Girl on Fire by Danielle Bannister

Author:Danielle Bannister
Language: eng
Format: epub

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He was lying on my bed. His hands tucked under his head, muscles relaxed, eyes closed. I had hoped for a half a second that he’d fallen asleep and that I could sneak out without waking him, but of course, he was just waiting to pounce.

“Your day of rest is over, my dear, and since I don’t get to have you the whole day tomorrow, I have to make up for some lost time right now.”

A familiar fear danced over my skin, causing me to gooseflesh. He wanted to scare me. He wouldn’t really try anything with his family so close.

“Oh, I thought you should know,” he said with a calmness that unnerved me, “I got an interesting alert today. It seems that the NYPD is very interested in your whereabouts, Sarah.”

I stiffened. He’d already told me that I was wanted for questioning concerning my mother’s death, but I could tell the stakes had been raised.

He propped himself onto his elbows. “Did you know a church burned to the ground on the very same day you skipped town? The same day your mother was found dead.”

My eyes widened, wondering what he was insinuating, and yet knowing at the same time.

“Three people died in that fire,” he said, slowly sitting up. “A janitor, some homeless man in the alley too drunk to move when the fire broke the walls, and a nun.” He stood up and walked over to me, peering into my eyes the whole time. “A nun.”

“It wasn’t me,” I said, quickly, hating how guilty it sounded. I hadn’t lit anything other than small bits of kindling and never near buildings.

He gave me an exaggerated sympathy nod.

“I’m sure it wasn’t, or maybe it was.” He smirked. “I could give a rat’s ass.” He reached out and twirled a few strands of my hair, gentle, yet ominous. His eyes tracked as his finger curled my hair around it. “Here’s the thing that will matter.” He gave the strand a hard tug. “You like to start fires. You have a history of it. There’s a fire, not two blocks from your house, the same day your mother winds up dead. And you?” He let the hair go. “Are nowhere to be found. Odd. Don’t you think?” He brushed his thumb along the edge of my jaw before he bent down and gently kissed my neck.

“The dots are there, Sarah. The ‘truth’ doesn’t matter.” He pulled his lips off my neck to look me in the eyes. “In the end, people just want someone to blame, and you fit the profile. I doubt you have an alibi for the time of the fire. Am I right?”

My silence was the only answer he needed.

He nodded. “So you see, you’ll be guilty until proven innocent. Which we both know won’t happen.”

The expression on his face was clear. His little speech was a reiteration of the rules. Follow his orders or be turned in. I wasn’t sure which choice was worse.

“What do you want from me?” I hissed, though careful to keep my voice low.

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