ChapterFour
Colby cut the engine and let his hand rest on the keys for a moment, eyes on the ruins in front of them.
In the dark, the fire had been a monster—all rage and heat and hungry light.In daylight, it was worse.There was nowhere for it to hide.No smoke to soften the edges.No shadows to blur the details into something abstract and manageable.Just blackened beams reaching toward the sky like broken fingers, twisted metal that had once been fixtures and railings, and the stark line where a life had stopped.
Beside him, Sabrina sat very still, both hands wrapped around the strap of the borrowed bag Bree had dropped off that morning.Her knuckles showed white against the canvas.
"You up for this?"he asked.
She didn't look at him.Her gaze stayed fixed on what used to be the Norman House Inn."I need to see it."
That was not what he had asked, but it was answer enough.
"All right," he said."We'll take it slow."
He got out and walked around to her side.She had already opened the door by the time he reached it, her hand still gripping the frame like she needed the anchor.Her feet hit the gravel, landing a little too carefully, like she wasn't entirely convinced the ground would hold her weight.
He stayed close, just off her shoulder, as they moved toward the yellow tape that still cordoned off the property.He kept his hands to himself.She didn't need guiding.She didn't need someone steering her toward what she already knew was there.
She needed a witness.
In daylight, the damage sorted itself into layers he could read like a language.He picked out the black ribs of old beams, some still holding their shape despite the destruction.The collapsed weight of the second floor lay in a heap where the lobby had been.Scattered bones of furniture jutted from the ash—the corner of a dresser, the curved arm of what might have been a chair, shapes too burned to identify.The stone steps at the front still stood, blackened and bare, leading up to nothing but sky.
Sabrina stopped at the edge of the tape.
Her shoulders went rigid beneath the borrowed jacket Bree had included in the bag.
He watched her profile.The shadows under her eyes had deepened since last night, purple bruises against skin that had gone pale.The set of her jaw looked like it cost her something to maintain.She was holding her breath without meaning to—he could see it in the stillness of her chest.
"You good here?"he asked quietly.
"No," she said."But I'm here."
He could work with that.
A vehicle rolled in behind them, tires crunching on the gravel.He glanced back and saw Diaz climb out of a Copper Moon PD SUV, a manila file folder tucked under her arm.Her uniform looked crisp despite the early hour, but her face carried the same tired lines everyone wore after a night like the last one.Her gaze skimmed the scene, taking in the same details he had cataloged.
She joined them at the tape."Morning."
Colby nodded."Sergeant."
Sabrina answered, softer."Hi."
Diaz's attention went first to Sabrina, assessing."You look like you got some sleep."
"She did," Colby said.
Sabrina shot him a sideways look that carried a hint of her old spark."Some."
Diaz didn't debate it.She flipped open the folder, paper edges catching the morning light."Fire investigation team finished their initial report.Lab fast-tracked the samples we pulled."
Colby watched Sabrina's fingers tighten on the bag strap, her knuckles going even whiter.
Diaz glanced down at the page as she spoke, her voice taking on the flat, professional tone of someone delivering facts."The accelerant dogs alerted in several areas corresponding to where the lobby was located.Lab confirmed petroleum-based accelerant—gasoline, most likely—on the samples we collected.Burn pattern matches that assessment.Multiple points of origin, spread in a way that suggests deliberate placement."
Sabrina's eyes stayed locked on the ruins.
Diaz lifted her head, meeting Sabrina's gaze directly."It was arson.That's official now."
