Page 61 of The Fire

“You’re fine, Marlon,” I said, amused. “Parker just does that sometimes. He’s very sensitive.”

Parker lifted one eyebrow at me as he leaned back against the fridge. “True artists are never appreciated in their lifetimes.”

Silas looked from Parker to me and back again. His lips twitched. “So, ah… how are things going, Parks?”

Parker turned his attention to Silas and shrugged. “Could be worse. My plants and I didn’t freeze to death in the snow. And I heard from Joe Cross this morning. They plowed the Camden Road, so he hauled in my car. He’s planning to have it fixed this week.”

“That’s great news,” Silas agreed. He paused, then added, “Then what?”

Parker hesitated, looking at me, but I wasn’t sure what the hell he expectedmeto say when he hadn’t shared his plans with me. He took a deep breath. “Then… I’m leaving, I guess,” he told Silas. He frowned, and said again more forcefully, “I’m definitely leaving. Heading to Arizona.”

“Yeah?” Silas frowned thoughtfully. “You think that’s the best idea?”

“Totally.” Parker shrugged. “Nothing for me here, right? And you know me. I hate this kinda half-assed waiting around. Time to figure out my next move so I’ll be ready once my claim is finally paid.”

It shouldn’t have hurt as much as it did to hear him state the obvious, but it made sense.

“Yeah,” I managed to say. “You’ve got lots of options out there. You could open another bar just about anywhere and be successful.”

Silas made a thoughtful noise and both of us looked at him.

“What?” Parker demanded.

“That insurance guy was bugging Gideon. You remember Gideon, Marlon?” Silas asked. “You met him at the fire station the other day?”

Marlon nodded.

“He was asking Gideon for specifics on the samples he took and things he might have overheard the night of the fire. And he’s going through the list of people on the construction crews who had access to the space.”

“Shit. But I thought you guys already did that,” Parker said a little desperately. “It was all cleared up.”

Silas nodded. “We did. We found no evidence of criminal tampering. But insurance companies have their own thresholds for paying claims like this. He’s not taking our word for anything, and I have no idea how long it will take for him to complete his own investigation.”

From one instant to the next, Parker’s face crumpled, and in less than a heartbeat, I’d moved toward him, trying to shield him from… I don’t even know what. Life? Shitty, shitty reality?

I was so fucked.

Silas moved toward Parker too and patted him awkwardly on the shoulder. “Just hang in there, okay?”

I kept on walking, into the eating area, like that had been my intention all along, and I spied the trio of plants Parker had left on the kitchen table. They were cheerful little things in their colored pots—cute and prickly and resilient, a lot like Parker himself. They probably weren’t getting nearly as much sunlight as they needed in this shadowy corner either.

I glanced at the front window, where my mom’s once-precious colored bottles were arranged on a glass shelf stretching across the middle of the sash so they could catch the light.

Perfect.

I took the bottles down, one at a time, and replaced them with the pots, before turning back around to face the others.

“Look, it’s not my business to tell you what to do,” Silas was telling Parker. “But if you’re on the fence at all about leaving town, maybe rethink.”

Parker rubbed a hand over his forehead. “For the sake of the investigation?”

Silas nodded. “Among other things. Let’s just say, it can’t hurt to make it clear that you’re a part of this town with strong ties to the community.”

Parker laughed shortly. “Like, if I stay, the investigator is less likely to realize that I lit my bar on fire so I could live out my lifelong dream of fleeing justice to a country without an extradition treaty?”

Marlon’s eyes went wide. “Oh my God. Did you really?”

Silas huffed out a breath. “Jesus Christ. Of course he fucking didn’t, Marlon. It’ssarcasm.”