I lunged for the door handle, pawing at the lock to get it open. Then I was outside, sprinting through the cold winter air. The scent of pine was sweet in my nose, but underneath, I imagined there was something darker. A hint of old charred wood.
I ran.
Footsteps pounded behind me. A few moments later, Zach’s stocky body crashed into me, sending me sprawling in a patch of dead grass. The impact knocked the wind from my lungs.
Zach pinned me down. He rolled me over, and his face was a mask of cruel rage.
“Why do you hate me so much?” I said, struggling to speak. “I never did anything to you.”
“Because it’s your fault she’s dead! I knew Dad was in the house, but Jeanine wasn’t supposed to be there. She wasn’t supposed to get hurt!”
Shock turned me numb, all the way down to my bones.
Zach looked shocked too. As if he hadn’t expected to confess any of that.
“You started the fire,” I said as the truth dawned on me.
He kneeled over me, holding my wrists. A tear rolled down Zach’s cheek and splashed onto my skin.
“I was so pissed off at my father. Wanted to punish him for cheating on my mom. So I went in the garage. Used my cigarette to ignite some greasy rags I’d shoved under his car. I didn’t know the fire would spread so fast.”
He sat back, letting go of me. His dark eyes were filled with horror, and I couldn’t bring myself to look away.
“The fire spread to the house. Later, they said Dad was drunk. He must’ve been drinking after Frank Landry left. He didn’t realize what was happening. And I didn’t know…I swear, I didn’t know…”
I started edging away from him. Slowly at first. I didn’t want to startle Zach, but it seemed like his mind was a world away.
“Jeanine had come back early from her friend’s house. Shewas asleep inside. If I knew, I would’ve gotten her out. I would never have started the fire. I swear. I loved my big sister.”
I got up, ready to run again, and Zach caught the movement.
“You should’ve died, Piper, not her. You never should’ve been born.”
He launched himself at me. Caught hold of my sweater. We spun as I tried to shove him away from me.
Only then did I realize we were heading toward the steep slope of the drop-off. Where the mountainside fell away.
FIFTY-NINE
Grayden
Somehow I pulledup the GPS coordinates of the Kirby property while not slowing my speed. Milo had texted me a GPS pin for the old Kirby house, the one that had burned down.
I remembered Piper telling me about the tragedy in the Kirby family. How Dillon’s—and apparently, Zach’s—father and sister had died in the fire, and the arsonist was never found.
But why the hell would Zach take Piper there?
Why would he attack Danny at all?
My truck turned onto a dirt path. My old shocks were no match for these potholes, but I kept going as fast as I could manage. When I’d climbed the curving road, I pulled into a clearing with a half-burned hulk of a house.
There was a car parked in front of it, both the driver’s side and passenger doors open wide.
My brakes protested as I pulled behind the car, threw my gear into park, and leaped out.
Then I heard a scream.
My boots pounded the dried grass. “Piper!” I shouted, racing toward her.
