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Rain or Shine

Page 110

by Eva Simmons

“Harloe.” He nods.

“The guys are sleeping,” I say, crossing my arms over my chest.

“I’m not here for them.”

“Then who—” My eyebrows scrunch, and it hits me. “You’re here for me?”

“We received notice that the insurance company paid you out for the damages to Ransack.”

I nod. “We got the check two days ago.”

Which is why I assumed the cops had closed their investigation. The fact that Virgil is standing here with his lips in a firm line tells me that’s not the case.

He inches closer. “We need to follow up on a few loose ends, so I’ll need you to come down to the station.”

“The check has already been cut.” I move back a step.

“Exactly. Insurance fraud is a big deal.”

“What fraud? You have video of someone else starting the fire. I had nothing to do with it.”

“Unless you knew that guy and set it up.”

“What’s going on here?” Shane’s voice snaps from behind me a moment before he snags me around the waist and pulls me to him.

Virgil doesn’t so much as blink. “Harloe needs to come downtown and answer a few questions. We can do that one of two ways.”

He reaches back for his cuffs, so I pull out of Shane’s arms, not wanting to make this worse.

“It’s fine, I’ll go.” I turn to face Shane, planting my hands on his bare chest while he continues to stare down Virgil. “I’m just answering questions, that’s all. I didn’t do anything wrong. Call my family and let them know what’s going on. I’ll be fine.”

His teeth clench, and he refuses to look at me.

“Shane,” I say firmer, and his gaze finally snaps to me. “Call them. Someone needs to meet the inspector so we don’t delay this another week. Please.”

He nods, but his fingers tighten, reluctant to let me go. At least I manage to make it out the door without getting him arrested.

Even if it feels like I am.

Virgil keeps me for three hours of questioning, and I never got my coffee. By the time I step out of the police station, the sun is high in the sky and blinding from spending so long in Lanceleaf Valley’s poorly lit interrogation room.

I nearly break into tears when I spot Shane at the curb, leaning against his bike with a coffee in hand, waiting for me.

“The inspection?” I ask, stopping in front of him.

“Liam took care of it. Ransack passed.”

My shoulders relax as I grab the coffee. “Thank God. I thought I was never going to get out of there. I swear he was making things up at one point, trying to see if he could keep me long enough to break me. He went in circles until I could barely remember what day it was. Wait… why do you look so serious? What happened?”

“He’s okay” is all Shane says, reaching for my hand.

But I pull out of his grasp, backing up a step. “Who’s okay?”

Shane steps forward, and I don’t know how I didn’t notice it when I first walked up, but his eyes are distant. His jaw grinds as worry hangs heavy in his gaze.

An icy chill runs my spine. “What happened, Shane?”

“Your father has been taken to the hospital. He had a heart attack⁠—”