Chapter 8 - THE ARREST ON HIGHWAY 9Within forty-five minutes, our quiet suburban street looked like a crime scene straight out of a Hollywood thriller. Fire trucks blocked both ends of the cul-de-sac, yellow police tape fluttered in the wind, and state troopers swarmed the smoking ruins of what used to be our kitchen.
Paramedics checked Lily over in the back of an ambulance, wrapping a thermal blanket around her shoulders and giving her a cup of warm apple juice. She was quiet, clutching her stuffed rabbit so tightly its little cotton seams nearly split, but her breathing was steady.
Two local detectives—Detective Vance and Detective Miller—stood beside me, flipping through a stack of charred documents and charred electronics recovered from the attic access panel by the arson unit.
"Mrs. Hayes, what you're describing is premeditated attempted murder and insurance fraud on a massive scale," Detective Vance said, his brow furrowed as he looked down at the encrypted flash drives I had handed over. "We pulled the emergency dispatch logs. Your husband’s car was flagged by automated license plate readers heading eastbound on Highway 9 toward the state line about twenty minutes ago."
"He thought we were dead," I said quietly, staring at the smoking ash heap of our kitchen window. "He thought he had successfully liquidated his debts and collected a three-million-dollar payout."
"Well, his little trip is about to get cut short," Detective Miller said grimly, tapping his radio. "All units, be advised. Suspect Derek Hayes is driving a silver sedan, license plate 7-K-Delta-9, heading east on Highway 9. Detain immediately. Approach with extreme caution—suspect is considered dangerous and connected to a major arson-homicide investigation."
Across the street, two paramedics wheeled out a blackened, stretcher-bound figure covered in a heavy white sheet from the basement bulkhead stairs.
Julian. He hadn't made it out before the structural collapse. Marcus was currently being loaded into the back of a police cruiser under heavy guard, coughing up black soot and screaming profanities at the press corps that had already begun to gather at the edge of the police tape.
My phone buzzed in my back pocket. A text message from an unknown number.
I pulled it out and looked at the screen. It was from Derek.
May you like
Just three words: “How did you know?”
I didn't bother replying. I simply blocked his number, dropped the phone into my pocket, and pulled Lily closer into my arms.
