Chapter Twenty-Eight

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Mrs Cameron held onto the sobbing boy. Sinclair stood across from them, arms folded and eyes wide. Declan thought Sinclair might be trying to figure out what his future held, now that it was so tightly linked to these people, the youngest of which had just confessed to murder. Charlie had a strange expression on his face which was impossible to read.

What a fucking mess.

Charlie sniffed the air. "Can you smell that?"

Declan inhaled. There it was. The faint smell of smoke.

"What's wrong?" Mrs Cameron asked.

"Okay, everyone stay put," Declan said.

Declan moved towards the hallway. The smell was stronger. He got to the cellar door and there was no doubt. He placed the back of his hand on the door. Nothing. No heat. Declan carefully opened the cellar door. The air was hazy. He began to make his way down the cellar steps, then partway down, he saw a strange orange glow reflecting on the ceiling above the shelving on the far wall…the shelves that hid the entrance to the tunnel.

"Shit."

Choking smoke rolled over the shelves and started filling the upper part of the cellar. The house was on fire.

Declan ran back to the kitchen as quickly as he could, slamming the cellar door behind him. "Everybody out. Now!"

Charlie ran for the back door, but it was sealed with plywood. "Front door," he yelled.

Declan led the others down the hall, out through the front door and onto the drive.

As they reached the car, he noticed that someone was missing. "Shit! Where's Henry?"

"He was here a second ago," Charlie said.

Declan stared at the house then barked out his orders. "You three, stay put. Charlie, call the fire department and the police. Keep your eyes peeled for anyone out there. I don't think this is an accident."

Mrs Cameron called out, "Henry!'" and began running towards the house. Declan grabbed her.

"Don't do it. I'll get him."

Charlie took hold of Mrs Cameron's arm. "Declan will find him. I promise." Mrs Cameron and Charlie joined Sinclair beside the car.

Declan ran back into the house and started calling out Henry's name as loudly as he could. The smoke was dense. It now poured from the cellar door, and from the main room at the front.

"Henry!" he screamed.

Declan considered where Henry might have gone, and focused on the stairs to the second floor. He knew he didn't have a lot of time. The house was nothing but dry wood. It wouldn't be long until—

He stepped on the lowest stair and bounced with all his weight. It hadn't been weakened too much yet. He took another step. There was a loud crash. He turned in time to hear the windows of one of the front rooms blow outward with a force that likely meant that the floor on the other side had given way and the heat had risen into the room at speed.

He looked back up the stairs and made out the silhouette of Henry coming down the stairs draped in a thick blanket and carrying a small suitcase.

Thank God.

"Henry, what the fuck are you doing? We have to move fast."

Before Henry could make it to the bottom of the stairs, Declan swept him up in his arms and jumped to the main floor just as the stair wall started to buckle inward.

Declan launched himself out of the front door. His mass, combined with Henry in his arms, carried them through the porch railing. Declan spun his body to protect Henry from the fall. They landed with the boy on top and Declan had the wind knocked out of him. As he struggled to get his breath back, he saw the tower of the house was now completely engulfed in flames.

"Come on, Henry," Declan heard Charlie's voice say as the weight of the teen was dragged off of him. "You too. Come on."

He felt Charlie's hand in his, pulling him up.

"God," Charlie said. "Either you have to lose some weight, or I have to start working out."

Declan, Charlie and Henry ran from the house. Charlie led them to safety behind the Beast where they joined Mrs Cameron and Sinclair.

Mrs Cameron leapt to her feet and grabbed Henry up in her arms.

"Oh my God, I didn't think I was ever going to see you again." She and Henry were both in tears. She rocked the teen back and forth, petting his hair. Mrs Cameron turned to Declan. "Thank you," was all she could get out.

Sinclair sat on the ground, his back to the car, his arms wrapped around his knees. All four of them joined Sinclair on the ground.

Charlie looked at Declan and said, "I called nine-one-one. Fire and police are on their way."

"Good."

Charlie reached up and brushed the hair out of Declan's eyes. "Are you all right? Can you breathe okay? Are you burned anywhere?"

"I'm fine," Declan said. "Just a few cuts and bruises and I had the wind knocked out of me. For a little guy, Henry sure weighs a lot."

Charlie threw himself at Declan. "I thought I was going to lose you."

Declan pulled him close.

The night sky was lit up by the fire. The flames now rose high above the roof throughout the house. There was a great crash as the remains of the tower fell.

Declan leaned towards Charlie and said quietly, "Whoever started this must be nearby. They'll want to make sure their work's been done right. I need to see if they're still around."

He turned to the others. "I want you all to stay near the car. Understand? If anything threatens you, get in and take off as fast as you can."

They all nodded.

Declan kissed Charlie, then moved away from the car and began to circle the raging inferno.

We might not have made it.

Declan kept his distance from the burning hulk of the building. Then, everything happened at once. A huge man wandered out from around the corner of the burning structure. He was carrying a gas can. There was no doubt about it. It was Adolph Moses.

"Momrath!" a voice behind Declan called out.

He turned to see Henry standing in the light of the fire.

What the—

"Henry! Stay by the—!" Declan was interrupted by a police siren.

Moses looked to see what direction it was coming from. Then he turned towards the four occupants of the house that were now beside the car.

"I'm going to kill you fuckers," he screamed.

A police car sped up the drive then screeched to a halt. Sergeant Bowen leapt out of her cruiser. Moses set down the gas can and reached for something in his pocket.

There was a shot, then Moses stumbled backwards, knocking the gas can over and spilling fuel on his pants. There was a loud crack as the side porch of the house sagged, then collapsed, sending large embers shooting into the air. A cherry-red piece of burning wood landed near Moses, and the flame licked at the gas can beside him. There was a small explosion as what was left in the gas can ignited, heating up the container and sending it shooting into the sky as the air within expanded at a rapid rate. The fire travelled along a path that went from where the gas can had been, directly to the prone man lying on the ground. In an instant, his pants were on fire.

Moses was in flames…at least his lower half was. He began to scream.

"Is that him?" Bowen yelled as she ran to Declan and the others.

"Yes," Declan said.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Henry running.

"Henry! Get back here," Charlie yelled. "Fuck!" Charlie went after him.

The boy was headed towards Moses. He was dragging something behind him. It was the blanket that he'd been wrapped in when escaping the house.

Declan went after them both. By the time Declan reached them, Henry had thrown the large woollen blanket over the burning body of his archenemy. The three did their best to beat out the flames.

"Ambulance," Declan yelled out to Bowen.

"On its way," she shouted back.

"Is he the only one here?"

"Not sure," Declan yelled. "Maybe."

Another car arrived on the scene and two officers jumped out of their vehicle.

"You two," Sergeant Bowen called out, "patrol the area around the house to look for any more firebugs. And be careful, this house is going to collapse." Then she turned to Declan, Charlie and Henry. "You have to pull back, too. I don't want any more bodies."

"We can't leave him here," Henry said to Declan, pointing at the burnt man on the ground. "He's still alive."

Declan nodded. "We can use the blanket and drag him to safety."

Moses was moaning and cursing as the three of them struggled to move his huge bulk clear of the heat.

They left him on the blanket beside Sergeant Bowen's cruiser. A moment later, an ambulance pulled up and two paramedics began tending to his wounds.

Tears streaked Mrs Cameron's face as she yelled, "Henry! You get your butt over here right now!"

Declan followed the boy as he ran to Mrs Cameron and threw his arms around her. Henry looked at her. "I'm sorry we lost our house."

"Not to worry, boy. A house and what's inside it are just things. And you can always get more. What counts is we're all safe." She collected him up again in her arms.

"I have to admit, though, if I had a chance I'd have tried to save a few things…" She stared at the fire.

"Like this," Henry said, retrieving his small suitcase and pulling out the manuscript for The Ragtag Crew.

"Now, what the hell are you doing with that?" she said, then engulfed him in another hug.

Henry grinned. "I wanted to protect Miss Ellis' legacy."

Declan frowned. "So that's what you risked your life for?"

Henry shook his head. "Yes. But I also went up for this." He went back into his suitcase, took out a small cigar box and pulled out an old photograph of a young woman. "I needed to save my mom."

Sinclair approached the group and said, "Now about what we were talking about in the kitchen before the fire—"

"Hold on a minute," Charlie interrupted. "Before we discuss Malcolm Tull's death, there's a few things I need to let everyone know. And I need to do this before we talk to the police."

Sergeant Bowen approached them. "Are you folks all right?"

Everyone nodded. Charlie gave her a thumbs-up.

"I'm going to have to get a statement from each of you."

Charlie said, "We've had quite an adventure. If you wouldn't mind, could we do that in the morning?"

"And whereabouts would I find you?" she asked.

Charlie said, "I thought we'd head over to the Rosebud Inn and take rooms there for the night, if that's all right with you."

Sergeant Bowen nodded. "That'll be fine."

After she'd walked away, Charlie looked at them and said, "Sinclair, you can drive over in your own car, and we'll take Mrs Cameron and Henry with us in the Beast."

Declan whispered to Charlie, "What the hell is this all about?"

"Justice," Charlie said.