Chapter 2 - The Fire in the Walls
The glass vase swung through the air.
It crashed directly into the tape player.
Plastic and wire shattered across the desk.
The recording cut into silence.
"He was sick, David!" Eleanor screamed.
"His mind was ruined by fever!" she shouted.
"Get out of my house," I said.
My voice was dead and quiet.
"David, listen to me," Eleanor begged.
"I raised you after your father died!" she said.
"Leave, Mother," I repeated.
"Before I call the police," I said.
Eleanor swallowed hard.
She backed out of the study.
Her shoes clicked loudly on the hallway wood.
The front door opened and slammed shut.
She was gone.
I stood alone in the quiet study.
Sarah walked in slowly.
She began picking up the broken plastic pieces.
"Don't touch them," I said.
Sarah stopped instantly.
Her hands hovered over the carpet.
"David, I didn't know about the fire," she said.
"I swear on Leo's life," she said.
"You knew Marcus was here," I said.
"You met him behind my back," I said.
"He called me two weeks ago," Sarah said.
"He was coughing up blood, David," she said.
"He begged me for food and medicine," she said.
"Why didn't you tell me?" I asked.
"He made me promise not to," Sarah said.
"He said you would hate him," she said.
"He said you blamed him for leaving," she added.
I closed my eyes.
It was true.
For six years, I thought Marcus had abandoned us.
I thought he ran away because he was selfish.
I had carried that anger for years.
"Where was he staying?" I asked.
"In the old cabin by the lake," Sarah said.
"The one your father built," she added.
I grabbed my coat off the chair.
"Stay here with Leo," I said.
"David, it's pouring rain," Sarah said.
"I don't care," I said.
"I need to see where my brother lived," I said.
I drove through the heavy storm.
The windshield wipers beat back and forth.
The lake cabin was five miles outside town.
It had been abandoned for over a decade.
When I pulled up, the windows were dark.
The front door was slightly ajar.
I pushed the door open.
The smell of old wood and damp air hit me.
I pulled out my flashlight.
The beam of light moved across the small room.
A narrow cot sat in the corner.
Blankets were folded neatly on top.
A small wooden table stood against the wall.
On the table was a half-empty water bottle.
Beside it was a pile of prescription pills.
The bottle had my mother's name on it.
I walked closer to the table.
Eleanor had been supplying him with medicine.
She wasn't just paying him to stay away.
She was controlling him.
I noticed a small notebook lying open.
The pages were filled with Marcus's handwriting.
I picked it up and read the last entry.
"She took the insurance papers from the bank."
"She knows I found the original fire report."
"If anything happens to me, check the floorboards."
I dropped to my knees on the wooden floor.
I used my pocketknife to pry up the loose boards.
Underneath the third board was a metal container.
I lifted it out.
Inside was an old manila folder.
It contained official documents from twenty years ago.
The first page was an arson investigation report.
It stated clearly that the factory fire was set intentionally.
Chemical accelerants were found near the office.
The office belonged to my mother.
She was the head accountant at the factory back then.
Attached to the report was a life insurance policy.
It was taken out on my father just two months before the fire.
The payout was half a million dollars.
The beneficiary was Eleanor.
My hands shook as I turned the page.
There was a second insurance policy attached.
This one was dated six months ago.
It was taken out on our family home.
The policy value was one million dollars.
The payout went to Eleanor if the house burned down.
And the house was registered in my name.
My blood ran cold.
Marcus's voice echoed in my head.
"And she is trying to do it again."
I scrambled to my feet.
I ran out of the cabin into the pouring rain.
I jumped into my truck and started the engine.
My hands were shaking on the steering wheel.
I called Sarah's phone.
It went straight to voicemail.
I tried again.
Voicemail again.
I pressed down hard on the gas pedal.
The truck tires splashed through deep puddles.
It took fifteen minutes to reach my neighborhood.
As I turned onto my street, red lights flashed.
A thick plume of black smoke filled the night sky.
Fire trucks blocked the entire road.
Flames were shooting out of the roof of my house.
"No!" I screamed.
I threw the truck into park and jumped out.
I sprinted toward the burning building.
Firefighters tried to grab my arms.
"Sir, you can't go in there!" a firefighter yelled.
"My wife and son are inside!" I screamed.
"A woman and child were brought out!" he called back.
I turned and ran toward the ambulance.
Sarah was sitting on the back bumper.
She was covered in soot and holding Leo tightly.
Leo was crying against her chest.
I fell to my knees in front of them.
"Are you okay?" I sobbed.
"We are okay," Sarah gasped.
"The smoke alarm woke us up," she said.
"Where is my mother?" I asked.
Sarah looked up at the burning house.
"She came back right after you left," Sarah whispered.
"She said she forgot her purse," Sarah said.
"Then the garage started burning," she added.
I looked at the blazing front porch.
A figure emerged from the side of the house.
It was my mother.
Her coat was singed black.
She was holding a gas canister in her gloved hand.
She saw me standing by the ambulance.
She didn't try to hide the canister.
She dropped it onto the wet grass.
Two police officers moved toward her immediately.
Eleanor didn't run.
She looked directly at me.
"I did it for us, David," Eleanor said loudly.
"We needed the money," she said.
"The debts were too big," she added.
"You tried to kill my family!" I yelled.
"No," Eleanor said calmly.
"I knew Sarah would hear the alarm," she said.
"I just wanted the house gone," she said.
The police handcuffed her arms behind her back.
As they led her away, a second car pulled up.
A man stepped out of the passenger side.
He walked with a heavy limp.
He wore a dark raincoat with the hood pulled up.
He pulled the hood back from his face.
It was Marcus.
He was pale, thin, and hollow-checked.
But he was alive.
I stared at my missing brother in total disbelief.
Marcus walked slowly over to me.
"The car in the river was a distraction," Marcus said.
May you like
"I had to make her think I was gone," he said.
"So she would make her move," he added.
