In the silence that follows, I stare blankly at the phone as I wrestle with my emotions.
I’m worried. Angry.
No, not angry. Furious.
How could someone do that to Vienna?
What will she say when she finds out?
And shit. What if she wasn’t the target at all? What if it was someone who came for me?
As the years have gone by, it’s gotten easier to push aside the memories of all I’ve done. The enemies I’ve confronted in battle. The families of men I didn’t save.What if the arsonist thoughtIwas the one in the cabin? It would make sense, given that I’ve lived here for three years, and Vienna just got here.
Fuck.
What if it’s my fault she was nearly killed?
On the heels of that, a new and frightening thought occurs to me.
What if the would-be killer is out there right now; angry that their first attempt didn’t work and waiting to try a second time?
My gaze skips around the kitchen, as if the asshole might appear from nowhere. But of course, he doesn’t. He’d be outside, waiting and watching?—
Shit, if only I’d installed a full security system when I moved here. I put cameras and alarms on the doors, of course, but more than that didn’t seem necessary. Not when it was just me out here, and I was more than capable of defending myself.
“Caleb?” Vienna’s soft voice draws my attention. Hovering in the kitchen doorway, she flashes me a quick look of apology. “I’m sorry. But I didn’t hear you talking anymore…”
My stomach lurches again.
Shit. How do I tell her?
“It’s bad, isn’t it?” she asks. Her teeth dig into her lower lip. “It was my fault, wasn’t it?”
That’s an easy answer, at least. “No. It wasn’t.”
“No?” Her shoulders sag. “So it was an accident? I was reading about chimney fires, and sometimes if a bird builds a nest?—”
“It wasn’t that.”
“Then what?”
“It was…” Fuck. I don’t want to tell her. “It wasn’t an accident. It was intentional.”
Vienna takes a startled step back. “What?”
I spit out the rest of it. “The fire chief. He said the fire was set on purpose. And the deadbolt was glued shut.”
She flinches as if she’s been struck. “Someone tried tokillme?”
“Or me. They might have thought… Shit. I’m so fucking sorry, Vienna. I thought the cabin was safe. I thought the property?—”
My gaze moves past Vienna to the living room window behind her. When I moved in, my parents had blackout curtains up, but I took them down because they made me feel too claustrophobic and put light-filtering ones up instead. Another thing I never gave a second thought to before. But now…
With the lights on, our silhouettes would be clear to anyone watching outside.
One target small, one large.
And Vienna is the one closer to the window.
