Page 36 of Coyote
Draining the last of the wine from my glass, my attention was drawn to my living room window. The edges around the blind were flickering an orange color. I was nowhere near drunk, so I knew I wasn’t seeing things. It wasn’t exterior decorations because Halloween was months away. Suddenly, I heard a siren blaring from far off. It took me a second to realize it was getting closer. I jumped up and ran to the window, when I lifted the blind up, I saw that Reggie’s house was ablaze.
I rushed to Nessa’s room and lifted her out of bed. Careful to keep her wrapped in her blanket, I bolted out the door. When I got us out, what I saw almost brought me to my knees. Orange flames licked up the wooden sidings of Reggie’s house. Thomas came bursting through the front door half carrying, half dragging Reggie. My friend was coughing uncontrollably, and they both had smudges of soot on their faces.
A firetruck pulled into the driveway and the firefighters mobilized. I was barely aware that they’d pulled out their hose and begun to douse the flames.
I rushed forward and stood helplessly by, while Thomas sat Reggie on the ground and encouraged him to clear his lungs of smoke by coughing it all up. I just clutched my daughter closer. Thankfully, Nessa hadn’t realized the enormity of what was happening and just watched the action in astonishment, her eyes wide.
Finally, Reggie glanced up at me and said, “Bethany, thank God you and Nessa are okay.”
“What happened? Were you cooking or something?”
It was Thomas who answered. “It was arson. I smelled gasoline when I kicked the door in.”
Shock roiled through my gut. “Who would do such a thing? You don’t have an enemy in the world. Everyone in this town adores you.”
Both Reggie and Thomas looked at me. I was so clueless that it took me a minute to realize that I was the one with enemies. I had run-ins with both Rufus and Cyclops and had somehow dragged the danger right to my friend’s door.
A cry broke from my lips, “This is all my fault. You almost died because of me!”
Nessa caught the anguish in my voice and started crying. I tried desperately to comfort her as I wondered what on earth had happened.
“And you need to be gone, like yesterday,” Thomas bit out, clearly furious.
Reggie shook his head, clearly shocked by his partner’s words. “No. Thomas don’t make her leave.”
His fiancé was not about to let me stay if it put the man he loved in jeopardy. Thomas cupped Reggie’s check lovingly, “I don’t blame Bethany, but you’ve both got to know that after this, neither of you are safe here. Not until they find whoever did this.”
“He’s right,” I said.
“I didn’t mean to shout,” Thomas said, his tone now calmer.
“We’ll talk in the morning,” Reggie said before dissolving into another fit of intractable coughing.
One of the firefighters stopped by to check on him.
“How are you holding up, sir?”
“I got a lungful or two of heavy smoke, my lungs still burn a bit, but I’m okay.”
“You probably need to get checked out at the ER. You might be suffering from smoke inhalation.”
“I’ll take him right away,” Thomas volunteered.
The firefighter responded grimly, “If those are your vehicles parked in the driveway, you’re not going anywhere. Someone slashed all the tires.”
Thomas spoke up, “I got an Uber here.”
“Well, the police are going to want to speak to you.” The firefighter’s voice held a note of warning.
Thomas spoke up, “We already know it was arson. I smelled the gasoline when I went in to rescue Reggie.”
“Yeah, that was our assessment as well. Between the police and the fire marshal they will need a few days to investigate the fire without people trampling over the evidence.”
Again, it seemed as though Thomas was intent upon doing most of the talking tonight. “Don’t worry, I have no intention of allowing Reggie to come back here until I’m sure it’s safe. Bethany and Nessa are leaving as well. We can’t take a chance that whoever did this will come back and set her place on fire.”
“Agreed,” the firefighter responded decisively. He scribbled down our contact information on a pad and crammed it back into his pocket. Glancing at me, he stated, “Obviously, you can’t leave without packing a few things for yourself and your kid. Your property isn’t a crime scene, if you like I can stand watch while you pack a bag and call you a taxi.”
Thank God for small town chivalry and kindness. I nodded, still feeling all kinds of freaked out about what happened. “Thank you. That would really set my mind at ease.”