17
Taking Precautions
Evelyn Matthews,the world’s greatest mom, is not a fan of cell phones. I’ll text her something basic, like:Hey mom. How are you?Maybe throw in an emoji for good measure. Then a week later she’ll reply,Hi!
Needless to say, there’s a good chance she didn’t see my text.
Me and Kailee are standing on her stoop. Kailee’s in her own world, fidgeting, thinking. Oh, and Stella’s here too. Though I’m starting to really wish I’d left her behind. She started barking once already, and I’m sure the neighbors justlovedthat.
It’s been a good minute since I rang the doorbell. Starting to get impatient. I’m worried Stella’s gonna start barking again. I’m all tight inside. On edge. My heart is beating fast and I keep looking around for some reason.
He’s still out there. The psychopath who wants me dead because I couldn’t save the people who made his life worth living. You know, in a twisted way, I get it. I mean, I don’t get the whole wanting-to-burn-us-alive thing, but I understand why losing certain people would just ruin you.
I hear a cricket chirp. Other than that, it’s deathly quiet. Everything switched off. The world on pause. The moon’s big tonight. It casts everything in an eerie, silvery hue.
Come on, mom. Answer the damn door.
Kailee seems happy enough. She twirls on her foot. She’s moving her lips—muttering something at an inaudible level in a kind of sing-song. She’s totally in her own world. One of her teachers mentioned getting her tested for ADHD, but I think she’s fine. And even if she is in her own world half the time, that doesn’t strike me as such a bad thing. It’s probably a hell of a lot better than the world the rest of us have to live in. A world filled with angry arsonists and heartless exes. Stay in there as long as you can, baby—that’s my advice for my daughter.
“Daddy?”
“Yeah, baby?”
“Does gramma know we’re coming?”
“Sure she does. I texted her.”
I hear footsteps. Here she comes. Finally.
My mom’s in her frayed blue bathrobe, her eyes bleary from sleep. It’s obvious we woke her up and that she didn’t see my text.
But she’s not upset—just surprised. She ushers us inside, giving Kailee a squeeze and a kiss on the top of her head. She hugs me, then quickly snaps into hospitality mode, putting on the kettle, offering Kailee a glass of juice. Kailee quickly makes herself at home, curling up on an armchair with her juice and one of the many children’s books in my mom’s collection. Soon she’s asleep.
My mom looks at me over the top of her mug of tea. “So are you going to let me know what’s going on?” she asks, and blows on the surface of her Earl Grey while waiting for my answer.
“I’m not gonna be able to stay at my place for a few days. If it’s okay with you, we’d like to sleep here.”
“Of course it’s okay, but you still haven’t told me what’s going on.”
I swallow. “Oh, nothing. It’s just that I, uh . . . just repainted Kailee’s bedroom, and mine too, and you know with the fumes, and kids being particularly sensitive to that kind of thi—”
“Harper, you were a terrible liar as a boy and you’re a terrible liar as a man. Cut the crap and tell me what’s going on.”
Her tone leaves me with no choice. I speak quietly, mindful of Kailee. “There’s this guy we saved from a fire once. We pulled him out, but we couldn’t get to his wife and daughter in time. They died. Now he’s in a lot of pain, and he blames us.”
“That’s crazy.”
“You’re telling me. But that’s how he sees it. And now he wants to get even. He’s been setting fires around the city to lure us into dangerous situations.”
“He’s donewhat?”
“He wants to hurt us, mom.”
I see in my mom’s eyes that she’s imagining the worst-case scenario.She shakes her head. “My goodness. What kind of world are we living in?”
“I know. But don’t worry, mom, they’re gonna catch this guy. There’s a manhunt already in effect. Now that we know his identity it should’t take long. In the meantime, we’re taking necessary precautions to protect ourselves.”
“Have you thought about staying elsewhere for the time being?”
