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Shutting his eyes, his features grew taut. My panic sharpened, its nails dragging down my spine, bumping over every knobby bone on the way down.
“Sebastian?”
His lids cut open, and those warm green eyes had turned remote. “It’s a nice idea, Charlie, but do you understand what a massive undertaking that is? It’s a hundred years old. You’d have to sink tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars to restore it.”
I backed up another step, and our hands fell away from each other. “I know that, but it’s my home, Sebastian. Why don’t you get that? It’s the most important thing in my life.” My voice cracked on the last word.
Those cold, remote eyes bore into mine. A moment before he spoke the words, I felt his rejection bubble up. “I’m sorry, but I can’t accept your offer.”
My breaths were made of broken glass. They cut my throat and lungs and lips. I clenched my fists. “Why not? Do you want more money? Name your price.”
The remoteness cracked. His voice was pleading. “Charlie, please try to understand.”
“Understand? What am I supposed to understand?”
“I can’t. Just—just give me some time. I just need time.”
“Time for what?”
When he didn’t answer, my jaw firmed. There was some chasm between us that hadn’t been there an hour ago. I stiffened my chin. “Fine, then as the official heritage officer, I’ll stop you. You’ll never get the approval to tear it down.”
His eyes closed. Defeat. “Charlie…”
“What? Maybe it’s not Ford’s Theater or a landmark building that has great revenue potential, but it’s my home. It’s a historic house, and it’s my job to protect it.”
When he spoke, his voice was soft and gentle. I would have preferred anything but gentle. “I respect what you’re trying to do, truly. But the house isn’t heritage-listed. There’s nothing you can do.”
Confusion felt like a thousand pins piercing my skin all over. “What are you talking about?”
“You have no say in what happens to that house, Charlie. It’s not up to you.”
My breaths were coming fast and sharp. I shook my head. “You’re wrong!”
“I’m not. The demolition permit came through this week. But just give me some time. I just need to figure—” He reached for me, but I flinched back, my heart beating unsteadily.
Then a wailing alarm rent the air, piercing my eardrums as if keeping me from hearing another hurtful thing.
I glanced up as black, foul-smelling sludge came spluttering out of the sprinklers in the ceiling, and I shrieked.
“Fire! Fire!” Sebastian hollered, panic-stricken. “We have to get to the exit. Now!” His hand closed over my wrist before he tugged me out of the theater and down into the chaos beyond.
A fire? How could all my hopes go up in flames in an instant? How could this place burn after I poured my heart and soul into saving it? Maybe this was part of Sebastian’s diabolical plan. String me along just to snatch it all away. Burn it to the ground.
Ripping myself out of his grasp, I flew into the mass of people stampeding for the exit and ignored the sound of him calling my name. The spray had gone from black to brown and was slowly becoming clear. The putrid stench spread throughout the lobby. I bumped someone’s shoulder pushing my way through the madness and picked up my skirt as I ran across a clear patch of tile toward the exit, nearly slipping on the slick floors and getting myself trampled.
Then I felt the sharp bite of nails gripping my arm and turned toward a wide-eyed Abigail. “There you are. I’ve been looking all over for you. I need to talk to you.” Her hair was plastered to her head with a substance that belonged in a biology lab’s petri dish.
“Not now. There’s a fire! We need to get out of here.” My voice hitched on the last word at the thought of everything I loved being destroyed.
“There’s no fire,” she said in a low voice. Grim-faced, Abigail towed me out of there.
“What?” A puff of humid Virginia air hit my face and caused the beads of sweat on my brow to double in size.
“I pulled the fire alarm. I needed to get you away from him.”
Oh, Abigail. No friend would ever be as loyal or as impulsive. I let her tow me along the sidewalk as my throat clenched. “You heard what he told me?”
She frowned. “What did he tell you?”
