Christmas Past Part 2

By the time the boys were tucked up, Dani was curled on the sofa watching the the nine o'clock news. Simon dropped next to her and draped his arm around her shoulders.

"Anything interesting, love?" He whispered as he nuzzled her ear.

"Yes, actually."

He raised his head and looked at her. A frown creased the smooth forehead, drawing her brows together. "Ah Darling, you'll get wrinkles like that."

She scowled up at him. "Seriously, Simon."

Ignoring the scowl, he said, "Seriously." He turned to the television. "What's happened?"

"I'm not sure. Someone..." Her voice caught in her throat. "The owner of that big apartment complex that's been in the news and several families were killed tonight. Someone burned the building down."

He sat up and reached for the remote and raised the volume. Video of a blazing three story building filled the screen. People stood milling along in a field across the road from the fire, cars idled along the verge.

"Good Lord," he muttered. He leaned forward, elbows on his knees and watched the story unfold. A reporter stepped into the frame and began to talk.

"We're at Sterling Apartments on Piedmont as fire fighters attempt to bring this blaze under control. For the last hour, the building has been burning and we've heard several explosions. We've been unable to determine the cause of those but someone indicated it might be gas mains."

Someone in the studio ask a question into the ear piece and he responded. "Yes, we've confirmed that two families did not make it out and that the owner may have been in the building as well. We don't know if he escaped but no one has been able to locate him."

"At this time, police and fire personnel are asking that you avoid the Piedmont-Garnet area until further notice."

Behind the reporter, flames blossomed to even greater height and the sound of  huge explosion interfered with his audio. Everyone jerked in response and the reporter was frantically speaking into his mike. Immediately, police and firefighters began to order people farther back from the blaze.

Simon stood up and handed her the remote. "I need to make a call, darling."

She stared at him. "Now?"

He strode from the room. "Now," he called over his shoulder.

The study was dark and he didn't turn on the lights but turned on the desk lamp. On his cellphone, he searched for the number he needed and when he found it, he dialed.

"This is Simon. Did you see the news?"

"Yes, I did."

"You want to tell me what that is all about? You know that is the individual you had me read last week."

"We're aware of that, Simon."

"So, what's going on?"

"Nothing you need be concerned about. Enjoy your holiday with your family."

"Don't you bloody hang up on me. Did you know this was going to happen?" Anger tautened his voice and he tried to damp it down.

"Of course we didn't. How would we?"

"You sent me to get information and a week later the guy is dead." He hesitated. "Along with two families. Maybe more."

"Listen, you did your job. It has nothing to do with a house fire."

"You're off your chump if you think I believe that." Simon tapped the top of his desk with his fingers, anger roiling beneath the surface. "I know what we got out of that session. Did we have him killed?"

"I have another call I need to take. You enjoy your time with your family, Simon. We'll see you after the holiday."

"There are at least two families who won't have a holiday." But he was arguing into a dead connection. He swore under his breath, put the phone down, and began to pace in front of his desk. Something was up. Unfortunately, he couldn't do a thing about it.

"Simon?" Dani stepped into the room.

He pulled his thoughts together and cleared his face. He couldn't tell her about this but she was perceptive and might guess. A deep breath and he turned to face her, a smile on his lips.

"Yes?"

"Is everything all right?"

"Of course," he said and gently grasp her shoulders. "I simply remembered a call I needed to make to remind Terry to have my travel papers in for review on Monday."

"But you're off for two weeks, Simon." Worry etched lines into her forehead.

Draping his arm around her shoulder, he turned her and lead her back to the den. "Yes, but they've got to run my itinerary through finance. That takes several days. I don't want to show up to get my documents and find it half processed." He drew her from the room. "How about I make us some hot cocoa?"