Chapter 12 - Fire at the Cottage
Morgan called 911.
Peter contacted the local sheriff's office.
Denise paced across the conference room while Evelyn sat motionless, gripping Rachel's photograph.
The responding deputy reached Clara's property within fifteen minutes.
But by then, smoke was already rising from the rear of the cottage.
Morgan stood beside Peter's car when the first fire engine arrived.
Orange flames flickered through the kitchen window.
For a moment, she couldn't move.
She saw the porch.
The apple trees.
The front steps where Clara used to sit on warm evenings.
Then the kitchen window shattered.
Morgan screamed.
"No!"
She ran forward.
Peter caught her arm.
"Morgan!"
"That's my grandmother's house!"
"I know!"
"Let me go!"
He held her back as firefighters moved toward the building.
A lieutenant ordered everyone away from the driveway.
Morgan stood helplessly in the cold darkness, watching smoke pour from the roof.
Every childhood memory seemed trapped behind those flames.
The kitchen table where she'd learned to bake bread.
The bedroom where Clara read her bedtime stories.
The old rocking chair.
The photographs.
The handmade quilts.
Everything.
Denise wrapped an arm around her.
"I'm sorry."
Morgan shook her head.
"I should've come sooner."
"No."
"I should've listened to Grandma."
"None of this is your fault."
Morgan looked toward the fire.
"Julian did this."
Peter watched the firefighters.
"We don't know yet."
Morgan pulled out her phone.
She showed him the photograph.
"He sent me this."
Peter studied it.
Then his expression changed.
"Look carefully."
Morgan frowned.
"What?"
"The porch light."
She zoomed in.
The porch light was on.
But when they had visited earlier, Peter had turned off the electricity at the breaker.
Morgan remembered watching him do it.
The cottage had been dark when they'd left.
"Someone restored the power," Peter said.
Morgan stared.
Then she noticed something else.
In the photograph, a figure stood behind the screened porch.
Barely visible.
A woman.
Morgan enlarged the image.
The face was blurred.
But the woman wore a dark coat.
And a green hat.
Morgan turned slowly toward Evelyn.
Evelyn was standing near the car.
Her green beret was missing.
Morgan's voice came out as a whisper.
"Evelyn."
The older woman turned.
Morgan held up the phone.
"Why were you at the cottage?"
Evelyn stared at the photograph.
Her face went pale.
"I wasn't."
"Then who's that?"
"I don't know."
Morgan stepped closer.
"Someone wearing your hat."
Evelyn shook her head.
"My hat disappeared from Denise's apartment."
Denise frowned.
"What?"
"I thought I'd misplaced it."
Morgan felt the pieces shifting again.
Someone had impersonated Evelyn.
Or wanted Morgan to believe she was involved.
The fire lieutenant approached.
"Ms. Bennett?"
Morgan turned.
"Yes?"
"We have the main fire under control."
"Is the house gone?"
"There's significant damage to the kitchen and rear rooms."
"But the front portion is still standing."
Morgan covered her face.
Then the lieutenant continued.
"There's something else."
Morgan lowered her hands.
"What?"
"We found a person inside."
Her heart stopped.
"Who?"
"A man."
"Is he alive?"
"Yes. He's being transported to the hospital."
Morgan stared.
"Who is he?"
The lieutenant hesitated.
"We haven't confirmed his identity."
"But he was found near the basement stairs."
Morgan's pulse raced.
"The basement?"
"Yes."
"He was unconscious when firefighters reached him."
Morgan looked toward the ambulance.
Paramedics were loading a stretcher inside.
A man's arm hung beneath the blanket.
Morgan could see a distinctive silver watch.
Dark green face.
Her knees weakened.
Julian's watch.
She ran toward the ambulance.
"Julian!"
A paramedic stopped her.
"Ma'am, stay back."
"That's my husband!"
The man on the stretcher turned his head slightly.
His face was covered by an oxygen mask.
Morgan leaned forward.
Then froze.
It wasn't Julian.
It was Adrian Vale.
And as the paramedics lifted him into the ambulance, Adrian grabbed Morgan's wrist.
His grip was surprisingly strong.
He pulled the mask away just enough to whisper four words.
May you like
"Julian set me up."
Then he lost consciousness.
