Chapter 6 - FIRE
“Leo’s room!”
Sarah ran.
Ethan shouted behind her.
“Sarah, wait!”
She didn’t.
Smoke curled along the ceiling.
The nursery door stood open.
Sarah covered Leo’s face with her shirt and pushed inside.
A trash bin beside the changing table was burning.
Flames climbed the curtain.
“Ethan!”
He appeared with a fire extinguisher.
“Get out!”
Sarah ran into the hallway with Leo.
Ethan sprayed the flames until the room vanished beneath a white cloud.
Victoria stood at the far end of the hall.
Watching.
Not helping.
Not coughing.
Just watching.
Sarah stared at her.
Victoria noticed and immediately began shouting.
“Oh my God! Is Leo okay?”
Sarah’s stomach turned.
Minutes later, the fire department arrived.
The fire was small.
Contained.
But the nursery smelled of melted plastic and smoke.
A firefighter named Ruiz spoke with Ethan.
“Looks like the fire started in the trash can.”
“How?”
“We found burned paper and plastic.”
Sarah stood nearby.
“Plastic?”
Ruiz held up a clear evidence bag.
Inside was a warped black object.
A memory card adapter.
Ethan looked toward his office.
Then toward Victoria.
The card they had been viewing was gone.
“What happened to the card?” he asked.
Sarah’s eyes widened.
“I thought you had it.”
“No. I left it in the laptop.”
They ran downstairs.
The office door was open.
The laptop remained on the desk.
The memory card slot was empty.
Victoria followed slowly.
“This is crazy.”
Ethan turned.
“Where were you when the alarm went off?”
“In the bathroom.”
“Which bathroom?”
“The guest bathroom.”
Sarah said, “That’s beside the nursery.”
Victoria snapped around.
“So?”
“So you were twenty feet from the fire.”
“I didn’t see it.”
“You didn’t smell smoke?”
“No!”
Ethan stared at her.
Victoria’s voice cracked.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
Ethan said nothing.
That hurt her more.
Victoria grabbed her purse.
“I’m leaving.”
Ethan blocked the doorway.
“You’re not taking anything out of this house until I know what’s going on.”
Her mouth dropped open.
“You can’t keep me prisoner.”
“No. But I can ask you to leave your bag.”
“You think I stole the card?”
“I think a piece of evidence vanished minutes before a fire started next to my son’s crib.”
Victoria slapped him.
The sound cracked through the office.
Sarah froze.
Ethan didn’t move.
Victoria stared at her own hand.
Then whispered, “Look what she’s doing to us.”
Ethan touched his cheek.
“Sarah didn’t make you hit me.”
Victoria started crying.
“I love you.”
“Then help me understand.”
“I can’t help you if you’ve already decided I’m guilty.”
She dropped her purse on the desk.
“Search it.”
Ethan hesitated.
Sarah didn’t.
She opened the bag.
Wallet.
Lipstick.
Keys.
Perfume.
A baby sock.
Sarah stopped.
“That’s Leo’s.”
Victoria frowned.
“So?”
Sarah picked it up.
“I’ve been looking for this pair for a week.”
“You’re accusing me of stealing a sock now?”
Something hard was inside it.
Sarah squeezed.
A small glass bottle slid into her palm.
No label.
Half full of clear liquid.
Ethan stared.
“What is that?”
Victoria went completely still.
Sarah unscrewed the cap.
A medicinal smell hit her.
Ethan grabbed the bottle.
“Don’t touch it.”
Victoria backed away.
“That isn’t mine.”
“It was in your purse,” Sarah said.
“You put it there.”
“I haven’t touched your purse in my life.”
Victoria looked at Ethan.
“You know me.”
Ethan stared at the bottle.
Then his phone rang.
Dr. Mason.
Ethan answered.
“Yes?”
The doctor spoke for several seconds.
Ethan’s face drained of color.
“What do you mean?”
Sarah’s chest tightened.
“What is it?”
Ethan lowered the phone.
“When Dr. Mason examined Leo, he took a small blood sample because of how sleepy he seemed.”
Victoria gripped the edge of the desk.
May you like
Ethan looked directly at her.
“The preliminary screen found a sedative.”
