Page 85 of Never Let Me Go

“Am I supposed to know what that is?”

He shakes his head. “This is what started the fire in your home.”

“That still doesn’t tell me what that is,” I tell them, looking up at the house as the rest of his team continue to battle the blaze, which has now moved to the front of the house.

Glancing at the police officer, he sighs and runs a hand through his hair. “It’s a timer. It was located in the back bedroom and we also smelled gasoline all over that room.”

“Are you saying this fire was set intentionally?” I ask, like I didn’t already know that, and he nods. I turn to Juliette and she stares back at me with wide eyes. If she had any lingering doubts about her safety, they’re all gone now.

“Do you know of anyone that would want to hurt either one of you? Does anyone have a grudge against you?”

I shake my head. “No.”

“And you, ma’am?” the officer asks, turning to look at Juliette. She meets my gaze for just a moment before shaking her head.

“No.”

He nods. “Sometimes these things are just random but I assure you, we will do everything we can to find whoever did this.” I nod and after we shake hands, they leave us in the care of the paramedics.

“There,” the one working on my hand says as she finishes wrapping my burn. “Try to rest that hand.”

“You got it,” I say, standing up. “Now, if you’ll excuse me.”

She nods and takes a step back, turning to help her partner look over Juliette. I walk across the street and pull my phone out of my pocket, dialing Streak’s number.

“Yo,” he answers. “What’s up?”

I suck in a breath and run my hand through my hair. “I’m watching my house burn down right now.”

“Fuck! Are you serious?”

“You think I’d joke about this?” I growl.

“No, of course not.”

“This is the third time Juliette has almost died in a month. Have you found anything?”

He sighs. “How about we meet up tomorrow and I’ll fill y’all in but I gotta warn you, it’s not much.”

“Yeah, okay. We’ll talk tomorrow,” I tell him and after we hang up, I run my hand through my hair again, staring up at the dying flames and the charred rubble that I used to call a home. I just hope I can end this before whoever is trying to hurt my girl actually succeeds.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Juliette

“What is that frown for, sweetheart?” Sawyer asks, smoothing his thumb over my eyebrows as we lay on the bed in his room at the clubhouse. I sigh as I turn to him. My teeth sink into my bottom lip and my stomach rolls.

“Sawyer… I’m so sorry about your house.”

The guilt has been eating away at me since I saw the flames consuming his house last night but he hasn’t once blamed me even though we both know I’m the one that brought all this drama into his life. He’s just amazing and he deserves a whole lot better than I’m giving him. Sighing, he pulls me into his arms.

“Baby, I’ve told you multiple times that it doesn’t matter. It’s just a house.”

“I’m going to buy you a new one,” I promise and he shakes his head. It’s the least I can do. I mean, the man literally carried me out of a house as it burned down around us and sat with me all night in the emergency room as they treated both of us for smoke inhalation. They tried to put us in different rooms but Sawyer wasn’t having any of that and after arguing with him for ten minutes, they just gave in and cleared a space for him in my room.

“Us. We’re going to buy us a new house.”

I peek up at him with a pleading look. “Please let me make this up to you. It would be nothing for me to buy any house you want.”