to?”
“I have a friend that lives near here.” His hands hovered over the exit sign on the door. “Stay close to me, okay?”
Victoria tapped his shoulder. “Jeff. Security cameras.”
“Then let’s hope our security breach friend isn’t watching right now.” Jeff glanced up briefly, then shoved the door open. Hints of dawn pushed back the darkness enough for Jeff to find his bearings. “We have about four blocks to go before we get to Drake’s place.”
“Drake?” she said breathlessly. “Who is Drake?”
Victoria raised her chin and pumped her arms to keep up, but her stride seemed more like a hobble.
“You’re limping.”
“I’m fine.”
Her jaw was clenched; she was most definitely not fine. “I wish we could afford to go slower.” He offered his arm. “Lean on me.”
Victoria bit her lip and shook her head, until her eyes darted to the office building behind them. She took a deep breath, hooked her arm around his biceps, and they pressed forward. Except, he could barely feel her weight on his arm. “Victoria, we won’t move faster unless you put your full weight on me.”
She grimaced but said nothing. She did, however, lean in closer to him, and he compensated for her slight pull with each step. “Drake is a pilot and a fellow skydiving instructor,” Jeff explained. “He does the camera work on all my jumps and vice versa. We used to be roommates until I got my own place.”
“Skydiving? Wow. You really are quite the outdoorsman, then.”
In a normal situation, Jeff would feel nothing but pride hearing Victoria speak about him in such a way. His identity and dreams all involved the outdoors. The day job was a necessity until he saved enough money, which brought his thoughts back to his car exploding. He’d worked so hard to pay cash for that car. Heat surged through his veins as the reality truly sank in; the fire at Victoria’s house couldn’t have been an accident either.
He led Victoria in a hurried limp across the property’s lawn and into the adjoining subdivision where shadows and large trees would keep them hidden.
* * *
Victoria gritted her teeth, trying to will away the searing pain that shot up her shin every time her heel made contact with the ground. If she just had a moment to rest, she was sure the pain would retreat. She tried not to lean too much onto Jeff, but the faster he walked, the more she had to press into his arm.
At least for a brief moment, it was a relief for him to understand the gravity of her situation. But that relief quickly faded with the understanding it was her fault his car was burned to a crisp. His face looked red, and his arm felt rock hard. The man was stressed to be sure, but mostly seemed angry.
Sirens reached her ears as a disorienting dizziness washed over her. She hadn’t realized she’d stopped until Jeff patted the arm she’d wrapped around his elbow. The man’s touch was unnerving even amid the circumstances.
“Are you okay?”
Victoria closed her eyes and shook her head. “I’ll be fine. It’s the second time in hours that I’ve heard fire trucks coming my way.”
“We might be dealing with a pyromaniac.”
“Do you think we should’ve stayed there and waited for the police?”
“If the circumstances were different, I’d say yes. I don’t like the thought of what could happen to you before then.” Jeff jutted his chin forward. “Except the more I think about it... I’d like to be sure they weren’t trying to set you up first.”
“Wait. What do you mean?”
Jeff rifled his left hand through his hair. “Think about it. First they cancel your security privileges—your whole account, really—and then they say there’s a security breach.” He glanced quickly at Victoria. “I’d feel a lot better if we could get that evidence in our hands.”
“You and me both.” She pulled out her smartphone from her purse. “It’s barely past five in the morning. I’ve got three hours before my FBI appointment.”
“Drake is going to kill me,” Jeff muttered. She leaned on him as they made their way up the driveway to the left side of a duplex. Jeff rang the doorbell. Headlights rounded the corner from the street leading to Earth Generators. Jeff saw it as well but reacted by pushing Victoria into the shadows with him. “Stay still,” he said.
The silver muscle car slowly went down the street. Victoria sagged. “It wasn’t the Range Rover.”
He nodded, but his eyes stayed focused on the car. “Yeah, but it looks familiar.”
Victoria narrowed her eyes. She was no car expert, but it seemed like April had a car like that. “You would know better than me if it’s April’s or not.”
He shifted his focus to Victoria. Their faces were way too close for comfort. He tilted his head like a confused puppy. “I didn’t say anything about April.” The porch light flipped on, saving her from embarrassment. Victoria held up a hand to shield her eyes. Jeff stepped up to the door and waved at the peephole. “It’s me.”
The door swung open to reveal a guy in khaki shorts and an olive-green T-shirt. His matted sandy hair hung down over his squinting eyes. “Dude. It’s too-early-thirty. What are you doing here? You need a place to crash?”
Victoria stepped onto the patio to join Jeff. Drake’s eyes widened at the sight of her. “Well, hello.” He swung his head in a motion that flipped his long bangs back.
“We need a ride, Drake. My car—” Jeff closed his eyes a moment, in grief. “Can you drive us back to my place?”
Drake groaned and muttered a few unpleasant words as he shoved on shoes and grabbed his keys, but he didn’t ask any questions. What kind of guy had friends who would help him out at five in the morning without any questions asked? Did she even have a friend who would do that?
The backseat of the pickup had very little legroom, but she had it to herself. When would be the next time she would be in a place of her own? Her neighbor Darcy would no doubt let her stay a night or two, but then Victoria would need a place to stay with Baloo while her house was rebuilt. And if she didn’t have a job to— Victoria blinked back tears. She couldn’t let herself think that way.
Drake pulled into Jeff’s assigned space in front of the set of town house buildings. Looking out the window, Victoria noticed Jeff’s front door was open. Thoughts of her dog out in the city propelled her forward. “Baloo!” she shouted and flung the back door open. Disregarding the pain in her ankle, she ran up the stairs toward his door. Two arms grabbed her around the waist.
All the air rushed out of her lungs as her feet left the ground. The arms around her middle loosened, and she turned to find Jeff holding a finger up to his mouth. She tried not to cough, but it was useless. Her lungs were still very sensitive after the night’s events. Victoria glared at him. “Baloo,” she croaked.
“You can’t just walk in there. Someone might still be inside.” Jeff pointed hard at his front door. “Go back
