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I knew waiting would only make it worse, and it was so bad already. I inhaled, squashing down the urge to cough again, and blinked at the ruins in front of me. Luckily, I supposed, Rhodes Tavern had been a freestanding structure on a corner lot, so no other buildings were damaged.
Still, from the look of things, it was a complete loss. Wisps of black vapor still rose from piles of debris, and the remnants of tables and booths stood like charred, ashy monoliths in the otherwise empty space. Like a zombie, I wandered the area, careful not to step on anything that was sharp, barely aware of Gabe behind me. He hadn’t said anything since we’d left the car, but I appreciated his steady strength.
“It’s gone,” I whispered, looking around at what had been my life. “It’s all gone.”
“I’m so sorry,” he said, taking my hand. “I’m so, so sorry.”
Suddenly, it was all too much. I turned to him, sobbing against his shoulder as it all came bursting out—the loss, the sorrow, the anger, the frustration, the love. He held me, stroking my back and whispering into my hair as we stood in the center of my burned-out bar, the world a pile of still-smoking rubble around us. Finally, when I had nothing more to give, I eased away from him and swiped the back of a shaky hand across my salt-stung cheeks. “God, I loved this place.”
“I know,” he said, squeezing my hand. “But it’ll be okay. No matter what happens.”
Sniffling, I gave a curt nod. It would be okay, because it had to be okay. I didn’t only have myself to think about anymore. I had Savannah too. She was my responsibility now, just as much as Gabe’s. When he left, I’d be her legal guardian, and while he’d provide financial support, I’d be doing all the hands-on parenting while he was gone.
It would take a lot of time and effort, which I was happy to do, but it also meant I needed to get this place back in operation as quickly as possible. “They’ll have to demo all this and clear it out before we can rebuild,” I said, looking around before moving forward again to where the actual bar had been. There was nothing left there except a hulking piece of blackened wood. I bent down to pick through the piles of ash near the base and discovered one of the old metal taps. I stifled a sob as I picked it up, and I kept digging. I found another, then another. It wasn’t much, but it was something. Something of the past to take into the future, whatever it might hold.
Straightening, I held out my hand for Gabe to see. He frowned down at the slightly twisted objects. “What the hell are those?”
“Taps.” I smiled. “I’m going to keep them.”
“Why?” He scrunched his nose, obviously not seeing the significance I did.
“As a reminder of what’s left.” I gripped them tighter, my determination growing stronger. “I’ll have them made into a memorial to the original Rhodes Tavern, a symbol that good things can come out of bad.”
Gabe shook his head, then leaned in and kissed me, slow and sweet. “You’re amazing, you know that? Even after all that happened last night, you’re still the most resilient woman I’ve ever known.”
We spent another hour or so picking through the debris, searching for clues or anything I might be able to salvage. There wasn’t much. I did manage to snap some pictures for the insurance company, which was good. I was just about finished when Gabe’s phone rang, and he stepped away to answer. I glanced at him, watching as his handsome face shifted from strained to relieved in about two seconds flat. Whoever was on the line must’ve had good news. About damned time.
Once he hung up, I waited, heart in my throat with anticipation as he walked over to me.
“That was Police Chief Wharton,” Gabe said, smiling. “They picked up Elijah Harris.”
Oh God.
For a second, I couldn’t respond. Then I found myself smiling too, relief washing over me despite the mess at my feet. At last, something was going right. I held on to the burned edge of the bar to keep from collapsing as the tension oozed out of my body. “Where? How?”
Gabe leaned an elbow on the bar. It was surprisingly sturdy, despite what it had been through. Kind of like the man himself. “Wharton said that while the fire gutted this place, it left the back wall largely untouched.” He pointed to it. “The CSI team was able to lift a print from the two-by-four used to block the back exit door, and it matched Harris’s.” At my frown, he added, “Harris had to get printed when he applied to become a police officer. I’m guessing he thought the board would be destroyed in the fire, so he didn’t bother wiping it down. But lucky for us it survived.”
“Wow.” I took all that in for a moment. “So they’ve arrested him?”
“Yep. Wharton said they’re bringing him up on a bunch of preliminary charges, including assault and arson, pending the results of the investigation here. Given the maximum sentences for each of those and the evidence they found last night, Wharton doubts he’ll walk away any time soon.”
I was shaking again, but this time from joy. The bastard had been caught. My happiness was short-lived, however, as another thought popped into my brain. “What about Alexis? Will they charge him with her murder too?”
“I’m not sure about that.” Gabe frowned down at his phone. “Wharton said those charges would be tougher to prove. He said they’ll keep working on it, but without something tying him to her death—more than just the circumstantial stuff we presented—it’ll be harder to convict him for that.” He took a deep breath, then looked up at me again. “But even if they can never officially get him for killing her, Wharton said they’ll do everything they can to make sure the prosecutor nails Elijah Harris’s ass to the wall for what he’s done.”
I blinked at him a minute, letting it all sink in. The murder. The fire. The break-in. The attack in the car. The fact that even though all this was horrible, it had also brought Gabe and Savannah into my life. Finally, I whispered, “It’s over.”
Gabe’s smile grew as he stepped forward and took me into his arms. “Yes. It’s over.”
We embraced, and I felt torn. I was so happy that Elijah Harris would get what he deserved, but in the back of my mind, sadness resurfaced. With the danger over and the custody case settled, there wasn’t anything holding Gabe back from rejoining his SEAL team. And while I would never begrudge him his career, I wasn’t sure what I’d do without him once he was gone, even temporarily.
TWENTY-ONE
The following week, I was back at the lot where the tavern had been, alone this time. The fire department had finished up, and the arson investigators had cordoned off several sections for evidence.
I checked my watch for the umpteenth time, wondering where the hell the insurance adjuster was. They’d offered me a settlement, but the amount was much lower than I’d expected and I’d asked them to reconsider their decision.
I’d just updated my coverage the previous year, and I wasn’t paying that extra money for nothing. So they were sending someone out again to take another look. He was ten minutes late already. Gabe and Savannah were waiting at home for me, packing for a trip to the National Aquarium in Baltimore. It was a last-minute trip, something we thought might be fun and a way to relax after the stress of the last few weeks.
