“The fire department is still working on getting an updated tenant list from the building’s owner,” Knox informed them. Shifting his focus solely on her, he asked, “You think this has something to do with the Seattle Stalker?”
“I have no idea.” Ellie answered as honestly as she could. “I was kind of hoping you guys could figure that part out.”
The sooner the better.
“Do you know what started the fire?” Lucky’s question was posed to either of the two.
You should’ve thought to ask that question.
Normally, that would have been the first thing out of Ellie’s mouth. But it was like everything was happening in this slow-motion fog, and it was everything she could do just to keep up.
You’re probably in shock, El. Give yourself a minute to process what’s happening.
“Not until the fire marshal can get in there and take a look.” Regret filtered into Knox’s expression. “But there were reports ofresidents from that floor complaining of a chemical smell shortly before the fire broke out. My unit’s been taking statements since we got the call.”
“Chemicals smell…” Lucky mused. “Accelerant?”
“Most likely.” Detective Brandt’s long, brown ponytail bounced as the woman nodded.
Someone had purposely burned down her apartment days after she was almost shot and killed? No way those two events were unrelated.
“It’s Harvey.” Fury erupted behind Lucky’s blue stare as it lasered into hers. “It has to be. You said it yourself, the guy’s a genius.”
“So?”
“So, the security system the guys and I installed the other day should have alerted me the second the smoke detectors in your apartment were activated.” A muscle in his jaw twitched. “It didn’t.”
This meant whoever started the fire was smart enough to figure out a way to bypass a system as sophisticated as Lucky’s. No fucking way that shit was done by an amateur.
“Harvey has the intelligence to pull that off.” Ellie nodded. “But so do a lot of other people.”
“Come on, El.” Lucky’s hands went to his hips as he faced her more directly. “Someone takes a shot at you, and then this happens days later?” He motioned to the inferno in the background. “You can’t possibly think those two thingsaren’trelated.”
Had the man just repeated her exact recent thoughts? And why did he look so damn scrumptious doing it?
Not really something you should be aware of at the moment. Not here. Certainly not right now.
But as Ellie stared up at her bolstering bodyguard, she couldn’t help but think he looked like a rich, most decadent dessert. And in spite of where they were and who they were with—and regardless of the craziness surrounding them—Ellie couldn’t have kept the smile from forming on her face if her life depended on it.
She knew what she must’ve looked like to those around her. A woman driven mad by the ghosts of her past. And from having been recently shot at. Oh, and the fact that she was now suddenly homeless.
Is it really any wonder all your marbles have come loose?
Being certifiablewouldexplain a whole lot about how she was feeling at the moment. But scattered emotions and thoughts aside, Ellie was fairly certain her mental faculties were still very much intact.
She was justifiably upset, of course. If she were being honest, Ellie was positivelyfuriousat the bastard who’d destroyed not only her home, but so many others. But crazy…
If anything, this felt like something else altogether.
Like maybe instead of losing my mind, I’ve finally fucking found it.
How did that one song go from back in the day? Something about seeing clearly now that the rain was gone? That’s sort of how she felt now.
As she stood there, with her entire world was quite literally burning down around her, Ellie was filled with a sense of clarity she’d forever longed to possess.Everythingwas far easier to see, now. Including the man still waiting for a response.
“No.” Ellie straightened her spine and met his locked stare. “I don’t believe any of this is a coincidence.” Switching gears, she turned back to Knox and Brandt and asked, “Why are you two here?”
Detective Knox blinked. “Excuse me?”