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Adam sat in his Lexus in front of the burnt site of what had once housed the newspaper office. He stared at the charred remains of the building as he tried to gain some sort of comprehension as to how the disaster had started.
For once, he was drawing a blank. It was strange... He could see horror and tragedy before it happened, but when it came down to trying to figure out an event that had occurred, he was all thumbs.
It reminded him of when he'd first met Amy. He'd declared to himself that he was going to find out what happened to her Dodge Stratus that had led up to the explosion. He'd confronted and accused Shawn of tampering with the engine - Shawn, his own friend - but had never followed up on finding out the truth. And he was still convinced that it all had to do with foul play...
That feeling matched his thoughts of the fire as well.
The blond man snapped back to reality in the here and now and restarted the engine. He'd wanted all day to go and visit the survivor of the newspaper office at the hospital and ask a few questions. He just hoped the man was up for an unknown visitor.
He put the car in gear and started driving. Had he stayed another minute or more, he would have spotted the man lurking in the area.
*
Amy sighed tiredly as she shuffled through some papers. The routine at the unemployment office was quite long and tedious. However, unlike many other cities, this small town was still considered backwards in a few ways - and that included the ability to fill out all the necessary forms online.
At long last, she heard her name and bolted up to approach the woman who'd called her. The representative smiled and welcomed her over.
"How can I help you today?" she asked.
The redhead sat down on the chair beside the woman's desk. She noted by a nameplate on the oak furniture that the representative's name was Mary Jones.
"Well, Ms. Jones," she began, "there was a big fire at my place of business, and it was a total loss... Therefore, I'm out of a job."
"Oh, my... Are you referring to the newspaper office across town?"
Amy nodded, a feeling of bitterness and regret washing over her.
"None other," she replied.
"Were you out sick yesterday?" the woman asked. "Because I read that there was only one survivor, and you definitely don't look like him."
Amy wasn't exactly in the mood for sarcastic jokes. Seriously, she issued a response.
"No... I was out to lunch when it happened."
Ms. Jones looked her over in amazement.
"Well, you sure are one lucky lady!" she remarked.
The redhead nodded, sighing. She knew the representative was right. She was incredibly down and upset about the loss of her job, a steady income and especially the lives of her poor co-workers... But she was very, very lucky to be alive. And she had Adam to thank for that. He was, quite simply, her guardian angel.
"Yeah... I know." Amy could barely offer a weak smile. She remembered that Mark, her supervisor, and the only survivor of the deadly fire, was in the hospital. She would definitely go and visit him once she was through here.
"Such a shame, though," Ms. Jones said, shaking her head as she collected and prepared all of the pertinent paperwork for Amy's claim. "All those poor people."
Somehow, Amy managed to hold back the tears she felt. She hoped Mark was okay and would live. Hopefully, his burns weren't too severe and he hadn't suffered any smoke inhalation. She wondered exactly what had gone very wrong to the point of the fire even starting. She also wondered if Mr. McMahon had any plans to rebuild the newspaper. After all, it was highly successful, and the owner didn't strike her as the type who would just give up, even when tragedy struck.
Twenty minutes later, Ms. Jones handed the redhead some new papers she had helped her prepare.
"Here you go. You'll need these to collect your weekly unemployment benefits. Hopefully, you won't need that for too long."
Amy nodded, but her mind was a bit distracted.
"I used to get that paper every so often," the woman revealed. "I realized I remember some of your work. You're a very talented photographer."
"Thank you." Amy stood up as she was now ready to leave. "And thanks for all your help."