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When she stepped away from her car, he slammed the door shut. Her gaze remained on the front of her home. She’d loved that house. Loved the big azalea bushes on either side of the porch. Loved the giant oak near the slightly jagged sidewalk.
“And, yes, cross-reference everything. See if any names from New Orleans happen to pop up at any of the stations here in Savannah. Though, hell, we all know how easy it is to change a name.” He hummed. “Maybe we need to get physical descriptions of the firefighters and compare those.”
As she started to advance toward the house, Beau moved in perfect time with her.
“What do you mean, I’m asking for a miracle?” His voice rose. “I will pay for the miracle. Name the price. Ophelia knows I’m good for it, and so do you. Yes, yes, dammit, I get that firefighters are the good guys. But what if one isn’t so good? Think about it. Think about my blaze at LeBlanc’s. Everything was calm. And then—with all the firefighters right there, all the masks covering them—hell came calling.”
She heard Lane blast out a retort to Beau’s words, but she couldn’t quite make out what he was saying.
Avalon crept up the porch.
Beau’s hand flew out and curled around her wrist. One hand on her. One hand around the phone that still pressed to his ear. “Here’s an idea,” he spoke quickly into the phone even as he held her. “I bet they have old pics of the station crews over in New Orleans. Get the pics. Get someone to email you the ones from—” He broke off. “Yeah, buddy, I get how long it has been, and, again, I’ll pay for the miracle. If we can get names, if we can get photos, we might be able to get him. I will pay anything to bury him.”
She tugged her arm.
He didn’t let her go.
“Thank you,” he groused into the phone.
Her head turned. Her gaze met his.
“Hell, yes, I’m watching her. Got my eyes on her right now.”
He actually wore sunglasses, so she couldn’t see his eyes, but she felt his stare.
“Yes, I was with her at the prison.” A pause. “No, I don’t know how the hell that scene went down in the yard. I want to talk to Moses when he’s off his shift and see what he’s heard. My gut is telling me someone ordered a hit on Everett. Someone with enough pull to get multiple inmates to attack. I swear, it feels like a gang hit to me.”
And Beau would know about that. A shiver skirted down her body.
“Everett knew the identity of the arsonist. And the arsonist got too scared that Everett would give him up. So he sped up the SOB’s execution date.”
The wind blew against her, but it didn’t feel so hot any longer.
“We’re checking her house. No, no, it’s not a B&E if it’s her house. What am I? A criminal? Uh, huh. Right. Look, I’ve got to go. Call me when you know more. And, man? Thanks. Thanks to you and Ophelia.” He hung up. Shoved the phone in the back pocket of his jeans.
How to phrase this delicately? “You’re being very optimistic to think that they will be able to turn up records from so long ago.”
“I’m an optimistic kind of guy.”
Her brows lifted. Since when?
“Lane and Ophelia already talked to the arson investigators who were in charge back then. They have contacts. One of their contacts can get them the information that they need. And if the current contacts don’t work, Lane and Ophelia are resourceful. I trust them to uncover what we need by other means.”
She realized he meant that. Total faith. “They’re your friends.”
“Damn straight.”
“And so is Royal.”
“Right. And if you can’t get your friends to break the law and help you catch a killer, then who can you count on?”
Avalon shook her head. “Beau…”
“Let me go in first. Could be dangerous in there. Don’t know if the fire did any structural damage. As soon as possible, I want a construction crew out here. I will have your house built back so well that you’ll never know this happened. I swear it.” He took off his sunglasses and hung them on his shirt. Beau brushed past her, ducked under the yellow tape, and made his way onto the porch. “The front door is still broken. What is this shit? Couldn’t the cops at least patch it up? Anyone could get inside, at any time.”
Not so reassuring.
She slipped under the tape, too. Avalon followed him inside the house. And, at first, things weren’t bad at all. The foyer looked mostly normal. Sure, the chandelier was covered in soot and there was a heavy, smoke smell in the air but…
