Thank God he’d kept the car at the end of the driveway. The flames were intense by the time they made it to the vehicle, and for a moment, they sat in their seats, staring at the fire through the windshield. Black smoke poured out of the windows of the house, orange flames licking the roof, too bright to see against the sun without squinting.
The cursing had stopped, replaced by heaving breathing from both of them, which was ridiculous because he was the one who’d done all the running; she’d just clung to him like a sloth or a koala or some sort of other adorable but awful animal.
“Police,” Ginny panted, “will be here soon.”
Shepherd dug his key out of his pocket, having to stretch out his legs awkwardly in the car to do so. “And that guy’s boss. And that guy—don’t forget him! He still could be a threat.”
She wiped her palm across her forehead, ran it down to her neck. “What? What’s he gonna do, Shepherd? Have his ghost light us on fire?”
“He could still be alive!” Shepherd threw the car into reverse, tires spinning pointlessly on loose gravel when he pushed the gas too hard. The tires found purchase, and he started driving, not caring which direction. When he looked over at his companion, she was tapping her fingers against her face.
“OK,” she said. “OK, let’s say he survived the absolute braining you gave him.”
Shepherd’s right eye twitched.
“Did you see him escape the explosion?”
“Just because I didn’t see it doesn’t mean it didn’t happen!”
A phone started ringing—that old-style ring that, for some reason, only the elderly and Shepherd used. Ginny smackedhim in the arm, and even though it didn’t hurt, he said, “Ow!” as he maneuvered to remove the ringing phone from his back pocket.
“You left your phone on?”
“Shh!” Shepherd held the screen in front of her face. “It’s my daughter!”
The look Ginny gave him was murderous.You would know, said a voice that sounded a lot like his own. He ignored them both, cleared his throat, and answered.
“Hi, Lex. What’s up?”
“Hi, Dad!” Lex chirped, oddly friendly. She was never that upbeat unless she wanted something.
“What do you want?” he asked.
“Weeellllll,” she said. “I want to spend the night at Chloe’s house.”
Shepherd focused on the road in front of him. The GPS indicated he had a right turn coming up soon, and he was sure he would miss it and then be caught by the fire department as their lead arson suspect. But that was ridiculous, as the flames were still raging. They wouldn’t be looking for him any time soon, or at all.
“You’re with your mom tonight, Lex. That’s not my call to make.”
“Yeah, but she won’t let me sleep over at Chloe’s house anymore because she says I come home smelling like cigarettes when I do. It’s not Chloe’s fault her parents smoke. Besides, at least they are still married.”
Shepherd huffed and made his turn. “So what do you want, Alexis?”
“Can I spend the night at Chloe’s house this weekend?”
“Instead of with me, you mean?” It was Shepherd who said it, but, boy, did the voice sound a lot like his mother’s! Swallowing that down, he added, “Make sure her parents are OK with it and send me their details. I’ll have to meet them and see the house first.”
“Thank you, Dad! You’re the best, and I really do mean that this time, and I’m not just saying it because you always cave and give me exactly what I want!”
A line of cop cars raced by, cruising at top speeds in the opposite direction, followed by two fire trucks and an ambulance.
Shepherd found the sight of them robbed him of his ability to lie to his daughter.
“I love you,” he said, because at least that was true. “I’m busy right now and will have to call you back.”
“Bye,” was all Lex said before hanging up.
Ginny, who had been quiet throughout the minute-and-a-half-long phone call, positively erupted the moment the phone was off. “Are you an idiot?”
