In Love with a Stranger (16 page)

Chapter 19 – Out of the Ashes

HANNAH

We were all piled up on the hotel bed, with my laptop propped up on my legs. We were ordering some adult bedroom items, which would be delivered shortly after we arrived home from Scotland.  We’d erupted into another fit of giggles, when we came across another pleasure stick with a ridiculous name. I didn’t know who was in charge of this company’s advertising, but they seemed to have an obsession with bad puns.

We were laughing so loud that we almost didn’t hear Ophelia’s phone ringing. She was about to hit ignore, but stopped when she saw it was Carter. “Maybe they’re drunk dialing. This could be interesting,” Camille hoped.

Ophelia answered with a smile, but it dropped quickly. I jumped off the bed, worried something might’ve happened. She schooled her expression and grinned at me. It was forced. “Of course, Carter, we’ll be right down. We don’t mind giving you all a ride.”

“They went out and got drunk? Tell them to call a cab,” Camille ranted.

“I thought they were staying in?” I wondered what’d changed.

“Well, no matter what, they need a ride. I’m driving.” Ophelia grabbed her purse and keys and didn’t say another word. She was definitely hiding something, and it was starting to worry me. I was right to be. I lost it, when she turned into the hospital parking lot.

“Ophelia, what happened, what’s going on?” I shouted at her.

“There was a fire at the store…” I didn’t let her finish. She was not fully parked, when I jumped out and went sprinting across the parking lot. I couldn’t lose William. I’d just gotten him back. I’d blocked the fire exit, the door…that damned rotted door that was falling apart, the door I’d never gotten around to replacing. The secluded alley entrance to my apartment that scared me was blocked for supposed safety and might’ve killed William. I’d never forgive myself. “William!” I screamed, as I skidded in through the emergency room doors.

I was frantic, but was immediately met by Carter. “He’s fine, Hannah.  They’re a bit busy, so he’ll be out in a few minutes.”

“Where is he? Carter, I’m so sorry. I blocked the door.”

“I know. I helped you, remember?  Good thing I knew where it was.”

“Hannah?” I heard William looking for me. Once his eyes landed on me, his smile was huge. “Hey, beautiful, are you alright? I’m so sorry about your shop. There was nothing we could do. By the time we realized the place was on fire, it was too late.”

I patted him up and down. He didn’t even look singed, he just smelled really smoky. I didn’t care. I hugged him hard, hiding my face in his shirt, never wanting to let him go.

“Where’s Duncan?” I felt horrible that I hadn’t even thought about him. It was Ophelia who brought him up.

“He’s still in with the doctor,” Carter answered, looking over at me nervously. “He broke his arm, when he fell off of the back stairs.”

I finally took a moment and saw that Carter had his arm and hand bandaged. William had on a long-sleeved white shirt. I took notice of a burn mark on his sleeve and realized there was a white bandage hidden underneath it, visible through the hole in his shirt. “William…” I was so pained. I had done this.

“I’m fine, so is Carter, so is Duncan. We’re going to be fine.”

“No, this is all my fault. I’m so sorry.”

“Excuse me,” a large man in a fireman’s uniform interrupted my breakdown, “Are you the victims of the fire at the bookstore?”

“Yes, this is Hannah Madison, the owner of Madison Books,” William introduced me.

“I’m the fire marshal investigating this case. Ms. Madison, were you aware of the men’s presence in your building this evening?”

“Yes, it was William’s bachelor party…” I broke down in tears.

“Did anyone else know of this party or who’d be in attendance?” he asked.

Carter shrugged. “It wasn’t a secret, but there was only the three of us in attendance. The girls knew about it, and they were out with Hannah.”

The man frowned. “I’m sorry, Ma’am, but the cause of the fire was an electronically-lit accelerant. The device can be used from a distance, and I only caught it because there were other things pointing to arson. The building had been inspected last month and passed with no problems. It was noted that the back staircase was rusted, but could hold the appropriate weight.

“The fire shouldn’t have spread so fast. The sprinkler system had also been turned off. Since the men have said they didn’t hear the alarms go off downstairs, that leads me to believe they were disarmed. The external wire from the alarm system that would’ve called out once the alarms went off was cut. Do you know of anyone who’d want to burn your store down? Is there anyone you can think of who’d benefit from it?”

“Dad,” Camille whispered.

We all looked at her shocked. When I glanced back at William, he was scowling.

“Could you elaborate, Miss…?”

“Greyson, Camille Greyson. My father is against their relationship and had a fit when he found out William was moving to the states. Hannah’s shop was here. William could change jobs easier than she could move a whole well-established shop.”

“Could I please get his full name and address?” he asked with his pen at the ready.  Camille rattled it off, and the man looked up. “He lives in England?”  The man didn’t sound too happy.

“Yes,” William answered and still hadn’t lost his scowl.

“Has anyone spoken to him or know of his current whereabouts?”

“I talked with my mum a little before the party. Dad was with her and throwing a fit in the background. They were at their home in London. I’d called the house phone,” William offered.

The man’s frown deepened. “Have there been any suspicious people lurking around?”

“Marvin is a creepy lurker,” Ophelia supplied, but I knew it couldn’t have been Marvin.

“He’s creepy, but I don’t think he’d burn down the store,” I defended.

“He was outside of it earlier that evening.” All eyes shot to William.

“How do you know that?” I asked.

“Stuart, my private investigator, had followed him there. He was hanging out in front of the shop. Stuart let me know, and I was worried he was looking for you, so I told Stuart to keep an eye on you instead of Marvin. I knew you wouldn’t give Stuart the slip.”

“Why exactly did you hire a private investigator? Had he threatened someone recently?” the fire marshal asked.

“No, I don’t think so. He wouldn’t burn down the store. He buys his manga there. He can’t get it anywhere else,” I said, shaking my head.

“I suspected he was a stalker. He comes into the shop frequently and makes Hannah uncomfortable.” William sounded like he didn’t believe Marvin had done it, either. I was pretty sure he thought it was his father.

“How did he make her feel uncomfortable?” the fire marshal asked.

“He’s just weird, awkward and has a creepy smile. He asked me out once, when I first opened the store a few years ago. I told him no, but he’s never given me any trouble. He’s always polite…creepy, but polite.”

“Do you know his full name, maybe an address?” he asked me.

“It would’ve been in my records, but those are gone.” I started crying again.

William hugged me a little tighter. “I can get it for you. Stuart will have it on file. I don’t think it was him, but he might’ve seen who did set the fire.” I was surprised William was defending Marvin, when before, he’d been so worried about him that he’d called in an investigator. It just didn’t make sense.

“We’d ordered pizza, too, maybe that guy saw something,” Carter offered. It was the closest we were going to get to a lead.

~*~

The store was a total loss. We went to look at it to see if there was anything salvageable, but there wasn’t anything more than a few brick walls and ash left. The fire investigator really had his work cut out for him. He must’ve been really good to deduce that it’d been arson just by looking at the remaining walls and ash. I guess he’d been on the scene when the fire had still been in progress, though, and could’ve done some deductive reasoning then.

“You bitched about this place not having any storage, now aren’t you glad it didn’t?” Ophelia pointed out. It was true. We didn’t have much space in our little two-bedroom apartment, so Ophelia let me “rent” out a room at her place. It was technically my old bedroom and had a daybed in it for when Penelope went to stay with Aunty Ophelia. It was where all of my mementos, photo albums, important documents, and Penelope’s baby keepsakes were stored. I was so glad they were somewhere safe.

“Where can I reach you, to keep you updated on the case?” the fireman asked.

I realized I really didn’t know where I’d be.

“We’re going to Scotland to get married tomorrow.”

The man glanced at the ashes. “Do you have your passports somewhere safe?”

“They’re in my laptop case at the hotel.” We’d gone through so much trouble to get everything in order, and it could’ve all been halted by a fire.

“Yes, we tucked mine in as well, when we put Penelope’s away. Thankfully, I don’t believe we’ll have to postpone the wedding, will we?” he asked the fire marshal.

“It’s too dark to really dig around in the remains right now, but if you can come by in the morning, I can unlock the site and let you see what you can salvage. When do you plan on leaving for the wedding?”

“Tomorrow evening, then we’ll be back in two weeks. I can give you our contact information, so you can reach us if there are any developments in the case.” William stepped in and did his best to handle things, while I sat in the back of Ophelia’s car, gazing blankly out at the ash that was once my home and my livelihood. I had nothing now.

I spent the next morning rummaging through the ash.  Shawna showed up to work and was shocked by the mess. She offered to help clean and sift through the wreckage, but I waved her off. I was too emotional and wasn’t sure that I could keep it together for her.

Marvin showed up and cried out in pain. I thought someone had actually hurt him, but he was physically fine. He looked even less stable than usual. “It’s gone! What happened? How am I going to get my book?  I get my book here every Thursday. Your new shipment should be in any moment. I was going to offer to help unload the truck. The store, I need the store! How am I going to get my book? I buy it every Thursday, EVERY THURSDAY!” He dropped to his hands and knees, like he was struggling to breathe. I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do, but I was worried he was going to pass out if he didn’t settle down.

“Marvin, are you going to be alright?”

He had tears in his eyes when he looked up at me. “Your store…” he whimpered.

“The bastard set it alight with me in it!” we heard William shout from the other side of what was once my store. “He’s gone too far this time!”

“It was him, wasn’t it!” Marvin pointed and scowled at William. “He did this again. He hurt you again. He’s a bad man. His family is bad, Hannah. I told you to stay away from him. I knew history would repeat itself. I just knew it!” he punched the air.

Marvin startled me when he charged at William. “You can’t have her! You’re not good enough and neither is your family full of evil villains! I know they wanted to pay her off like they tried last time. They tried to kill her then, too. Well, it didn’t work last time, and it didn’t work this time, either. I won’t let your family kill her! I stopped it before, and I’m stopping it now!” Marvin shoved his sleeves up his arms and put his fists up.

William stepped back, looking between me and Marvin, trying to figure out what the hell was going on. “I’m not letting your corrupt British ass hire another person to kill her. We’re going to finish this right here, right now!” Marvin yelled.

“You knew about her attack?” William asked confused. I was curious about that as well.

“Who do you think stopped that bastard from killing her?  He got what he deserved, and so will you! No one hurts Hannah!”

If he knew the guy from the first attack, then he might be able to help us locate him again. That guy would probably know something about the fire. “Marvin, you saved me the first time?”

He blushed a little and then nodded yes. “I’d seen him bugging you a few times. I was trying to get up the courage to step in and tell him to leave you alone. You were getting madder each day, and by the third day, you snapped. You shouted at him, and I knew he was gonna blow. I saw it. I could tell. I’m sorry I didn’t get across the street faster. If I’d just gotten there sooner…”

I did something I never thought I’d do. I hugged Marvin. I hugged him so tight. I knew he was creepy, but he was my guardian angel, too. “Thank you so much for saving me.”

He frowned and shrugged. “I still didn’t get there fast enough.” He touched the scar that was on my head, hidden by hair. He’d really been there. He had to have been to know where that scar was.

We heard some rubble shift, drawing our attention to William again. Marvin glared at him. “He’s not a good man, Hannah. His family is out to get you. He’s not safe. He hurt you. He’s the reason you never went out on dates.”

“It’s his father who’s out to get me. William isn’t so bad, and his sister is pretty nice, too. I’m gonna be okay, Marvin. Someone burned my store down, but they didn’t’ get me, did they?”