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She was suddenly released from the parental constraints. Birdie hugged them and left the house. Running back to the cottage, she grabbed her bike. Putting on her helmet, she then cycled out the driveway and into town.
The smell of smoke hit her as she cycled closer. Driving past the right turn into Lyntacky, she took the back road, seeing the clouds of smoke now billowing up and into the sky.
The Dukes’ timber yard was this way. Was the smoke coming from there? The thought of Sawyer anywhere near fire terrified her. His family too, were they safe?
She cycled as fast as she could. It was still some distance away, but she could hear the wail of sirens.
Was Sawyer all right? “Of course he’s all right,” she panted. “He had to be.”
A car drew alongside, and Birdie looked at the driver’s side. It was Nina. Someone else was in the passenger seat beside her. Nina’s window lowered.
“Birdie, run!”
“Don’t run or I’ll shoot you!”
“Nina, what’s going on?” Birdie got off her bike and lowered it to the grass on the side of the road.
“Get in the car, Birdie, or I’ll put a bullet in your friend’s head.”
Birdie bent at the waist and looked in the window. Kathleen Keller sat there with a gun pointed at Nina. Her heart skipped a beat as fear flooded her veins.
“Is this a joke, Nina, because if it is, it’s a bad one,” Birdie said.
“Get in the car,” Kathleen Keller demanded. “Now!”
She opened the rear door and climbed in.
“Kathleen, what’s—”
“Wise up, Birdie,” Nina said. “It’s not Kathleen Keller, it’s J Bitch.”
Chapter35
Sawyer stood looking at the wood which Beau Keller’s crew were still hosing down. He’d arrived five minutes ago at the same time as the fire engines.
“Could have been way worse,” Brody said from beside him. “But there is more you need to see. The fire was deliberate, bro.”
“What? Are you sure?” Sawyer looked at his brother.
“Yes, one hundred percent sure.”
The Dukes’ timber yard was a ten-minute drive from their home. It sat on ten acres of forest with an acre of pasture that had been cleared. Originally, they’d sold just timber, now they employed builders and draftsmen and ran their business online.
“Jesus, Brody. If it had reached the office,” Sawyer said.
The fire had started in the wood stacked close to the administration buildings. Was the intention of whoever had lit it been to burn their business to the ground? If so, why?
“Follow me,” his brother said, face grim. “Uncle Asher and Dan are in here.”
On Brody's heels, they took the stairs up and into the first of the offices they’d built. Low and long, they’d divided them into three spaces.
Someone had gone crazy in here. Paper and supplies were everywhere, and you’d have to block your nose not to smell the gasoline.
“Someone lit this deliberately,” Dan said. He was in uniform and crouched, examining something.
“Sawyer!” Uncle Asher called to him from the space next door, which was divided by a glass door. He went through to look.
Black ink was on the walls. Dark and angry, it slanted right. Sawyer felt everything inside him go cold as he looked at the familiar writing.Surely it wasn’t her?
