I thought about punching Greg and how I was so worried it could impact Danielle’s custody of Skyler. If I was deemed violent, she could have to choose between me and her daughter.
I backed away and Danielle took my hand again.
“Let’s go,” I growled as we exited the office.
We had reached the end of the hallway, almost to the entrance, when the little boy from before ran by. He stopped at the stairs leading to the second floor and looked at us from behind a mask.
My blood ran cold, and I froze.
Danielle glanced at the kid, then looked at me. “What?”
“That mask…” I whispered.
Frank appeared and said, “Matthew, go to bed, now.” He ushered the boy up the stairs but stood where he could see us. “I believe you can see yourselves out,” he said coldly.
“Yes, we can,” Danielle said, tugging my arm for us to keep moving.
I looked back at the stairs, hoping to see Matthew again, but he had disappeared.
Once Danielle and I got outside, we hurried to the truck.
“What about that mask?” she asked me as soon as we were safely inside.
“It’s the same one the arsonist wore at your place.”
“Are you sure? I’m sure there are other masks like it.”
“I’ve never seen one like it before, but sure. Maybe. It was just like that though,” I said.
Danielle and I looked at each other, and she asked, “Do you think…” She didn’t even have to finish her question.
“Yes, I’m thinking Jim was responsible for the fire,” I said.
Ooo000ooo
Danielle fell asleep pretty quickly after we got home. It had been a long day, and she was feeling all kinds of emotions. I stayed with her until her breathing was even and calm. I checked on Skyler, who was also curled up in her bed, content and safe, before heading downstairs where my brothers were waiting.
“Sam’s going to stay here,” Graham said. “To keep an eye on Danielle and Skyler.”
I nodded. “I can do this alone, guys.”
“No, you can’t,” Eli said, putting a hand on my shoulder. “We’re going with you. This isn’t a one-person job by any stretch of the imagination.”
“I just hate dragging you guys into this mess,” I said.
“You were there when we had to save Emmy,” Graham reminded me.
“And when Penelope was working at the clinic, you always watched out for her,” Sam added.
“And I’m sure one day, you’ll help save someone I love too, at this rate,” Eli laughed, and the rest of us joined in. It relieved the tension greatly. “Even if you don’t, we’re brothers, and we’ll always have each other’s back. I’m sure Jack would join us too, if we gave him a call.”
“No, don’t do that. He cleaned up his life; we don’t need him getting caught trespassing.”
“But I know he appreciates all that you’ve done to help him too,” Graham said. “We all do. We’ve pulled you into our shit, so now it’s our turn to help you.”
I nodded apprehensively. “Thanks, guys.”
“Ready to head out?” Graham asked.
“Yeah, let’s do this.”
Eli and Graham went over the plan as I drove. We knew the place likely had security cameras everywhere, but Eli would handle it. He was our tech guru and thought he could hack into the camera’s system and turn them off, briefly, while we explored the property, looking for anything that might act as proof of Jim’s involvement. We’d already scoped out the land via property records and maps and discovered there was a shed not too far behind the house that belonged to Jim.
We parked several blocks away from Jim’s property, out on a busy street with a lot of vehicles parked along it. It was late, around one in the morning, but the moonlight bounced off snow around us and lit up the street and surrounding areas, making it easier to see where we were going.
The wind whipped against my face, cold and brutal, like a warning, telling me I should go back inside where it was safer. I pulled my coat tighter around me and stuffed my hands in my pockets. Nothing was going to stop me.
We trudged through the snow in silence until we found ourselves outside of the massive, gaudy McMansion.
“Alright, let me turn off these cameras and double check for alarms on the fence,” Eli said, pulling out a tablet and getting to work.
I waited in the cold. It felt like an eternity as Eli tapped the screen. Finally, he said, “Done. For a guy this rich, his security system is pretty shitty.”
I was already several feet away before my brothers joined me walking toward the back gate. We needed to find something, anything, that would prove Jim was responsible for the fire.
The fence was six feet tall, but rather than work at the locks, I climbed over the top. Being tall often came in handy for moments like this. My brothers easily scaled the fence as well.
I landed on my feet in the soft snow and was thankful for the bright moonlight. The shed was a few yards away, tucked behind some trees. The windows from Jim’s office peered out over the backyard and the trees, and even though it was late, I double checked that the lights were off.
We made it to the shed and found it unlocked. I stepped into the shed, eager to find anything. We didn’t find a light, so we used the flashlights on our phones to light the way. The shed was filled with random stuff sheds are usually filled with. Some rakes. Other gardening tools. Nothing of interest at first.
“Dammit,” I muttered to myself.
“What’s this?” Eli asked, opening a cabinet tucked away in the back. “Oh shit.”
“What’s what?” I asked.
“Looks like we have some accelerant,” Eli said.
“That’s not enough evidence,” Graham said, speaking my mind.
“I know, but it’s a start,” he argued.
“He could just say it’s for burning leaves, especially since it’s with his gardening tools. A lot of people burn their leaves.”
“But do they have this much of the stuff?”
Eli shined the light on the cabinet, which was full of accelerant, more than most people would need in a lifetime. Graham and I stared in silence for a few seconds.
“Sadly, I don’t think this is enough proof,” Graham said eventually.
“Yeah, you’re right,” Eli muttered, shaking his head. “Though I don’t know what else we can find that would help our case.”
“Not much, I’m sure, but at least we know we’re looking in the right direction.”
Bullshit. I was tired of sitting around and waiting. We needed more proof than this, and we weren’t going to find it here. I walked out of the shed with Graham on my heels.
“Where are you going?” he asked.
“I’m going to get into his office and find something substantial,” I said, my voice low.
“You can’t just break into his house.”
“Watch me.”
Eli was also beside us, but he kept quiet.
“What if he’s got alarms? You know a rich guy like him has alarms all over his house.”
I looked at Eli, lifting a brow, and he admitted with a shrug, “I could probably disarm them.”
“No, we can’t do this. We can’t break into this man’s house.”
I was already headed for the house, leaving Graham behind. I was tired of sitting back and letting these rich assholes win. I was tired of Danielle’s life being in limbo, and her living in fear. Jim King had burned down her house to try and take it from her, because he was a greedy asshole or maybe because he was in cahoots with Greg. I wasn’t sure, but nothing about the situation sat right with me.
Eli was by my side, and I turned to him when we reached the window leading to King’s office. “Think you can do it?”
“It’s already done.”
“Thanks, man,” I said, patting him on the shoulder.
All that I had to do now was to get through the window. I was just about to break the glass with my fist when Graham grabbed my arm and held it back. I glared at my older brother.
“Stay out of this.”
“If you’re going to do this, at least be smart about it, Mason,” he said. “You can’t leave broken windows and evidence lying around.”
“But then how—”
“The back door has a touch pad with a code instead of a key,” Eli said, fiddling with the lock attached to his tablet. “One second and I think…yes, there we go. It should open right up for you now.”
“You’re good, Eli. Not sure how I never recognized that before, but you’re scarily good at this stuff.”
Eli gave me a cockeyed grin before I headed for the back door. I didn’t even realize that Eli was following me until he pulled open the door, careful to use his sleeve to leave no fingerprints. Graham stayed back. I couldn’t blame him. I didn’t want to get him involved with breaking and entering, not when he had a wife and a baby to worry about.
The back door led into a giant kitchen, and we were careful not to make any noise as we walked through it and into a dining area. We found a hall that led to the main entryway, and from there, the hall to the office.
The entire house was silent. Had we tripped any secret alarms, I knew from experience they were likely silent. We’d only find out when the cops came knocking on the door. But I trusted Eli. If he said the alarms were disabled, I believed him.