Chapter 6: The Man Who Was Paid to Start the Fire
I stared at the notification.
Daniel Price.
The contractor.
The man who had disconnected the alarms.
The man who had been standing beside Sloane in the utility room.
And apparently, the man my father was still communicating with.
“Don't touch it,” Mark said.
I hadn't realized I was reaching for the phone.
He stepped beside me.
“Let the authorities handle it.””
Dad came back through the garden doors.
His eyes immediately went to the table.
“Where's my phone?””
I pointed.
He picked it up.
The message was still visible.
His face changed.
“Who touched this?””
“Nobody,” I replied.
He slipped the phone into his pocket.
“Good.””
Mark gave him a hard look.
“Richard, I would strongly advise you not to delete anything.””
Dad laughed.
“You don't get to advise me.””
“Then I'll let the police do it.””
My father stared at him.
For several seconds, neither man moved.
Then the sound of a siren drifted through the neighborhood.
Several guests began collecting their belongings.
The birthday music had stopped completely.
The cake remained untouched beneath its white frosting and eighteen silver candles.
A waiter stood beside it, looking as if he had no idea whether he should serve dessert or disappear.
I suddenly felt exhausted.
My body was beginning to ache.
The grafted skin across my shoulder tightened, and the muscles in my arm trembled from standing too long.
Aunt Meredith noticed.
“June, sweetheart, sit down.””
“I don't want to go inside.””
“Then we'll sit here.””
She brought me a chair and placed a soft towel across my shoulders.
Caleb sat beside me.
He hadn't let go of my hand.
Mom approached slowly.
“Can I get you some water?””
I looked at her.
She stopped.
“I'll get it myself,” Meredith said.
Mom nodded and stepped away.
I watched her walk toward the house.
For the first time, I wondered whether she had ever been as powerless as she claimed.
A few minutes later, two police officers entered through the garden gate.
Mark approached them and explained what had happened.
He showed them the documents, the tablet, and the photograph.
One officer began taking statements while the other asked Caleb about the videos.
Dad immediately requested an attorney.
Sloane sat on the edge of a lounge chair, staring at her hands.
When the female officer approached her, she began crying again.
“Am I going to jail?””
The officer remained professional.
“I'm not here to determine that tonight. I need you to tell me what you remember.””
Sloane looked toward me.
I didn't nod.
I didn't shake my head.
I simply watched.
She turned back to the officer.
“I'll tell you everything.””
Dad's head snapped around.
“Sloane!””
She flinched.
The officer raised a hand.
“Sir, please remain where you are.””
Sloane began speaking.
She explained that Dad had told her about the missing financial records.
He said I had stolen a folder containing documents that could destroy his company.
He told her I was planning to expose him.
He also told her the cottage would be empty on the night of the fire.
She claimed he asked her to move a gasoline container from the garage to the utility room.
“He said it was for the generator,” she whispered.
The officer wrote something down.
“Did you pour gasoline anywhere?””
Sloane shook her head.
“No.””
“Did you see anyone else do it?””
She looked toward Dad.
He was standing near the bar, his arms crossed.
Then she said something that made my heart stop.
“I saw Dad pouring something near the back hallway.””
The officer looked up.
“What?””
Sloane began shaking.
“He told me to go upstairs. I heard him say the smell would disappear before morning.””
Dad exploded.
“She's lying!””
The officer stepped between them.
“Sir, lower your voice.””
“She is a liar! She's been unstable for months!””
Sloane stared at him.
“You told me to do it!””
“Shut up!””
The officer immediately moved closer.
“Mr. Hayes, you need to calm down.””
I watched my father.
The man who had spent my entire childhood teaching me that family loyalty meant never questioning him.
The man who had stood outside my hospital room and told visitors I had caused the fire.
The man who had watched my scars become a source of public humiliation.
Now he was afraid.
Not because he had hurt his daughters.
Because his daughters were finally speaking.
A few minutes later, the officers asked to examine the tablet.
Caleb handed it over.
The older officer checked the video files.
“Do you have the original device?””
Caleb nodded.
“This is it.””
“Did anyone edit these recordings?””
“No.””
“Did you send copies to anyone?””
Caleb hesitated.
Then he looked at me.
“I sent one.””
My eyebrows lifted.
“To whom?””
He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone.
“Someone who helped me when I was recovering.””
He opened his messages.
A contact appeared.
*Dr. Samuel Bennett.*
I recognized the name.
He had been one of the physicians who treated me during my hospitalization.
“What did you send him?”” I asked.
“The video.””
“Why?””
Caleb looked embarrassed.
“Because I remembered what happened, but I didn't know if anyone would believe me.””
My throat tightened.
He continued.
“Dr. Bennett told me I should show someone I trusted.””
I squeezed his hand.
“You did the right thing.””
The older officer studied the screen.
“Do you know if this person still has the file?””
Caleb nodded.
“He told me he kept a copy.””
Mark stepped forward.
“That's important. The original recording should be preserved, and we need to establish its chain of custody.””
The officer agreed.
Then his colleague approached Dad.
“Mr. Hayes, we'd like you to accompany us for further questioning.””
Dad laughed.
“I'm not going anywhere without my attorney.””
“That's fine. You can contact your attorney.””
He looked at Mom.
“Eleanor, tell them this is nonsense.””
Mom stood motionless.
“Eleanor!””
She finally raised her eyes.
“I can't do that.””
His expression changed.
“You're my wife.””
“And she's my daughter.””
She pointed toward me.
Dad looked at me.
For a moment, I thought he might apologize.
Instead, he said, “You have no idea what you've done to this family.””
I stared at him.
“No, Dad. I finally know what you've done to it.””
He looked away.
The officers escorted him toward the front entrance while he continued demanding to speak with his attorney.
Sloane remained seated.
When the officers asked whether she wanted to leave with them for questioning, she nodded.
But before she stood, she approached me.
“June?””
I didn't respond.
She looked at my arm.
“I never wanted you to get hurt.””
I stared at her.
“You knew I was inside.””
Her eyes filled.
“I thought you'd get out.””
“And Caleb?””
She began crying.
“I thought Dad had taken him.””
“You didn't check.””
She lowered her head.
I wanted to hate her.
Part of me did.
But another part remembered the night she used to sneak into my room after nightmares, climbing under my blanket and whispering that monsters couldn't get us if we stayed together.
That memory hurt more than her lies.
“Why did you hate me so much?”” I asked.
She looked up.
“I didn't hate you.””
“Then what was all this?””
She swallowed.
“Dad always said you were the reason everything was difficult. He said Mom loved you more because you were easier to handle. He said Caleb was attached to you because you made him weak.””
I stared at her.
“He told you that?””
She nodded.
“And I believed him.””
I felt sick.
“He made us compete against each other.””
Sloane wiped her face.
“Yes.””
“But you still chose to hurt me.””
She didn't argue.
For the first time, she seemed to understand that an explanation wasn't an apology.
The officers eventually led her toward the driveway.
I watched her disappear through the garden gate.
Then Caleb leaned against my shoulder.
“Are we safe now?””
I looked at the house.
At the glowing windows.
At the beautiful decorations and the untouched birthday cake.
“I don't know yet.””
He nodded.
Then he whispered, “I have something else to tell you.””
I turned toward him.
“What?””
He glanced toward Aunt Meredith.
She looked just as confused as I was.
Caleb took a breath.
“There's another video.””
My heart began pounding.
“What do you mean?””
“The tablet had a hidden folder. I found it before the party.””
“Why didn't you show us?””
“Because I didn't understand what it meant.””
He opened his phone.
A short recording appeared.
The timestamp was 11:36 p.m.
More than an hour after the fire had started.
The screen showed the driveway outside the cottage.
A black SUV was parked near the trees.
Someone stepped out.
A woman.
She walked toward the burning building, holding a small object in her hand.
Then she looked directly at the camera.
Caleb enlarged the image.
I stopped breathing.
It was my mother.
But that wasn't what frightened me most.
Because the object in her hand was not a phone.
It was a small, silver jewelry box.
I recognized it immediately.
It had belonged to my grandmother.
And I had watched Mom bury it with her own hands three months before the fire.
“Why does she have that?”” I whispered.
Caleb shook his head.
“I don't know.””
Then the video continued.
Mom opened the jewelry box.
She removed something small and placed it inside her coat.
Before leaving, she looked toward the burning cottage and said something.
The tablet's microphone caught every word.
*“I'm sorry, June. Your father promised nobody would get hurt.””*
I felt the blood drain from my face.
Aunt Meredith covered her mouth.
And Caleb whispered the question I was too afraid to ask.
“If Mom knew the cottage was burning…”
He looked at me.
“Why did she come back afterward?””
The recording ended.
But in the final frame, visible through the smoke behind my mother, stood another person.
Someone neither Sloane nor Dad had mentioned.
Someone who had supposedly died six years earlier.
My grandmother.
May you like
Alive.
And watching the fire.
