Page 40 of Serve and Protect

Jack walks into the diner. Maggie takes a seat beside me on the curb, and Ruth sits on my other side.

Maggie grabs my hand. “Areyouall right?”

“Yes. I think I’m mostly in shock. Chris and I were at my house eating breakfast—”

Ruth looks at me curiously. “Chris?”

Oh, that’s right. They don’t know.“Chris slept over at my house last night.”

“Really?” Ruth asks, seeming quite interested.

“They gave him a sedative at the hospital when they fixed his dislocated shoulder. When he was released, he was still a bit loopy and wasn’t permitted to drive, so I thought it would be best if he came home with me so I could watch over him.”

I skip telling them about the confessions he made at the hospital as well as our follow-up discussion at the breakfast table.

“Do they know how the fire started?” Maggie asks.

“The chief said it started in the trashcan beside my desk. He found an empty gas can nearby.”

“Did any of your cameras pick up anything?”

“No. Whoever it was destroyed the cameras.”

While we’re waiting, Cara and Michelle arrive for work. They both look shellshocked at the sight of the firetrucks and police cruisers.

The crowd of pedestrians has grown outside the diner, all of them staring through the front windows.

“If the fire hadn’t been contained so quickly,” I say, “it would have spread to the kitchen, and we’d be out of commission for a good long while.” I shudder at the thought. “I can’t imagine who would do a thing like this.”

“Can’t you?” Ruth asks, giving me a telling look.

“What are you—who—?”

“Who do you think?” Maggie asks.

My face grows cold. “Do you mean David?”

“Who else?” Ruth asks. “He’s done nothing but cause you trouble since he returned.”

At that moment, Chris and Jack return.

Chris walks up behind me, lays his good hand on my left shoulder, and leans down to kiss the top of my head. “You doing okay?”

I nod. “As good as can be expected.”

And then it dawns on me—he kissed me in front of our friends, who are all staring at me like I just grew a second head. Granted, it was just a friendly kiss on my head, but still. He’s never donethatbefore.

“Jack and I are going to look around out back and see if we can find any evidence,” Chris says. “We’ll also check the Tavern’s rear cameras. Hopefully they’re still intact and caught something.” He squeezes my shoulder once more. “I won’t be gone long.”

Once Chris and Jack are out of sight, Maggie and Ruth both turn curious eyes on me.

“What did I just see?” Ruth asks.

Maggie grins at me. “Is there something you should be telling us?”

Now my face is overheating. “It’s complicated.”

They both start laughing.