Lindsay got up earlier than she normally did and didn’t know why. Some awareness took hold making the hair on her arms stick up. She sat up in the bed and slid out quietly. She opened her bedroom door and listened and that was when she heard a car running out back.
She crept to the door of the apartment and peeked out the peephole, seeing nothing. Carefully she unlocked the door and opened it a crack, peering out. It had to be in the wee hours of the morning, still dark outside.
The idle of a car engine alerted her and she scanned the lot and froze at the sight of Cam’s Mustang sitting near the dumpster. Her mouth opened but no sound came out. She was about to cry out for Lance when the Mustang suddenly sped away from the lot and all went eerily quiet.
She was about to shut the door when the explosion occurred. The building shook with it and she gasped to see her mother’s BMW station wagon had been the intended target. Metal and glass were everywhere; the car ablaze.
Lance and Marnie came running and joined her on the second-story porch, watching the car burning in shock.
“Call 911!” Lance hollered to Marnie and he ran down the stairs to the lot, looking up and down for some sign of anyone.
“It was Cam, Lance!” Lindsay called down to him in hysteria. “I opened the door and saw his car out here right before the station wagon blew up.”
Lance looked outraged. Roaring sirens and pandemonium soon prevailed as the fire department and Dan Dooley arrived on the scene. Bob, the other deputy on duty, pulled in shortly thereafter. The firemen opened up the hose from their truck on the car and put it out within minutes.
Lindsay was dazed as she sat with Marnie in the living room while Dan talked to Lance in the kitchen. She was numb and frozen with fear. Marnie saw her pale face and leaned near.
“Don’t freak out like this! It’s what he wants, Lindsay! Just breathe!”
“He’s sending me a message. Don’t you see?” she whispered hoarsely, blue eyes wide with fright. “He’s letting me know he can get to me anytime he wants.”
“Well he’s busted because you saw him!”
Lindsay didn’t hear what her brother was saying to Dan but she could tell he was getting mad. Dan was writing everything down, looking harassed and irritated. Sheriff Wilson walked in and he changed his whole demeanor as usual. Bob was writing up a report at the kitchen table and a wrecker was called to take her Mom’s car away.
Lance felt it was better to deal with Deborah later in the morning after the cops left. Her mother would have a conniption when she learned about her vehicle being firebombed. Sheriff Wilson came over and smiled kindly at them both.
“You are sure you saw him, Lindsay?”
“Yes! I heard a noise and looked out and saw his car by the dumpster. He left and the car exploded,” she said for the hundredth time, exhausted with all the questions.
Mr. Merriman was called and on his way in. The building sustained no damage, but there was broken glass everywhere in the lot. Lindsay was not looking forward to dealing with him, worried he would evict her for causing such trouble at his store.
“No, I know you say you saw the car,” he reiterated. “You actually saw him?”
“Well no, but that was him. Who else would blow up my car?” she asked in anger.
“Lindsay, Cameron’s mother reported the car stolen last night. She also claims Cameron was at home playing video games and that she checked on him before she went to bed and he was in his room.”
“That doesn’t mean anything! He could have snuck out!”
Gary sighed and sipped his coffee. “Lindsay, he has an alibi that places him at home when the explosion happened. Do you know a boy named Matt Lauder?”
“He’s one of Cam’s buddies,” she replied in exasperation. “He’d say anything for Cam.”
“Well, he says he got up to use the bathroom at five this morning and Cam was in bed sleeping.”
“Their all lying!”
“Lindsay, I can’t charge him for this unless you actually saw him. You saw the car. Now do you see what I mean? With the car reported stolen; we can’t prove it was even him sitting there before the car exploded.”
Lindsay felt a dull ache of fear to know he was right. Cam’s friend lied and covered for him, but the pair had obviously blown up the station wagon and stashed the Mustang. They probably walked back to his house and snuck in under his mother’s nose. She would bet the car was found not far from Bendview Estates.
Lance came back and eyed his sister grimly. “I have to call Mom, Lindsay. We need the insurance information and everything in the car was torched.”
Lindsay flinched, knowing how Deborah would react. “Can you call her? I think I’m going to be sick.”
She got up from the couch and flew to the bathroom, slamming the door shut and heaving her guts out into the toilet. She sat next to the commode and tears blinded her. A shaky hand wiped them away. Her head hurt and her eyes stung from the smoke billowing up from the lot earlier. Terror filled her gaze to think Cameron would employ such tactics.
She heard the door to the apartment open and close. The cops could do nothing. Anger made her sit up and face her situation with a good dose of reality. They couldn’t protect her, she knew. Even with Sheriff Wilson promising to do his best to keep an eye on her and Lance in the next room; she was vulnerable.
Lindsay whispered a prayer as she got up off the bathroom floor, asking for help from anyone who listened. Graduation was a month away. A lot could happen in a month. Despite her best intentions to stay and help catch Cameron, she knew the best thing to do was to leave with Lance and Marnie.