Tess ran next door to Suzie’s house, yelling, “Fire! Fire!” But even as she did so, she wondered if she should have run inside to get her cell phone instead. The blaze was not yet out of control, and she could have grabbed some family photographs at the same time, or the punchbowl her mom had given her as a wedding present, or something else with sentimental value that could not be replaced.

Suzie’s door was unlocked as usual, and Tess ran into her friend’s house, still shouting “Fire!” From the living room end table, she grabbed the cordless phone out of its cradle and pressed 911.

Suzie ran out from the hall, still buttoning her pants, the sound of a toilet flushing behind her. “What’s going on?”

But Tess was already screaming into the phone, telling the dispatcher that their house was on fire and repeating the address over and over again so the fire department would know where it was. Even before she hung up, she could hear sirens starting from far away, and she dashed back outside, past Suzie, horrified to see that Deke had not been able to stem the spread of the flames and that the entire house seemed to be burning.

It was that shake roof. They’d known it was a fire hazard, but they hadn’t had the money to get it replaced.

The firemen arrived remarkably quickly, but not quickly enough to save their home. They saved part of it, and the garage, but almost the entire roof was gone, as well as the two bedrooms, the bathroom and the kitchen. Basically, the entire back of the house was destroyed, and the firemen were cleaning up, and Tess was crying into Deke’s shoulder, when a cleancut man in a gray business suit walked up, clearing his throat to get their attention. Curious neighbors, even Suzie, were being kept off the property behind yellow caution tape, but somehow this man had gotten through, and he smiled insincerely as Tess looked up at him.

“A tragedy,” he said, shaking his head. “A tragedy.”

His sympathy was as insincere as his smile, and Deke frowned at him. “Who are you?”

“I work for The First People’s Bank.”

“So?”

“So you’re going to need to buy a new house,” the man said. “Our bank can offer you—”

Deke looked at him belligerently. “We have insurance. We’ll rebuild.”

“You don’t think it would be more prudent to buy a new house in a less fire-prone neighborhood?”

“No.”

“And if your house burns down again?”

Was that a threat? Tess examined the man. How much did he know about this fire? Because there hadn’t been a storm or lightning, and she was pretty sure there’d been no problems with the home’s wiring. How exactly did the fire start?

And how and why had he gotten here so quickly?