The House on Hancock Hill Read Online Free PDF Page B

proceeded to jump about a foot when Henry put a hand on my shoulder.
    “I’ll come with you.”
    “Jesus, don’t you have anything better to do than help me out?” Henry visibly recoiled, and I squeezed my eyes shut, cradling my forehead carefully in the palm of my hand. “Sorry. God, I’m so sorry, I have no idea where that came from. You don’t have to go with me.” I pretended my voice was firm and my knees wouldn’t be knocking together if I were standing.
    “I know,” Henry said. Something passed between him and the sheriff, which ended with Henry shaking his head. He squeezed my shoulder. “We don’t have to do it now; you’re only just out of the hospital.”
    “I’ll make an appointment for the viewing,” Deputy Ron said. Bile bubbled up my throat. “We’d like it if you stayed available over the next couple of days, Mr. Wood.”
    My heartbeat rang hollow in my ears, and my chest contracted painfully. “Am I a suspect?” I managed, but Curtis shook his head.
    “Not likely, since the fire happened mere hours before we had to summon you here from Detroit.” Everyone rose to their feet and I followed, dazed.
    Somehow, we ended up back in the pickup, although I had no idea if I’d said good-bye to anyone. Henry switched on the engine to warm the cab and turned to face me, left arm hooked over the wheel.
    “You all right, Jay?”
    “I…. Yeah. Listen, I really am sorry about—”
    Henry made a cutting motion with his hand, shutting me up. “No, I’m serious. Are you okay? Because you don’t look well at all. Do you need to go back to the hospital?”
    “I’ll be fine. I guess I’m in shock. Why didn’t they tell me this on the phone? Fuck .” I rubbed at the cramp in my chest.
    “Maybe they thought you wouldn’t have come up, then.”
    “They would’ve thought right.” Sighing, I gentled my tone. “Thanks for coming with me.” Something occurred to me. “You knew, didn’t you?”
    “It’s a small town.” He spread his hands in apology. “Can’t keep much secret around here.”
    “But how can they have no idea who it is?”
    “No one’s missing,” Henry said. I blinked in surprise when he leaned into my space, but it was just to pull the seatbelt across. “How are your ribs?”
    “Fine,” I told him automatically and he gave me a doubtful look.
    “You keep rubbing your chest.”
    “I have—” Snapping my mouth shut, I bit back the words. More than likely, Henry already thought I was in a delicate condition. No need to add to that image by blabbing about my anxiety. “I have asthma,” I finished lamely. His frown deepened, but his steady gaze went a long way toward calming me down.
    “Do you need anything?”
    “It’s been a long time since I’ve had an attack,” I told him truthfully. “This is just stress, I guess. They gave me a new prescription in the hospital for my inhaler since the other one is probably on the floor of the rental car.”
    “Oh, you mean—” Henry dug my inhaler out of his coat. At my surprised look, he colored a little pink. “I, uh, meant to give you this earlier but I forgot. After I came to see you last night, I went back to the car to make sure I hadn’t missed anything.”
    “Oh, wow, thanks.” Our fingers brushed when I took the rescue meds and put them in my pocket.
    Henry’s eyes lingered on me as he nodded slowly. “Just say the word if you need me to pull over,” he said, snapping his seatbelt in place.
    It was weird. I’d have thought this kind of concern would’ve annoyed me, but it was… nice. “So it’s no one local.” I picked up our earlier conversation while Henry gave me another once-over. “The body, I mean. Or maybe it’s someone homeless who was looking for shelter and accidentally set the place on fire.”
    “That’s a good theory actually.” Neither of us pointed out there were never any homeless people in a town like this, especially in winter.
    Stay available over the next couple of days.