“Keep the Emporium closed today.”
“I have rent to pay. I can’t stay closed.”
“No. You need to,” Calvin responded. “Because someone is singling you out. The first note was vandalism. The second was trespassing, the third was attempted murder. I don’t want you alone in places where this person knows to find you.”
Fuck me, this wasn’t exactly easy to argue against.
“What am I supposed to do, then?” I asked. “Hire a tough guy named Bubba to be my muscle?”
“Lay low. Stay with your father,” Calvin said.
“Calvin—”
“I said not to argue.”
“And I said I couldn’t promise that.”
Calvin frowned. “If I could afford to stay with you instead, I would. But I’m on this case now, and I want to solve it fast. And I’ll be able to focus if I know you are somewhere safe. Please do this for me.”
I huffed and slumped in the chair, staring at the ceiling. “God, you do such a good guilt trip. If you weren’t so cute, I’d ignore you.”
“Glad to hear my freckles have such sway.”
I snorted and looked back at Calvin. “You’ve been hanging around me too much.”
“Probably.”
I smiled. “Can I go, then, Detective? Or do I need someone to walk me home?”
Calvin sat up and pulled his wallet from his back pocket. He took out a few bills and handed them over. “Take a cab back.”
“I have money.”
“Seb—”
“Fine. Fine, fine.” I took the money and shoved it into my coat pocket. “I’m just going to use it to buy cupcakes and whiskey, though. You can find me at Pop’s between the hours of now and forever. I’ll be drunk under a blanket, watching television.”
“Atta boy.”
I DIDhail a cab, but I had the guy drive to my street instead. Or as close as he could, considering the number of vehicles and people and roped off areas. I paid him and climbed out. I walked through the crowds that gathered to watch as the fire department finished dousing the remains of my building with water, while others combed through the debris.
I stopped at the line of tape that kept civilians at a safe distance. There was no structure left. The entire building had collapsed into a pile of dark rubble. It was surreal as hell.
“Did everyone make it out?” someone asked from behind me.
“I don’t know,” a second said.
“Oh, I heard on the news this morning that some bodies were found,” a third voice chimed in.
“How awful,” the first answered.
I felt my stomach roll. Whether I was friendly with my neighbors, or even knew their names, wasn’t the point. Someone had made a threat and attack against me, and others had suffered as a result.
Others had died.
Not me.
I dug my fingers into my palms, nails biting the flesh. It made me angry. Really,reallyfucking angry. But like how I dealt with the rest of life’s curveballs, I took a breath. Because lashing out blindly wasn’t going to do shit. But finding out who did this? Sending them to jail where they belonged? Giving closure to the families, like Calvin did for his cold cases?
