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Four police officers walk towards us. Behind them is a man holding a notepad and tape recorder. While we were looking for the clothes, Sarah and I agreed on a story. I came around the back of the house where she was watching the fire. She had jumped out of the second-floor window with the dogs, who had run away. We had watched away from the crowd, but eventually drifted over and joined it. I explained to her that we couldn't tell anyone about what happened, not even Sam or Henri, that if anyone found out the truth, I would have to leave immediately. We agreed that I would answer the questions and she would agree with whatever I said.
"Are you John Smith?" one of the cops asks me. The officer is of medium height, and stands with his shoulders hunched. He isn't overweight but is far from being in shape, with a slight paunch and an overall look of softness.
"Yes, why?"
"Two people said they saw you run into that house and then come flying out the back of it like Superman, with the dogs and the girl in your arms."
"Seriously?" I ask in disbelief. Sarah stays beside me.
"That's what they said."
I fake a laugh. "The house was on fire. Do I look like I was inside a burning house?"
He scrunches his eyebrows together and rests his hands on his hips. "So you're telling me you didn't go in there?"
"I came around the back to try and find Sarah," I say. "She had gotten out with the dogs. We stayed back there and watched the fire and then came over here."
The officer looks at Sarah. "Is that true?"
"Yes."
"Well, who ran into that house, then?" the reporter beside him chimes in. It's his first time speaking. He watches me with shrewd, judging eyes. I can already tell that he doesn't believe my story.
"How do I know?" I say.
He nods his head and writes something in his notebook. I can't read what it says.
"So you're telling me these two witnesses are liars?" the reporter asks.
"Baines," the officer says, shaking his head at him.
I nod. "I didn't go into the house and save her or the dogs. They were outside."
"Who said anything about saving her or the dogs?" Baines asks.
I shrug. "I thought that's what you were implying."
"I didn't imply anything."
Sam walks up with my phone. I try to fix him with a stare to tell him the timing is bad, but he doesn't understand and he hands me my phone anyway.
"Thanks," I say.
"I'm happy you're okay," he says. The officers glare at him and he slinks away.
Baines watches with his eyes squinted. He's chewing gum, trying to piece the information together. He nods to himself.
"So you handed your phone to your friend before you went for a walk?" he asks.
"I handed him my phone during the party. It was uncomfortable in my pocket."
"I bet it was," Baines says. "So where did you go?"
"All right, Baines, that's enough questions," the officer says.
"Can I leave?" I ask him. He nods his head. I walk away with my phone in my hand, dialing Henri's number with Sarah at my side.
"Hello," answers Henri.
"I'm ready to be picked up," I say. "There's been a terrible fire here."
"What?"
"Can you just pick us up?"
"Yes. I'll be right there."
"So how do you explain the cut on the top of your head?" Baines asks from behind me. He had been following me, listening to my call to Henri.
"I cut it on a branch in the woods."
"How convenient," he says, and again writes something in his notebook. "You know I can tell when I'm being lied to, right?"
I ignore him, keep walking away with Sarah's hand in mine. We head over to Sam.
"I'll find the truth, Mr. Smith. I always do," Baines yells behind me.
"Henri is on the way," I say to Sam and Sarah.
"What the hell was that all about?" Sam asks.
"Who knows? Somebody thinks they saw me run in, probably somebody who drank too much," I say more at Baines than Sam.
We stand at the end of the driveway until Henri arrives. When he pulls up he steps out of the truck and looks at the smoldering house far off in the distance.
"Ah, hell. Promise me you weren't a part of this," he says.
"I wasn't," I say.
We get into the truck. He pulls away while looking at the smoking rubble.
"You guys smell like smoke," Henri says.
None of us reply, making the drive in silence. Sarah sits on my lap. We drop Sam off first, then Henri pulls out of the driveway and points the truck towards Sarah's home.
"I don't want to leave you tonight," Sarah says to me.
"I don't want to leave you either."
When we arrive at her house I get out with her and walk her to the door. She won't let go of me when I hug her good night.
"Will you call me when you get home?"
"Of course."
"I love you."
I smile. "I love you too."
She goes inside. I walk back to the truck, where Henri is waiting. I have to figure out a way to keep him from finding out the truth about tonight, from making us leave Paradise. Henri pulls out and drives home.
"So what happened to your jacket?" he asks.
"It was in Mark's closet."
"What happened to your head?"
"I hit it trying to get out when the fire first started."
He looks over at me doubtfully. "You're the one who smells like smoke."
I shrug. "There was a lot of it."
"So what started it?"
"Drunke
Henri nods and turns down our road.
"Well," he says. "It will be interesting to see what's in the papers on Monday." He turns and looks at me, studying my reaction.
I keep silent.
Yes, I think, it most certainly will be.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
I can't sleep. I lie in bed staring through the darkness at the ceiling. I call Sarah and we talk until three; I hang up and lie there with my eyes wide-open. At four I crawl out of bed and walk out of the room. Henri sits at the kitchen table, drinking coffee. He looks up at me, bags beneath his eyes, hair tousled.
"What are you doing?" I ask.
"I couldn't sleep either," he says. "Scouring the news."
"Find anything?"
"Yes, but I'm not sure what it means to us yet. The men who wrote and published They Walk Among Us, the men we met, were tortured and killed."
I sit across from him. "What?"
"Police found them when the neighbors called after hearing screams coming from the house."
"They didn't know where we lived."
"No, they didn't. Thankfully. But it means the Mogadorians are getting bolder. And they're close. If we see or hear anything else out of the ordinary, we're going to need to leave immediately, no questions asked, no discussion."
"Okay."
"How's your head?"
"Sore," I say. It took seven stitches to close the cut. Henri did it himself. I'm wearing a baggy sweatshirt. I'm certain one of the cuts on my back needs stitches as well, but that would require me to take my shirt off, and how would I explain the other cuts and scrapes to Henri? He'll know for sure what has happened. My lungs still burn. If anything, the pain has grown worse.
"So, the fire started in the basement?"
"Yes."
"And you were in the living room?"
"Yes."
"How did you know it started in the basement?"
"Because all the guys came ru
"And you knew everyone was out of the house by the time you went outside?"
"Yes."
"How?"
I can tell he's trying to get me to contradict myself, that he's skeptical of my story. I'm certain he doesn't believe that I merely stood out front watching like everyone else.
"I didn't go in," I say. It pains me to do so, but I look him in the eye and I lie.
"I believe you," he says.
I wake close to noon. Birds are chirping beyond the window, and sunlight is pouring in. I breathe a sigh of relief. The fact that I was allowed to sleep this late means that there was no news to incriminate me. If there had been, I would have been pulled from bed and told to pack.