“Have the police considered that the women weren’t from the US?” That was a fresh angle Seth hadn’t thought about. Were they looking at a bunch of trafficked women?

“I don’t know. I imagine so. I think they’re still struggling to come up with a working theory. Heaven knows there are enough rumors around.”

“Doesn’t foreign dentistry look different than American? I’ve heard the jokes about British dentistry. They probably weren’t from third world countries if they had fillings. I’d imagine they wouldn’t have the access to care and possibly their diets wouldn’t even bring on the amounts of decay caused by American meals of processed food.”

“That would be a question for Lacey.”

“I like her,” Seth added. “I liked the couple I met tonight, too. Jamie and Michael seem to be good together.”

Victoria gave a soft snort. “If she can put up with his mouth, then it’s a match made in heaven. Sarcasm is his second language.”

“You were never one for sarcasm,” Seth agreed. “I still remember you staring down some jerk from your anatomy class who thought he was the funniest guy on campus. You didn’t even blink when he tried to be funny.”

“I remember that. He wasn’t funny. He was an idiot.”

“Michael doesn’t seem like an idiot.”

“He’s not. He’s one of those super-smart people who are missing part of the filter between their brain and mouth sometimes.” She paused. “He means well.”

Seth figured that was the best compliment Michael Brody was going to get from Tori. Actually, he suspected it was a form of high praise.

“You’ll use his help to verify if your birth parents are dead?”

A long moment of silence filled the vehicle. “I will. If I don’t look into it, I’ll always wonder. But how had I gone so long without questioning anything they’d told me?”

Seth hated to hear her doubt herself. “I suspect that’s a testament to how great your adoptive parents were. No doubt you’ll find out everything happened as they said.”

She told him to turn at the next street, and he knew they were getting close to her home. Part of him wished the drive was longer. A different part of him wanted to follow her into her house and pick up where they’d left off long ago.

He glanced at her from the corner of his eye. It was wishful thinking on his part. He slowed down as the street turned into a residential neighborhood. The street was dark and quiet. Lights off in most of the homes. Unsurprising, considering it was nearly midnight.

Tori was quiet in her seat, and he wondered if she wanted the ride to be longer, too. Tonight had been good. They’d spent a few hours in each other’s company, and he wanted more. Yes, the evening had started with a crisis, and Tori had gone through a few rough moments at Lacey’s home, but overall he’d loved being with her. It didn’t matter what they did together, he was relaxed and at peace when she was beside him.

The road curved sharply, and Tori gasped, her hand grabbing at the door as she straightened in her seat. He hit the brakes. “What? What is it?” Seth scanned the empty road in the dark, looking for a person or cat.

“My house is on fire!”

He looked in the direction she’d pointed, his pulse rate skyrocketing. A flickering light shone through a wide broken window on the first floor of her house.

“Call nine-one-one now!” he ordered. He jerked the wheel and parked the car in front of her house, flung open his door, and got out. Tori lunged out her door and started toward the house. He grabbed her arm. “Wait! What are you doing?”

She jerked to a stop and stared at her home.

Flames danced inside the home. The fire seemed localized to one area. No other flames showed in the upstairs windows. She seemed transfixed by the flames.

“Could anyone be in there? No pets, right?”

She shook her head.

“I’ll make sure.” He turned her face toward his. Her eyes didn’t seem to focus. “Call nine-one-one now. I’ll check around. Is there a hose somewhere?”

She pulled her phone out of her pocket and dialed. “It’s in the garage. Don’t you dare go in there.”

“I won’t,” he promised and ran up the porch stairs.

He punched the doorbell three times and pounded on the front door. “Anyone here?” he shouted. He pounded on the door again. At least it’s raining. Everything is soaked. It shouldn’t spread outdoors.

A rushing sound and faint roar came from the flames, but no voices. The front window was shattered. He glanced at the flower bed in front of the window, seeing just a few pieces of broken glass. Most of the glass must be inside. Someone broke the window from the outside. He gave a small breath of relief. Someone hadn’t broken it out, trying to escape.

The hole wasn’t large enough for a person to get through, so he didn’t think anyone had broken in. It looked like something had been thrown through the window.

Something thrown to start the fire? Was it started on purpose?

He glanced back at Victoria. She was still on the phone, gesturing with wide hand movements as she talked. He waved at the side of the house, indicating he was going around back. She nodded and pointed at him like a mother does when her kid is in big trouble.

He got the message. Be careful.

Not a problem. He had no desire to step inside a burning house.

Victoria pulled her coat’s collar up over her nose. The scent of the smoke permeated the air in her neighborhood. The fire was out, but firemen still filled her house. Katy and Trinity had arrived fifteen minutes after Victoria and Seth. They’d been headed home from Lacey’s and had stopped, the street blocked by fire trucks.