and she turned to head back to her desk.
I crossed the room and went into my office. Filling a bag with some of the important files I thought I might need for work, especially the things I would need for Wednesday’s Zoom meeting, I zipped around my room as quickly as possible. Amanda came in after a few minutes to tell me I was booked on a flight in an hour. I didn’t have a lot of time to dick around, so I tossed the business papers I had for the bar into the bag and headed for the door.
“I’m headed out. I’ll update you later today. Thank you again, Amanda,” I said.
“Have a safe trip,” she called from her desk, looking up with a sad smile. I turned and headed for the elevator, carrying my bag in my hand and the weight of the world on my shoulders.
When I got to the airport, my flight was delayed by two hours. It was maddening. Not enough time to go home and rest before the flight, but just enough time to be bored and anxious while waiting. I almost pulled out my suitcase and got out my laptop, but I knew I was no good for all that. The email to Landon had been sent from my phone as soon as I got to the airport, and everything else was being handled already.
All I could do was wait.
When the plane finally taxied out, I dozed off and only woke when the wheels touched down in Astoria. As soon as I was awake, I was alert, and I only stopped for a quick burger at the airport to settle the growling of my stomach. I didn’t know when I would eat again, and I needed to set up a rideshare anyway.
When I finally got to the bar, my breath caught in my throat. Stepping out onto the sidewalk, I took in the damage. It was a wreck. The flames had burned it to near-nothingness, and smoke still billowed into the sky from various places. From around the corner, my brothers arrived, having apparently been taking note of the damage on the other side.
“Mason,” I said, pulling him into a hug. “Where is Ava?”
“She’s at home with the baby,” he said, his voice muffled by my shoulder. When he pulled away, I could see the red rim around his eyes. All of them were clearly upset, but none more than Jordan, who paced behind Mason.
“Catch me up to speed? Do we have any idea who would have done this?” I asked.
“I’ll tell you who,” Jordan said, suddenly exploding toward me. The intensity of his anger was disarming, and I squared up to face him. Jordan hadn’t been here long, having just gotten off active duty, but according to the others he had embraced the job and had been doing great.
“Jordan, not now,” Tyler, the second oldest behind me, said.
“Don’t you ‘not now’ me,” Jordan said back, his voice rising and his arms flailing. “You know as well as I do that it’s the truth.”
“What’s the truth?” I asked. “Jordan, what are you talking about?”
His pacing stopped and he turned to face me head-on. His voice dropped to a gravel, and suddenly I saw the soldier that was hiding in the skin of my little brother. There before me was a man prepared to do anything and everything to defend his family.
“That son of a bitch Danny Jefferies,” he spat.
“Jesus, Jordan, that old man can barely bend over to tie his shoes anymore, and you think he burned down our bar?” Matt, the youngest, asked.
“He’s been scheming this for a long time,” Jordan said, his eyes wild and his feet starting to move again. He paced like a caged tiger as he spoke, and I instinctively moved between him and the road. Danny Jefferies was down the street from our bar, in his own run-down dive that he had owned for years. If Jordan was going to go flying down there in attack mode, he would have to get through me first.
“Do you have any proof?” I asked pointedly.
“Proof? He’s the only one with a damn motive, Tom,” Jordan shouted. “I don’t need proof. I know it’s him.”
“He’s been awfully jealous since Ava came to work here and we started doing the theme nights,” Mason said resignedly.
“Yeah, but jealous enough to risk prison?” Tyler asked.
“Yes, clearly,” Jordan said, gesturing to the smoking remains of the bar. “He hates that we were succeeding and he