I ran as fast as I could. It was the middle of the night, but my house was only a couple blocks away. Cal would have to at least put on pants first before he could catch up to me, so I had a head start. That is, if he did chase me. Which I was hoping he wouldn’t. Because, no matter how hard I ran, how loud my body screamed in pain, I couldn’t stop.
I heard sirens and lights flash from the fire station just a block ahead. They were going out on a call? Only the truck didn’t go far, just pulled into the middle of the street.
I slowed and saw smoke.
“No…” I raced faster. The smoke was coming from my house. “No!”
I ran up and my little yellow house was in flames, burning as if soaked with gasoline and glowing in the night.
Everything I’d ever owned, ever valued, was in there.
“Whoa, stay back,” Dave caught me.
“It’s my house.”
“Is there anyone in there?”
“No.” Thank God, Harper was out of town. She was safe. I bawled and watched as my entire life, literally, went up in flames. “What…how?” were the only words I could get out.
Dave clearly didn’t have time to explain, but did say, “The fire went up quick, we can tell by the flames and how fast it’s burning already that some kind of lighter fluid was used.” With that, he ran toward the truck.
Oh, my God. Someone set my house on fire? If fluid was used, this was no accident.
“Lana!” Cal yelled, and ran up next to me.
I pushed away from him and walked to other side of the street. I wanted to scream and cry. The pain was so real it felt like it’d taken up residence in my entire body and would soon topple me over.
“Lana, listen to me,” Cal said, cupping my shoulders. “You’re in trouble.”
I shook my head. I was so overwhelmed with everything. “Why would Brock do this? Why?” I looked at Cal. “Why would you do the things you do?” Everything was crumbling.
“That’s just it. Brock’s in jail. They’re holding him overnight. He couldn’t have done this.”
That meant Brock wasn’t alone, and whatever they, he, whoever, wanted from me was big, or they wanted me dead.
My mind went blank like a curtain of shock overtook it and forced me to stop thinking. Too much. This was all too much.
I sat on the curb across the street from my burning house and held my head in my hands. The sounds of men yelling, tires screeching, and the fire roaming all rang in my ears like a bad dream.
“Lana,” a deep voice that I recognized called out. I knew that voice. I knew it so well it sent shivers up my spine. I looked up to find Jack. He resembled some kind of dark knight in his black coat and pants. His eyes were as onyx as the night that surrounded us, while an orange glow from my house haloed him.
I couldn’t move. Couldn’t speak. I wanted to yell at him. To curse him and tell both him and Cal right where they could jump off. But I sat there, dazed and destroyed, with every ounce of my will, my world, burning and crumbling like my home.
“Baby,” Jack rasped, and knelt to face me. The endearment hit something in my soul that made me want to hate him even more than I loved him. “Whatever plans you have of pushing Cal and me away are going to have to wait,” he said, as if he could read my mind. “You’re in danger. Do you understand?”
I just looked at him.
Snap.
I just snapped.
“Are you kidding me? I haven’t seen you in months!” I shot to my feet, and Jack followed suit. He was flanked
by Cal, and they both stared at me, their towering frames hovering. But I would have none of it. “You lied to me! Left me. Messed with my life and my emotions and…” I gripped my head. “My house is burning! And you stand here and tell me what I’m going to feel and what I’m going to do?”
“Yes. Because you are our first concern,” Jack said.
“You don’t get to make me your concern. Either of you. You both lost that right when you lied to me, made me love you, then broke my heart.”