Daryl's chair pushed back, the feet scraping loudly across the tiles.
Yun stepped in front of her, but Seaton moved around him, ready to stand tall.
Her step faltered when Daryl reached under his shirt and pulled out a handgun.
CADDO
Same stepped down off of Seaton's porch. Well, what was left of her porch.
The house was going to be condemned.
There was too much damage to the structure to repair it. It was going to need to be rebuilt.
He really didn't want to be the one to tell her that, but he wanted to be there when she was told. He wanted to let her know that he was there to help her with anything.
With everything.
They were already spending every evening together when he wasn't on shift, so they were already living together without calling it that. He was happy to continue 'not' talking about it but having her stay with him as long as she wanted to. He didn't care about the label, he just cared about her.
He walked up to Chief Blaise who was standing at the curb watching the whole situation.
"Chief."
The Chief nodded at him and slowly turned his head. "I'll come with you to talk to Seaton."
Sam let out a pent-up breath. "Thanks, Chief. I didn't want to be the one to tell her."
The Chief nodded again. "I get it. This isn't going to be easy for anyone. I'm just worried that this isn't as simple as just a fire."
Sam turned his head and the Chief pointed at something on the ground. "That part of a cushion?"
Narrowing his eyes at the spot on the ground in front of what had been a wall with windows. The brightly colored item hadn't caught his eye on its own.
Now that he was looking at it, he knew what he was looking at.
The cushions that Seaton had put on her chairs were that color and print.
He looked up and saw that the front wall of the house was charred darker than the area on the other side of the front door.
Now that he was staring at it without a wall of flame taking his attention, he could see what the chief was pointing out.
"The fire was set."
Chief Blaise sighed. "Someone set fire to the cushions."
Sam felt his gut twist in his belly. "My phone is in the truck. I should go and check my Ring camera."
He turned to head for the truck and almost collided with an officer.
"Caddo!"
"Hayden."
She put her hand on his shoulder and looked at the Chief. "Dispatch took a call. Seaton's ex showed up at the diner."
Sam saw the chief turning to look at him.
"Go, Caddo. We'll come after we finish here."
