Firestorm - Ellie Masters Page 0,93
and Cage bracket me on either side. Cage shifts closer and places his hand over mine. My hands are clasped in my lap, fingers twisting with unease.
“Well, that’s what I want to discuss. Being involved in one fire is rare enough, two pushes the laws of chance.”
“Are you arresting me for that fire as well?” I can’t stop the indignation rising in my voice.
“Not at all.” Grant leans back. “I’m working another angle.”
“And what is that?” Brody shifts closer. I’m in the middle of a La Rouge brother sandwich, protected and supported by them both.
“Did you see anything suspicious last night?”
“No.” I shrug.
“Can you walk me through what you remember?”
“What are you getting at Grant?” Cage squeezes my hands. He doesn’t have to say it, but I know he’s doing his best to stand in for his brother’s absence.
Grant looks between Brody and Cage. “Look, I want everyone to take a breath. I’m not arresting Evelyn, and I’m not looking to implicate her in anything.”
“Then what are you doing?” Brody asks.
“Trying to put the pieces together.”
“What do you mean by that?” I ask.
“I’ll answer your questions. I promise. But first, let me ask mine. I have a process which never fails. Do you think you can do that?”
Our first meeting didn’t go well, but I sense Grant is on my side.
“Okay.”
“Good. Let’s start with last night. Walk me through what happened.”
“What do you want to know?” His question confuses me.
“Let’s start with whether you noticed anything unusual.”
“Nothing really comes to mind. Prescott and Gracie brought me home. We’d gone shopping and Gracie helped me put everything away. They left and it was just me. I remember feeling anxious and bored. We didn’t have time to set up internet and all I had was my phone.”
“Your phone.” Cage shifts in his seat. “Ace said you had pictures of the guy on it.”
“Which guy?” Grant asks.
“The one who started the forest fire. I remember that really well. He gave off a bad vibe and I figured I’d snap a picture.”
“Why would you do that?” Grant asks.
“Because I figured it would help Prescott if…well, if things didn’t go well.”
“Were you afraid for your life?”
“No, it was nothing like that. I’m used to coming across people on the trails, most are friendly, but this guy, something just seemed off with him. I told him I was taking selfies for my ‘social media followers.’ I figured if he knew I had people checking in on me, and that I had a photo of him, he’d be less likely to do something to me. I was going to camp at that campsite but figured I’d go to the next one.”
“Then what happened?”
“I tripped. I wasn’t watching where I stepped. Next I knew he attacked me, hit me in the head with a rock. When I woke up there was fire everywhere.”
I tell him about my escape through the fire, my tumble down the ridge and Asher rescuing me.
“Evelyn, if you took a picture it’ll be uploaded to the cloud.” Cage releases my hand. “Where’s your phone?”
“Which one?” I give an awkward half-laugh. “I lost both of them. I thought about that too, but I don’t remember any of my passwords. I can’t log in. That’s one of the reasons I took a bath last night. I had nothing to do without television or internet. No books on my phone, because I couldn’t remember my password to that account either. But I don’t think it matters because there was really poor reception up there. I didn’t have a signal.”
Grant taps his chin. “That’s actually very helpful.”
“How’s that?”
“We don’t need your passwords. Do you know what email address you used for your account?”
“Maybe. I use several.”
“Well, that’s good news. I can get a warrant for an attempted murder investigation.”
“A murder investigation?” His words turn my blood cold. “What do you mean?”
Grant lifts his hand and begins ticking off his fingers. “There’s the house fire, the forest fire, and the plane crash.”
“What plane crash?” Cage leans forward and my stomach clenches. Asher’s brothers don’t know about that.
Fortunately, Grant explains. His account of the accident is surprisingly accurate, leading me to wonder how much investigating he’s done.
“You think someone wants me dead?”
“I’m investigating all angles right now, but that does seem to be the case.”
“But I’m a nobody.”
“You’re an heiress to a hundred million dollar fortune. At first, I thought maybe someone was targeting your father, and that may still be the case. My assumption is they didn’t expect anyone