Asking For Help

     That night, we didn't make it to sleep. We were too stressed, to anxious. We lay in bed, turning the encounter over in our heads again and again. I understood why he'd be scared, but we were offering him help, we were on his side. How were we supposed to help if nobody wanted it?  We got out of bed that morning and headed toward our next house. It was about half an hour from the hotel, and we left at eight, to make sure everyone would be awake.
    Twenty minutes after we left from the hotel, we received a call. The man from the first house wanted to speak with us in private. We agreed t meet with him after visiting the next household. Finally, we felt like we were getting somewhere, we had a family to meet with now, and a man who actually wanted help. Apparently, he was afraid we'd scare his wife. When "The incident" happened, his wife closed off, wouldn't eat, or speak for months. It took a long time for her to finally open back up, and he was afraid of losing her to that again. We asked what "the incident" was, but he wouldn't say over the phone. Mike agreed, thinking that his phone might be bugged. So, we finished our conversation and headed to the closer house. We should have left sooner.
     When we got there, we realized we had been beaten. The fire department made that clear enough. According to them, there had been a gas leak in the house, and when it reached the pilot light of their water heater, the whole place went up. The family had been upstairs, asleep. A husband and wife, both in bed, both burned alive. We asked when the fire had started, and one of the firemen told us it happened at about six fifteen. Mike pointed out the obvious. If this family had gone up at six fifteen, the man from yesterday could be next. We headed to the car, and mike immediately began to call the man. There was no answer.