Page 101 of Knot A Chance

“No,” she said, looking over her shoulder at him. “He almost never gets called when he’s off duty.”

His posture stiffened as he listened, only speaking a handful of times in a low tone. He returned a few moments later. “I need to go.” He bent down and kissed Ally. “Oakley, stay here with Ally tonight.”

“Why?” Oak asked.

“I’ll feel better knowing that neither of you are alone,” Wyatt said. He looked at me with his eyebrows raised.

I nodded. “I’ll make sure she stays.”

“Thank you.” He turned to Felix. “That was the sheriff in Crescent River. They think they found Calvin.”

“Really? Where?” Felix asked.

“There was a fire a couple hours ago. They’re still working to put it out in some places, but they think they found Calvin’s body inside. He wasn’t alone. There are others too. I need to go get more information.”

“Do you think this is connected to everything else?” I asked.

“It certainly seems possible. Sheriff Marks in Crescent River said they have footage of a woman running from the house around the time the fire was set. Right now, she’s the prime suspect and they believe she could have fled to Mirror Lake or Harvest Cove. I need to call Donovan so we can review that footage and help look for her.”

“Where was the fire?” Felix asked.

“Victor’s Car Wash and the house behind it,” Wyatt said, pulling his long hair back at the nape of his neck.

Ally stood up and kissed him. “Please be careful, babe.”

“I will. I promise.” He gave her a hug and looked around the fire. “Just stay close to each other, please. And if anything strange happens at all, call me.”

“We will,” I said, taking Felix’s hand. “I can’t believe this isn’t over.”

“Unfortunately, I think this is just the beginning,” Wyatt said. “But first, we need to find the woman who started that fire.”

Epilogue

Vargkung

July

Watching Calvin and Julia go up in flames should be more satisfying than this.

Firefighters worked to put out the last of the flames at Victor’s Car Wash, and I could see the charred wood beams still burning hot like coals on a fire from where I stood in the shadows beside Victor’s house.

The fire is beautiful though. Maybe I should use it more often.

Thanks to Felix and Ryder telling the police Silver’s real name, I couldn’t afford to take any more chances. Given that they’d also revealed Victor’s operation, I’d decided to order the strike here. Plus, this is where Calvin had been hiding out since the incident.

The loose ends had to go.

Sure, the name Vargkung was now floating around and the police in all three towns were aware of the existence of my organization, but I’d spent years operating right under their noses. They’d have to do a lot of digging to find me, especially with Calvin gone. Plus, there was a good chance of spinning this fire in a way so that the third body inside would be identified as Vargkung. I just had to play this right and make my team lay low for a bit.

My phone rang.

“Hey boss,” Luna said. “How are the remains of the fire looking?

“Wonderful. There’s a scent of charred flesh in the air, Luna. You’re missing out.”

She scoffed. “You’re the one who said I had to get the hell out of there and stay hidden in my own territory. I’m going to get fired from my real job for this.”

“Pity, are you not well paid by our criminal organization? Here I thought the benefits were above average.”