Chapter 9 - FIRE
“Move!”
I grabbed Margaret and pulled her toward the hallway.
Smoke poured up the stairs.
Somewhere below us, Paige screamed.
“Fire!”
We ran downstairs.
Flames were climbing from a trash can near the kitchen.
Papers burned inside it.
Not random papers.
Documents.
Evidence.
Paige stood nearby holding a bottle of lighter fluid.
She dropped it when she saw me.
“What the hell are you doing?”
“It was an accident!”
“An accident?”
The fire alarm screamed.
I grabbed the extinguisher from beneath the sink and blasted the flames.
White powder filled the kitchen.
Margaret coughed.
Paige backed toward the door.
I saw half-burned pieces of paper on the floor.
Bank statements.
Loan records.
Gwen’s medical bills.
Paige wasn’t trying to burn the house.
She was destroying evidence.
I pulled out my phone.
“I’m calling the police.”
Margaret grabbed my arm.
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
I looked at her hand.
“Take your hand off me.”
She did.
Paige shouted, “You think you can come back after four years and act like some hero?”
“I don’t need to be a hero.”
I pointed to the smoking trash can.
“I just need to tell the truth.”
“You abandoned us!”
“I sent you money.”
“You sent Gwen money!”
“It was my money.”
Paige’s face twisted.
“You have no idea what Mom sacrificed.”
Margaret snapped, “Paige, shut up.”
Too late.
I looked at my mother.
“What did you sacrifice?”
Nobody answered.
Sirens sounded outside.
Paige panicked.
She grabbed her purse and ran toward the garage.
I didn’t chase her.
Two police cars pulled into the driveway.
Marcus arrived five minutes later.
By then, Paige had made it three blocks before officers stopped her.
A detective photographed the burned paperwork.
I showed him the hidden room.
The forged documents.
The unopened letters.
The fake email account.
He listened carefully.
Then he said something important.
“Do not return anything. Do not move documents. We’ll need a warrant for some of this.”
“Fine.”
My phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
“Mr. Miller?”
“Yes.”
“This is St. Andrew’s Hospital.”
My stomach dropped.
The nurse continued.
“Your wife was brought into the emergency department about twenty minutes ago.”
“What happened?”
“She collapsed in the hotel lobby.”
I was already running toward my truck.
“Is she conscious?”
There was a pause.
May you like
“Mr. Miller, you need to come here.”
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