Free Best Place to Die by Charles Atkins

quiet. The computer streamed images of Nillewaug from one of the local stations, and if he strained he could hear the sirens in the valley below. His baby was going up in flames, and that, he mused, was a good thing.
Let it burn to the ground, and her with it.
A tight-lipped smile crossed his face as he pictured Delia.
I should never have hired the bitch . . . or slept with her. Don’t shit where you eat. I should never have promoted her, or . . .
But then other thoughts, the feel of her hair in his hands, the way she’d look at him, the rasp of her voice as she gave him permission . . . encouraged him to realize his every sexual fantasy. ‘
Use me, Jim,
’ she’d said, her words more potent than Viagra. And her ambition, her eagerness, her intelligence and, of course, her greed.
How could you do this to me? What were you thinking?
And most importantly:
how far did she go?
    The desk phone began to ring again. He read the lit caller ID. ‘Idiot . . . moron.’ He didn’t answer. Nine, ten, eleven . . . Twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three . . . ‘What?’ He angrily picked up the handset.
    â€˜Jimbo!’
    â€˜Yes, Wally.’
    â€˜I’m at the Village. You got to get your ass down here. It’s a fucking nightmare!’
    â€˜I’m aware,’ he said. ‘And what am I supposed to do about it? I’m not a fucking fire fighter and neither are you.’
    â€˜But Jim . . . people are hurt . . .’ Fat Wally Doyle’s voice cracked. ‘There are dead. Jim, you need to be here.’
    Jim Warren couldn’t remember when exactly he’d started loathing his once good friend and teammate. But the man was an idiot, which at times served him well, but now could be catastrophic. ‘Go home, Wally. There’s nothing you can do there.’
    â€˜Jim, we need you here. There’s no one in charge . . . Delia’s dead. Did you know that?’
    â€˜What are you talking about?’ Wondering if not only was Wally a fool, but trying to do something else.
    â€˜I feel like I’m in hell.’
    Jim felt something catch in his throat and a twist in his gut –
watch what you say, something’s going on here
. ‘Dead! That’s terrible. What happened to her?’ He felt panic take hold. He hadn’t touched her . . . not in that way. He pictured their last meeting. ‘
It wasn’t me, Jim, I swear.
’ He didn’t believe her, Delia was one hell of an actress – both in bed and out.
    â€˜I don’t know, they say she jumped, must have been trying to escape the fire.’
    The frantic knot in his belly eased. ‘That’s horrible. Poor Delia,’ he said, his mind zipping, now back in her office, thinking through each step.
Fuck!
Did he get all the back ups, was there more of a paper trail?
You bitch! You greedy, stupid bitch!
‘
Where are they?
’ he’d screamed at her, and her tears, her protestations that she was just as surprised as he at the empty shelves in the wall safe. ‘
Where the fuck are they, Delia?
’ Staring at the TV, and the chaos of dozens of emergency vehicles and cop cars, he could go back.
But how stupid would that be?
    â€˜We need you, Jim.’
    â€˜So Dennis is there?’
    â€˜Yeah, I called him, he’s been here since just after five. I’ve been trying to get you for hours . . . Dennis’s dad is dead. He’s all broken up. Jim, we need you.’
    You little pussy, can’t you do anything for yourself?
Knowing exactly how he’d come to despise Wally. The grossly obese and intellectually stunted linebacker could steam roll over anyone in high school, protecting him or keeping the field clear for Dennis sprinting down the field. They’d been high school royalty and then town superstars when the Grenville Ravens, always a second- or third-tier football team did the unthinkable and won the state championship . . . two years in a