Chapter 65 - Fire

We were prevented from approaching our house. There were two fire trucks there and several police cars. I even noticed that Alan and Anne, and our other neighbours, had been evacuated from their houses while fire fighters hosed them down to prevent the fire from leaping the gap. Everything was so hot. From the little I could see, the house was completely engulfed with flames shooting out of all the visible windows.

A police officer approached us.

“Is that your place?” he asked.

I nodded as my girls watched wide eyed as everything we had went up in smoke. For myself, there was nothing in there that I was particularly upset about losing. All my schoolwork was on the cloud and I’d memorised every book I had bought for my course.

“Can you think of anyone that might want to do this?” he asked.

I certainly had my suspicions, but this seemed way too extreme. There was a world of difference between a roughing up and this. They couldn’t have known that we weren’t inside when they did whatever they did. I doubted they knocked first.

Then I had a horrible thought. I knew that the others had gone out to a club, but had they come back early? Were they in there when it went up?

I pulled out my phone and dialled Josh.

“Hey Caleb,” he said. “You back so early?”

“Are you with Gracie and Dana?” I asked.

“Yes,” he said. “Why, what’s up?”

“Someone torched the house,” I said. “I just wanted to make sure you were all safe.”

“Someone what?” he asked, incredulity in his voice. “Are you guys ok?”

“We just got back and found it lit up,” I said. “The fire department is here trying to put it out now. Looks like everything went up.”

“We’re coming home,” he said. “We’ll be there in a half hour.”

The policeman was looking at me, irritation clear in his expression.

“Sorry,” I said. “I just wanted to make sure that my housemates were okay. They went out separately from us and I didn’t know if they’d gotten back yet.”

His face cleared. “Okay,” he said. “That’s something at least. So back to the question?”

“I honestly don’t know,” I told him. “We had a run in with some low-level thugs breaking into our house a couple of nights ago. We subdued them and they got arrested. We never found out who sent them, although I have my suspicions. But without indisputable proof, the person I’m thinking of is too rich and powerful to do anything about.

“If it is him, he’ll have several degrees of separation between him and whoever did this. Tracing it back to him will be difficult if not impossible.”

I went on to explain everything that had happened between us and the Greenwood family, from Trevor’s crashing his car and getting caught on a DUI, to Walter’s visit, and his attempt to get me arrested. I told him the full story of the three thugs, and that I’d not had any news if they had given up who had sent them, nor even if they were still in jail or had been let out.

“If they’re out,” I said, “then they’re probably the first people I’d be looking to talk to.”

While I’d been talking to the officer, all the girls had gathered around us, each holding onto others. Jules and Ness looked on sadly as the house burned. Melanie and Sarah were both openly crying. Surprisingly, Mary looked composed but Amanda looked furious.

Alan and Anne came over.

“Thank goodness you’re all right,” Anne said. “We didn’t know if any of you were still in there. We saw some of you go out earlier but there were still cars on the drive. Tom Pritchard raised the alarm and went and smashed the windows of the cars in the drive. We pushed them away from the house so they didn’t get caught up in it.”

It was only then that I noticed that Amanda’s and Gracie’s car were both parked badly on the other side of the road away from the house.

“I think Tom would have gone into the house to check, but he couldn’t get through that new front door he fitted.”

“I’m glad he didn’t,” I said. “The last thing I’d have wanted was for him to get stuck in there.” I indicated the furnace that was still blazing, albeit slightly less fiercely, where our house used to be.

I saw Melanie concentrating on the house, and the fire seemed to lessen. I could feel her pushing hard, and reaching the limits of her powers, so I went over to her.

“Enough,” I said. “Nobody was hurt and I don’t want you to hurt yourself. If you must do something, just try to keep the neighbor’s houses from catching. The firefighters are wetting them down but I can see them starting to steam. Keep them cool, but don’t overtax your power.”

Melanie nodded at me and turned toward the neighbors’ houses.

Sarah looked up at me from her position beside Melanie.

“What are we going to do?” she asked tearfully.

“Nobody got hurt,” I said. “So, it’s just a matter of rebuilding and replacing what was lost. The insurance will cover most of it and we have enough money to make up any difference.

“Look on this as a chance to refresh your wardrobe. There was nothing irreplaceable in there. . .was there?”

“Not really,” she said. “There were a couple of dolls that I’d had since I was a child but I only really kept them because mom said I should. For some reason I’ve never really been a hoarder. But I lost all my books, my work, and my laptop.”

“All your work is on the cloud,” I said, “Jules made sure of that, so you’ve lost nothing from that perspective. Books we can replace. Clothes and your laptop we can replace. The only thing we couldn’t replace would be any of us, and we were all out of the house, so that’s fine.”

I looked at Jules.

“Jules, I’m sorry. That game we got in Paris?” I asked.

“Is currently sitting in my locker at PSU,” she said. “I took it in to show a couple of the guys.”

“Small mercies,” I said. Ness grinned at me, although there were tears in her eyes.

“Looks like an excuse for a huge shopping trip,” she said, and I pulled her into a hug.

“Why would they do this, Caleb?” she asked in a small voice. “We could have been in there.”

“That is a question that I intend to get an answer to,” I told her holding her to me.

Two cars arrived almost simultaneously. The first a dark sedan with Red and Blue lights flashing through the window. The second was a cab. Dianna got out of the first, and Josh, Louise, Gracie, and Dana climbed out of the second. Dianna made it to us a few seconds before Josh and the girls.

“What happened?” asked Dianna.

I sent her my memories of everything I knew or suspected.

“Announcing yourself to Knight wasn’t a smart move,” she said. “That guy’s bad news. He represents some very bad people.”

“So you think it was him rather than Greenwood?” I asked. “Why would he bother?”

“Because you let him know that you knew who he was,” she said. “He’s letting you know that not only doesn’t he care, but that you’d better back off.”

“You think he knew there was nobody home?” I asked. She shrugged.

“I suspect,” she said, “he didn’t care.”

“He will,” I promised.

“Caleb,” she began but I put my hand up to forestall whatever it was she was going to say.

“No,” I said simply. “If Knight was responsible for this, then he’s going down. Hard.”

“And then what?” she asked. “If you do anything illegal it will destroy everything you’ve worked for and everything that you’ve achieved. It will put you in direct opposition to every power using family in the US, not to mention the law. You’re powerful Caleb, but you’re one man. You can’t take on everyone alone.”

“He won’t be alone,” growled Melanie, her power flaring as she faced up to Dianna.

Dianna closed her eyes wearily.

“Guys,” Mary said approaching, “as of right now, we have more pressing problems. It’s 1am and we are homeless. Let’s go find somewhere to sleep and then we can start to plan what to do next. The fire department is going to be here for some time, it seems. The fire is under control, but they’re going to be here for most of the night finishing off.

“Lou, do you have your keys?” she asked.

Louise nodded. “I can’t drive though – I’ve been drinking.”

“I’ll drive your car,” said Mary. “I’m sure Grandmother can get Gracie’s car recovered.”

“My keys were in the house,” said Gracie. “As were my creds and my weapon. The gun safe probably protected the weapon though.”

“I’ll get your car towed,” said Dianna. “Mary’s right. You guys go and find somewhere to stay tonight. I’m sure the local LEO’s will want to talk to you more but I’ll stall them until tomorrow. Let me know where you get settled.

I noticed Jules talking to someone on her phone. She finished her call and came over.

“Daddy says go to the Nines,” she said. “They are expecting us and have a suite and a couple of rooms ready. He said ask for Dragan.”

I looked at Dianna. “Looks like we’re going to the Nines,” I said.

+++++

The journey to the Nines only took fifteen minutes, it being less than eight blocks from the university. When we arrived, the valet took charge of all three of our vehicles.

“Would you like me to get the window repaired?” he asked, looking at Louise’s smashed window. “It won’t be tonight, but I can probably have it done by lunchtime tomorrow if you would like.”

“Thank you,” I said and we entered the building.

The reception for the hotel was, strangely, on the eighth floor. I wondered what the concierge would think of our rag-tag bunch of people turning up at this time of night with no luggage. I needn’t have worried.

“Good evening,” said a young Asian looking lady as I approached the desk. “My name is Mei Mei. Are you checking in?”

“My name is Caleb Stott,” I said. “I was told to ask for Dragan?”

“Ah yes, Mr. Stott,” she said. “Mr. Andrejik is our general manager and is not onsite currently. He has given me full instructions on assisting you, however. I can ask him to come in if you require.”

“No,” I said. “There’s no need. As long as we have somewhere to sleep tonight, everything else can wait until the morning.”

“That’s fine,” she said with a beaming smile.

“I have two adjoining suites for you and two other rooms. Unfortunately, we didn’t have rooms all on the same floor, so the other rooms are on the twelfth while your suites are on fourteen. There are laundry bags in the rooms. If you would care to leave your clothes outside the rooms in the bags, I’ll make sure they’re laundered and ready for you in the morning. There are USB charging points in the rooms and we’ve supplied a number of cables so you should be able to charge your devices.

“Is there anything else I can do for you Mr. Stott?”

I looked at the gang around me. Everyone just looked dead beat.

“No, thank you,” I said. “I think we just need to get to bed.”

Mei Mei handed out keycards, Josh and Louise and Dana and Gracie took the rooms on the twelfth floor, while the rest of us took the two suites. I figured that I’d be in one with some of the girls, and Sarah and the other girls could share the other.

We headed up to bed.

When we got to the room, we took turns in the showers, all of us, even Sarah, paired up. Fortunately, there were toiletries for all, as well as toothbrushes and toothpaste. They’d even provided some generic sized sleepwear, as well as robes and slippers for all.

We placed all our clothes outside the doors in the laundry bags.

I climbed into bed in one of the suites. It was a big bed. Not quite as big as ours at home, but it would have been big enough for all of us to share.

Before I knew it, Mary, Amanda, Jules, Ness, and Melanie were all in bed with me. Sarah stood at the foot of the bed.

“Can I…” she said looking forlorn. I guessed that she didn’t want to be all alone. Jules scooted over some and made a space between her and Ness.

Sometimes waking up at four am every morning can be a pain in the ass.

I opened my eyes and slid out of bed. Having taken care of my bladder’s call to arms, I debated going back to bed. With everything that happened the night before, it had been past two before I’d gotten to bed. The girls were all still asleep and I knew that I would not be able to get back into the bed without disturbing them all. Quietly I slipped into the next room and climbed into the bed there.

“Fuck it,” I thought. “I need more sleep.”

When I woke up for the second time, I was once again surrounded by girls. Mary and Amanda were curled up on one side of me, with Melanie between them, while Jules and Ness were on the other. Sarah was actually curled up against my side, her hands wrapped around my arm, much as Melanie had done that first night.

I looked across at Melanie whose eyes were open.

“You sneaked off,” she said quietly, but with a little accusation.

“I didn’t want to wake you guys,” I said. “There was no way I was getting back into bed without waking you.”

“What time is it?” a tired voice came from beside me as Sarah opened sleepy eyes. She looked up at me and blushed realising that not only was she clutching my arm, but her leg was thrown over mine.

“I’m…” she said trying to retreat, but not able to since Jules was right up against her.

“It’s fine,” I said. “How are you feeling?”

“Better now,” she said. “Last night seemed like a bad dream.”

“It kind of was,” I said. “But nobody was hurt and we’re all here together, safe and whole. Stuff is just stuff. It’s replaceable.”

She nodded.

“You know,” she said. “If this had happened to me before I met you, I’d have been freaking out. Now it’s like – hey-ho, time to get some more stuff. I don’t know why, but being around you guys just makes me more… chilled I think.”

“Its not just us,” I said. “It’s your power. Now you have power, you are far more in control of your destiny. Even if we’d been home last night, I would bet money that we’d have gotten out of there okay. With mine and Melanie’s powers we’d have been able to break through the wall if necessary. That’s assuming we didn’t see them coming; in which case, you, Mary, Amanda, Melanie, or I would have been able to stop it before it began.

She nodded. “What are you going to do?” she asked. “Dianna didn’t seem like she’d be happy for you to go after them yourself…”

“I’m going to find out who did it,” I said, “and then we’ll decide together what to do about it. I really don’t think that Trevor’s dad would have set that up though. The beating yes, I can see him doing that, putting the peon in his place, but attempted murder seems a bit of a stretch for him.

“My money is on the lawyer, Knight. Like Dianna said, I made a mistake announcing myself. I had no idea who he was or the kinds of people he deals with and I painted a massive target on my back. I’m sorry for that.”

“This wasn’t your fault,” said Ness. “They, whoever they are, did this, not you. It’s the doctrine of bullies and assholes everywhere to try and tell you that you are responsible for what THEY are doing.”

There was a knock on the other suite external door. I reached out with my mind to see who was there. Maggie.

“Maggie’s here,” I said and slipped out of bed, pulling a robe on, before padding through to the other suite and opening the door.

Maggie was standing there, with several hotel staff, pushing several trolleys full of breakfast. There was also a couple of staff holding all of our clothes, freshly laundered, and ready to wear.

The staff wheeled the trolleys in and set them up. The girls all came in, wrapped in robes, and grabbed plates of food, before settling down on chairs, the bed and the sofa, to eat. There wasn’t really enough seating for all the people we had in here.

They left a seat clear for Maggie though and I sat on the corner of the bed. Both of us had grabbed a plate of food and we began to eat.

There was another knock on the door, and Jules let Gracie, Dana, Josh, and Louise in.

“Dianna told me what you said last night,” Maggie said continuing the conversation, ignoring the interruption.

“I figured she might,” I replied. “I suppose you’ve come with words of dire warning?”

“I have,” she said. “Don’t. Get. Caught.”

I looked at her, surprised. “Are you saying…”

“Those fuckers,” she said, “whoever they are, need to be taken down. They could have killed all of you, not to mention the neighbours or any first responders that had entered the house trying to rescue you. It was fortunate that you put that high security door on, otherwise I’m certain that Mr. Pritchard would have gone in to check.”

“Really?” said Josh. “He seemed such a…”

“He’s an old man,” I said, “who was made bitter and twisted by circumstance. We caught the tail of it and responded accordingly.”

I looked at Mary. “I’m still not sorry for doing what I did,” I said. “He deserved it, perhaps even needed it, to make him realize that he was on the wrong path.”

“He stopped my car from getting burned up,” said Louise. “I know the insurance would have taken care of it, but I like that car.”

“The police will want to talk to you again today,” Maggie interrupted our tangent. “What are you going to tell them?”

“Pretty much what I told them last night,” I replied. “I told them that the only people I’d had a beef with recently was Trevor and his dad. I also told them about the three idiots that came after us with bats. I didn’t mention either of the lawyers.”

“Okay,” she said. “That’s a good line to take. They are going to want to know where you all were last night as well,” she said. “A good proportion of home arson cases are insurance jobs. I hope you all have good alibis.”

“We do,” I said. “At least we, do.” I indicated my girls and I. “Josh, Louise, Gracie, and Dana went out separately so they will have to provide their own alibi’s. When can we go back into the house?”

“There’s nothing to go back to,” she said.

“I want to see if my gun safe lived up to its fire rating,” I told her.

“I doubt it would,” she replied. “They threw devices in through every window, even removing some of the fence so they could get to the back. They were determined to completely destroy the place. I’m kind of thinking that they would have checked that there was nobody home, at least I hope so, but I’m not confident. The only part of the house that’s still standing, although it’s far from untouched, is the garage. The whole place needs tearing down and rebuilding.”

“We need to find someplace to stay in the meantime,” I replied. “This place is nice, but it’s way too expensive. I have no idea how long it would take to rebuild the house, but we’d be wasting money hand over fist staying here for that long.

“We need to come up with a plan. We have so much to do that it would be better for us to split up to get stuff done. We each need new tech, laptops, phone chargers. . .that kind of thing.”

“I’ll get that,” Jules said. “I know what we all need.”

“We need complete wardrobes, at least a couple of week’s worth of clothes, shoes, trainers, everything.”

“Melanie and I can make a start on that,” said Amanda. “I’ve been wanting to update your wardrobe for a while.”

I grimaced as she smiled sweetly at me.

“Don’t forget toiletries and all that stuff,” I said. “I’m sure you guys won’t be happy sticking to the hotel freebies.”

“I don’t know,” said Amanda. “It’s actually not bad stuff.”

“I’ll go with Jules,” Ness said. “Then she’ll have transportation.”

“Mary and I will go back to the house and see if anything is salvageable, not that I think it would be, and then we need to make a start on finding a place for us to stay.

“Actually,” said Gracie, glancing at Dana, a little guiltily. I knew what she was going to say before she said it, and to be honest, I was neither surprised nor disappointed.

“Dana and I were talking,” she said. “We thought that this might be as good a time as any for us to get a place of our own.”

I looked at Dana, who wouldn’t catch my eye.

“I wondered how long it would be,” I said softly. “In all honesty, I expected you guys to do that some time ago. Ours is a madhouse and not really a place for people to start a life together, at least not people who are not, well, you know.”

Gracie nodded.

“It has been really great,” she said, “and we both owe you massively. I haven’t forgotten you saved my life, and Dana… well you know.”

I nodded. “I know,” I said. “Just don’t be strangers, okay? I really don’t want to lose you guys as friends.”

“We won’t,” said Dana. “I hope you haven’t forgotten that you still have one duty to perform for me?”

It took a second but then I realized what she was talking about.

“I’ll be honored,” I said. “Whenever you’re ready. But don’t think that is the only reason we want to keep in touch.”

I turned to Josh and Louise. “What about you guys?” I asked.

“We’d like to stick with you,” said Louise, “if it’s alright. It’s not about the money. With the cash that Nana Babi gave me, we can afford to pay you more rent if you want, but we just both like being around you guys.”

“No,” I said, “the rent is fine. I, for one, am happy that you want to stick around. All others in favor?”

Instantly, six hands went up as Mary, Amanda, Jules, Ness, Melanie, and Sarah all voted.

“All against?” nothing.

“I guess you have your answer,” I said. Louise came and gave me a hug, as Josh was simultaneously receiving hugs from the girls.

Another knock, on the suite door, broke us up.

“That’ll be the police,” said Maggie. “They said they’d be here around now.”

“That might have been good to mention,” I said. “We could have gotten dressed.”

“You’ll be fine,” said Maggie, heading to answer the door. “It won’t take long.”

There were three people standing at the door when she answered it. There was a uniformed police officer and a man in another uniform with a Portland Fire Bureau patch on his sleeve. There was also a man in a suit. They filed in and looked down at us all lounging on various surfaces with the remains of breakfast still scattered around.

“Mr. Stott,” said the officer. “I’m Officer Herbert, this is Officer Burns from the Portland Fire Bureau arson investigation team. I raised my eyebrow, but managed to stop myself from sniggering.  I heard from behind me that someone hadn’t.

“And this,” he continued, “is Mr. Franklyn, an insurance investigator.”

I nodded to them all.

“Gentlemen,” I said.

“Ideally,” said the arson investigator, “we’d like to talk to you individually if you don’t mind?”

“Not a problem,” I said. “We have two suites. Why don’t you guys go next door, and we’ll come through one at a time to talk to you. That way you’re not sitting in our mess and we can get showered and dressed in the meantime – or at least the girls can. I guess I’ll go first.”

The men looked at each other and then nodded. I showed them through the connecting door and followed them in. The girls and Maggie stayed in the other suite presumably making a start on getting showered and dressed. I was still in my robe.

The suite had a small couch, a coffee table and a chair. I took the chair, and the three investigators took the couch. The insurance investigator and the arson investigator both took out handheld recording devices and placed them on the table. The police officer took out a notebook.

I looked at the police officer. He looked at his notebook for a few moments and then began.

“Last night,” he said, “someone threw several incendiary devices through every external window of your house. Consequently the house was completely destroyed, along with everything inside. Do you have any idea who might have wanted to do that?”

“No,” I said.

“You told the officer last night that you had a suspect in mind?” he pressed.

“Let me give you some background,” I told him, “and then you’ll understand why I say no.”

I told him about Sarah moving in with us, and that her boyfriend Trevor had come over for dinner. I told him about him drinking and my advising Sarah not to get in his car. I also told him about Gracie informing the local PD that someone intoxicated would be leaving the house. I explained about the failing to stop, the crash, the DUI, and the subsequent vandalism.

I went on to talk about the incident with Trevor’s father and the three men attacking with baseball bats.

“I don’t know,” I finished, “what happened to those three guys, but what they were going to do was on a whole different level than the fire. I can’t believe that even someone as entitled as Walter Greenwood would escalate to that extreme over such a small matter.”

“If not them,” said the officer, “then who?”

“I have no idea,” I said. “I’ve been involved in a couple of operations with the FBI. I helped in a white supremacist camp takedown in Montana and I assisted at a bank robbery not far from here. As far as I’m aware nobody involved in that even knew who I was, let alone where I lived.”

“You also have to remember,” I continued, “that Gracie is an active FBI Agent. It could have easily been directed at her rather than us. I’m sure her list of suspects is as long, if not longer, than mine.”

“Can you tell us where you were last night between eleven p.m. and twelve a.m.?” he asked.

“Mary, Amanda, Jules, Ness, Melanie, Sarah, and I were at an eighteenth birthday party.” I said. “Arnie Jarrett, who is the son of my flight instructor, had his party and we were there from about seven thirty, to just after midnight.”

“Did any of your group leave the party at any time?” asked the officer.

“Sarah went off with Arnie for a while,” I said grinning at him. “But I’m fairly certain they were just in the garage getting to know each other.”

“What about the other occupants of the house?” he asked.

“Before we left for the party,” I said, “they said they were going to a club. When I called Josh after we saw the house on fire, he said they were still at the club. More than that, I can’t help you with. You’ll have to speak to them about it.”

The officer looked at Officer Burns.

“Mr. Stott,” he said, “did you keep anything flammable in the house normally?”

“No,” I said. “Aside from three handguns, a small blowtorch for cooking, and a small gas can in the garage for the lawnmower. That is about it.”

“Where are the weapons now?” asked the officer.

“Still in the gun safes,” I said. “Two are mine, one is Gracie’s. It’s her FBI service weapon. She had a gun safe in her room, and I had one in our room.”

“Sadly,” said Officer Burns, “I doubt they will have survived, given the heat of the fire.”

I sighed. I wasn’t at all concerned about the Glock, but the CQB had been a present from Dean. I would be sorry to have lost that.

Both the police officer and the arson investigator looked at the insurance investigator.

“I’m sorry to ask,” he said, “but are there any problems at home? Relationships, arguments?”

“Not at all,” I said. “I won’t say that we never have a cross word, but nothing more than little niggles, and those are almost non-existent.”

“Niggles about what?” asked the investigator.

“We had a row with our neighbor,” I said. “Mary wasn’t particularly happy with the way I dealt with it. I took out  a restraining order against him. She felt I’d gone too far.”

“This is Mr. Pritchard?” asked the police officer.

I nodded.

“You think he might have…” he began but I shook my head.

“No,” I said. “Not a chance. We had been getting on much better recently, in fact he fixed my door after the thugs broke in. There’s no way he did this.”

“And how about your financial situation?” asked the insurance agent. “Any difficulties there? I understand that you’d taken on the tuition for both your Sisters. That can’t be easy?”

“I’m rich,” I said. “I don’t know to the penny, but I have over five million dollars invested, and probably over one hundred thousand in my checking account. My de-facto father-in-law is Dean Steadman, of Steadman Dairies. I don’t know how rich he is, but I do know that if I needed money, almost any amount, he’d give it to me no questions asked. I am a consultant for the FBI, for which they pay me three thousand dollars per month, and I have a hypnotherapy business that is making me somewhere around nine thousand a month. If I actually do any work for the FBI I get a per-diem payment too. I’m guessing that in the last year I’ve made somewhere around the one hundred thousand mark.

“I don’t have any money worries.” I concluded.

He looked at me wide eyed.

“Dean Steadman?” he asked.

“That’s what you took from that?” I asked. “You know him?”

“He’s a major client of our company,” he said.

“Makes sense,” I said. “He bought us the house in the first place and set up the insurance as well. It makes sense that he’d use the company he’s used to dealing with.”

I looked at the three, waiting for more questions.

“Shall I send the next person in?” I asked.

The insurance investigator shook himself, and nodded to the police officer who was looking at him.

“Thank you Mr. Stott,” said the officer. “If you would, please.”

It took most of the morning for them to ‘interview’ everyone.

By the time Mary and Amanda had been seen, I’d showered and dressed, and was browsing the internet on a laptop borrowed from the hotel. I was looking for accommodations, with Jules and Ness looking over my shoulder.

Jules went through and Mary replaced her looking at the properties I was reviewing.

“Ugh,” she said looking at the house I was currently checking out. “It’s yellow.”

“We’re not buying it,” I said. “Only renting.”

“Why do you think,” she asked, “that Dean bought that house, rather than renting it?”

“Because he’s stupidly rich?” I asked. She snorted.

“Well,” she acceded, “Yes. But also think about it. Look at the rental prices for something this size.  You’re talking between two and three thousand a week. If we stayed in that house for two years that’s over three hundred thousand dollars gone.

Whereas if he buys it, we live in it, and after we’re done, the likelihood is that we can sell it again for at least what we paid for it, if not more.

“You’re saying we should buy?” I asked.

“How long is it going to take to rebuild our place,” she asked. “Do we even want to? We could take the money the insurance pays us, clear and sell the plot and buy something nice.”

“I liked that house,” I said, “and I liked the area.”

She nodded. “Me too,” she said. “I’m just saying that’s an option. If we rebuild, since there’s no HOA, we’ll be less restricted with what we can do, as long as we don’t go too crazy.

“I’d have to speak to Dean,” I said. “He’s holding the purse strings.”

“Let’s see what the other girls think first,” she said. “They’ve got to live there too. But, no, not that yellow one.”

While I was browsing the houses I had a thought and picked up my phone again.

“Caleb,” Marcia said. “Long time no hear. How are things?”

“There’s a slight problem with the bathrooms,” I said without preamble. “I was wondering if you could come take a look?”

“Problem?” she said. “What kind of problem?”

“It’s difficult to explain,” I said. “Any chance you could pop by this afternoon and take a quick look?”

“Sure,” she said. “Any time?”

“I’m not home just now,” I said, “but I’ll be there at two?”

“I’ll meet you there then,” she said. “And Caleb, I’m sorry. You wanted good work and it looks like you didn’t get it.”

“Oh I did,” I said. “I don’t think it’s anything you did. It got damaged is all.”

“Oh,” she said. “Okay then. I’ll see you at two.”

By late morning the investigators had gone. It was just about lunchtime, so we went and grabbed some lunch in the hotel restaurant before splitting up to carry out our assigned tasks.

Mary came with me, Sarah went with Amanda and Melanie, while Josh and Louise set out on their own. Louise still had plenty of money left from that which Nana Babi had given her so they would be fine.

“Keep all the receipts,” I said. “The insurance company might need them.”

Jules and Ness set out, Jules looking quite eager. Buying tech was something she loved and I was sure that we would all get horribly over specced laptops that were way more than what any of us needed. But why the hell not?

When we pulled up outside the house we couldn’t even park on the drive. The asphalt there was pitted and bubbled. The grass in the front yard was gone, both burned away by the heat of the fire and also churned up from all the feet that had traipsed over it while they were trying to put out the fire. The place stank. There was furniture dragged out onto the driveway, presumably where they cleared the house. There was a ‘do not enter, unsafe structure’ sign on what used to be the door, but the roof was completely gone, leaving the interior of the house open to the elements.

We made our way around to the back and found that most of the back wall had collapsed. The fence for the first twenty feet from the deck was completely gone, pulled down I thought rather than burned. I wondered idly if the gloryhole had survived. The hot tub hadn’t. It sat on what remained of the deck, blackened and cracked, but still half full of dirty water. There was more furniture in the yard. I saw our huge bed had been dragged out, as had the side table.

I peered through the opening where Gracie’s window had been, and saw her gun safe bolted to the floor as it had been. The outside was scorched and blackened with the control panel completely melted.

I applied my TK to the door, trying to pry it open. I could lift over a hundred thousand pounds, so I doubted that such a small safe would be able to resist. Instead of the door opening, the bolts holding the safe to the floor gave out and it shot up into the air.

I caught it and carried it out of the yard, putting it into the bed of my truck.

I then tried the same on my safe with the same results. The bolts tore free of the wooden floor beams and, once again, I took the safe to my truck.

“Caleb,” I turned to see Alan walking across his yard toward us.

“Are you guys okay?” he asked.

I nodded. “We’re surprisingly good,” I said. “Nobody was hurt which, given what happened, was the best we could have hoped for,”

“But your house,” he said. “All your stuff.”

“Is just stuff,” I said. “It’s actually you guys I feel sorry for.”

“Us?” he said.

I grinned at him.

“I’m not going to be living next door to a building site for the next however long it takes to rebuild,” I told him.

He grimaced. “There is that.”

“Did you guys suffer any damage at all?” I asked.

He shook his head.

“There’s the smell,” he said. “But other than that, the fire department did a really good job of stopping it from spreading.

“Once I get the house cleared and all this stuff moved,” I said, “I’ll pay for a deep clean on your house. If anything needs redecorating then I’ll get that too. It’s the least I can do.”

“That’s kind,” he said. “The house does kind of smell.”

“Let me get onto getting this stuff removed,” I said, “then we’ll see where we’re going from there.”

He nodded. “I’ll let you get back to it,” he said. “I’m sure you have a lot on.”

I thanked him and he went back into his house. As he did, my phone rang.

“Hey, Caleb.” It was Melissa Wragge.

“I’m guessing dinner’s off?” she said. “Or were you planning a barbecue?”

I chuckled. “Ouch,” I said. “Perhaps a little too soon?”

“Sorry,” she said, but sounded anything but. “Dad said everyone was okay?”

“Yeah,” I said. “We’re all fine. Just the house needs a lick of paint is all.”

“I’m glad everyone’s okay” she said. “It goes without saying, if you need anything…”

“Some charcoal for the barbecue?” I asked, “I appear to be all out.”

She laughed. “You are a sick man,” she said. “Bye, Caleb. Give my love to the girls.”

I turned to Mary who was actually talking to Tom Pritchard.

“Hey, Mr. Pritchard,” I said approaching them.

“Tom, please,” he said.

“I wanted to say thanks,” I said, “for moving the cars. It’s just one more thing that we don’t have to deal with.”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t do more,” he said.

“Did you see the guys that did it?” I asked.

He nodded. “Some of them,” he said. “There were five or six of them. They got out of a dark van, I didn’t see any plates. A few went around the back of the house, some others went to the front and, before I knew it, I heard glass smashing and the van drove away.

“Did you recognize anyone?” I asked. He shook his head.

“The police asked me that,” he said. “They were wearing ski masks. One of them took his off as he got back into the van but I only caught a glimpse of his face. I couldn’t tell you more than he was a white guy.”

I gently stole into his mind and took his memory of the event. I wanted to see this ‘white guy’ for myself.

“Oh well,” I said. “Thanks anyway.”

I didn’t look at the memory, wanting to wait until I had time to check it carefully.

We spoke to Tom for a little while longer then made our excuses and walked back across to the house. I looked at my watch. It was five before two. Almost dead on time, I saw Marcia’s truck turn into our road.

I waited for her on the sidewalk next to my car.

“WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED?” she said staring at the burned wreck of what used to be our home.

“I left the oven on,” I said.

She looked at me aghast.

“Someone decided they didn’t like us,” Mary explained. “They threw something in through the windows. Fortunately we were all out at the time.”

“Is everyone okay?” Marcia asked. I nodded.

“We are.” I said. “But as you can see, we have a little work to do. The question is, can you do it?”

“Me?” she asked. “Do what? The site clearance?”

“That,” I said, “and the rebuild.”

She stared at the house.

“If my dad were still here,” she said quietly, “then we’d be able to do it. But I’ve never done a full build on my own before.”

“There’s always a first time,” I said. “Look what happened with Amanda.”

Marcia blushed but grinned.

“Were you thinking about keeping the same footprint?” she asked. I shook my head.

“I want to redesign the interior, and see what I can get away with on the exterior too. I’d like to extend the garage, get three cars in there.” I went on to explain the other changes I had in mind.

“You need an architect to draw up some plans,” she said. “Then you’ll have to apply for the permits. We’re even going to need permits to clear the site. With that kind of fire, we’re probably going to have to dig out the foundations and re-lay them. They will likely be all cracked and the embedded services destroyed.

“I think the gas company came out and capped the gas at the street,” I said.

“I’m not going to be able to do this alone. I’m going to need some help.”

“I know a carpenter that might be up for some work,” I said looking across the road at Tom Pritchard’s house.

“Really?” she said. “The HOA Nazi?”

“I’m giving you first refusal, first on the clearance, and then on the rebuild. It’s yours if you want it, but as before, I only want high quality work. I don’t want to be calling you back again like I just had to.”

She snorted. “You ass,” she said. “I was really worried I’d screwed up.”

“Lets take it one job at a time,” she went on. She walked around the house.

“What are you doing with the fence?” she asked.

“Make it good,” I said. She nodded.

“I need to go crunch some numbers,” she said.

“Remember to include enough for your wage too,” I said. “I’ll know if you don’t”

She grimaced at me. “Bully,” she said and Mary laughed.

Marcia started walking back to her truck.

“Marcia?” shouted Mary and she turned around.

“Maybe get a new tool belt?” said Mary.

Marcia went scarlet but grinned again. “I already did,” she said.

Once we were finished at the house, we made our way back to the hotel. None of the others were back yet, so we went back up to the room to continue to look at houses.

I sighed when I realized that I needed to talk to Dean.

As if he’d felt me thinking about him, my phone rang. It was Dean.

“Hey, Pops,” I said. “How’s you?”

“We’re good,” he said. “But more importantly, how are you guys?”

“Oh you know,” I said, “same old same old.”

Dean laughed. “I’m not sure I could be quite so insouciant in your place.”

“It’s an act,” I said to him honestly. “Inside I’m boiling. I’m going to find out who did it and I’m going to make sure they NEVER even consider messing with us again.”

“And what did Maggie say about that?” he asked.

“She told me not to get caught,” I replied. He hmm’d.

“I’ll add to that,” he said, “don’t kill anyone.”

“I wasn’t planning to,” I said.

“Good,” he said. “Now, the reason I’m ringing. I spoke to Jules earlier and she told me what Mary said about buying against renting, I’m in full agreement. So when you find a place, let me know and I’ll send the money from your account to settle it.

“I’ve already had words with the insurance company and they are going to push through the settlement for your house so you can start the rebuild. You are going to rebuild, aren’t you?”

“We thought we would,” I said. “There was a thought that we could just clear the site and sell the plot, but we’ve kind of grown attached to the neighborhood.”

“So I heard,” he said, “especially one set of neighbors.”

I laughed. “Something like that,” I said.

“I’ve also transferred one hundred thousand into your account for ‘running around money.’” He went on, “That should enable you to settle any up-front expenses before the insurance check arrives. Don’t hesitate to ask if you need more. There is plenty in your account still.”

I considered, just for a moment, asking him how much was actually in the account, but dismissed the thought. I got the distinct impression that there would always be enough, no matter what happened.

“I’ve put twenty in each of the girls’ accounts too, so they can start to get stuff.” I put an extra forty in Jules for her to give to Melanie and Sarah, since I don’t have their bank details. That’s from us though, not from your account.

“Pops,” I started to protest but he just growled down the phone at me. I shut up.

“Thanks, Pops,” I said after a moment. “They’ll be thrilled.”

“I’ve also given Jules ten each for the other four," he continued. "It’s not their fault they chose to live with a trouble magnet like you. They shouldn’t have to suffer because you were dumb.”

“I was,” I said. “It won’t happen again.”

“That’s all we can ask,” he said. “Be careful and, if you need anything, I’m only a call away.”

“Thanks, Pops,” I said again, not having anything more original. “Give my love to Cheryl.”

“She knows,” he said, and disconnected the call.

I turned to Mary who had heard most of the call. There were lots of things that Dean was but quiet wasn’t on the list.

Mary and I continued to look at properties until we’d narrowed the choice down to three we both liked. I’d originally been looking for multiple bedrooms and multiple bathrooms but, as Mary said, we needed three bedrooms. One for us, one for Josh and Louise, and one for Sarah.  Gracie and Dana were looking for a place of their own.

In the end, the properties we’d settled on were either three or four bedroom, one of which being on the same street as Bob’s parents had rented him a house on. I checked, it wasn’t Harold Bleasedale’s old house, but it was only three doors down from Bob’s place. It was a four bedroom, three and a half bathroom, with a two car garage and driveway space for three cars. The backyard was only partially enclosed and there was no deck. I thought this might be a good place to be since it was only ten minutes walk from Campus. That meant we wouldn’t have to drive every day and Sarah didn’t need to get rides in. It was slightly further for Ness but that was not a problem since she had her own car. It was also in a prime area so if we decided to sell, or even rent it out ourselves, it would do very well if we timed the sale right.

The more I thought about that house, the more I liked the idea, with the others fading from my consciousness. I’d almost already decided that that was the one we were going to buy but then my conscience pulled me back. It wasn’t just my decision. The girls had an equal say in where they were going to live, even if it was only temporary. I actually wondered if we’d get our house rebuilt before it was time for me to go to Quantico.

The door of the suite opened and Jules came in, with Ness and two porters carrying boxes. She had bought laptops for everyone, all very high specification, but not all the same. The porters set their burdens down where Jules indicated and she palmed them a tip like she’d been doing it all her life. They left looking pleased.

“Did you speak to daddy?” asked Jules. I nodded.

“He told me the arrangements,” I said.

“And he hardly even complained,” said Mary.

Jules grinned at me. “Nice to see you’re learning,” she said. Then she picked up a laptop box and a bag. “These are yours.”

Inside, the laptop had even better specs than the one I’d had previously. That one had been a very good one, bought for me for me by my girls. In the bag was a laptop bag, a number of other peripherals, a couple of phone chargers, USB sticks, and a good amount of ancillary items.

“That one’s for you,” she said to Mary pointing out a box and bag, “And Amanda’s,” pointing to another box and bag.

“She identified all of the other devices and pulled out a post-it note pad from her pocket. She labelled each box and bag with the person’s name.

“The only person I didn’t get one for was Gracie,” she said. “Her’s was a bureau one and they’ll provide a replacement. She didn’t have one of her own. I got her a tablet and some chargers though. I think she had one of those.”

“I also bought a couple of games consoles, since Melanie and Sarah need to train, and a couple of copies of Wolfenstein.”

Ness giggled. “The sales assistant thought all of his Christmases had come at once,” she said. “He damn near wet himself when Jules told him what she wanted.”

“I’ll bet he hits his targets this month,” I said with wry amusement.

“Come look at the houses we’ve narrowed it down to,” said Mary.

“We’re buying then?” asked Ness looking at me.

“Apparently,” I said. “It appears Mary, Jules, and Pops thrashed that detail out between them.”

Mary grinned at me unabashed. “You know it makes sense,” she said.

I was pleased when both girls, without any prompting from either Mary or myself preferred the house on Bob’s street.

“Just think,” said Jules. “That ass walking by every day…”

I shook my head.

“She’s Bob’s girl,” I said.

“Weren’t you paying attention at your birthday party?” asked Mary. “She was all over you.”

“I don’t want to ruin what they have,” I said.

“Bob seemed fine with it,” Jules said, “which surprised me too. But perhaps talk to him about it?”

“He’s worried,” said Ness.

“Damn right I am. I don’t want to spoil their relationship.” I replied.

“Not that,” said Ness.

“What then?” said Mary.

“Ever since he’s known her,” Ness explained. “She’s been his idol. She’s is the perfect ass. We know how much he loves our asses, but hers is just that little bit more special. Now, what happens when he finally gets to see it in all it’s glory and it doesn’t measure up? Maybe it’s a bit saggy without the painted on jeans, or maybe she has a pimple. Illusion shattered.”

All the girls laughed, but Mary looked at me with a calculating expression.

“Sometimes,” she said, “things don’t live up to your expectations. That’s part of life.”

“I’m not sure I could take the disappointment,” I said deciding to lean into the joke rather than protest. I did wonder to myself, though, how close to the mark had Ness been?

I turned to look as the door opened again. Amanda, Melanie, and Sarah came in, laden with bags, and followed by two porters each pushing a luggage cart also laden with bags.

“Wow,” I said. “Did you leave anything in the store?”

Amanda grinned at me. “I’ve never had so much fun,” she said. “Almost as good as my Rodeo Drive illusion.”

Sarah looked at her, a look of confusion on her face.

“I’ll explain later,” I said.

The bags were sorted into piles. They’d bought for all of us, but left Josh, Louise, Gracie, and Dana to shop for themselves. I suspected that, once they found out they had some extra money to spend, they’d go shopping again.

“Girls,” said Jules. “I need your bank details, Daddy has sent a little money for you to help you get started until the insurance comes through.”

Melanie looked at me.

“I have money,” she said.

“Don’t argue,” I said. “It’s not worth it. Just nod,  smile, and say thank you. Its easier in the long run. Everyone got some, not just you.”

Sarah and Melanie gave Jules their bank details, and were both amazed when she transferred twenty thousand dollars into each of their accounts.

Sarah sat on the end of the bed, staring at her phone.

“Twenty thousand dollars?” she said hesitantly. “Is that right? You didn’t make a mistake?”

Jules went and sat beside her, putting her arm around her gently.

“No mistake, baby girl,” she said. “You’re in our family now. There may be some things we need to worry about, but money isn’t one of them.”

“Tell your Daddy thank you,” she said, tears in her eyes.

“You can tell him when you see him,” Jules said. “I’m sure we’ll be going up there over the break. Now, did you re-order your books?”

Melanie and Sarah both nodded. “Mr. Briar said he’d deliver the ones they have in stock later today. He could see how much stuff we had and I could barely fit in the car.” Sarah said. “There are a couple he’s going to have to order again, but I don’t need them for Monday.”

“You will need this though,” said Jules, pointing at Sarah’s and then Melanie’s pile of tech. “Get everything loaded up. If you need help connecting to your cloud, let me know and I’ll get you sorted.

The room was starting to look a real mess. There was packaging, bags, and boxes everywhere. We decided to unpack enough clothes for a few days, and then piled all the detritus into the other room. I was going to call down and get someone to clear it but Mary suggested we wait for the others to arrive back, since they would have stuff to unpack too.

Josh and Louise were first. They’d bought a lot less than my girls. Josh, in particular, did not have a lot to spend and he did not want to take money from Louise. They were actually arguing when they arrived back.

“Caleb,” she said in exasperation. “Tell this numb nuts that I want to buy him stuff, and that the money I have is not just for me but for both of us.”

“Well,” said Jules, “before you go down that road, Daddy sent you a few dollars to help tide you over. Can you give me your bank details please?”

Josh looked like he might refuse, but Louise gave Jules both her’s and Josh’s bank details. They each knew each others since, prior to Louise coming into her money from Nana Babi, they’d often helped each other out.

Josh goggled at his phone when he saw ten thousand dollars suddenly appear in his bank.

He looked at Jules.

“I can’t..” he began.

“Are you going to tell Dean?” I asked him. Josh had liked Dean a lot, but for some reason Dean had made him more than a little nervous.

He shook his head.

“Then the next time you see him,” I replied, “Say thanks, and move on.”

Now we had everyone together, we discussed the houses we’d decided on. Almost unanimously the house on Bob’s street was the first choice. The only person who’d vacillated between that house and another had been Melanie, although her attraction to the other house seemed to be purely about the décor in one of the rooms.

“We can decorate it however we like,” I said. “If that’s the only thing?”

She nodded.

“It will be really great to be that close to campus,” she said. “It will be a nice walk in the summer and we’ll be surrounded by other students as well.”

“Not to mention,” I said, “being significantly closer to Arnie’s house.”

Sarah sat up straighter when I said that. “Really?” she said.

“Yep,” I said. “Walking distance now.”

She grinned.

When Gracie and Dana arrived in our room, once again Jules handed out the tech gifts.

“I didn’t get you a laptop,” she told Gracie. “I thought the bureau would replace yours with a super duper encrypted one.”

“Something like that,” Gracie said looking in the bag and seeing the tablet and other tech Jules had got for her.

“How much do I owe you?” she asked. Jules looked offended.

“Nothing,” she said. “And I also have something for you from Daddy.”

Jules gave Dana her money, and she was suitably stunned and impressed. Gracie, however, refused hers.

“I can’t” she said. “Ten thousand dollars suddenly turning up in my account would raise all kinds of red flags with the bureau.”

“Surely Dianna or Maggie could smooth that over?” I asked.

“It’s not worth the risk,” said Gracie. “Thank you, though.”

“Okay,” said Jules and transferred Gracie’s ten thousand into Dana’s account.

Gracie gave Jules a flat look.

“That’s underhanded,” she said.

Jules just grinned at her.

“How did your house hunting go?” I asked them, mostly to change the subject.

“We have a couple of places to look at tomorrow,” said Dana. “Both are nearer to Campus, although they are both apartments rather than houses. We can’t really afford a house now.”

I could have offered to help out, but I sensed that they didn’t want that. They wanted to move on and stand on their own. Gracie would probably be bearing most of the burden financially at least until Dana finished school and got a job. After that, things would smooth out.

It was only going to be another nine or ten months. Dana had an extra twenty thousand in her bank now and I was sure they’d be fine.

“How about you?” asked Gracie, going back to the conversation about house hunting.

“We’ve seen one we want to go look at,” I said. “I’ve emailed the realtor and am waiting for them to get back to me. Until then, we sit tight here. Dean’s told me that he’s had words with the insurance company, and they are going to…”

There was a knock on the door.

I opened it to find a man in a smart suit.

“Good afternoon,” he said. “My name is Gregory Pick. I’m a loss adjustor with the insurance company.”

“Hi,” I said. “Do you normally work Saturdays?” I asked.

He smiled at me. “Only for our most valued clients,” he said.

I shrugged.

“I have some forms for you,” he said. “And I need to ask you to make a list of all the personal possessions you lost in the house. Don’t include fixtures and fittings unless there was something particularly valuable. As an example, we have a set value for kitchen equipment, but if you had anything special, maybe some chef’s knives, or…”

He looked at me strangely. I’d just realized that my knives, and probably the ones I’d bought for Ness, had both gone up with the house. They would likely be completely trashed.

“Is something the matter?” he asked.

“You just reminded me of something I lost in the fire,” I said.

“I’m so sorry,” he commiserated. “It’s a difficult time, I know. Money can replace almost anything but there are some things than simple money cannot replace. As an aide memoire, I would suggest thinking about each room of the house and trying to remember what was in there. Once you have your list, if you can email it to me, then we can do the adjustment, and I’ll send you a figure with regards to the personal possessions part of the claim. The rebuilding of the house will be dealt with by another department. They will be in touch with an offer figure in the next couple of weeks, I have no doubt.

“Thank you,” I said as he stood to leave. Obviously, he didn’t like working on a Saturday and wanted to get away as quickly as possible. I didn’t try to delay him. He left the forms, all of which were paper copies of forms that we could fill out online.

He’d been in the room less than twenty minutes.

We all sat, looking at the door he’d exited.

“Well, that was quick,” said Dana.

“I think he had somewhere to be,” I said. She smiled at me.

“How about,” I said, “we go and find something to eat?”

The hotel restaurant was good, if a little on the pricey side. It shouldn’t have surprised me, given that this was a five star hotel and the rooms somewhere between six hundred and a thousand per night. I didn’t complain and simply charged the bill to our room. I’d settle it when we left. I wasn’t expecting to be here long, although I’d been a little disappointed not to have heard from the realtor yet.

After we’d eaten, Josh, Louise, Gracie, and Dana each took themselves back to their rooms leaving the rest of us to make our way back to our suites.

It wasn’t exactly early, but nor was it late, being just after nine. I decided to review the memory I’d taken from Tom and see if I could make out any details that could give me a clue as to the identity of the people responsible.

I saw Tom looking out of his window, seeing a strange van pulling up outside our house. The passenger door and the side door at the back opened and six men piled out. They all wore dark clothes and ski masks. Tom immediately called 911, I could hear the phone ringing as he watched  the people approach the house, some of them making their way around the back. He turned the light off in his room so he wouldn’t be seen watching through the window and continued to observe.

“911, what’s the nature of your emergency.” The operator asked.

“There are six masked men, attacking my neighbours house,” Tom told the operator.

“Are they armed?” she asked.

“Not that I can see,” he said. Suddenly, even through his closed window, he heard a crash. Someone had thrown something through the front window. He opened his mouth to tell the operator that. That is when he saw the flash from within the house and flames began to show in the window.

“They’re setting fire to the house,” he said.

“Whats the address?” asked the operator, as another crash and another flash signalled further attacks.

He gave her the address.

“We have Police,  and Fire and Rescue on the way.” She said. “Do you know if the house is currently occupied?”

“I don’t think so,” he said. “I’m fairly sure I saw them all go out earlier but there are something like eleven people living there, so I can’t be certain.”

As he finished talking, the men that had been around the back, reappeared and climbed back into the van. The ones who’d attacked the front of the house also climbed into the back of the van, closing the side door. The last man got into the passenger seat and took off his ski mask as the driver gunned the engine and pulled away. I caught a glimpse of his face. I’d go back and examine that in a moment. I wanted to watch what happened next.

Tom followed the van with his eyes hoping to get a plate, but it was covered with something. He assumed that they’d stop somewhere close and remove the covering to prevent getting pulled over by a random traffic cop. Then he looked back at the house.

Already flames were gushing from all of the visible windows. He ran out of his house, grabbing a hammer from his toolset as he did, and rushed across the street. He knew he’d not be able to get through the front door, he’d made sure it was stronger than that, nor would he be able to get in through the windows. He hoped against hope that there was nobody inside.

Instead, he approached the cars and, starting with Ness’, smashed the drivers side window. He leaned in to release the parking brake and the transmission. Since our drive was on a bit of a slope, the car immediately started to roll back. He assisted it, allowing it to roll onto and then across the road until it mounted the sidewalk in front of his drive. He set the parking brake and went back for Gracie’s car.

Alan had come out of his house by now and he helped Tom to move Gracie’s car, which was heavier than Ness’.

Then they stood, in silence, side by side, watching our house burn. It seemed like an age before the first patrol car arrived. Shortly after, the first of the fire trucks turned up and they moved in and started to fight the fire.

I stopped watching as the second truck arrived, knowing that we were only a few minutes behind, having been passed on the road by that truck as we were on our way home.

Mary and Amanda were watching me.

“Can we see?” they asked. That caused the other girls to look up from where they had been following their own pursuits, mostly setting up their new laptops.

I shared the memory with all of them.

“Bastards,” said Mary. “They didn’t even check to see if anyone was inside.”

I nodded grimly.

I went back to the part of the memory where the guy in the passenger seat had taken off his ski mask. It was only a glimpse, but something told me that I’d seen his face before. Recently.

Then it hit me. I knew who he was.