Page 53 of Burn for Me
“Please, call me Gwen. It’s lovely to meet you, dear. I just wish it was under better circumstances.”
The older ladies sat talking quietly as they waited for news on Kitty’s condition. Morgan sat silently. Gray went back to his pacing. After what felt like an eternity, the doctor finally came to talk to Elenore.
“Mrs Spence, Gray.” The doctor nodded at Morgan and her mother. “Kitty has been incredibly lucky. It was a bit touch and go for a while. Her blood pressure was dangerously low due to shock and blood loss. But thankfully, the bullet passed straight through, missing all major organs. She’ll be fine. She just needs to heal.”
“Oh, thank goodness,” Elenore expressed. “Thank you, Dr Russo.”
“Can we see her?” Gray asked.
“She’s in recovery at the moment. But she’ll be going up to the ward in a little while. I’ll leave word with the nursing staff to expect you.”
“Thanks, doc.”
* * *
The room reeked.It was starting to make Archie feel a little lightheaded as he inhaled the mix of chemical fumes in with each breath. He’d gone through Kitty’s cleaning cupboard for anything he could find that might burn before liberally spreading it around her living room.
Now he was seated on the sofa, messaging his mother for the last time.
Mother, the key to my apartment is hidden in the purple pot plant by the welcome mat. Please take good care of my beloved plants. I love you.
Looking around the room, he finally made his decision. Walking over to the curtains, he reached out and lit the barbeque lighter he’d found next to the candles in the cleaning cupboard. He watched, complete detached, as flames began to lick up the outer edge of the curtain.
When the flame burned, strong and bright, he moved over to the sofa he’d been sitting on. Repeating the same process as with the curtains, Archie watched as the sofa, too, began to smoulder then burn. One-by-one, he went around the room lighting the other chairs and soft furnishings, until the room filled with smoke.
The stench of the chemicals and burning fabrics of different kinds were starting to make him feel quite ill. Sinking to his knees on the carpet, beside the coffee table, Archie began to rock. It soothed him. Blanking his mind of all thought, he waited for the flames to consume him. So he could join his Kitty.
* * *
A meetingbetween the fire department and the police department had been held to go over the events that had taken place in Kitty’s apartment that had ended in Archie torching both it and himself.
Captain Fourie had been placed in charge of the criminal investigation, while Gray had been assigned the task of assisting him and investigating the fire itself. They needed to confirm that it had, indeed, been Archie who had started it. And whether Lee had been working alone or if Archie had been helping her.
Now, standing before Archie’s front door, his distraught mother waited with the key to let them in, Gray felt on edge. He didn’t know what would be waiting for them on the inside, and it had him on high alert.
He’d requested that Kyle be allowed to assist him on this one, and his friend stood at his back. He trusted the man with his life. Not to mention, he had a pretty sharp eye for detail too. Between them, they wouldn’t miss a thing.
Feeling eyes on him, Gray looked up to seeing Fourie looking at him. An assessing gaze, as if he knew what was going through his thoughts in that moment.
“You ready, Gray?” Fourie asked.
“Yeah. About as ready as I’m ever going to be. Let’s do this.”
He watched Fourie turn to Archie’s mother and ask her to open the door in a gentle voice. The captain was a tough, seasoned veteran of the police service, but it seemed he still had it in him to be gentle when required.
Gray felt his body brace as the front door swung open. Not sure what he’d been expecting, he relaxed a tiny bit when nothing untoward happened. Turning to Kyle, he spoke quietly.
“When we go in, stay sharp. We have no idea what’s waiting for us on the inside. Be careful in there, yeah?”
“Got you,” Kyle replied, equally as quietly.
Fourie and the two officers he’d brought with him entered, scouting the room as they went. Gray and Kyle waited to be given the go-ahead. Seeing Fourie nod, they stepped into a pristine, sparsely furnished living room. There was nothing in the room to indicate that it had been someone’s home. It looked more like a budget motel room.
Following Fourie and his men down the hallway, the rest of the rooms yielded more of the same. Open doors had shown bland, impersonal rooms that looked like no one had ever lived there. With the exception of one door that was closed. And, upon closer inspection, was locked.
Once again, Gray saw Fourie turn to Archie’s mother. A short discussion ensued, with the woman looking more and more agitated. He saw her shake her head repeatedly. From where he stood, he couldn’t hear the quiet words Fourie spoke to the woman, but he saw her shoulders droop in defeat.
She turned and went back into the main bedroom, returning with a key in her hand. Giving Fourie a last imploring look, she inserted the key into the lock. Standing back for them to enter, fear was stamped all over her posture, hands wringing in clear agitation. And then Fourie opened the door.
