Games of Fire (54 page)

“What?” His fingers tightened around her arm.

“They caught them!” she exclaimed, it finally slapping her upside the head. “They caught them!” Her voice rose until she was almost screaming.

She threw herself into Spencer’s arms, the phone still clutched in her hand, forgotten. Spencer squeezed her tight, pressing his face into her neck.

“Sophie! Sophie!” Her father’s voice was nearly drowned out by her half laughing, half sobbing.

“I’m here!” She wiped at her eyes as she drew away from Spencer. “How did they catch them? Where? Who was it? Did they say what they wanted? When can I—?”

“Sophie!” There was amusement in her father’s tone. “We’re on our way to Mark’s house. We’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”

Sure enough, her parents arrived fifteen minutes later and Sophie barreled into them, having missed them dearly. She kissed both of them over and over again until she had no choice but to pull away and let them into the foyer. Jackie stepped into the house behind them, looking relieved but tired. Her blonde hair was swept into a ponytail and her clothes weren’t as crisp as they usually were. But her eyes lit up when Spencer moved in to embrace her.

“Come inside!” Mark laughed. “The party’s in the sitting room!”

Laughing, they followed him into the next room. Janice hurried out from the kitchen with a tray of tea, nearly balancing it on her belly.

“Hey!” Mark darted over to her and took the tray from her. “Didn’t I tell you to sit down and put your feet up?”

Janice flushed prettily. “I’ll be as big as a house if I listen to you every time you tell me to sit down.”

He pecked her on the lips. “I’m allowed to spoil you, love. It’s my job.” With a wink, he joined the others, setting the tray down on the coffee table. He sat on the sectional and gave a loud clap of his hands. “All right! Tell us what happened!”

All eyes were on her father now, watching, waiting to hear how all their troubles had finally come to an end after weeks of turmoil. Sophie was scarcely breathing. She held on so tight to Spencer’s hand, he actually detangled their fingers and pulled her into his lap instead, tucking her between his legs and back into his chest. He encircled her waist and rested his chin on her shoulder.

“The detective phoned me an hour ago,” her father began, barely suppressing the ear to ear grin splitting his face. “He said they made a break in the case. They arrested three men after an anonymous tip paid off.”

“An anonymous tip?” Janice shot a glance towards her husband. “Is that even reliable?”

“They confessed,” Sophie’s father said with a slight tinge of satisfaction. “Also, they found evidence in their car and home that proves it’s them. Things only people who committed these crimes would possess.”

“Like what?” Sophie asked.

Her father looked at her. “The detective wouldn’t tell me, but he assured me that these were the men.”

“And they confessed?” Mark marveled. “Just like that?”

Her father nodded, reaching over and taking his wife’s hand. “
The detective said it was a normal case. As soon as you separate them, one is always bound to crack under pressure. He told them everything about setting the garage on fire and the party. They’re all going in for quite a while for the arson attack alone, but they’re looking at stalking, uttering threats, vandalism … the list is endless. It’s over.”

“This calls for a celebration!” Mark lunged to his feet, startling everyone. “I think Italian and wine, what does everyone else think?”

“Sounds like a great idea!” her father said, slapping his thigh.

“Then it’s settled!” Mark announced, giving a sharp clap and then rubbing his hands together. “We will all go out to supper tonight. My treat!”

“I don’t think so!” Her father rose to his feet. “I insist it be my treat!”

While they argued, Spencer pulled Sophie further back, squishing her against him as he nestled his face into the curve between her neck and shoulder. His warm breath tickled over her skin, leaving goose bumps in their wake.

“I guess
this means I won’t be able to sneak into your room at night,” he pressed into the skin of her neck, making her shiver. “No more waking up together in the morning or staying up late talking.”

There was disappointment working up inside her, but she couldn’t seem to keep a hold of it when the tips of his fingers were slipping beneath the hem of her shirt to touch a strip of flesh exposed between her jeans and shirt.

“Stop,” she breathed just for his ears. “Someone will see.”

His chest expanded and shuddered as he exhaled. “It’s going to take some getting used to.”

“What?”

“Not seeing your face first thing in the morning.” He raised his head and lightly brushed his nose against her cheek in his search for her lips. “It was one of my favorite parts of the day.”

“And the others?”

He drew back just enough to rest his brow on hers. “Kissing you good morning. Having breakfast with you. Watching you read while I
protected you from zombies.” He grinned when she giggled. “Getting into bed with you at night. Holding you close. Listening to your breathing soften as you fell asleep. Smelling your hair in my face. Hearing you whisper my name in your sleep … ”

Her eyes lifted to his face, her cheeks pink. “I’ll miss those things, too.”

“Sophie?” The rest of the crew in the room had already risen to their feet, making signs of leaving.

Sophie rose, hand still in Spencer’s as he followed suit. “What’s the plan?” she asked her father.

“We’re going home,” he said, still beaming. “We’re going to sleep in our own beds and not worry about a thing and then this weekend we’ll all go out to eat somewhere.”

She could live with that, the whole making future plans part and doing inconsequential things. It took a little while for it to fully set in that it was all finally over, but by the time her driveway bumped into view and she was peering at the beauty of her home, it was a full blown slam in the chest. It was finally over.
Her family was safe. She wouldn’t have to wonder if some maniac was going to hurt them. She was finally safe. She could go back to her life, to her friends! The only real change was the charred state of the garage, but otherwise, she was home!

“Baby?” Spencer touched her cheek, brushing away the single tear that had slipped. “What’s wrong?”

She laughed, doing a little whirl. “Nothing!” she exclaimed, throwing her arms around him. “Not a damn thing!”

He chuckled, lifting her off her feet for a second. He set her down, but kept his arms crushingly tight around her. “It’s over, baby.”

It was her turn to press her face into his shoulder and close her eyes. It was over. It was all over.

In the shadows, a plume of
air washed through the dark, whispering to the night of relief. 

She was back.

“Sophie!”

The reverberating shout sliced through the chaos of Sophie’s first day back to school. She barely had enough time to turn when she was tackled by a mass of blonde that seemed to wind around her throat and choke the breath out of her.

“Jess?” she squeaked, prying long, pale arms from around her bruised neck.

“Jess, you’re killing her!” Lauren appeared behind Jess, smirking a little, but the gesture was tight
, forced.

Jessie released Sophie, sniffling and wiping snot and tears from her blotchy face with her forearm. “Oh, Sophie, we were so worried! Your phone was off and you weren’t returning our emails or texts
… we went to your house and no one answered.” She hiccupped. “No one answered! We thought … ”

Guilt was a dodge ball sized fist slamming into her chest, knocking the breath from her lungs. She pulled her friend back into her arms. “I’m sorry, Jess. I swear it wasn’t
… I never wanted to hurt you guys. It wasn’t safe. The guy found us at the hotel and … I had to! I’m sorry!” She peered over Jessie’s shoulder at Lauren. “I promise I never meant to hurt you guys. I wanted to call.”

“We’re just so happy you’re okay!” Jessie croaked, pulling back. “We’ve all been going out of our minds with worry.”

“I’m sorry,” she said again, feeling her own eyes prickle. “I couldn’t even call my parents.”

“Oh you poor thing!” Jessie’s lower lip trembled.

Lauren looked nowhere near ready to be as forgiving. “Dude, one phone call. Were they holding you in the basement or something? It would have taken two seconds.”

“I know! But my parents took my phone and
… I couldn’t!”

A braided strip of hair was flicked over her shoulder dismissively as Lauren turned away. “Whatever.”

“Lauren!”

But the girl was sauntering away, head high, back straight. Her anger was a dark cloud following after her.

“She’ll come around,” Jessie murmured, rubbing Sophie’s arm. “She was just worried! We all were, but she … she was so scared. I mean, I’ve never seen Lauren scared, not even when we walked into that horror movie by mistake once and I was ready to pee myself. She completely fell apart, So. I mean, she was so scared!”

“I didn’t mean to scare her,” Sophie said, feeling like the lowest form of slimy. “I really wasn’t allowed to call anyone. The police told me not to and
… I wanted to! I swear. I missed you guys so much.”

Jessie offered her a small, wet smile. “I know, So. Lauren’ll come around. Just give her a little time.”

Taking Sophie’s arm, Jessie guided her towards the cafeteria, chattering on about all the things Sophie had missed in her two weeks of absence from school. She talked about how Brian and Tiffany were back together again and sitting at their regular table and how Roy had cornered Lauren and demanded to know why she didn’t want to be with him, but sends her friends to beat on him. Sophie objected the latter.

“I didn’t beat on him!”

Jessie giggled. “I know, but Lauren was so infuriated. Secretly though, I think she liked it.”

“What the hell’s going on there anyway? I thought Lauren was crazy about the guy.”

Jessie sighed, shaking her head. “I don’t know. She won’t tell me. I’ve tried. She just says she doesn’t want him, which I know is such a huge lie.”

They reached the bustle of the cafeteria. Sophie’s gaze instantly went to work searching for one face amongst the crowd, two gray eyes she hadn’t seen since that morning. She was so lost in her search, she missed the figure marching towards her until it was too late.

She was grabbed, the hold bruising. Her feet left the ground and she was slammed into what felt like a wall, face first. All the oxygen in her lungs escaped in a choked wheeze. Her ribs creaked. There was an unnatural tingle in her lips before she was just as abruptly released.

Joe stared at her with eyes too wide and shiny. His hands were still clamped like bands of steel around her upper arms as he just stared at her as if she were the best thing he’d ever seen in his life.

“You’re back,” he breathed. “Where have you been? Why didn’t you phone me? Do you have any idea how worried I’ve been?”

“I’m sorry!” she said for what felt like the millionth time. “I didn’t have a choice.”

Joe shook his head. “I knew I should have done something sooner. I knew I shouldn’t have left you by yourself!”

Sophie frowned. “Joe, I wasn’t by myself! I had my parents and Spencer.”

His face tightened. “Rowth,” he muttered as if the word was something foul. “Yeah, a lot of good he did you. If you had listened to me from the beginning, you would have been safe!”

“I’m fine!” She offered him a smile. “The guys were arrested and won’t be coming out for a very long time.”

“But it would never have happened if you had stayed away from that party like you should have!” The ferocity in those words sent a cold chill down her spine, but she forced the unease away and patted him lightly on the arm.

“Come on. I brought cold cut
s today.”

But Joe didn’t move. He stood staring at her for what felt like an eternity, seemingly having a silent debat
e with himself regarding her. It was hard to tell which side won when he looked queasy as he spoke.