I stare at the charred pallets and try to make it make sense.
If this was vandalism, it would be messy.
If this was random, it’d be bigger.
If this was a warning…
Behind me, I hear Aurora’s breath catch as the smoke thins.
Leo’s the first one over once the last of the steam clears, helmet tucked under his arm, expression already shifting fromemergency mode to assessment. He walks the perimeter slowly, crouching near the base of the wall, gloved fingers hovering over the blackened wood without touching it.
“This wasn’t accidental,” he says, not looking up.
Karl exhales under his breath. “Yeah. No kidding.”
Jesse steps closer to the pallets, using the end of a tool to shift one of the charred pieces aside. The burn pattern is tight, concentrated low and center. Whoever lit it knew exactly how fire behaves and exactly how to keep it controlled.
“Accelerant’s light,” Jesse adds. “Whoever did it didn’t want the whole building. They wanted a show.”
“A show for who?” Finn mutters.
Leo finally straightens and looks at us. “For you.”
Aurora moves closer despite Finn’s protective hand on her back. She stares at the brick beneath the office window, her eyes tracking upward to the glass, then back down again. She’s pale, but she isn’t panicking.
Ryder snarls angrily. “How long do you think it burned before we caught it?”
Jesse glances at the wall, then at the soaked debris. “Hard to say exactly. Not long. Ten minutes, maybe less. It was building, but it hadn’t found real traction yet.”
“If we’d slept through it?” Finn asks.
Karl answers that one. “It would’ve reached the frame. Might’ve cracked the window. Once it got oxygen inside, it would’ve been a different night.”
My mind runs that scenario whether I want it to or not. Flames breaching the office. Paper catching. Sprinklers failing to keep up. Smoke rolling through the bar before we woke up.
Leo points to the base again. “Whoever did this stacked those pallets tighter than they were before. See that?” He gestures to the angle. “They leaned them in toward the wall. That helps heat reflect back instead of outward.”
“That’s intentional,” Ryder says quietly.
“Very,” Jesse confirms.
Karl steps toward the alley mouth and scans the street beyond. “No cameras back here?”
Ryder shakes his head once. “Not on the rear lot yet.”
“Inside and front are covered,” Zane adds. “This side’s next.”
“Time to change that,” Karl replies.
Finn drags a hand down his face.
“This is connected,” he says, not even phrasing it as a question. “First council pressure and licensing threats. And now this.”
Leo doesn’t speak, but the look he gives Ryder says he’s already drawn the same line.
“You thinking club?” Jesse asks carefully.
“Either them,” Ryder says evenly, “or someone who wants it to look like them.”
