Page 60 of Summer Ever After

“We can call her and ask,” he suggested.

“Keep going.” She motioned towards the television. He hit play again and they watched as Ian stumbled on the bottom step and his face flashed in the grainy light. Her knuckles went white around the back of the sofa.

“It is him,” she whispered. “It’s obviously him.”

Aaron put a hand over hers, firm and grounding. “Yeah. It’s Ian. No question.”

Without waiting, he pulled his phone from his pocket and dialed Brett. His friend answered on the second ring.

“Tell me you watched the news,” Aaron said without preamble.

“I’m watching it now,” Brett growled. “Son of a bitch.”

“Do you think you can come over here,” Aaron asked, glancing over at Beth. “We need more eyes on this and power when we call the police over to file an official report.”

“On our way.” Brett hung up before Aaron could ask who the “our” was.

Half an hour later, the house was full. Brett, Zoey, Elle, Hannah, Scarlett, Aubrey, Dylan, Liam, Levi, and Owen all crammed onto the living room and kitchen. The footage played again on the TV as the group rewatched the scenes in grim silence.

When it ended, Zoey was the first to speak. “That’s him. No way it’s not.”

“Agreed,” Brett said, arms crossed, his expression carved in stone. “You could pick Ian’s lumbering ass out of a lineup from a mile away.”

Owen leaned forward, elbows on his knees. “You’re telling me the department hasn’t picked him up yet? This is textbook arson. Hell, it’s textbook attempted murder and it’s all on video.”

Aaron’s teeth ground together. “They’ve had his name from day one. Beth named him the night of the fire. And they still haven’t touched him.”

Levi let out a sharp bitter laugh. “It’s because he’s one of their own.”

Beth flinched, and Aaron immediately shifted closer, brushing his hand down her arm in reassurance.

“Not anymore,” Aaron said, his voice like steel. “He’s burned too many bridges. They can’t cover for him on this forever.”

Brett pulled out his phone. “Let’s make it official. I’m calling the police station and having a the chief come take all our statements. Hell, we’ll all sign affidavits saying it’s him and file them with the courts.”

“Agreed,” several people said quickly.

When the police finally arrived, the tension in the room was thick enough to choke on. Aaron and the others laid Beth’s history, the restraining orders, which she had reprinted from her emails, her feeling that Ian was present the night of the fire, and now this footage.

The chief and two of his officers exchanged a glance that Aaron didn’t like one damn bit.

“We’ll look into it,” the chief said carefully.

Beth sat up straighter. “Look into it? You saw the same footage we did. That was Ian. Both of you know he’s my ex-husband. He’s broken into my last two apartments and when I filed reports against him, you did nothing. I have restraining orders against him and when he breaks them, you look the other way.”

“Now, ma’am, we don’t like interfer⁠—”

“Bullshit,” she broke in, shocking everyone in the room. “It’s literally your job to protect women like me from men like him. Either you and your department are complicit in helping him terrorize me, or your scared of him yourself.”

That seemed to hit the mark. All three men straightened up a little.

“What are you going to do if he gets his hands on me? What if I’d died that night? What if he kills me?” She motioned to her friends surrounding her. “I can guarantee everyone in this room will shout about your ‘not wanting to interfere’ to all the media outlets and, most importantly, to the courts. She took a step forward and lowered her voice. So the question you should be asking yourself is whether you can you afford not to do anything.”

The chief shifted, his voice dipping into that cautious, patronizing tone Aaron knew too well. “We have to be careful here, Ms. Thorne.”

“God damn it, Jerry,” Brett broke in, “you know as well as everyone in the station that Beth and Ian have been divorced for almost five years.”

The chief nodded. “Miss Ellison, given your history with Officer Thorne…”

“He should be ex-officer Thorne at this point,” Aaron cut in, his voice sharp as glass, “if you want to save yourself and the county from a lawsuit.”

The man’s eyes moved to him and seemed to still. “I’m just saying that emotions can cloud judgment. We need to be absolutely certain before moving forward with any action.”

Aaron’s vision went red for a second, and he had to curl his fists at his sides to keep from stepping closer. “You’ve got a video of him going in with a mask. You’ve got him coming out minutes before the fire. You’ve got a documented history of harassment. What the hell more do you need?”

The younger of the two officers had the decency to look uncomfortable. The chief just said, “We’ll review the evidence. That’s all I can tell you for now.”

And with that, they left, like they hadn’t just brushed off the most damning evidence Aaron had ever seen in his life.

The room was silent after the door clicked shut.

Beth’s voice was the one that broke it, soft but shaking. “They’re not going to do anything, are they?”

Aaron turned to her, anger and resolve burning hot in his chest. “Oh, they will. One way or another, they will.”

“I’m calling my lawyer,” Owen said. He took his phone and stepped out the back door.

“What now?” Beth turned to him, fear clear in her eyes. “What happens now?”