Uncertain Truths

Ch 21 - Already Personal

Barely twenty meters down the driveway, something that reminded her of a sour gas vent flared over the rooftop of her house. She hit her brakes and backed up. It wasn't like she'd left the stove on. The furnace was only a year old. Suddenly a fireball went up into the sky over her house followed by a large explosion.

More than half of the house was engulfed in flame now. She sat there, stunned for a few minutes before she pulled out her cellphone and called for help. Within seconds firetrucks were there. Nosy neighbors. Kae was grateful for them this time, although she doubted the house would survive even with rapid response.

She pulled herself out of the truck and sank to sit on her heels, staring. The heat coming off it was nearly overwhelming. Police cars showed up next. Small town, small police force. A familiar face walked over. Greg. But he was in uniform again, so Constable Ricet.

"You're going to need somewhere to live for a while," he said.

"Not a problem," she was thinking about the cabin. It was a single story, two room house on the far side of the barn. It was also Aiden's home away from home, so it must be livable. He was gone anyway.

Ricet proceeded to ask her questions she had no answers for, other than 'was there anyone inside', which was no. The dogs had been moved to the barn till winter. Cats? Two old strays came in the dog door now and then, but she hadn't seen them in a week and Becca's went to the vet about an hour earlier.

"When will I be able to go in?" She asked, knowing it was a stupid question. Staring at the house, watching the fire fighters do their thing she wondered if there would even be a basement left. "After the fire's out, obviously, but I need to see if my laptop survived. Things like that." She thought about the hundreds of movies she'd spent her life collecting. How many did she lose?

"It's too soon to think about that. It'll be the fire chief's call. You can ask him, later. Did you hear anything out of the ordinary before you left the house?"

She leaned against the truck hood, crossed her arms across her chest. Life really was fleeting, wasn't it?

"Nothing comes to mind."

"Is there anything you can think of that might explain the fire?"

She shook her head.

"Thanks for your time, Kae. Glad you weren't in there," Ricet said before he rejoined the other officer on the scene.

A moment later Sam drove up and joined her, leaning back too.

"Not arson, right?"

She turned to scowl at him. "How would I know?"

"There's always a chance. You haven't exactly gone out of your way to make friends lately. With the Memory Book thing, it could be someone's actually worried." He pulled out his SLR camera and looked at her. "Don't mind me... I need some pictures for work. Did you know this house was built by the town founders to give business owners moving to the area a temporary residence? Not every day I get to see it in progress."

"No." She shrugged. "Go ahead." Captain sensitivity.

The fire was under control. It looked like they might be able to save about half of the house, but really, it was a write-off. Most of the half they saved was basement - the family room, a couple storage rooms, and her bedroom. The section upstairs wouldn't be safe to walk on. All of it would stink like ash.

And it didn't spread to the barn. That would have been an actual disaster. No great loss, this house. Maybe burning was appropriate. And there was insurance. She smiled against her will. Diane would be shocked. She'd threatened to burn the place down, but it was more of a metaphor, a way of expressing her distaste.