by Geri Foster
He put his hands on his hips. “What’s her thing with the peaches?”
Lucas and David looked at each other and laughed. Finally, Lucas answered. “She got mad at the former president of the bank over Jim Snyder being accused of embezzlement. She went after him with her purse.”
David shook his head. “She learned at the Senior Center self-defense class that weighting down your purse made it a weapon. She decided to go to the market and buy two, sixteen ounces cans of peaches. A couple of hits over the head with her purse and Levi Burke crawled under a table at Gert’s and screamed for help.”
He joined them in their laughter. “It doesn’t pay to be on the bad side of those ladies.”
“And they’ve been like that ever since I can remember,” Lucas said.
“And they don’t show any signs of slowing down,” David added.
He shook his head. “Olivia’s door has been replaced and she’s back in her house. Anyone hear from Austin?”
David slid a piece of paper off Lucas’ desk. “I just brought this in. It seems it was C-4 that blew the door. Nothing sophisticated at all. In a way, it was almost primitive. So simple almost anyone could’ve used it.”
“Yeah, but not just anyone did. Had Olivia been closer to that door…” He couldn’t repeat the words. “This is getting way out of hand and we’re not able to find a single thing that points directly to anyone. We don’t even have a clue. I’m beginning to think the only way we’ll get this guy is if we catch him in the act.”
“I know it’s frustrating, Griff,” Lucas said, shaking his head. “We’re staying on top of things, but thinking about it, it could be almost any citizen with a grudge. A grudge we know nothing about or who it’s against.”
“I’m doing some leg work today. I want to see what the victims have to say.”
“We’ve talked to them,” David said. “I’ll gladly let you read my report. I just couldn’t come up with anything that hinted that the fires could be connected.”
“If you don’t mind, I’d rather visit them on my own. Often times, people are more comfortable talking to a fireman than a police officer. No offense, but people tend to keep their replies measured with law enforcement. Not so much with a friendly fireman who fought to save their homes and business.”
Lucas nodded. “Have at it and let us know if you find out anything.”
With a nod, he left the police station and went to the home of the Hollins’ son, Wesley, since they were staying with him until they worked out what to do with their home. He knocked on the door and Abigail Hollins answered. He’d known her since childhood, but felt it necessary to introduce himself again.
“Please come on in,” Abigail offered. “Can I get you something to drink?”
He shook his head as he looked around the small house that now housed six people—Wesley, his two children, his wife, and now his parents as well. The place felt cramped and cluttered.
Abigail waved him to a seat as Darrell walked from the kitchen to join them. “First off, as I’ve said before, I’m sorry this happened to you. I know what a sense of loss you must feel.”
“It’s about to break our hearts,” Darrell said. “The insurance adjuster said they’re waiting for the official paperwork from the Fire Marshall. Soon as they get that they’ll release the check and we can start putting our lives back together.”
“I talked with Eddie Goldman this morning and they are sending their findings this afternoon.”
“Good,” Abigail said with a smile. “I want this all behind us.”
“It’s never completely over until we know who set the fire, right Griff?” Darrell asked. “We might build another house and that same person could burn it down too.”
“Do you know of anyone who’d want to do this?” he asked. “Before you answer, think back long and hard. It’s the little things that make a big difference.”
Darrell wrinkled his brow. “What do you mean?”
“Maybe someone became upset with one of you over something minute and insignificant. It could mean nothing to you, but an unstable person has a different perspective.”
“You think this person might be unstable? Maybe mentally sick?” Abigail asked, her eyes wide with fear.
“Perhaps. Or, they could just have a grudge or are angry. We have to consider all angles,” he tried to explain without frightening them more than they were already. “What I’m trying to say is, it doesn’t have to be an all-out fight or grave difference for someone to do this.”
“Well, I hate to think people would think so little of decency. A man’s home is his castle. I built that house for Abigail and our family. Why would someone just take it away?”
He shook his head. “I can’t fully explain that, but if you can think of anything, I’d like to hear it.”
Abigail looked at Darrell. “He wouldn’t, would he?”
“No, it’s silly for us to think like that.”
“What?” he asked. “Nothing is off limits here.”
“Well, Clint Butler got pretty mad at Darrell about two years ago. You see, Darrell accused him of not offering the Hayfield’s a decent price on their house. Clint had wanted to buy it for him and Olivia.”
“Butler was trying to buy the Hayfield’s house?” he asked, shocked. It surprised him to hear that Butler had been making such plans for their future only to turn around and leave Olivia at the altar for another woman. It did connect the two main fires, though.
“He wanted to, but I talked Andy out of it and Butler didn’t like it one bit. I told Andy to be patient and he’d get the money he wanted,” Darrell explained.
“But they never sold,” he confirmed.
“Soon afterwards Andy was diagnosed with prostate cancer and they decided it best not to make changes until he finished his treatment,” Abigail finished. “He still has several months yet.”
“And Butler blamed you?” he directed his question to Darrell. “Even though they ended up not selling?”
“Well, this was before the whole wedding mess by almost a year. Clint wanted to move into the house alone until he and Olivia married. I stepped in and told Andy they didn’t need the money and Clint’s offer was too low. He came over to the house one day and told me to mind my own damn business.”
“But that was almost two years ago.”
“You’re right, but I’m good friends with Theo and I told him I didn’t like his fireman coming over to my house bossing me around.”
“Also,” Abigail said. “Darrell is on the Council and when they wanted to make Clint a Lieutenant, he voted the motion down. That was a week before the wedding.”
“Why did you vote it down? Was it just because of this incident with the house?”
“No,” Darrell shook his head. “I have a duty as a councilman to remain professional and not let personal feelings get in the way. Truth is, I felt Clint had pressured Theo into suggesting the promotion. I didn’t believe Theo would have suggested it on his own at that point. Clint got so mad he stormed out of the chamber. He never did forgive me.”
He didn’t know if that was enough to cause a man to burn down someone’s house, but if it was, he’d picked the perfect time. Theo gone, and a new man in the position with a lot to prove.
“Anything else?”
“Well, there was that incident with Lonnie,” Abigail said, then waved her hand nonchalantly. “But, you know how he is. He’s harmless.”
“What happened?” he asked. “What did Lonnie do?”
Darrell stood. “Our house sat on a large piece of land. My son, Wesley, and I spent a month cleaning up brush and broken limbs, hauling them to the back of the property. We planned to burn the pile, but the weather was too windy for a few days. Next thing I know, I’m out in the yard and I see Lonnie running across the back of the property. Then, I see smoke.”
“He set the brush on fire?” he asked.
“I’m assuming it was him. Luckily, it was a weekend. Wesley was home, so we were able
to put it out ourselves before the fire could spread.”
“Did you mention this to Theo?”
Darrell shook his head. “No, but Wesley said he gave Lonnie a strong talking to and told him to stay off our property.”
“When was this?”
“Two months ago.”
“Hmm,” he mulled that over. From what he’d heard, Lonnie was very interested in being a fireman, but didn’t have the focus or the determination to see it through. It didn’t entirely surprise him that he would be off getting into trouble. From what he’d seen, the guy hadn’t shown himself to have the best judgment.
Leaving the Hollins’, Griff drove to the Hayfield’s. Andy and Holly greeted him with a smile and a sense of gratitude. His men had saved their home and they weren’t going to forget it. At the moment, they were staying in their rental home, but it appeared they had all the comforts of home.
Holly insisted on fixing him a glass of iced tea and he accepted. After she brought it to him and he took a sip, thanking her, they settled in the living room, the Hayfields on the couch and he in a chair facing them. They looked at him with curious eyes and he cleared his throat, getting straight to the point.
“I spoke with Darrell and Abigail and they explained the dispute between you and Clint Butler about buying your house. I understand he didn’t want to pay a fair price.”
Holly leaned back and snorted. “Sneaky little bastard tried to con us out of thousands of dollars, then he went and stood up poor Olivia, running off with her best friend of all people. If he’d ended up with our house, after what he did, I’d have burned it down myself.”
Andy patted her hand. “Now, dear, don’t go saying things like that in front of a fireman. They take those things seriously.” Andy gazed at him. “Right?”
“Well...”
“I don’t care,” Holly spit out. “That man deserved to be tarred and feathered, if you ask me. He’s damn lucky the grandmas didn’t take out after him.”
He raised his hands, palms out. “I can understand you’re upset. And you have a right to be. What I need to know is, in your opinion, was Butler disturbed enough over the real estate deal to burn down your house?”
Holly leaned forward and whispered. “Do you think he did it?” Before he could answer, she did. “I’d bet my bottom dollar he did, the sneaky—”
“Now, now, dear. Don’t get yourself all riled up. It’s not good for your blood pressure.”
“We don’t have any proof it was Butler,” he answered. “I’m just asking more questions so I can try to put all this together and find out who might have had a hand in all the fires.” He put his glass down, feeling that he wasn’t going to get anywhere with them. Holly was too mad over the situation to remember anything clearly. “Is there anyone else you’ve had a run in with?” he asked, hoping to at least get some sense of a lead.
“I think that brainless stooge who hangs around the fire station, Lonnie, killed my cat, Marybelle,” she accused, stunning him. That was no small thing to blame someone of.
“Now, dear, we don’t have proof of that.”
She turned and glared at her husband. “Proof enough for me.” She looked back at him. “As most people know, Andy loves to garden. You probably noticed our beautiful yard before the firemen trampled down all the flowers putting out the fires.”
He hadn’t, but he nodded to be on the safe side.
“Well, one day I’m coming back from the market and I see Lonnie kicking down all the flowers. I hollered at him to get off our property and if I caught him destroying our stuff again, I’d call Lucas.”
“Did he come back? he asked.
“I didn’t see him,” Holly said. “But the next day we found Marybelle dangling from the hanging flower pot hook by her collar. Dead as a doornail,” she sniffed.
“Did you call the Police Chief?”
“Andy wouldn’t let me because we didn’t see him do it. But the next day, every plant in the front yard and the vegetable garden in the backyard was pulled up and tossed in the street.”
“Then did you call Lucas?”
Holly crossed her arms and lifted her chin. “I sure did.”
“Good, at least he’s aware of what happened.” He stood up. “Anything else?”
“No,” Andy said. “No one comes to mind.”
“Well, if you remember something call the station and let me know.”
“We will, Griff.” Andy stood and patted him on the back. “We’re mighty glad to have you back. And Holly and I know you’ll get to the bottom of this.”
Saying his goodbyes, he left and moved on to the hardware store. When he got there, he found George Humphries talking with the insurance agent. He stayed back until the man left and he and George were alone in the burned structure.
They shook hands and he said, “I’m hitting up everyone today who suffered a fire to see who might’ve done this. Can you think of anyone?”
“Well, for a while I thought it might’ve been my competitor down the street. He’s been struggling to get by, but he was the first one to come over and help me clean up the place.”
“Besides him, anyone else?”
George scratched his head and lowered his eyes. “No one comes to mind right off hand. I’m a businessman. Lots of people get upset about a number of things, but it never gets personal.”
He wanted to mention Butler so badly, considering the guy seemed to have a bad attitude at one time or another with everyone in town. He practically had to bite his tongue to keep from speaking, not wanting to put words in George’s mouth. “Will you give me a call if you think of anything? Anything at all, no matter how small.”
“Well, now that you mention it, I threw Lonnie Bissett out of the store a few weeks back.”
“Why?”
“That boy has been hounding me for a job for the last six months and I simply don’t trust him to treat the customers right. I also know he’s been in a bit of trouble. I refuse to bring that into my business. My customers deserve better.”
“You tell Lonnie that?”
“I did. For a long time, I simply told him I didn’t need the help and couldn’t use him. Then I had my hip replacement done and he came by insisting that I needed his help now. Finally, I told him the whole truth as to why I wouldn’t consider hiring him. He got pretty mad.”
“Mad enough to burn down your business?”
George shook his head. “I can’t say that. Not in all honesty.”
He held out his hand. “Thanks George. Let me know if you remember anything else.”
“It’s good to know you’re on the job, Griff.”
“I will be until the person is caught, you can rest assured in that.”
* * *
After leaving Griff, Olivia was glad to get back home. The whole ride, she’d had the creeps over the feeling that someone had been watching her. Trying to distract herself, she called and checked on her dad and invited him over for supper. He didn’t need to be sitting around worrying about all the things that’d happened.
Checking the fridge, she decided they weren’t having yet another casserole, so she needed to go to the store. As she grabbed her purse, she hesitated. What if someone really was watching her? She paced a moment, weighing her options, but then threw caution to the wind. With everything going on, she was probably just getting paranoid.
Once at the supermarket, she grabbed a basket. She’d just passed the fruit and vegetable aisle when she turned a corner and ran into Trisha Butler, Clint’s mom. If looks killed, she’d be dead. She knew, in Trisha’s mind, everything that had happened to her son had been her fault. If she’d been more of a woman, she might not have lost her future husband to another female. If Theo was a real man who could make a solid decision, he would’ve challenged the Council when they refused Clint the Lieutenant position. The list went on and on.
“Good afternoon, Trisha. How have you been?” she asked politely.
Trisha stuck her nose in the air and s
niffed loudly. “I’m fine, no thanks to you and your family.”
“My family has done nothing to you,” she said for the thousandth time, wheeling her cart to go around the woman.
“I heard your parents’ house burned down.” A tight look of satisfaction graced Trisha’s harsh face. “Too bad.”
Anger bubbling, she nearly slapped the woman. Had she not been in public, she probably would have. “You know, I wouldn’t expect you to say anything less. Forget that someone’s life was just turned upside down and that they lost all their possessions of sentimental value. No, you just want to stick it to the family that you believe wronged you and your precious son.” Shaking her head, she decided enough was enough. “Honestly, Trisha, every morning I wake up, I thank God I’m not married to your lowlife son and you’re not my mother-in-law.”
Face flaming red, Trisha fumed. “If you’d been—”
Throwing her hands in the air, she sighed loudly. “This! Exactly this. Don’t blame your son’s lack of morals or his questionable work ethics on me or my family. He’s a pathetic human being without honor or decency.”
She sped away and quickly finished her shopping. Whatever pain that family had caused her, she was just glad she didn’t have to be a part of it for the rest of her life. She was starting to be really thankful Clint had been so despicable. She really lucked out with that one actually.
Stopping mid-aisle, she blinked quickly. She was glad he’d done what he had. For the first time, she saw his actions not as a painful event, but as a blessing in disguise. Smiling broadly, a huge weight having just lifted from her shoulders, she made her way to the checkout counter.
When she saw Trisha in line, instead of glaring or giving her a nasty look, she just smiled her way and nodded. That family held no power over her emotions anymore. She was free of them. Free to move on with Griff and live her happily ever after.
Outside, as she put her groceries in the trunk, she felt compelled to look over her shoulder again, just as she had at the station. Scanning the parking lot, she made sure there was no one watching her then got in her car and pulled out. Several times she checked her rearview mirror to make sure no one followed her. By the time she arrived home, she’d convinced herself she was being paranoid and needed to get a grip.
