But talking about painting reminds me I probably have a bit of a project of my own to tackle.
“When can I get back into the building?”I ask her.
“Rick Althof is there now with the fire inspector, so give them another hour or two.”She reaches over to put a hand on my arm.“Brace yourself though.It looks pretty dismal in daylight.”
I nod, swallowing hard.The only way to the other side is to barge through this, so I’m going to have to toughen up.
“I’ll see if Lola and Emmet can meet me there and help me take inventory of what needs to be done.See if we can do clean up ourselves, or?—”
“That may be a little premature.Besides, you’re gonna need professional cleaners for that.That smoke gets into everything,” Savvy suggests.
“I think before anything else,” Hugo weighs in, “maybe let’s take a notepad over, make a list of all the things that need to happen, and then prioritize before you call in the troops.You’re going to have to call your insurance company, they’ll want to send someone out.”
“Yes,” Savvy jumps in.“And Nate already offered to walk through with you to give you an idea of repairs that will need to be done.But get the adjustor in there, you’ll want to leave things as they are.”
The heavy feeling returns when I realize it means my plans to get busy and gain some control over this glitch in my universe will not start today, or possibly even tomorrow.In fact, I have no idea how long it’ll take to get an insurance adjuster in, so I can get to work restoring my life.
“What about my apartment?”I ask her.
She smiles sympathetically.“It’s smoky up there.I ended up washing your things at home before I brought them here this morning.It’s gonna stick to walls, furniture, fabric, and it can be pretty toxic.You don’t want to breathe that in, which is another reason to bring in the cleaning pros, they wear protection.”
The tentative tally I’ve started in my head of the things that are going to cost money is growing.
Hugo seems to sense where my mind is traveling and reaches across the island to give my hand a squeeze.
“That’s why you have insurance, and should put in a claim before you do anything else.”
I nod, at least that’s something I can do.I’m not good at sitting idle—I tend to get in my head if my hands aren’t busy—and the prospect of waiting around, twiddling my thumbs, is a scary proposition.
Then suddenly a thought pops in my head, and flies from my mouth unchecked.
“Where am I gonna stay?”
Hugo
“Here.”
My response is drowned out by Ragnar who starts barking.The next moment the doorbell rings.
Rick Althof is standing on my doorstep.
“I was told I could find Bess here, and I wanted a word.The boss is here too?”
“They both are.Come in.”
I immediately notice the strain on Bess’s face as she watches Althof approach.
“Grab yourself a coffee,” I offer, opting to move in behind Bess.
I slide my hand under her hair and curl my fingers around the back of her neck, feeling her lean into my hold slightly.
“The fire inspector is done,” Rick starts.“He confirms arson, and we should have his report by tomorrow morning.”
“I’ll make sure you get a copy,” Savvy offers her friend.“You’re going to need that for the insurance company.”
Bess nods.“Okay.”
“We figure the suspect came in through the side door by the kitchen.We know it wasn’t random.This guy came prepared, because he had tools to cut out the small pane of glass so he could reach the deadlock.It doesn’t look like this was a random robbery or a straightforward arson.It’s obvious he was looking for something specific, because your office was a point of focus, as was your apartment upstairs.We noticed a charging cable for a laptop in your office.”
