The look on Matthew’s face as he ushered me into the conference room wasn’t good. It was like he was a doctor coming in to tell me to make my arrangements because I only had six months left to live.

I sat back down in the same seat I’d taken just over forty-eight hours before, my hands tightly clasped together in my lap. “Okay, Doc,” I mumbled as he came around the table and retook his spot from before, “give it to me straight. How bad?”

He didn’t smile at my joke as he settled in. “Okay,” he began, both hands flat on the table in front of him, “Lacy found something on your uncle’s hard drive. And it’s not good. Not good at all.”

I’d been hoping that it was just some misunderstanding. That maybe Lacy had found something that she’d just thought was evidence, but turned out just to be misleading or easily dismissed once Matthew took a look at it. From the tone of his voice, though, I now knew that wasn’t the case, despite all my hopes and wishes.

“What is it?” I nearly squeaked out, my throat suddenly drier than Death Valley. “What did she find?”

“A forum your uncle visited a couple weeks before the fire, one that had details pertaining to the manufacture of the device the firefighters who put out your uncle’s shop discovered at the time of the incident.”

It felt like an elephant had just sat on my chest, and I nearly had to gasp for breath. It couldn’t be true, could it? Had he been lying to me all this time? I swallowed hard again, my stomach twisting as my mouth was suddenly filled with saliva like I was about to throw up.

“It’s exactly what he would have needed to make one of his own, Rebecca.” He paused and licked his lips, like he was nervous and unsure of how to continue. “I’m…I’m sorry.”

But how could my Uncle Zeke, the best man I’d ever known or loved, do this to me? How could he have burned his own place down, then lied to me so that I’d help him try to get out of it? It was like the foundation of my world had just shifted and crumbled, the continental plates wobbling beneath my feet and bringing everything else down around my ears with it. I put my hands on the table in front of me, like I was trying to somehow steady myself against these psychic tremors as I looked away from Matthew and closed my eyes.

“I’m sorry,” he repeated, gazing at me in concern.

“What about the Reggie the Gap guy?” I asked as I looked back up at him. “What about him admitting to lighting the fire?”

“Honestly,” he said, “I think he was just reacting in fear of me. I think he was taking responsibility for the fire and trying to milk it, to show his bosses that he was working as hard as he could. I listened to the recording over again, and now he sounds like he’s just trying to sound tough.”

His words were almost like a slap in the face, a fist to the solar plexus. I couldn’t believe I’d trusted Matthew or this agency to help me and my uncle. All they’d done was make things worse by providing more evidence for the prosecution. And here I was, getting dragged along for the ride with my Uncle Zeke.

“Rebecca,” Matthew said, his voice soft and apologetic, “I didn’t mean for things to turn out like this. I still find it hard to believe that Zeke did this, but that’s where the evidence is pointing me. If I could change it and make this all disappear, I would.”

“Why don’t you, then?” I asked as I looked back at him.

He grimaced, the hurt plain in his eyes. “You know I can’t do that. Not even for you. I would if I could, but if I have evidence I have to give it to the court. If anyone were to find out they could shut this whole place down. I just can’t, Rebecca. There’s so much at stake here.”

Despair seemed to immigrate into my stomach, taking up all the space for the more joyful emotions that made life worthwhile. It pushed away hope, happiness, and joy as it shoved its way in, seemed to dig a hole beneath my chair the longer I sat there. I leaned back in my seat, shaking my head again. He was right, unfortunately. I couldn’t ask him to do that. But I could ask him to believe me.

“No, I know. It’s just that I can’t imagine my Uncle Zeke ever doing anything like this. Still, even with you finding more evidence on his computer. It just doesn’t seem like him. It’s like waking up to find out your best friend is a psycho or a serial killer. Like they’ve been hiding something from you for your entire life, and you’re only just now finding out. I just can’t believe it.”

He reached across the table for my hand. “But, the evidence–”

I yanked my hand back like he was holding them over a fire pit. “The evidence says he did it. I know. But my whole life with him is telling me the evidence is wrong, that there’s some other kind of explanation.”

He sighed, his eyes looking as hurt as I felt just then. I looked away, unable to take the pain I was causing him. Hurting him was almost the last thing I wanted to do, with the absolute last thing being admitting my Uncle Zeke was guilty of this crime.

I stood up, flattening my blouse. “I should go.”

“But the letter,” he said, rising from his chair.

“What about it?” I asked as I grabbed my purse and slung it over my shoulder. “What about the letter? Pretty soon they’re going to realize that Zeke isn’t getting out. Then I’ll be fine. They won’t have anymore beef with me, will they?”

“Rebecca,” he groaned as I turned to go to the door, “look, you need to be under protective detail until everything gets worked out. If they think you’re still a threat–”

I stopped with my hand on the door handle. “Why?” I asked, raising my voice a little. “Why would they think that? You have what the courts need to keep Uncle Zeke behind bars. One call from you and the charges stay right where they are. There’s nothing I can do about it now, except for finding something else that may exonerate him.”

“Dammit, Rebecca. Let me help, at least. I mean, maybe there is something.”

I turned around and leaned back against the still shut conference room door. I took a long look at him, at the way his shoulders were still pushed back, the confident cock of his head.

Just something about his pose seemed to telegraph that he still thought Uncle Zeke was guilty of the arson, and only rock solid evidence was going to change that belief.

I slowly shook my head. “You don’t get it, do you?” I asked. “You’re not impartial anymore. I can tell you believe me that I believe in his innocence, and that you care about me. But you think Uncle Zeke committed the crime, so he deserves to do the time.”

“But Rebecca, I–”

“And,” I said, cutting him off, “you don’t understand why I’m trying to protect him still.”

He shut his mouth, lowering his head a little.

“This isn’t about you and me,” I said. “Because, I’ll be honest, Matthew. I like you. I like you a lot. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I could really fall for you—as weird as that sounds, especially with how different we are, with you being you and me just being a high school English teacher. But I was prepared to accept all that, no matter how much it…no matter how strange and weird and different it all was. Because I like you for you. But now, I don’t know how I can forget about all this.”

He didn’t reply. He just turned away, his head hanging.

My heart sank. It was like kicking a dog that was already down. “So, now,” I said, my voice cracking a little, “I’m going to go home. Thank you for trying to get my uncle out. It didn’t work.”

I had to sniff back my tears as I fled the conference room. I could feel them coming, could feel my eyes misting as I pulled open the heavy wooden door and shoved myself out into the glass-enclosed hallway of the Frost Security building. I wiped the back of my hand across my eye, streaking mascara across my cheek.

“Ms. Stokes?” a familiar voice asked from behind me as I entered the lobby.

Lacy Richter.

I stopped in my tracks. I sniffled loudly as I began to dig in my purse for a tissue. “Yes, Lacy?” I asked without turning around. Facing her right now, in my current state of distress, was more than I could manage, and I knew it.

“I’m sorry, Ms. Stokes. I’m the one who found the instructions on your uncle’s hard drive. And I’m sorry.” She paused, coughing a little. “I just wanted you to know that.”

“It…it wasn’t you, Lacy,” I said, turning around as I inspected my tissue and saw some of the smeared makeup I’d removed from my cheek. “I know that. It was whomever put it on there.”

Arms wrapped around her chest, she shuffled her feet as she looked down at the ground. “Well, it wasn’t Matt, either. He didn’t, you know…he’s not responsible for any of this. You can’t blame him.”

I sighed, nodded. “Yeah, I understand. I’m not blaming either of you. This is just hard, that’s all.”

“Look,” Lacy said, taking a step towards me before continuing in a lowered voice, “this looks bad. But there are other things I could do to help your uncle. You’re a good person, Ms. Stokes, and his hard drive, well, something could happen to it–”

I held up a single finger, like I sometimes did when a student was talking nonsense or stepping out of line. Was she talking about doing what I thought she was talking about?

She tried to keep going, saying, “Ms. Stokes–”

“No,” I nearly hissed. “Not in a million years. If my uncle did this, he’s where he needs to be. Destroying evidence isn’t the way to go. I know that. You’ll lose your job, and no security company out there will work with someone who has a criminal history if you get caught.”

“But, if he didn’t do it, then–”

“Stop it,” I said again, taking a step towards her. “Stop it right now, Lacy Richter. You have a life ahead of you, and I don’t want you to ruin it by trying to help a man that might be guilty. I’m practically his daughter, and I have to believe in him. You’re just my ex-student who’s talking crazy.”

She looked away just like Matthew had, a hangdog expression on her face.

“Now, if you want to help him, you figure out how that got on his computer. Everything about it. But don’t damage anything. Don’t do anything that would get Matthew upset with either you or me.”

She glanced up at me, her eyes lit up like there was a spark inside her skull, like she knew a secret I’d never been privy to. She didn’t say anything, though, just nodded.

“And I’m going to go home,” I said, “and try to get some rest.”

Lacy nodded. “Okay. If I do find anything, I’ll let you know, okay?”

“Thank you,” I said, pulling her into an unexpected hug. “I really appreciate it.”

She stiffened in surprise , but quickly relaxed and hugged me back.

“Actually,” I said into her ear after a moment’s thought, “could you do me a favor?”

“Sure. What can I do?”

“I think I might need a ride home,” I said, pulling back and looking her in the eyes. “Scratch that. I know I need a ride home.”