Page 86 of Fire and Bones
The moon was new, the wooded land beyond my window a shapeless dark void.
The house was quiet as a crypt.
I was still awake at midnight, skimming more of Doyle’s photocopied articles. When a voice spoke from the doorway, I nearly jumped out of my skin.
“Sorry. Didn’t mean to startle you.”
“No, no. I’m good.” Willing my heart back into my chest.
“I saw your light and thought you might still be awake.”
“Mm.”
“After the last broadcast I need time to wind down.”
“I think Ben’s gone to bed.”
“Too early for me. I can never fall asleep much before three.”
Not awaiting an invitation, Doyle crossed the room and dropped into the excessively shaggy chair. “Ben and I spoke briefly. He said you and I are tracking along the same lines.”
“Given that both homes belong to the same holding company?”
“OMG. I never sent you the Aaronson scene photos, did I?”
“No biggie.” I’d forgotten all about them.
She reached into her bag and withdrew her mobile. A few thumb strokes, then the images landed on my phone. I created an album and saved them to it.
“Finding anything of interest in that muddle?” Stretching out her legs, a very long stretch, Doyle cocked her chin at my piles.
“This and that.”
“Any hot new hypotheses?”
I shared my speculation about W-C.
“You’re thinking someone might dislike Warring or Cady enough to burn down houses?”
“Such a grudge would require some very long-standing resentment and some carefully selected targets.”
“True.” She recrossed her ankles. “What about an issue with the current owners of W-C Commerce?”
“Whoever they are.”
“Whoever they are.”
Doyle finally left at one-fifteen, off in search of a nightcap.
I did a quick toilette, then crawled into bed.
Before turning off the lights, I skimmed the images Doyle had just sent. No reason. An exercise to help me “wind down” as she’d put it.
The pics were as I remembered.
The first was a close-up of the two-story townhome with its bay window and bright red door. Smoke and flames upstairs. Ladder. Brick steps and walkway. Hoses crisscrossing a trampled lawn.
The second was a wider-angle view. Rainbow row houses lining a narrow, cobbled street.