Saltwater Secrets - Amelia Addler Page 0,34
Chief said as they got into his car.
“Don’t worry, we did. I’m guessing that it’ll be weeks before we can get things replaced, though.”
He sighed. “Yeah, it’s not going to be an easy process. But you’re welcome to everything in my house.”
“Thanks Chief. I actually had a lot of my stuff with me because Luke and I were doing a shoot off of the island. Plus, I don’t really have a lot of stuff.”
Chief laughed. “Nothing that can’t fit in your backpack, right?”
She thought for a moment. “Right. Well actually, I was starting to get too much extra junk and it was getting cluttered. So now I can start over fresh and make sure that I’m not buying things that I don’t need.”
“Or you could get a bigger backpack?”
“Sure.”
Morgan was happy to joke around for a distraction – anything to get her mind off of the fact that someone started that fire on purpose.
“So Chief,” she said, trying to keep her tone casual. “What are the chances that we catch whoever did this?”
“I don’t know.” He frowned. “So far it doesn’t look like anything was left behind. But we’re going to question people and look for witnesses. Someone had to see something.”
Morgan let out a sigh. “You know how that goes…”
“Oh I know. Matthew is already out today questioning people. I can check in with him to see how it’s going.”
“I’m sure that Luke would be happy to offer his services again if we need anyone to confess.”
Chief chuckled. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
Morgan smiled to herself. Luke was extremely worried about her, going so far as to suggest that he’d force his roommates to share a room so she and Jade could move into their house. He also insisted that Matthew would then have to share his gun with him, and that Luke planned to get a Wild West style holster for it.
Unfortunately, none of that was realistic.
They got to the house and Morgan stood for a moment, in awe of how the fire ate away at their home. For some reason, she’d imagined that Jade’s room would be damaged but everything else would look the same.
That wasn’t the case. They carefully navigated getting inside and Morgan was shocked to see that almost everything in her room was damaged. The walls were blackened and there was soot and ash on everything. She peeked into a few areas only to find that everything she was looking for was destroyed.
Chief quietly watched from what used to be the doorway.
Finally, she stood up and dusted off her hands. “I don’t know what I expected it to look like…but I didn’t expect this.”
He put a hand on her shoulder. “Sorry kid. I’m glad you weren’t here.”
“Me too. I don’t think that Matthew could’ve carried both of us at the same time.”
He laughed and they went back outside. He asked her to wait by the car so he could check in with the deputy who was working in the area where the fire started.
Morgan decided to take the opportunity to give their landlord a call. She was dreading it, but she needed to get it over with.
To her surprise, he was already aware of the fire – the sheriff’s office called to tell him. He also knew that they were okay, because his daughter still lived on the island and the fire was the talk of the town.
A car pulled into the driveway and Morgan watched as a well dressed woman got out of the driver’s seat. Was the insurance adjuster here already?
She ended her conversation with the landlord and started walking toward the woman.
“Can I help you?” Morgan asked.
She jumped and turned around. “Oh! Hey!”
“Oh, Tiffany! I didn’t recognize you. What’re you doing here?”
She took off her sunglasses and stared at the house for a moment. “I wanted to surprise everyone with a visit. I got this weird text from mom saying not to worry about the fire, and that you and Jade were okay?”
Morgan laughed. “And that was all that it said?”
“Yeah. I had no idea that your house burned down!”
“Oh this?” Morgan swooped a hand across the scene. “This is the hot new way to get an open floor plan.”
“What happened? Were you guys home?”
Morgan shook her head. “Jade was home. But she got out, thankfully.”
Tiffany nodded but said nothing. Morgan tore her eyes away from the house to look at her – all of the color had disappeared from Tiffany’s face. “Are you okay?”
“Oh – yes. I just…can’t believe this.”
Morgan