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ChapterTwenty-One
Damon glanced across the street for what had to be the fortieth time since arriving home.
Boone’s driveway was empty, and would likely remain that way until evening. But that didn’t stop Damon from worrying about his and Ariana’s safety.
Their neighbor was going to burn down the bar and grill. Her disappearance, and the cops, were the only things stopping him. If Rita hadn’t gone missing, he would’ve gone through with it.
Who did that?
A crazy person, that’s who. And he lived across the street.
Maybe there were more psychopaths in society than he realized. It was possible every neighborhood had someone capable of something so horrible. But without knowing, people could live in peace.
Damon knew. He could never forget. Would always wonder.
That was no way to live. Especially considering he’d moved to the gated community specifically to be safe. He and Ariana had already been through enough. Both of them had seen more terror before their teenage years than the average person saw in a lifetime.
A hand rested on his back, and he jumped.
“Sorry,” Ari said. “Didn’t mean to startle you.”
“I was lost in thought.”
“About Boone?”
“Yeah.”
“What are we going to do now?” she asked.
“You mean because we’re living across the street from an arsonist?”
“There’s that, but I meant about finding Rita. We’ve been so focused on Boone, I don’t know what to do now. I’ve been scouring all of Rita’s texts and social media posts for hidden clues to who her boyfriend is, but all I know is she called him Jared. And even then, I had the feeling she was making that up.”
“The detective doesn’t know anything?”
“Even if she did, she wouldn’t tell me.”
Damon stepped from the window and tried to think of something useful. Nothing came. “There has to be some way to find out.”
“She was so secretive, even with Lia and me.”
“There has to be a clue somewhere.”
“Maybe in her house or car, but we don’t have access to either of those.”
“What about in the restaurant?” he asked.
“I checked her locker. It didn’t have anything helpful.”
“There has to be something.”
“If there is, I don’t know where to look.”
Damon pulled her close and held her tightly. It crushed him that he couldn’t fix her despair.
“It’s like we’re at a dead end,” she said. “I want to do more, now that so much time has passed. But there’s nothing I can do. Not with as few clues as we have.”
“I wonder if Boone would let us in the house.”
