Riley's Secret (A Moon's Glow Novel # 1) (3 page)

“Damn, it’s a dud,” Chris muttered, taking the lighter
from Shane. “I’ll do it.” He took another one and lit it. This time the rocket
shot up into the sky with a loud buzzing sound, then a loud
boom
that
seemed to echo. I was sure I heard the firecracker go off twice.

Above us were thousands of clear lights shaped as a
snowflake. It was so beautiful that I almost didn’t notice a loud bang to the
right and a bright red glowing light. I looked closer and realized why. The
“dud” had landed on a roof and now that roof was on fire.

“
Oh my God
, that house is on fire,” I yelled.

Brandon yanked his arm off my shoulder and stood up. I
followed suit, starting to panic. “Oh shit. Guys, look.” He pointed to the
house that now had smoke and flames rising above it.

Without thought, I took off running to my car.

“Megan, what are you doing?” Brandon yelled from way
behind me.

“I’m going to get my phone to call nine-one-one.” I
reached my car and opened the door. Taking my phone off of the dash where I had
left it, I called with the location of the house before anybody else reached
the parking lot. I was just getting in the driver’s seat when they ran toward
me. Shane was carrying the cooler. A house was on fire, but he couldn’t forget
his beer.

I turned the ignition and was about to lift my foot
off the brake to pull out of the lot when Brandon pounded on the hood. I
stopped to look at him.

“Where are you going?” he asked, a frightened
expression on his face.

“To the house. I have to see if there’s anyone home,
someone could get hurt.” I let up on the brake again, but Brandon grabbed my
shoulder through the window.

“No, you’ll get in trouble.”

“Are you serious?” I gasped, gaping at them.
Why were
they just standing around the parking lot staring at me?

“Megan, come on, it’ll be fine. You called
nine-one-one, let’s go,” Mandy pleaded.

I stared at her and then at the others. No one moved
and none of them looked me in the eye either. It was obvious that they didn’t
care about the possibility of somebody getting hurt. All that mattered to them
was their own skin. “I hope all of you sleep well tonight,” I said coolly,
stepping on the gas and pulling out of the lot, flinging gravel from under my
tires.

I stopped in front of the red brick two-story house.
There were two cars parked in front of the garage, which meant someone must be
home. All the lights were out so I assumed that the family was asleep. Smoke
and flames were still at the back of the house where the rocket hit the roof,
but it was slowly moving forward.

I ran up to the front door and tried to open it, but
of course it was locked. Looking around, I saw a large bay window on the first
floor. I rushed over, hoping it was open, but again I couldn’t budge it.

I ran back to the door and pressed the doorbell
continuously, hoping that I might wake them. When that didn’t work, I started
banging my fists in frustration, yelling and screaming until my throat hurt. I
wanted to help more, I just didn’t know how.

“What’s going on? What are you doing?”

I turned around at the sound of a deep voice and saw
Nate Green standing behind me on the porch. We went to the same school, but I
didn’t know him very well.

“The roof is on fire.” I pointed up at the flames that
were starting to spread to the front of the house. He rushed over and tried to
turn the doorknob. “It’s locked and since there are cars in the driveway I
think someone’s home.” My voice was filled with the panic that was bubbling
inside me.

We heard crying from upstairs and looked up to see a
little girl leaning out of her window.

Nate shoved me aside and kicked the door down with his
foot. He was about to run in when he noticed me following him. He spun around.
“What are you doing?”

“I’m coming, this is my fault. I want to help,” I
cried, trying to shove past him.

He stared at me in surprise and then blocked my way
with his arm. “You’re not going in there,” he said with a low growl. Something
in the way he looked at me stopped me in my tracks. His bright blue eyes turned
wild and for a split second I felt a chill.

The chill was enough to keep me in my place. “Fine,
I’ll wait down here, but hurry up.”

He took off up the stairs faster than I thought
possible.

I waited for what seemed like hours, until I finally
heard the sound of whimpering. Nate was coming down the stairs carrying two
kids, a boy and a girl, both in pajamas. They were holding on to him for dear
life. He had to pry their hands off of his arms when he set them down in front of
me.

“Take them to your car, get away from the house. I’m
going back for their parents,” he yelled. Before I could argue that the fire
was getting out of control, he ran back up the stairs.

I picked up the little girl, who looked about three
and held her older brother’s hand, leading them to my car.

Once in the car, I turned on the interior light so the
kids wouldn’t be so frightened. My eyes were locked on the scene before me, waiting
for Nate with a knot of panic in my stomach.

The fire had now spread to the front of the house.
Smoke and violent red flames poured out of broken windows. The black smoke
rolled out and covered the top part of the house. I was starting to worry about
Nate and the parents. Just as I was about to get out and run after them, a
shadow emerged from the front door. Once it moved away from the house and the
smoke, I saw that it was Nate. A man and a woman was with him. He was guiding
them away from the flames. The woman looked close to unconsciousness.

He led them to a bench in front of the house. They sat
down as we heard sirens coming down the street.

“Fire truck,” the little girl called out, pointing to
the first shiny red rig that stopped on the lawn. Three more pulled up behind
it.

“That’s right, a fire truck. They’re going to put out
the fire.” I patted her on the head, wishing I could do more to give her
comfort. She smiled up at me with big brown eyes that were filled with a mix of
fear and excitement. She had coffee-colored curly hair that came to her
shoulders and she was wearing a pink flowered nightgown.

“What’s your name?” she asked me, touching the heart
pendant on my necklace.

“My name is Megan. What’s yours?”

“Kara.” Her voice was a soft whisper.

“That’s a pretty name. What’s yours, little guy?” I
asked the boy, who appeared to be about four. He was wearing pajamas covered in
soccer balls, baseballs and footballs. His hair was the same color as his
sister’s, but his eyes were blue.

“Billy,” he said shyly. His gaze never moved from the
fire truck as the firefighters jumped out and started to pull out the hose.

I heard another siren and saw an ambulance pulling up
behind the fire truck. I watched all the chaos unfold as the three of us sat
safely huddled inside my car. There were about twenty firefighters running
around, pulling out the hoses and ladders.

Paramedics were checking the parents. Bystanders, who
had started to watch, were being pushed back to a safe distance by police
officers. There were two cruisers parked behind my car.

Nate stayed close to the parents, watching the paramedics
take care of them. They were now sitting up on the bench, looking much better. Nate
suddenly glanced over at us, as if remembering we were still here and then
jogged over to stand beside the car.

I rolled the window down. “Are they okay?” he asked,
nodding to the kids.

“Yes, they’re fine. What about the parents?”

“They’ll be okay,” he snapped. Even though he was
covered in black soot, I could see the disapproval on his face. He glared at me
coldly before walking away.

What was his problem?
Nate was not a guy anyone could figure out. He
started at our school three years ago and all the girls fell for him. Who could
blame them? He was tall with broad shoulders and muscular arms. He had thick
wavy sand-colored hair and deep blue eyes, a strong jaw and slight dimples that
popped out on the rare occasion when he smiled. He had the kind of looks that
girls daydreamed about. But it was soon obvious that he wasn’t interested in
dating anyone from school.

He kept to himself except for the kids he tutored. He
was picky about that as well. A few girls thought they could use his tutoring
to get to know him. But they soon realized that wouldn’t work. He told them
flat out that he didn’t tutor for rich families, only those who couldn’t afford
one. I laughed when he turned Jenny down. She was so sure she would be the one
to finally date the hottest guy in school. She made up a rumor about him being
gay after he turned her down. It didn’t seem to bother him though. If anyone
said anything to him, he just kept walking with a blank expression on his face.

The guy intimidated the heck out of me. Not that I
knew him very well, but there was just something about him that made you feel
inferior. He was so good, you could never compete morally.

I did know something about him that no one else did
though. One day about a year ago, I was running late for school. The halls were
empty and everyone had already started class. I was leaving my locker when I
heard voices around the corner.

“What are you doing? I told you not to talk to me at
school.” The voice was deep and I didn’t recognize it.

“No one is in the halls, Nate, I just said hi. What’s
the big deal?” I couldn’t tell who the girl was, but she did sound familiar. I
slowed down, not wanting to interrupt. It was rare that anyone got a chance to
hear Nate speak.

“She’s coming,” he said softly. That was strange. Who
was he talking about? I rounded the corner and only saw Lauren Riley. Nate was
nowhere to be seen. She looked flustered at seeing me.

“Hi, Lauren,” I called, walking up to stand in front
of her. “Was that Nate Green I heard you talking to?”

“No, I was alone. You must be hearing things,” she stammered,
stepping quickly to my left before I could block her. I heard her shoes
clicking hurriedly down the hall as I stood in a daze in the middle of the
empty corridor, wondering what had just happened.

“Fire truck!” Billy yelled, bringing me back to the
present.

“That’s right, Billy, fire truck. Look at the firemen;
they’re putting the fire out.” I jumped at the sound of a bang on the driver’s
side window. A paramedic was standing outside, waiting for me to roll it down.

“Excuse me, miss. I would like to check out the
children now.” He opened the door before I could respond. He was about the same
age as my dad, maybe in his forties. His hair was receding and the little hair
he had was mostly gray.

I climbed out and then turned around to help the kids.

While they were being checked out, I stood back and
waited.

“The parents are fine, just smoke inhalation. How are
the kids?” Nate asked, suddenly appearing next to me.

“He hasn’t said anything yet, but I think they’re all
right.”

“And how would you know that, are you a doctor?”

“No, but I have been sitting in here with them all
this time. What’s your problem?” I asked, sick of his attitude.

“Nothing. The police want to take your statement. I’ve
already given mine.” He gave me a scowl as he walked away, heading in the
direction of the four police officers. He said something to a woman and
gestured to me. She glanced in my direction, her face serious. After a word to
her partner, she headed over to where I was standing beside my car.

“Megan Banks?” she asked as she approached. Her long
brown hair was pulled into a ponytail and she was wearing a black dress suit.
Her badge hung on a long chain around her neck.

“Yes.”

“My name is Detective Carver. I understand you were
the first one on the scene. Can you tell me where you were and what you were
doing?”

I couldn’t tell her what really happened. I didn’t
agree with what my friends did, but I wouldn’t rat them out either. “I was at
the school, hoping I could get into my locker. I forgot my math book, but all
the doors were locked. I was getting back in my car when I noticed smoke coming
from this house. I raced over after I called nine-one-one.”

She eyed me suspiciously for several seconds before
responding. “And you were alone?”

“Yes.”

“Wait right here.” She walked back over to the two men
in police uniforms and spoke to them briefly. After their talk, the men climbed
into a police cruiser and drove away.

Detective Carver and another man in a suit, made their
way back over to me and asked me to wait in my car for a few minutes.

I did as they said, scared out of my mind.

Riley House

I sat in my car for about half an hour, watching the
men finally put the fire out. Just as the firemen were packing up I saw
Detective Carver talking on her cell phone. When she hung up, she spoke briefly
to the other detective and then they both headed back in my direction. I
climbed out of the car with a feeling of dread in the pit of my stomach and leaned
against the bumper to wait.