ELIJAH'S POV
The taste of victory should have been sweeter.
I stood outside St. Mary's Hospital, watching the early morning traffic crawl past on the main road. Deborah's broken voice still echoed in my ears. The way she'd crumbled when I told her about the storage unit. The way she'd begged for scraps of my attention like a starving dog.
Pathetic didn't even begin to cover it.
My phone buzzed. Unknown number.
"This is Elijah."
"Mr. Rossi? This is Gary from SecureStore. I got your number from your men yesterday. The security guard who helped you with your wife's unit."
I'd been expecting this call. Gary had seen me leaving the facility before the fire started. I'd made sure to be memorable, chatting with him about electrical problems and how dangerous old wiring could be.
"Gary, yes. Terrible thing about the fire."
"Yeah, real tragedy. But listen, Mr. Rossi, I got police detectives here asking questions. They're treating this like arson."
