All A Heart Needs B&N (19 page)

But when the hell had they ever gone right
?

Frowning, he got out of the car. As he walked up the driveway, his thoughts moved from Jessica to Kyle. Her little kid, with his blond hair and blue eyes, had looked at him like he was a hero. But it was nothing to fix a model airplane. He could do the easy stuff. The hard stuff was another matter.

And he'd seen the look in Jessica's eyes when she'd watched him with Kyle. Danger bells had gone off in his head. She was a single mom, looking for a dad for her kid. He wasn't father material. He wasn't husband material. He liked his freedom. His life was one of movement and change.

A sexy single mom and her cute kid weren't going to change all that. Were they?

He had to admit he enjoyed having dinner with them. He liked being part of a family again. He'd almost forgotten what that felt like. But Kyle and Jessica weren't his family. If anything, they belonged to the Callaways.

With a sigh, he unlocked his door. He was just about to step inside when he heard his name called.

He looked down the stairs and saw his father standing by the side door.

"Can you come down for a minute?" Jack asked.

He really wished he had a good reason to say no, but he didn't. So he nodded and walked back down the stairs.

Jack had disappeared into the house by the time he got there. Sean entered through the laundry room, walking into the big country kitchen that had been remodeled about ten years ago, but the large oak table where he'd done his homework still sat in its nook by the window.

His father was sitting at that table now. He had his computer open, and a mug of coffee sat next to it.

"Just made some coffee if you want some," Jack said.

"I'm good." Sean took a seat at the table. "What are you working on?"

"I'm catching up on some emails. There doesn't seem to be enough time in the day."

Sean nodded, already out of casual conversation. When it came to his dad, he never knew what to say.

"I spoke to Emma earlier." Jack lifted his gaze from the computer and fixed his sharp blue gaze on Sean's face. "She's looking into the Emery house fire. Was that at your request?"

He hesitated and then decided there was no point in prevaricating. "Yes. When Jessica moved into the house, I started thinking about the fire and realized I never knew how it started."

"You didn't think to ask me?"

"Emma is an arson investigator," he answered carefully.

"And I was there that night. I ran into that fire. You don't think I might have some answers?"

He saw the disappointment in his father's eyes and tried not to feel guilty about bypassing his dad, because this was the very conversation he'd hoped to avoid. "Emma said that you didn't have any information that wasn't in the report. Is that incorrect?"

Jack's lips tightened. "No."

His father might have faults, but he was always honest. "That's what I thought."

"Your mother told me I was too hard on you after the fire. And later I realized she was right. I took out my anger and frustration about the tragic deaths of two people on you, and you were just a child."

Sean was stunned at the apology. He didn't know what to say.

"I tried to talk to you about it," Jack continued. "But you shut me out after that. I thought eventually you'd get over it, and things would go back to normal, but I realize now that that was the beginning of the end for us."

"Until this past week," Sean said slowly, "I didn't realize that fire was a turning point for us, but you're right, it was. You were hard on me, but I deserved it. Stacy might be alive if I'd told someone she left. I have to live with that for the rest of my life."

Jack gave a regretful shake of his head. "I don't want you to live with that guilt. The fire was an accident. No one was to blame, least of all you. I'm sorry I put that on you." He paused. "How can I help you now?"

"I don't know," Sean said, taken aback by the offer. "Emma said the investigation appeared to be incomplete, that certain protocols weren't followed. I wonder why, especially since you were on that fire, and you knew the Emerys personally."

Jack nodded, his jaw tightening. "She mentioned that. I don't know what happened. I spent quite a bit of time detailing my findings at the scene with the investigator. But only one page of my report is apparently in the file. I don't know why the rest is missing, but I can tell you that there was no evidence that the fire was anything but an accident."

"Robert was in a lot of debt. His widow collected more than half a million in insurance money."

"I did not know about the debt, but the fire didn't look like suicide. I knew Robert. I can't believe he would have killed himself. He wouldn't have done that to his wife and children even if he was having money problems."

"Did you know that Sally and Robert were having an affair?"

Jack's jaw dropped. "I did not. Are you sure about that?"

"Not one hundred percent sure, but it looks like there was something going on between them."

"Well," Jack said, lapsing into quiet as he thought about what Sean had said. "I find that surprising. Robert wasn't a man to cheat on his wife."

"Maybe you didn't know him as well as you thought," Sean suggested.

"Maybe I didn't."

"Emma said there were other problems with the report," Sean added. "The investigator said there were only two witnesses at the scene, but there were more than two people watching that house burn."

Jack's gaze bored into his. "How do you know that?"

Sean quickly realized his mistake. He'd just backed himself into a corner and judging by the look on his father's face, he wasn't going to be able to get out of that corner without coming clean. It was time to tell the truth. He just didn't know if he could do it.

"Sean," his father pressed. "What aren't you telling me?"

He took a deep breath and then said, "I was there that night."

"You were where?"

"Outside of Stacy's house."

"That's impossible."

"No, it's not. I saw the smoke from my bedroom window." He paused as the memory flashed through his head. "I didn't know the fire was at Stacy's house, but I knew it was close by. I left my room, and I went downstairs. Mom was cooking dinner in the kitchen and helping Drew and Emma with some homework. She didn't even see me walk through the room. I knew I wasn't supposed to go outside, but I was drawn to the fire."

He took a breath and then continued. "When I got around the block, I realized it was Stacy's house. I was shocked and scared. I didn't know what to do. I just stood there. And then the front door opened and Stacy came running out." He swallowed a lump in his throat. "She was on fire. The flames were lighting up her hair, and she was screaming. She looked across the street. I think she saw me, but I don't know. Then the fire engines arrived. I saw you run to her. You wrapped her in something and threw her on the ground."

"Damn," his father murmured, shaking his head in disbelief. "I had no idea. I never saw you."

"You were a little busy. You know what I did next? I ran home. I went upstairs, got into my bed and I pulled the covers over my head. When you and Mom came to see me later that night, I already knew what you were going to say." He paused. "Stacy was dead, and it was my fault."

"Why didn’t you tell me?" Jack demanded.

"I was already in trouble for letting Stacy go home."

"You shouldn't have been out there. You were eight years old. You knew you weren't supposed to leave the house by yourself."

Sean thought it only fitting that his father should focus only on what he'd done wrong and no other part of the story. "Well, I was there, and I saw Stacy, and I couldn't get that image out of my head for years. When Jessica moved into that house, it all came back to me. That's why I asked Emma to look into the fire. I want to put it to rest, but I can't do that until I know why it happened."

"It was an accident, Sean. I really believe that."

"If that's what it comes down to in the end, then I'll believe it, too."

"You're so stubborn."

"Apparently, we have one thing in common."

Lynda walked into the kitchen and gave them both a pointed look. "You were both doing so well," she said with a sigh. "I had a feeling it wouldn't last. I was listening," she added. "And I'm not going to apologize."

"So you heard everything?" Sean asked.

She met his gaze, sympathy and compassion in her eyes. "I can't believe you never told us you were at the fire, Sean. It was such a big secret for you to carry. No wonder you couldn't sleep for months after that fire. I feel like I should have known. I obviously missed something that night."

"There's enough of us taking blame for what happened that night, don't you start, too," he said. "You didn't miss anything. I kept the secret from you. I didn't want you to know, and as the years passed, I tried to put it behind me. The only reason I told Dad now was because he asked me how I knew there were other witnesses. I saw at least six to seven people from the neighborhood huddled on the street together, so it didn't make sense to me that none of them were questioned."

Jack frowned. "It doesn't make sense to me either. I know some of my guys talked to the neighbors. I'm going to talk to Emma about the investigation, and I'll see if I can help."

"I appreciate that."

"This explains so much, Sean," Lynda said. "Your sudden aversion to all things having to do with fire. You wouldn't go down to see your father at the firehouse after that night. You avoided the firefighter picnics. You stiffened when you heard a siren. I had a feeling it had to do with Stacy, but now that I know you saw her come running out of her house, I can see why you had to stay away. I just wish you'd told us."

"There was nothing you could do."

"That's
not
why you didn't tell us. Do you know what I think?" she asked.

He was afraid to ask. "What?"

"You wanted to be punished, and not the simple punishment we would have handed out for leaving the house. No, keeping the secret kept you in pain for a long time, and it was pain you thought you deserved. But you didn't, Sean, and you need to let it go."

His mother's words hit him like a punch to the gut. He didn't know if he was punishing himself, but he did know that he needed to find a way to move on. "I'll be able to let the past go when I know everything there is to know about that night," he said.

"Sometimes the truth doesn't set you free," Lynda said.

"Sometimes it just makes you hurt all over again," Jack added.

His parents were smart people. He hoped they were both wrong.

* * *

Jessica got into Sean's van on Wednesday morning with a brown paper bag in her hand. "What's that?" he asked curiously.

"Our excuse to see Mr. Hamilton." She reached into the bag and pulled out a carved statue of an elephant. "What do you think?"

"I'm not sure," he said. "Do you have a story to go with that?"

"As a matter of fact, I do," she said with a sparkle in her brown eyes. "I found a box labeled India. Inside was this elephant as well as photos of Mr. Hamilton and Mr. Emery on a business trip to Kashmir. There were pictures of them in front of the Taj Mahal and with various business associates. It's easy to assume that this elephant belonged to Clark and might even be valuable."

"Very smart," he said approvingly.

"I thought so," she said with a smile. "I'm starting to feel like a detective."

"I'm starting to feel like an idiot for getting into all this," he murmured.

She frowned. "Okay, what happened between last night and this morning, because you were still feeling pretty gung ho when you left my house last night?"

He sighed. "I ran into my parents when I got home. I had a chat with dear old dad."

"Really. What did you tell him?"

"Everything." He glanced over at her. "All of it, Jess."

"I'm surprised. How do you feel?"

"A little lighter for getting the big secret off of my chest, but at the same time I wonder what the hell we're doing now. My dad was on the scene. As an experienced firefighter, he knew what he was looking at, and he saw no sign that the fire wasn't an accident."

"Did you tell him what else we've discovered?"

"Some of it—the debt, the possible affair—but it still doesn't quite add up to suicide or anything else."

"Anything else being…"

"Deliberate."

She met his gaze, her brows drawing together as she gave him a thoughtful look. "You're not talking about Robert setting the fire himself anymore, are you?"

"It occurs to me that if he was having an affair, maybe someone was angry."

"That someone being Lana. You think she would have killed her own husband and daughter?"

He heard the doubt in Jessica's voice, but he had an explanation. "Lana didn't know Stacy was in the house," he reminded her.

"You're right." Jessica settled back in her seat. "Well, that's another theory."

"It could explain why Lana said the fire was her fault."

"I thought that was just mother's guilt."

"Maybe it was. Like I said, I don’t know what we're doing."

"We're following clues. Emma thought it was a good idea for us to talk to Mr. Hamilton. We have this elephant to show him. I say we go and talk to him and then decide if we want to do anything else. Even though you're frustrated, I don't think you're ready to quit yet, Sean."

"You're right. Let's talk to Clark."

Fifteen minutes later they parked in an underground garage, then made their way up to the twenty-second floor of a building in the Financial District. The glass door was engraved in gold with the name Hamilton and Associates. They stepped into a plush lobby, decorated with thick carpet, large black leather sofas, Impressionistic paintings and an ornate antique desk in the corner.

A young woman in her twenties sat at the reception desk. She gave them a friendly smile.

"Can I help you?" she asked.

"We're here to see Mr. Hamilton," Sean said.

"Do you have an appointment?"

"No, but we have something for him."