Page 85 of Rafe: Sins of the Father

“Security cameras. You got any?”

“Yes, yes. It’s stored on the cloud. I can pull them up in my study at the house.” But he makes no move to do so.

I step in to take control. “Raymond, why don’t you take Tori up to the house? See if you can help your father find them, dear.”

“Who reported the fire?” Tori asks.

“Ed did. Saw it when he drove up. If he hadn’t woken us up…” Raymond trails off.

“Ed? Where is he?” She glances around. “There he is, sitting on his car’s hood.” She motions him over.

“Yes, Miss Sawyer?”

“You’re the one who discovered the fire, right?”

“Yes, ma’am. Almost caught the guy who set it.”

“You saw him?” I snap.

“Yep. Plain as day. He was dressed in black leather and had one of them wraparound helmets, covered his whole head. He was riding a black street bike.”

“Are you saying a biker did this?” Raymond snaps.

“Yes, sir, Mr. Sawyer.”

I see my advantage. “How many of the employees ride motorcycles?”

“Only one, sir. Rafe.”

I study Tori’s reaction. She shakes her head vehemently.

“It wasn’t Rafe.”

“Of course it was him, darling. He’s the only one it could be.”

The sound of a motorcycle approaching turns all our heads.

“Ah, the man of the hour,” I mutter.

“It was arson, Tori. That son-of-a-bitch set my mill on fire.” Raymond jabs a finger toward Rafe as he dismounts and jogs over to Tori.

He takes her arms. “My God, are you okay, babe? What happened?”

“I’m fine. The fire department was already here when I arrived.”

“What happened? Like you don’t know.” Raymond jabs a finger into Rafe’s chest. “You burned down my mill.”

“What?” Rafe snaps.

“That’s not true, Daddy.”

“How would you know? He’s a criminal. He was caught red-handed. I’m sure I have it all on tape up at the house.”

“He didn’t do it, Daddy, because he wasn’t at the mill last night.”

“How do you know that?”

Tori looks nervous and uncomfortable, but then her chin lifts proudly, and her back goes ramrod straight. “I wasn’t at Cynthia’s. I lied to you about that. I was with Rafe at his house. The entire night.”

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