The two engines were clearly struggling to extinguish the fire, as it only seemed to grow in size the more they spewed water on it. Not uncommon in a fire started with accelerant.
We were at Darren’s side instantly, noticing his expression was far more somber than it should’ve been.
“What’s wrong? Why are you here and not with Sophia?” Alden asked him, guessing what I had; that something very wrong was up if he’d gone on a job when it was his day with her.
Darren sighed and wiped sweat from his brow. “I had to come. This is Sophia’s friend Alice’s home. She heard the address over the intercom while we were at the station.”
My jaw dropped. “Was she in there?” My eyes glanced over the immense fire that was only just now giving way with the third engine present. If she was in there, there was no way she’d be alive.
Thankfully, Darren shook his head. “A neighbor of hers said she and the kids left to visit her parents for the weekend. She was supposed to feed their dog while they were gone. Dog didn’t make it.”
“Fuck,” I replied. Then a thought occurred to me. “Do you think it’s the same arsonist who set Sophia’s house on fire?”
Without answering, Darren held up a piece of paper we hadn’t noticed him holding. “I know it was him.”
I grabbed the paper and Alden huddled in next to me. The words sprawled in bold sharpie were unmistakable—and without a doubt ominous.
I burn for you, Sophia.
“What the hell? Where’d you find this?” Alden demanded in a disgusted tone, sickened by the note as much as I was.
“Nailed to that tree,” Darren answered, pointing to a small oak tree in the front yard of the blazing home that was just out of reach from the flames.
“So this was some sick, twisted tribute for Sophia? Who the fuck does something like this?” I growled, my anger at the son of bitch arsonist who did this rising. He was escalating.
“A psychopath with an obsession is my guess,” Darren surmised perfectly. “I don’t know if we should show her this though.”
Alden scoffed. “I think she’s smart enough to put it together. It’s not a coincidence that her best friend’s house goes up in flames barely two months after her own. She knows she has a stalker. She’ll be pissed if we keep it from her.”
I hated to put more on her plate, but Alden was probably right. “We need to tell her. She’s strong. She can handle it.”
Darren blew a deep breath out and nodded. “Okay, we’ll tell her. I don’t like it though. She’s already struggling with so many things emotionally. You didn’t see her face when she heard Alice’s address get called out at the station. Fear unlike anything I’d ever seen was in her eyes.”
I put a hand on my friend’s shoulder. “We’ll help her through it. Together. I don’t like it either, but she has us to keep her safe.”
Darren patted my back and stepped away, throwing his helmet back on. “Speaking of together, I think it’s time we had a talk with her about what we discussed the other day.”
My eyes widened. “You fucking told her?”
“Wait…what discussion?” Alden asked curiously.
Darren ignored his brother. “I had to. She kissed me and had an emotional breakdown thinking she’d done something wrong because she already kissed you.”
“You two kissed her?!” Alden shouted, completely taken aback. And dare I say it, with a hint of jealousy in his tone.
I nodded. “Yeah, I guess I can’t blame you for that. So she knows we both want to date her? Let her decide?”
“Pretty much.”
“What the fuck? Why did neither of you tell me shit about this?” Alden’s voice was getting louder and drawing attention, so we finally turned our attention to him.
“Because you were dealing with Misty, and we assumed you didn’t want anything to do with it,” I answered him plainly. “Are you upset because you have feelings for her too?” I smiled, noticing Alden’s face was steadily becoming redder the longer I spoke.
He leered at me. “I didn’t say that. But you two never keep shit from me.”
“Chill, little brother,” Darren told him calmly. “It’s okay if you do. Pretty sure she feels the same for you. But it’s the perfect situation for Porter and me. We all work so much that not one of us can give her the full attention she deserves. But between us, she’d never be alone or want for anything.”
Without another word, Darren went back to finishing the job, joining the crew as the flames finally began to die away.
