sign his cell phone was still ringing and hadn’t shut off. Apparently, the main system can go down if it gets too hot.
Charlie sat on the couch next to me, and as the hours dragged on, Doyle, Jordan, Sutton, and Ryan had all joined us at the Wilders’. No one knew what to say, except for Sutton, who was laying on the threats thick.
“I will find him, and I will stab him,” Sutton proclaimed loudly, not caring whose house she was in. “I know his spoiled, frat boy ass had something to do with this.”?
Eunice shot her a sharp look from the dining room, and Sutton hurled one right back, urging her to say something. Sutton was in full attack mode, and we all knew not to mess with her.?
Doyle shrugged. “Well, that couple—you know, the ones getting it on in the alley—they said they saw someone leave the bar but couldn’t tell if it was a man or a woman, on account of being too busy, you know, boning in a dumpster.”
Ryan cackled, and I rolled my eyes. “I left out of the front of the bar, so if someone left out the back, it wasn’t me.”?
“Was it Kasey? They still haven’t found her, either, last I heard,” Charlie mumbled, keeping his eyes on the carpet below his feet.?
“So, let me get this straight,” Sutton paced the room. “Dane and Kasey have been a thing for how long? And we’re just finding this out now because…”?
“I knew,” Lee said, lingering in the doorway, hands shoved in his pockets. He’d kept his distance from me most of the morning, but I could tell he was batting down every urge to crash across the room and pull me into his embrace. “I didn’t have concrete proof, but I had an idea.”?
Sutton screeched and rushed over to Lee, pushing his chest. “You were going to let that asshole marry Magnolia?! Are youkiddingme, Lee?”?
“Not for nothing, but we were all going to let that asshole marry Magnolia,” my brother noted.
Lee met my eyes across the room and offered a sympathetic, sad smile. Whether or not he was right, it didn’t matter.?
Nothing mattered. Not right now.?
I was numb, deeply aware of the fact that almost everything I held close was now gone. Dane included. No matter what he was up to.
Sutton kept roaring and pacing, and Eunice, finally having enough, slammed her hands down on the dining room table.?
“Sutton James, that is enough,” she said, firm yet calm. “Why don’t y’all head off and get some rest, and we’ll call you if Magnolia or Charlie need anything? Magnolia, dear, please come in here. We have some questions.”?
I handed the cat off to Charlie, who was still as stiff as a statue, staring at the floor, and I doled out half-hearted hugs to my friends before ushering them out the door. I took a seat at the dining room table, and Lee joined, sulking down in the spot next to me.?
Eddie Donovan, the chief of the Savannah Fire Department, sat at the table with weary, tired eyes. He took a long sip of his coffee and let out a heavy sigh.
“Now, please don’t take offense, Ms. Pruitt,” he began, choosing his words carefully. “Where were you tonight, after the New Year’s celebration at O’Malley’s?”
Lee and I both turned our heads slightly toward each other, and I shifted uncomfortably in my chair. “I was with Leland, sir. After the bar emptied, I went to his place to… talk.”?
Vance threw his hands up in the air and jumped out of his seat. “Well Jesus, Magnolia, of course Dane probably engulfed himself in flames if you were off with Lee doing Lord knows what!”?
Eunice shook her head and placed a reassuring hand on her husband’s arm, trying to calm him down.
“I know that you’re not going to like what I’m about to say, Vance, but I’d left Dane in my office with Kasey after catching her giving him a blowjob in my bar.” Hysteria was starting to set in, and I actually chuckled.?
Eddie Donovan’s face flushed as he nearly spat out his coffee, and Eunice let out a gasp so loud that Lee almost jumped out of his seat.
“Now, I’m nobody’s fool, but I’d like to see the insurance policy y’all took out on the bar,” I started, willing my voice not to shake. “I know Dane neglected to file my Uncle Cole’s death certificate and forged his signature to sign the bar over to the Wilder Family Trust. Dane wasn’t too happy to get caught last night, so if I had to guess, this wasn’t any sort of accident. This might be smelling quite like arson.”?
