Headlines

I woke up to a frantic text message from Adam:

              Can I come over? I need to show you something.

I told him he could and then got dressed. About 30 minutes later he was pounding on my apartment door.

“Jesus, Adam, what is it?” I said answering the door.

He walked into my apartment with a newspaper.

“I got a front page headline. And it’s HUGE. It’s about the fire at your apartment, Faith. It was arson!”

“Would you relax?” I said, “We already know that it was arson, Adam.”

“Yeah, but the fire started in YOUR apartment, Faith. And this isn’t the first time the person that did it has lit a building on fire.”

“What!?” I said, I took the paper out of his hands and read the article he wrote.

Adam found out that the fire started in my apartment and that the accelerant that was used was a homemade mixture used in at least three other fires. He also accused the Fire Marshal of sitting on that knowledge which prevented a honest investigation into my apartment building’s fire.

“How did you find this?” I asked.

“I hired a private investigator with ties to the fire department and the police department. They showed me the investigation files, Faith. There hasn’t been any further evidence about your fire that has been released because they’re more concerned people will panic.”

I sat there in silence, staring at Adam’s article. Then I spoke.

“If the fire started in my apartment…then someone was inside it. They could’ve been waiting for me to get home.”

The thought made me want to throw up.

Someone else was knocking on my door.

“Mike…?” I said as he walked into my living room.

“Have you seen this!?” He said holding up a copy of the paper.

I nodded and Mike looked over at my dining table and saw Adam.

Adam’s face was surprised but only for a moment, he introduced himself quickly.

“Hi, I’m Adam.” He said shaking Mike’s hand, “I’m a friend of Faith’s.”

“I’m Mike. I’m her boyfriend.” Mike said before turning to look at me again.

“I saw it, Mike, but why are you so upset?”

“This article completely trashes the fire department. There were reasons that evidence wasn’t being released. This could have a huge impact of finding the person that burned your apartment down.”

“No it won’t. If anything, it’ll add transparency to the investigation and get things moving again.” Adam said with his arms crossed against his chest.

“You said your name was Adam?” Mike asked.

“That’s right.”

Mike looked at the article again and then slowly looked up.

“YOU wrote this? Faith, he has completely ruined any chance of finding this person now.” Mike gestured to Adam angrily, “The only way we’ll be able to find them is if they burn another building down and make a mistake! And then the people they end up killing will be entirely YOUR fault!” He said to Adam.

“Is he part of the fire department!?” Adam asked me.

I was standing between them as they got into a shouting match.

 “Mike, please stop! Adam!” I shouted.

“You’re just trying to help cover it up!”

“You IDIOT! Do you know WHY that evidence wasn’t being released!?” Mike asked.

I calmed Adam down.

“Because when the details of an arson, or ANY crime for that matter, are released a bunch of people come and confess to it! And even though they’re always fake confessions, every single one has to be investigated! You’ve just made it HARDER for anyone to do meaningful work on that case for MONTHS! And based on the profile for that arsonist, it’s likely another fire will happen while everyone is dealing with that. You just helped murder a bunch of people!” Mike said.

I pulled him aside.

“I need you to cool off. Can you go in my room please?” I put my hand on his shoulder.

He shrugged it off but went to my room and slammed the door.

Adam and I looked at each other in stunned silence, what Mike had said had an effect on him.

“I…” He started.

“Adam, it’s fine. I’m…I’m so proud of you for getting your first headlining story but I need to go talk to him and I think it’s best if you leave.”

He nodded sadly and left. I walked into my room and found Mike laying on my bed with his legs hanging off of it. I laid down next to him.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

He nodded.

“How do you know so much about the fire at my apartment building?” I asked him. It sounded more like an accusation than I had intended.

He sat up and looked at me.

“My dad and the Fire Marshal are close, I asked him to keep me in the loop on it as a favor a few weeks after we started dating.”

“Why?” I asked.

“Because I care about you. I wanted to know that there was still movement being made on it. I know how hard it was for you to go through all of that and I just wanted to know if they were closer to finding the person that was responsible for it.”

“Are they?”

“Not anymore.” Mike said angrily.

“Okay,” I said calming him down again, “But WAS there new evidence?”

“Yes, but it’s useless now.”

“Why didn’t anyone tell me that the fire had started in my apartment? Wouldn’t I have been a suspect?”

“No, they knew you weren’t there when it happened. The security cameras your landlord put in showed you leaving and not returning. They decided in light of that evidence to withhold it from the public so if someone DID make a confession, it could identify it was a real one or not.”

Mike put his arm around me.

“Are YOU okay?” He asked.

I nodded.

“It’s just…a lot to take in. And Adam really thought he was helping, I think he feels awful now.”

“Tell him I apologize for yelling.”

I gave him a sad smile and then hugged him. He kissed my forehead and then fished his phone out of his pocket. It was vibrating.

“Hey dad, what’s g-”

I looked up at Mike’s face, it was whiter than a sheet.

“Okay, I’m coming.”

“Mike, what happened?”

“We have to go to the hospital. My mom was taken to the ER in an ambulance.”

I grabbed my house keys and we were gone.