Chapter 11 - Fire in the Hall
“Window!” Maria shouted.
Smoke rolled into the bedroom before Daniel could reach the door.
He slammed it shut and shoved a dresser against it. Flames licked underneath.
The second-floor window opened onto a narrow porch roof.
Maria lifted Lily through first.
“Don’t look down. Hold my hand.”
Lily sobbed but obeyed.
Daniel climbed out after them. Behind him, the glow stars on the walls began to curl in the heat.
They crawled across the roof as glass shattered below.
The police officer appeared in the yard, blood running from his temple. “Someone hit me. I didn’t see who.”
Daniel lowered Lily to him, then helped Maria down.
A moment later, the bedroom window blew outward.
The old house burned from the inside like a paper lantern.
Daniel stared at it. “The ledger.”
Maria grabbed his arm. “If it was in there, it’s gone.”
Lily shook her head.
“No.”
They looked at her.
“Mom said the box was to trick the bad people.”
Daniel crouched. “Then where did she hide the real thing?”
Lily’s face was smudged with soot. “In the song.”
“What song?”
“The bedtime song.”
Daniel blinked. Anna had sung Lily the same silly song every night, a tune she made up about a rabbit, a train, and a blue door.
Maria asked, “Do you remember the words?”
Lily nodded.
She sang softly:
“Little rabbit, don’t be late. Find the train by number eight. Pass the clock and cross the floor. Mama waits behind blue door.”
Daniel’s expression shifted.
“Number eight,” he said. “Union Station has old storage lockers. Anna used to take the commuter train for court.”
“Is there a blue door?” Maria asked.
“I don’t know.”
Firefighters arrived as the roof began to collapse.
Daniel’s phone rang again.
Jonathan.
Daniel answered on speaker.
His father said only one sentence.
“If you go to Union Station, don’t trust Sergeant Cole.”
May you like
Then the line went dead.
Across the yard, Cole stepped out of an unmarked police car and walked straight toward them.
