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Dougie
Fat plumes of fluffy black smoke floated in the sky like a candy experiment gone horribly wrong. Dougie’s heart sank as the black billows danced and twisted in the air. If there was this much smoke, then it had to be bad.
He eased off the gas as they reached downtown. The normally quiet street was packed with people who stood staring at the disaster. Dougie squeezed Holly’s hand, hoping to remind her he was there, that he cared for her, that he would stand beside her no matter what.
He’d realized he cared for Holly years ago, but their timing had never worked out. About the time he’d gathered the courage to ask her out, Frederick had appeared on the scene, and after Frederick… Well, there’d been a time she had stopped talking to him completely. It was only the threats of the last few weeks that had pushed her back to him, and while it was selfish, he hoped this didn’t make her pull away. He was in love with her, and he didn’t want to lose her again.
The crowd stopped them well before they reached the store. Dougie put the car in park and helped Holly out. His arm wound around her waist as her knees buckled and threatened to carry her to the ground. “It’s going to be okay,” he whispered, but he knew her restaurant was probably gone.
“Who would do this?” Her voice was a whisper, but it was a rhetorical question anyway. At this point, they didn’t even know if it was arson, though he felt a tug in his stomach that she was right. But it could have been an accident. It could have been a faulty plug or something. It could have, but it didn’t feel like it. Not with all the negative attention she had received lately.
The crowd parted for them, whispering soft condolences, as they made their way to the front. Dougie believed their hearts were in the right place, but he also knew this wasn’t helping Holly. What she cared about was that her restaurant was okay, but as they neared the barricade, he could see that was no longer a possibility. Even as far back as they stood, he could feel the heat from the fire, and though the flames hurt his eyes, he could not tear them away from the destruction.
“Holly, I’m so sorry. I called as soon as I saw the flames, but maybe if I’d seen it sooner.” Becca, the owner of the bakery across the street, addressed Holly, but Holly didn’t answer. Her eyes stared vacantly at the flames licking into the sky.
“Thanks, Becca. We know you did everything you could and we appreciate it,” Dougie said, speaking for Holly, who seemed incapable of doing anything other than gripping the barricade so tightly that a tendon in her neck pulsed.
“I’m sorry, no one can go any farther,” a fireman, smudged in black, said as Holly pushed against the barricade.
“But it’s my restaurant,” Holly said. “My everything.” The agony in her voice pulled at Dougie’s heart.
“You own this place?” the man asked, and when Holly nodded, he added, “Please come with me. The captain has some questions for you.”
Dougie wasn’t sure that Holly could have walked on her own accord. She held onto his arm with a grip that would likely leave a bruise. Wrapping his arm around her, he pulled her close, allowing her to lean on his strength as they followed the fireman to the side where the fire chief was talking to a couple of policemen. Though Dougie didn’t know either of the cops well, he recognized their faces from his orientation.
“Excuse me, sir. This is the woman who owns the restaurant.”
The fire chief, an older man with graying hair and a weathered face, looked down at the paper in his hands before looking up at Holly. The name Harper was stitched on the badge of his jacket “You’re Ms. Bingman?” Compassion filled his deep voice.
Holly swallowed and nodded. “I am. Holly Bingman. Do you know what happened?” The tremor in her voice was still there, but she was obviously trying to portray confidence.
This time it was one of the police officers who spoke up. He was younger than the fire chief, and hard lines stood out on his chiseled features. No sense of compassion emanated from him. “That’s what we’re trying to find out. You weren’t at the restaurant tonight?”
“No, we were having dinner in Graham,” Dougie spoke up. “We came back as soon as Holly received the call.”
The officer lifted a brow at Dougie, probably wondering how he fit into the equation and why he was speaking for Holly.
“Did the employees get out?” Holly asked. “There would have been at least a few cleaning and closing.”
“Everyone got out fine,” the fire chief assured her. “We’ll have a crew look for any faulty wiring once the fire is out, but it looks like someone might have thrown something in through a window.”
“Do you know of anyone who could have done this?” the officer asked, pulling Holly’s attention back to him.
Holly’s mouth opened, but then she hesitated. Why was she hesitating? Even if it wasn't anyone from the group threatening her, she needed to mention them. “I mean, I’ve received some negative attention lately, but I can’t imagine anyone would do this.”
“Negative attention? What do you mean?”
“They’ve been threatening her. Calls to her restaurant, tags on social media, they even hung up pictures of her around town,” Dougie added. He didn’t know why Holly wasn’t volunteering this information, but the cops deserved to know.
“Who’s been doing this?” This time it was the other officer, a woman, who posed the question. Her demeanor was softer than her partner’s, but though she was smaller and feminine, there was an air about her that said she would not accept nonsense.
Holly flashed Dougie a look. “It’s a small fringe group who was upset about a prayer walk I did, but I really don’t think they could do this.”
“Why not?” the woman asked. “Have you had other interactions with them?”
“No, it’s just that… they harass me, sure, but isn’t that a far cry from arson?”
“Probably, but it’s worth looking into anyway. Can you think of anyone else?”
Dougie wondered if she would mention Frederick or the woman he’d seen her with, but Holly didn't. It probably wasn’t either of them anyway. Frederick had been out of her life for six months, and he didn’t know if the woman had ever even met Holly.
“I’m sorry, I can’t, but I’ll let you know if someone comes to mind.”
“We’ll need a full statement. Normally, we would take it immediately, but since you’re not a suspect, we’ll let you go home tonight if you promise to come in the morning.”
“I’ll make sure she’s there,” Dougie said.
“Is there anything else I need to do?” Holly asked, this time addressing the fire chief again.
“Go home for now. Call the insurance company in the morning.”
“Right. Thank you.” After a final look at the fire that was now almost out, Holly turned to Dougie and leaned into his shoulder. “Can you take me home?”
Without a word, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and led her back through the crowd to his silver Camry. He opened the door for her and then wordlessly climbed in the driver’s side door. When they reached her place, he paused before turning off the engine. “Are you going to be okay? Do you want me to come in with you?”
“Would you?” she asked. “I’m sure it’s silly, but I don’t want to be alone right now. There’s never been any threats to my house, but I never thought someone would torch the restaurant either. I still don’t understand who would do this.”
“Did you consider Frederick?” he asked as he opened his door.
“Frederick? I haven’t even seen him in ages. Why would you think he would have anything to do with this?”
Dougie hesitated. Frederick had been a bone of contention between them and he wasn’t sure he wanted to dig up old wounds. “I just know it didn’t end well, and he seemed like the type who might try for retribution.”
Holly sighed as they walked to her front door. “I don’t know. I suppose it’s possible. He was upset about the money when he left, but torching the restaurant wouldn’t give him any money, so I don’t know why he’d bother.”
Revenge came to mind. Dougie had seen people exact revenge for less, but he kept this to himself. He could work through any possible reasons later. Tonight, he was here for Holly and that was all.
