Free Fear Street 5 - The Fire Game by R. L. Stine Page B

didn't answer for a moment. When he did he sounded cautious. "What makes you think so?"
    "I saw you there," she said.
    "You saw me there?"
    "At the house. The one that you and Max set on fire."
    "I don't know what you're talking about," Nick said.
    Jill thought he sounded very nervous. "Did you see the news on TV
    tonight?" she asked.
    "No. But what does that have to do with--"
    "It so happens that there was a homeless man living in that house," Jill said. "And the fire caused his death!"
    "What!" Nick sounded shocked. "This is a joke, right?"
    "It's no joke," Jill said sadly. "I saw it on the news. They had a picture of the house. It was the same one. The one where I saw you and Max."
    "Oh, no," Nick said. "I can't believe it. Someone died?"
    "The fire caused him to have a heart attack," Jill said. "And the fire chief said they're looking for the people who did it. You and Max."
    "We didn't set the fire!" Nick blurted out.
    "Then you admit you were there?"
    "We were there," said Nick, "but we didn't set any fire."
    "What were you doing there?" asked Jill. Even though she had known Nick was lying before, for some reason she believed him when he said he hadn't set the fire.
    "This is going to sound crazy," said Nick. "And if the police ever find us, they'll never believe us!"
    "Calm down," Jill said. "What were you doing there?"
    "Just before you were supposed to come over and study," Nick said,
    "someone knocked on the front door. When I opened it, no one was there.
    Instead there was a note. It was addressed to me, and it said to come to the house on Fear Street for some real action."

    "Who was it from?"
    "It wasn't signed," said Nick. "And then about five minutes later, Max came over. Someone had left the exact same note at his house. We both thought it was so weird we decided to check it out right away."
    "You should have waited for me," said Jill.
    "Then you'd be in trouble too," said Nick gloomily. "To be honest, the note was so strange I forgot all about our study date." He sighed. "This is terrible. I don't know what to do."
    "Don't do anything yet," said Jill. "I'm going to talk to the others.
    Maybe we can get together and figure out what is going on."
    "I hope so," said Nick. "Are you sure you heard the TV story right?"
    "I'm sure," said Jill. "Talk to you later."
    After putting down the receiver, she sat very still for several minutes.
    If Nick was telling the truth, and she thought he was, then someone else had set the fire.
    The only one it could be was Gabe.
    He must be completely out of control now, Jill thought. She should have realized that he would do something drastic after his father's car was set on fire.
    She remembered how he vowed to get revenge on the person who had set the car fire. How twisted and angry his face was. It had to be him.
    Yet, a part of her didn't want to believe it. Didn't want to believe that Gabe was vengeful. Didn't want to believe he was a murderer, even if only by accident.
    There must be another answer, she thought. And the only way she was going to find it was to talk to the others--separately or together. Talk to them all and find out what was going on.
    Her mind made up, she picked up the receiver again and punched in Andrea's number. The line was busy. She waited a few minutes, then hit the Redial button, but Andrea's line was still tied up. Not wanting to wait any longer, she punched in Diane's number. Diane picked up on the third ring.
    "Hello?"
    "Diane, it's Jill," she said. "Do you have a minute?"
    "Sure," said Diane. "What's wrong? You sound upset."
    "I am upset," she admitted. "Something terrible has happened--and our friends are right in the middle of it."
    "What?" Diane sounded alarmed.
    "There was a fire on Fear Street tonight," Jill told her.
    "Yes, I saw it on the news." Diane suddenly gasped. "It's not--it wasn't set by--" She didn't finish the thought.
    But Jill understood what she was going to say. "I'm afraid it was. Nick and Max were there. Nick says they