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“You heard me scream,” Kendal pointed out. “I knew you’d come if you heard me scream.”
Her voice and the way she was looking at him startled Max. It was as if she wasn’t hearing what he was saying but rather what she wanted to hear. Max pulled his phone from his pocket, fearing that this wouldn’t end well. When Wallis told Max what Kendal had done to Steph, he wondered if Kendal suffered from mental issues. Right now, he was pretty sure she did.
“I didn’t know it was you, Kendal,” Max stressed. “All I heard was something screaming in fear.”
“No, you heard me, Max. I know you did.” Kendal’s eyes were glazed. She tilted her head as her eyes fell on the burn scar that ran up his arm. “I didn’t mean for you to get hurt. I would never hurt you.” Her eyes met his, and his heart stopped for a beat.
What does she mean by that?Max stared at her, fearing he knew what she was about to say next. He quickly hit record on his Dictaphone app to protect himself from anything she might say or do.
“What do you mean I wasn’t meant to get hurt in that fire, Kendal?” Max asked her, giving her a wary sideways glance.
“I didn’t think it would rage out of control like it did,” Kendal confessed. “It was just supposed to be a small fire, but it caught on the curtains and spread so quickly.” She stared past him blankly. “Mrs. Berkley was my nanny, and I threatened her to get her out of her house because I knew you’d be running past it.” She didn’t blink. “Once she was out of the house, I poured gasoline on a small portion of her bedroom and lit it, knowing you’d be running past soon.”
“You did what?” Max gasped in disbelief, his ears starting to roar as a mix of emotions flooded him.
“My father imprisoned me in a mental health institution for months after that!” Kendal’s eyes became lucid once again and sparked with anger. “This was allherfault.”
“Who’s fault?” Max breathed, fearing he already knew the answer.
“Stephanie’s!” Kendal’s eyes locked with his. Alarm shot through him at the pure hate he saw shining in them. “She’s the one to blame foreverything. She should’ve listened to me and just let us be.”
“Kendal!” A man’s voice echoed toward them, and he barked, “That’s enough.”
Max turned to see Wallis, two police officers, and Bruno James hurrying toward them.
“Father!” Kendal’s face paled as she saw the man striding toward her. “I didn’t do anything. I swear.”
“I told you to keep away from Max and his family,” Bruno growled. “That was the deal and reason I let you work at the Marine Center.”
“But I have been, Father, I swear.” Kendal sounded like a little girl who’d been caught doing something naughty.
“Wallis?” Max blinked at his friend. “How did you—“
“Dave called to tell me what was happening,” Wallis informed Max. “I called the police and Bruno.”
“Kendal started that fire on purpose!” Max couldn’t believe what he’d heard. “I don’t understand why she’d do something like that. I never once led her on.” His brow creased as his mind raced, and nothing seemed to make sense. “It wasn’t even her house.”
“Are you okay, Max?” Scott, the police captain, asked him before frowning. “Did you say Kendal started that fire two years ago deliberately?”
“I don’t think that’s what you heard, officer!” Bruno stepped in and said warningly to the man.
“Yes,shedid!“ Max was snapped back to reality when he saw Bruno trying to wield his influence over the law. “Scott, I’m sending you the recording of Kendal confessing everything.”
“You recorded it?” Scott looked at Max, impressed.
“Yes, I saw Kendal become unstable, and I wanted a record of the conversation in case it went sideways,” Max told him.
“You will destroy that recording!” Bruno demanded. “The woman who owned the house didn’t press charges, and I made sure it was rebuilt and she was well compensated.”
“You bought her silence?” Wallis’s brows lifted as he stared at Bruno. “You do realize you’ve just admitted to that in front of the police captain, an attorney, and a witness.”
“Two witnesses,” Dave told them from the gate.
“Look, I’ll get my daughter back into the facility and make sure she never bothers any of you again,” Bruno tried to bargain with them. “I can’t have this slur on my name right before the election.”
“That’s too bad,” Scot said, then looked at Max. “Would you come down to the station when you come and give a statement.” He held up his phone as it pinged after Max sent the recording to him. “I’ll sort the James’s out.”
“Thanks, Scott,” Max said, still feeling like he was dreaming.
