Total pages in book: 63
Estimated words: 59767 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 299(@200wpm)___ 239(@250wpm)___ 199(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 59767 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 299(@200wpm)___ 239(@250wpm)___ 199(@300wpm)
The lower half of the house is mostly gone. There are huge, jagged holes missing from the siding and inside walls. It’s gutted. Where once there was a big picture window, now there’s just a charred cavern of destruction. What siding is left is bubbled and peeled back like charred paper. When I peek inside, I can tell that all of the plaster inside is flaked away. There are outlines of ash with bits of springs that seem to be where the living room furniture used to sit. You can tell that this is where the bottle hit and exploded.
Upstairs is completely different. The windows are whole, but they wear a black soot that is streaked in patterns where the fire hose tried to wash the smoke away. The roof sags a little on one side; the porch is half-missing its railing. The whole thing looks like it’s about to fall at any moment. I’m actually surprised it’s still standing. All I can think when I look at it is this is going to make my Georgia cry some more. If I could get a demolition crew tonight, I’d bulldoze the whole damn thing. An empty house seat would have to be easier for them to face than this.
“Prez.” C’s voice comes from the driveway. He’s leaning against his bike, arms folded, face scrubbed clean but hard as ever. Scorpion’s there, too. To the side of them, Cowboy is pacing near the curb like he’s gearing up for a heavyweight fight with a world champion.
“Give me an update,” I order, my nerves strung tight and my throat dry. I want answers and I want an enemy to choke the life out of.
C steps forward and gives it to me straight. “We pulled the responders’ list. Fire department, police, ambulance. We got their names and the names of the crowd that gathered around. IDs on the first people who got there.” He points at his phone. “There was a Ring doorbell on the porch. We grabbed it before the cops realized Ms. Cutter had one and get involved.
Scorpion’s face tightens at that. He’s been staring at the house, too. He looks almost as angry as I am. “I’m going to talk with Georgia and see if they backed shit up on the internet. If so, I’m hoping we can find out more. Hopefully, it shows whoever the fucker was that did this,” he says, and I nod, hoping like hell this can give us the information we need.
“Is this all we have?” I ask, starting to feel desperate. Instead of answers, I’m just getting more unknowns—more questions. It’s maddening.
Cowboy steps up, voice tight. “I was across the street, watching the house like you told me to. Nana is smart. So, I moved over to the diner to stay hidden a little easier. It’s my fault that I didn’t see the fuckers. I was switching back and forth from checking my phone to the house. It had been quiet since the shooting. Honest to God, I didn’t think there was even a point to be here. Then, a black sedan rolled up driving way too fucking slow. At first, I thought I might be overreacting. Then it stopped. From where I was, I couldn’t see the other side of the car. I got out and was going to approach it, but before I could, someone got out. I started to cross the street, but another car came down the road. By the time it cleared, I saw a bottle with fire coming out of the top sailing through the air. I couldn’t see their face because the car blocked them from my view. The bottle shattered the window and when it crashed, the flames shot out everywhere. Whoever threw it jumped back in the car and they peeled down the road. I gave Scorpion a description of the car, make and model. I got two digits on the license plate. That’s all though, Prez. I know I let you down. I’m kicking my own ass. I wanted to follow them, but the house was being devoured by flames. I had to call the fire department and then, I needed to get Nana out. I couldn’t chase them.” His hands curl into fists while describing what happened. “I got her out and waited with her across the street until the ambulance showed up. Cops arrived right behind them. By the time I got away, the car was long gone.”
“Any more camera feeds? Ring’s good but we need other angles,” I say, scanning the area, but not holding out much hope.
“We checked. There’s a chance the diner might’ve caught the car on the street, maybe a plate number. But the cops got to that footage first. We’ll tap into their system, see what they pulled. If the plate shows, we’ll follow it.”