the school on a dark night. I was driving home after another fire investigation. Assigned to the entire county—one man for almost twenty firehouses and a slew of volunteer fire people—I’d been stumped for the first time ever in my career. A rash of blazes had occurred over the past three months in vacant warehouses throughout the county. Nothing was making sense other than their vacancy.
Suddenly, nothing mattered as I neared the high school, finding another blaze roaring at one end of the building and a group of teens standing around watching it.
I pulled into the parking lot, jumped from my truck, and called out to the boys.
“Hey,” I yelled as the air filled with the strong scent of smoke. “Hey, what the hell is going on?” A few heads turned. Others didn’t. At the sight of me, the boys began to scatter, but I recognized one. Rory.
Chasing him across the empty lot, I was quick to catch him, tugging him by the collar to stop his retreat.
“What are you doing here?” I snapped, holding him by the neck.
“We didn’t mean to do it,” Rory said. His gaze returned to the school, telling me something was amiss. The scent coming off my seventeen-year-old nephew was a mix of sweet weed and explosives.
“Rory, tell me the truth.” Fear rose inside me. What had they done?
“We were smoking behind the maintenance shed and setting off fireworks. The fireworks were more boom than sparks, but . . . I don’t know. One must have gone astray.”
Idiots.
“Don’t move,” I warned Rory. “Call 911.” I remember wondering why the fire department hadn’t already arrived. The fire alarm should have gone off, but I didn’t hear it. Releasing my nephew, I decided to investigate on my own. I headed toward the building, rounding the side, hoping any late-night cleaning staff might have already left. As it was summer, the school would be vacant, and at the late hour, I didn’t fear anyone would be present in the school.
Checking a side door entrance, I found the doors locked. Heading around the back of the building, I was eyeing the maintenance shed near the football field when an explosion occurred. Windows busted. Flames flared into the night air. I raced back around the front of the building to find I was the only person in the lot other than the first sheriff to arrive on the scene.
Instantly, I knew how it looked. I was running around a burning building. The boys were gone. When I was brought in for questioning a few days later, I was caught on the schoolyard cameras on both the side of the building and the back. There was no sight of the boys near the football field.
“Uncle Jake.” My name rings out in the quiet darkness of the lone street, and I turn to find Rory racing after me.
“Jake, I—” Out of breath, he stops running and bends at the knees. “I-just. Give me a minute.” He lifts a finger to signify a pause.
“Need to work on your stamina if you’re getting married, kid,” I bitterly tease.
Rory stands to his full height, which matches mine. He’s broader than me, huskier like my brother once was, but it’s evident we are related. We all share the same dark brown hair, the same cut to how we stand with our shoulders hunched forward, same tilt to our heads when we speak.
“About that.” He exhales. “Nothing was held back to hurt your feelings. We just thought it would be better to let you settle into one thing at a time.” His voice even sounds like my brother, rough and low, with a hint of ease underneath it. I’d like to accuse him of having an easy life, but after I went to prison, I know he didn’t. He was suddenly raising his father, and my bitterness falls back to Nolan. He’s always being taken care of.
Turning away from Rory, I continue forward on my path, needing the fresh nighttime air. Rory falls into step beside me. He isn’t wearing a jacket, and his hands slip into his jean pockets. We walk in silence for the rest of the block and turn toward town.
“Should we talk about it?” Rory questions. “I know what you did.”
I stop, but Rory takes another step forward before turning to face me. “You went to jail for me, didn’t you?”
“Rory.” I sigh. What can I say?
“We didn’t mean for it to happen.” He pauses to exhale. “We were stupid kids.”