The Burning Read Online Free PDF Page A

his boots too. Smoke also came out from under his feet.
     
    “Arthur, we need to leave. Now!”
     
    At his age, Arthur could still move fast. He skipped across the living room and together, they walked out the front door and down the steps to the gravel drive.
     
    “What was in the floor?” Arthur asked.
     
    “I have no idea,” Clayton said. “But I’ve got a VHS tape to watch. Maybe there’ll be something on here.”
     
    Both men walked away with half their footwear still intact, but Clayton’s confidence wavering.
     

Chapter 5
     
    Friday, May 18, 2012…
     
    Tessa finished the first coat of paint in their bedroom. While washing her hands, she heard Eric pulling up to the front of the house.
     
    Eager to hear what Eric had found out in town, she ran down the stairs, gave the kitchen a wide berth, and opened the front door.
     
    Right away she could see the anger on his face.
     
    “What happened in town?” she asked.
     
    “Nothing,” he said, his voice confirming her suspicions of ire.
     
    He had gotten out of the car and fiddled with something in the trunk.
     
    “What do you mean, nothing ? Wasn’t the real estate agent in? Did you get to the library?”
     
    He popped his head out from behind the open lid of the trunk. “No, and no.”
     
    He doesn’t have to be so bitchy to me.
     
    “What happened then? Tell me. You sound pissed.”
     
    “I am pissed.”
     
    He slammed the trunk and she jumped at what he held in his hands.
     
    A silver hand gun.
     
    “What are you doing?” she asked, her voice weak and feminine. “We don’t believe in guns. We’ve talked about this.”
     
    “Yeah, and look how many kilometers we are from town.” He walked around the car. “Someone came into our house and burned a rat in our oven. We’re so far out of town that the local sheriff offers us his personal services if we need a cop. Tell me that doesn’t spook you just a little.”
     
    “There are two things that have me spooked. One was the rat in the oven. And the other is you, right now.”
     
    He walked up beside her and slid the top of the gun until it clicked. “Well, Tessa, I’m sorry, but you’re going to have to get used to it. I will protect you and this house, and I won’t allow you or anyone else to dictate to me how I choose to do that protection.”
     
    He walked past her and disappeared inside.
     
    What the hell has happened to my Eric?
     
    She found him in the kitchen checking to see if the window over the sink was secure.
     
    “Where did you get the gun?” she asked.
     
    “Officer Clayton had an extra in his trunk.”
     
    “What?” she asked and then slapped her forehead. “Are you serious? That was smart, real smart.”
     
    He stopped sliding his hands along the frame and turned to her. “What does that mean?”
     
    “Tell me what happened in town.” She crossed her arms. “Everything.”
     
    “Okay. The real estate agency was closed by the time I got downtown. With all the tourists in town for the long weekend, it took forever to get to the library. It, too, was closed. I missed it by five minutes.”
     
    “Then what?”
     
    “Officer Clayton pulled up in his cruiser and asked me to get in. I did.”
     
    “Why? Did he have an issue with you or is this his way of making friends?”
     
    Eric raised both hands and said, “I have no idea. He said I looked scared, so I told him about the rat. He offered the weapon and I took it. Coming from a cop, I thought it was safe.”
     
    “This is insane. You didn’t consider my feelings—”
     
    Something snapped upstairs, and the house shuddered with the bang.
     
    Her eyes wide, Tessa whispered, “What was that?”
     
    “I don’t know, but I’m going to find out.”
     
    Eric ran past her, the gun held high. Tessa was still scared about the cop’s gift of a gun. If Eric shot someone and ended up in court, there was no way a member of the RCMP would take the fall by admitting he offered a weapon