Glory was certain that he had done this and I held onto my doubts. But the more I thought about it, the more things seemed to make sense.
The conversation we had a few weeks back replayed in my mind. He was taking matters into his own hands, he had other ways to get it done. But this. . . Was the break in, the intruder, the fire; was all of that his plan?
I knew he had a soul that didn't quit fit in with the rest of the world, but to think he'd be so callous and cruel, to go this far for his own personal gain, it was hard to imagine. We had everything in the palm of our hands, one little lot wasn't worth this kind of anger.
And we were brothers, I didn't want to think that my own brother would set a building on fire with me inside.
Balling my fists in my lap, I stared out the window at the sky, zoning out to the voice inside my head.
What if it's true? What if he did do this?
I'd never be able to look at him again without seeing Glory's pale unconscious face. I wouldn't be able to stomach being near him.
Looking in Jacob's eyes would remind me of her laying lifeless on the floor. I was already going to have scars I'd have to see every day, I didn't want to see my brother's face alongside them.
Rolling up to Glory's building, I could still see smoke trickling out from beneath the charred rubble. Some of the beams were still standing that made up the walls, but the roof was caved in and I could see straight through to the back.
Fuck, there's nothing left at all.
Climbing out of the car, I told Fred he could go and if I needed him I'd call. Glancing around, I didn't see Jacob. Walking around the building, my jaw hung open as I really took in how lucky we both were to be alive.
The wood was cracked and black as ink, all of the walls had folded over and smashed into chunks of soot.
“Hey there, little brother, what do you think?” Jacob came up behind me, his voice slick and playful. “This makes it a little easier, huh? The demolition is basically done, we lucked out for sure.”
Clenching my jaw, I turned around to face him. The smile on his face made me want to hit him instantly, but I held back. There was still a glimmer of doubt I held onto, a small morsel of hope that Glory was wrong and he had nothing to do with any of this.
That maybe this was some weird twist of coincidence that all of this went down and we just happened to get mixed in the chaos.
Deep down in my gut, as much as I didn't want to acknowledge it, I knew she was right. It was hard to accept, hard to allow that idea to settle on my brain and become real.
But I could feel it. I could sense it on my skin as the hairs bristled when he talked. I could feel it against my ear drums when his voice left his lips as he spoke. Jacob had done something horrible and now I had to know his reasons.
“Why, Jacob?”
Titling his head, his lids thinned. “Why? What kind of question is that?” His eyes bounced between me and the building. “Because we don't have to pay now to have it torn down, we can just have it cleaned up. That's why this is easier.”
“No, I'm not talking about that.” My back went stiff as I perked my chest and squared my shoulders. “Why did you do it?”
Chuckling, Jacob hung his head. “Do what, Liam?” Running his thumb across his jaw, he lifted his eyes to mine. “What is it you're asking me?”
“Why like this? Why so ruthless and careless?” My arms went pin straight at my sides as I curled my fingertips into my palms. “Why couldn't you just let her be?”
The tips of my fingers bore into the gauze, but I didn't feel any pain. Right at that moment there were no burns on my hands, there was only anger for Jacob.
Sucking in a slither of air, Jacob smirked. “Because we take what we want, we're Barnes's, that's what we do.”
Frowning, my hands dug in tighter. “That's not what we do, that's not who we are.” Throwing out a finger, I pointed in his face. “That's who you are, you've always thought of yourself as superior, but you're not.”
“Liam, you and I both know that dad would've done the same thing. He wouldn't have left this place without getting what he came for. We came for these lots, we came forallthese lots, and that's what we have now.”
“She still owns the lot, nothing changed because of the fire.”
“Does she?” His smile thickened as he reached into his breast pocket and pulled out a stack of folded papers. “Because these say it's ours now.”
“Where did you get that?”
“I stopped by your room yesterday and you weren't there. But these,” he said, waving the bundle in the air. “These were. You know if you want to really destroy something you need to burn it.” Baring his teeth, he bit his bottom lip and glanced at the fried building. “A little tape, a few photo copies and they're like new.”
