Regret is the Punishment novel · Chapter 23 of 24
Chapter 23: Engine 4
The shed burned down to its pilings, and no house on the lane was touched.
By seven that night, Engine 4 was back in its bay, with the hoses drying on the rack.
A firefighter I had never met came out to the lot where I was sitting in my sister's car.
"The lieutenant wants you in the kitchen," he said. "The whole shift's there."
I almost drove away.
I knew exactly what a kitchen full of firefighters meant.
I got out of the car.
The station kitchen had a long steel table, a coffee maker and a bulletin board covered in children's drawings.
Nine people sat around the table.
Jerome stood at the far end, with his arms crossed and his face unreadable.
The lieutenant sat in the middle.
He was the man who had stood up at our wedding.
In the hospital waiting room he had watched me.
"Sit down, Sue," he said.
I sat.
"We talked about this for three weeks," he said. "Without you, and without the captain."
The rest of this chapter is part of the paid portion of the series. Chapters 1–12 of Regret is the Punishment are free to read — start from the beginning, then unlock the rest with coins in the app.
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