Page 39 of The Sweet Spot
The look on Chris’s face surely mirrors mine.That’s impossible.
I call Dawn to tell her about the fire and ask if she can come stay with Granny.
“Of course!” she says. “I’ll be right there.” Hardly two minutes later, there’s a knock at the door. When I open it, Dawn rushes in, breathless.
I pull her into my arms for a hug. “I can’t thank you enough!”
She gestures at the door. “You two, go. I’ve got everything covered here.”
“Your sling!” I remind Chris.
He waves me forward. “There’s no time for that. We need to go.”
I drive us the two blocks to the diner. Two cruisers with lights flashing are parked behind the building.
“Park over there on the side street,” Chris says. “The firetrucks will need to get close.”
As we approach the rear of the building, a firetruck pulls in and comes to a stop. Firefighters jump out and begin donning the rest of their protective gear.
From where we’re standing, flames are visible through my office window, and the back door is blocked by a deputy. “Go around to the front,” he yells at us over the commotion. “This way isn’t safe.”
Chris and I round the block to the front of the shopping center, where a small crowd of onlookers has gathered in front of the diner. They’re peering through the front windows as they try to see what’s going on. Robert is standing out front. When I spot him, I rush to him and wrap my arms around his waist.
Robert hugs me back. “I’m so sorry, Jennie.” He coughs again, probably because his throat is irritated by the smoke. “I didn’t see or hear a thing until the smoke alarms went off. As soon as I heard them, I searched for the source of the smoke, and when I opened your office door, I saw the flames. There was no way I could put it out with a fire extinguisher. Not on my own. It was already too involved. It’s arson, honey. It has to be. Your desk was on fire, nothing else.”
The diner door opens, and Deputy Stephens comes out. “Hey, boss,” he says to Chris. “They’re putting the fire out now. It’s nearly extinguished.”
“How extensive is the damage?” Chris asks the deputy.
“Jennie’s desk and computer are destroyed. The whole thing was engulfed in flames when I arrived.”
“Was there anything flammable on your desk?” Chris asks me.
I shake my head. “No. Nothing that would spark a fire. Just my computer, some notepads, pens, a stapler, and a landline. Some picture frames. That’s it.”
“We need to look at security camera footage,” Chris says to Officer Stephens. Then he turns to me. “Obviously, your computer’s no use now. Can you access the footage from your phone?”
“Yes!” I can’t believe I hadn’t already thought of that. I pull up the security app on my phone and look at this morning’s recordings.
We see video of Robert arriving at six, as he always does. Then, at six-fifteen, someone dressed in black, their face obscured by a black ski mask, walks up to the camera at the rear entrance and smashes it with a hammer. The same thing happens to the camera positioned in the hallway right outside my office door.
“Someone did this on purpose?” I ask. It’s a rhetorical question, obviously, because the proof is staring me in the face. I just can’t believe it.
A few minutes later, the white-haired fire chief walks through the dining room and joins us out front. “Fire’s out,” he says in a gruff voice. “The desk and chair are destroyed, and the floor underneath is scorched. There’s soot on the ceiling and plenty of smoke damage. My best guess, from what I can see, is the fire started in the trashcan beside the desk. We found an empty gas can on the floor nearby.” The man frowns. “I’m sorry, ma’am. The fire inspector is on his way.”
A wave of dizziness hits me, and my knees practically buckle. Chris catches me with his good arm and eases me down on the sidewalk. “Sit right here, sweetheart. I’m going inside to take a look at your office.”
Just as Chris and the fire chief head inside, Maggie, Ruth, and Jack appear on the sidewalk.
“Jack and I checked the police scanner as soon as we heard the sirens,” Ruth says.
Maggie crouches down beside me. “Ruth called me, and I came as soon as I could. Was there anyone inside?”
“Robert was the only one in the building at the time, and he’s fine,” I say. My head is still reeling from the fire chief’s initial assessment. “The fire started in my office. It looks like arson.”
Jack’s customary dark expression darkens even more, if that’s possible. “Where’s Chris?”
“Inside with the fire chief. He wanted to see my office.”
