Read Opal Fire for Free Online Page B

time. They must have arrived early.
    Also in front of the Opal stood Tommy Delaney, Leo, and a man I didn’t recognize dressed in some kind of uniformed coat. The McAllister brothers were there too.
    The short bald man was doing his best to ignore Cinnamon, taking notes, and talking to Eddie and Kirk.
    “So you were hired to do the work?” Baldy asked Eddie.
    Eddie was wearing scuffed up work boots and a five o’clock shadow.
    “You betcha. That was me,” he said.
    I inched up to the curb and motioned for Thor to sit.
    Baldy tilted his head to peer over his glasses at Kirk. “And you approved it?”
    “Yes, I did.” Kirk was taller, older, and sharper than Eddie.
    “How long have you been doing masonry work?”
    “Twenty years,” Eddie said, beaming.
    Baldy took a few more notes and said, “Thank you, gentlemen. I think I have everything I need from you.”
    Kirk nodded and guided Eddie away.
    “What’s going on?” I asked my cousin.
    “You won’t believe this,” she said. I could feel heat seeping from her, her temper in over-drive.
    “Miss...?” said Baldy.
    “Stacy Justice,” I said and stuck my hand out.
    “My apologies. I don’t do that,” he said.
    I lowered my hand and raised an eyebrow to Cin who made a strangling gesture with her fingers.
    “I am Benjamin Smalls and what is happening here is standard company policy whenever a business is involved in a fire. This is the fire investigator for the claims office, Enrique Ortega.”
    I nodded at Enrique and he smiled back.
    “We already have a fire chief, Mr. Smalls,” I said.
    Smalls looked at Tommy like he missed the winning kick in the Superbowl. “Yes, well sometimes in a town the size of Amethyst, not everyone is, how shall I put it? Up to snuff?”
    “I’d like to snuff you,” Cin mumbled next to me.
    “Pardon?” asked Smalls.
    Cinnamon bit her lip.
    “Say, you were there when the fire began, is that correct, Miss Justice?” Smalls continued.
    “I was setting up behind the bar, yes.”
    “Would you mind relaying your version of events?”
    I told him exactly how everything had unfolded.
    “Interesting.” He scribbled more notes. “So your dog was there and you insisted on retrieving him, while your cousin didn’t want you to bother,” said Smalls.
    I stepped back, a bit stunned. “That isn’t what I said. She was afraid I would get hurt so—”
    Cinnamon pinched me and I clamped my jaw shut.
    “And you were never in the basement?” Smalls asked.
    “No,” I said.
    “And you were the only two people in the building?”
    This guy was getting on my nerves so I decided to return the favor.
    “Probably not.”
    Cin gave me a “say what?” look.
    “Come again?” Smalls removed his glasses and stared me down.
    “These are old buildings, Mr. Smalls,” I said sweeping my arm over Main Street. “People have been coming and going in and out of these walls for nearly two centuries.” I lowered my voice and conjured up Birdie’s witchy tone. “We are never alone when the dead walk among us.”
    Smalls dropped his spectacles and I caught them before they hit the ground. I leaned in and slipped them in his breast pocket.
    “Thank you,” he said, his voice squeaky. He shook off a chill and cleared his throat.
    “So then, no living, people. Besides the two of you?” Smalls asked, his voice trimmed with sarcasm.
    Cin and I shook our heads.
    “All right then. That’s all the questions I have. Thank you for your cooperation,” he said and he and Enrique jumped into a van parked on the street.
    Cinnamon stood, anchored to the sidewalk, appearing helpless. I jogged over to the van.
    “Wait a minute.” I knocked on the window and Enrique rolled it down. “What about the claim? What is she supposed to do now?”
    “Now?” Smalls laughed and nudged Enrique who didn’t move. “Tell her to hire an attorney.”
    “An attorney? Why?”
    “Because, Miss Justice. Arson is a very serious offense.”
     
     
    “Tommy,