“This is my house…My life! I want to know what is going on!”
Their argument was interrupted by a popping sound coming from the laundry room behind the kitchen.
Before she could process what it meant, Jason cursed, “Fuck! Call 911!” Seeing Tori rooted to the spot, he grabbed her shoulders, giving her a little shake. “Tori! Call 911!”
She had left her cell phone upstairs in her bedroom, but ran to the desk in the front hall and made the call with shaky hands. Unable to leave, she ran back to the kitchen and watched as Jason grabbed wet towels and placed them at the bottom of the door leading into the laundry room.
Already hearing the siren of the fire truck, she placed her fingers against her mouth, suppressing the desire to scream her rage at once more being attacked in her home. Jolted when Jason grabbed her shoulders again, she was spun around and pushed out of the kitchen in front of him.
Meeting the firemen in the foyer, Jason reported succinctly, “Zac, the fire is in the laundry room. I think it’s contained.”
Zac nodded and ordered them outside as he pushed his way by them. Stumbling down the stairs, Tori held on as Jason assisted. She looked up and observed as more firemen ran around to the back of the house. Another siren sounded as two of the police cruisers stopped at the sidewalk, just behind the rescue squad.
Mitch and Grant bounded out, running over to Tori and Jason. She threw herself into Mitch’s arms, willing the shaking to stop.
Jason, grim faced, looked at Mitch and said, “There’s a strong smell of gasoline outside the laundry room.”
Mitch’s anger grew as he looked up at the inn, stately and proud, with smoke now coming from the back. Looking back into her frightened eyes, he said, “Stay here with your guests. Do not, and Tori, I mean this…Do not come back into the house.”
Accepting her nod of agreement, he sprinted around the back to see what was happening. Furious, he glanced up toward the roof, a tight smile crossing his face. Hopefully, my little surprise will get us somewhere!
Chapter 27
Several hours later, the fire department declared the Sea Glass Inn safe to enter. The fire had been contained in the laundry room, which had been an addition between the garage and kitchen. She overheard the murmurings of the firemen, agreeing with Jason’s assessment that gasoline had been poured on the outside of her inn.
The house had been thoroughly checked and with the location of the fire, the rest of the house was unharmed. The kitchen had a slight smoky odor, but the fire had been quickly doused before any damage had occurred.
Katelyn drove the two couples to the Baytown Hotel, where they were safely ensconced until they were able to return later in the morning.
Tori walked through the kitchen, seeing the laundry room through the now open door. She realized how much she owed Jason for his fast thinking in placing wet towels at the bottom. She leaned in, seeing the blackened walls, now dripping with water, and the ruined industrial washing machine and dryer. Since the only other items the room held were a large sink and shelves for cleaning supplies, she knew this would not close the inn…only cause an inconvenience with the laundry.
I’m lucky, she thought and then bit back a growl. Well, lucky for someone who has a target on their back!
She looked for Mitch, but did not see him. As she glanced out the kitchen window, she saw Grant talking with Zac and a few of the firemen, but no Mitch. Startled at the sound of footsteps behind her, she whirled around, throwing her hand on her chest.
“Jason! Oh, you scared me. Sorry, I’m jumpy.”
He walked over and leaned down to peer into her eyes. “How you holdin’ up?”
She sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly as her thoughts became untangled. “I’m really okay,” she admitted. “The fire was contained. No one was hurt. The damage is only to the laundry room, thanks in part to you.” She smiled as he ducked his head in embarrassment.
“Don’t thank me,” he said. “I just acted instinctively.”
Barking out a laugh, she said, “Well, thank God your instincts are better than mine. Running around screaming was my instinct!”
“Hey, don’t underestimate the power of a good scream,” he teased.
Feeling the mood lighten, she continued, “I just can’t believe that someone wants to hurt me. It makes no sense. I am absolutely no one!”
Zac and Grant stepped into the kitchen, hearing her words, as Jason offered her a hug. Zac wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head. “Don’t worry, Tori. Mitch is on it. And this time, he had a secret weapon.”
Her gaze jumped up to his in question but he just smiled. “I’ll let him explain, but for now, why don’t you try to get some rest.” Throwing up his hands before she could protest, he added, “I know, I know. But at least lay on the downstairs couch for a while. Katelyn’s bringing the guests back later and I know you’ll have to deal with them. So take it easy for now.”
Jillian came flying in through the front door just as Grant was walking out. Slamming into him, she grabbed his arms, asking, “How is she?”
Putting his teasing aside, he said, “She’s fine. But she could use a friend until Mitch gets back. He’s at the station.”
Nodding, she offered him a little smile before running through the house toward the kitchen. Grant watched her leave and could not keep the smile off his face as he got into the cruiser and drove to the station to see what Mitch had discovered.
*
Grant stood in the police station workroom, leaning over Mitch sitting at one of the computers. Ginny, Burt, and Sam peeked over Mitch’s back as well and when Gareth joined them, Mitch felt the hot breaths of everyone pressing down on him.
“Does she know you had this done?” Sam asked.
“Nope,” Mitch responded. “Two of my friends and their wives came for a day visit and while Tori played tour guide with the wives, I had my friends put up the security cameras.”
“Damn, they must be good. The equipment looks expensive.”
Sighing, Mitch nodded, fiddling with the playback of the digital security video. “Gotta tell you that’s the one thing that I do miss. I had a lot at my fingertips with the FBI, but my friends in the Saints Protection & Investigations Company were invaluable. They have private contracts with industry and government agencies and make mint.”
“Hey, you still have friends in high places,” Grant commented.
Shaking his head, Mitch replied, “Yeah, but I don’t want to overuse them. I can’t pay them and, while they’d help out in any way, I’ve got to figure out how to get more money from the state, ’cause cases like this really strain the tax base of the town.”
“Hey, go back,” Ginny called out, her hand jerking over Mitch’s shoulder with her finger pointing to a dark patch near the bottom of the screen. “What’s that?”
As Mitch’s head moved forward to enlarge the picture, everyone leaned closer to his back. In the corner of the screen, a dark figure made its way toward the back of the house. The arsonist was clothed all in black, including a stocking cap on their head. They watched as the person moved from the front corner of the house, around to the back on the side where the guests could enjoy sitting under one of the large trees. The camera mounted on the garage now picked up the movements as the person made their way to the laundry room window.
The lone figure poured liquid from a can along the bottom of the Inn’s extension before reaching into their pocket and withdrawing matches. Striking one of them, they flicked it toward the building, jumping back as the flames immediately sparked to life.
The arsonist then ran toward the front of the house and continued running down the street out of view of the camera.
“Damn, we can’t even get a make on their vehicle because they parked down the street,” Burt cursed.
“This is no professional,” Mitch stated, his voice hard but sure. The others looked at him, each silently awaiting his explanation with their own expressions of interest.
“A professional would know that starting a fire in an outer part of the house would take a long time to reach the living quarters and, by then, enough smoke would set off the alarms. A professional arsonist would also slip inside the house and start the fire at the staircase in the middle of the house for maximum damage, and to keep the residents from being able to escape that way.”
“So what do you think?” Ginny asked.
“I can’t tell from here if it is a man or a woman, but my instincts tell me it’s a man. Look at the way they’re running. Men and women run differently.”
The group watched as he played the video back for them to observe the details more carefully.
“So that leaves out Vanessa,” Sam pronounced.
Shaking his head slowly, Mitch disagreed. “Vanessa has the means to pay someone to do her dirty work for her. She might have taken care of the poisoning herself but, if it’s her, I’d bet she was the distraction while someone she paid tampered with the food. And she’d likely have no idea how to shoot a gun. No,” he said, rubbing his chin, “she’s still very much in the running as a possibility.”
“And Thomas?” Grant asked.
“Could be him…from what we can see of the lower part of the face, where it’s not hidden, they are Caucasian.”
Gareth spoke up, saying, “I came over to tell you what I found in doing more digging on Thomas, but wanted to see if you found out anything from the video first. Since Thomas is still a possibility, then this is pertinent.”
All eyes turned to him and Gareth explained, “It seems that while they were married, they had life insurance policies taken out on each of them. Tori was listed as the beneficiary on his policy…and he’s still listed as the beneficiary on hers.” Holding everyone’s gaze, he continued, “One million dollars. All his if she dies.”
*
Thomas answered the doorbell, his congenial face quickly turning into a scowl, seeing Mitch and Grant on his front stoop.
“I’ve told you all I know and if you continue to harass me then I’ll contact my lawyer,” he declared, keeping one hand on the door barring their entrance.
“That is certainly your right,” Mitch agreed, “but we can easily summon you to the station to answer questions. Your choice.”
Appearing to fight an inner battle, Thomas wavered for a moment then threw open the door. “Fine, I’ll talk to you now. But I’m warning you—”
“I wouldn’t do that,” Grant said, stepping into the living room and taking a seat on the sofa.
Thomas sat down heavily, his face still sporting a scowl. “So what do you want?”
Mitch, casually and deliberately, pulled out a sheaf of papers. “You want to explain the million-dollar insurance policy on Tori that lists you as the beneficiary?”
Visibly paling, Thomas flopped heavily back in his seat, his breath leaving him in a whoosh. His eyes darted between Mitch and Grant. He opened and closed his mouth several times, his fish-like appearance now filled with apprehension.
“I…I tried to talk to her…I had forgotten…I…I knew she had…”
Mitch and Grant sat in stony silence, both waiting for the man to get his words out and to create a sense of nervousness, hoping he would keep talking.
His Adam’s apple bobbing, Thomas swallowed heavily a few times before taking a deep breath. “That’s why I went to her…why I showed up at the inn to talk to her.” Seeing Mitch’s cocked eyebrow, he continued, “Honestly.”
Rubbing his face, Thomas started again. “When I proposed to Hailey, she wanted to know about my finances.” He hesitated, catching their expressions and hastened to add, “My lawyer suggested a pre-nup, but I didn’t want to go that route. Hailey and I did discuss finances and that’s when I realized that Tori and I still had life insurance policies set up through my workplace. Tori was listed on mine and I was listed on hers.” His voice became petulant as he added, “We were married, after all.”
“Continue,” Mitch demanded.
Huffing, Thomas said, “When Hailey saw those, she flipped her shit. Got mad that I still had Tori listed as my beneficiary. Cried, screamed, and generally had a shit-fit. So I went to the insurance company and had Tori’s name taken off and Hailey’s added.” He lifted his gaze to the officers and added, “But, I knew Tori had forgotten about hers. She didn’t return my calls, so I decided to drive over to Baytown to see her. I wanted to let her know that she needed to change her beneficiary to someone else or cancel the policy or…I don’t know…whatever. I was trying to do the right thing, but she wouldn’t see me.” Pouting, he continued, “You even told me to leave.”
“So you left…made no further attempt to contact her nor had a lawyer take care of it since she wouldn’t see you? You just left the insurance policy the way it was. And now, there have been three attempts on her life. Kind of coincidental, wouldn’t you say?”
Eyes wide, Thomas sputtered, “No, no! I swear I’ve done nothing to Tori. You don’t understand…I still…care for her. I know what I did with Vanessa was stupid…so stupid. But Tori’s a good person and I’d never try to hurt her.”
“Where were you last night?” Mitch asked, unimpressed with Thomas’ declaration of innocence. Heard too many of those from guilty persons when in the FBI.
Licking his lips, Thomas said, “Here. I got home about seven p.m. We ate and then I was in bed by about ten.”
“We?”
“Hailey lives here with me. She was here too. All night. I swear.”
The two officers stood and walked to the front door, with Thomas trailing. Grant headed to the cruiser as Mitch turned back after Thomas’ hand snaked out and grabbed his arm.
“You believe me, don’t you?” Thomas whined.
Looking down at his arm until Thomas jerked his hand back, Mitch then lifted his gaze up. “We’ll be in touch.”
As the door closed behind Mitch, Thomas turned and looked down the hall. Hailey moved from the shadow of the kitchen and stared at her fiancé.
“Still watching out for your ex?” she bit out.
He wilted under her angry glare.
Chapter 28
The night sky over the bay sparkled with stars and the breeze tossed Tori’s hair behind her as she stood at the rail of Mitch’s deck. Sucking in a deep breath of sea air, she closed her eyes for a moment, remembering easier times as a child when her only concern at Baytown was hoping Mitch would come play with her.
Before her thoughts could turn down the darker path of someone wanting to harm her, she felt his arms wrap around her from behind. Leaning her head back against his chest, she relished the warmth in his embrace.
Nuzzling her ear, he whispered, “You good out here?”
“Mmmmm,” she replied. “Better now that you’re here.”
Giving her a little tug, he said, “Come back in, babe. I hate you standing out here where anyone can see you.”
Her body jerked involuntarily and she bit back the desire to argue that this unknown assailant would not dictate her life. But who am I kidding? My whole life has been disrupted. …One person dead…two more attempts on me.
Sighing, she allowed him to lead her back inside his house and watched as he closed the curtains, keeping out any observers.
Lifting her gaze to his, she said, “So what do I need to do about Thomas?” Mitch had shared the news about the life insurance policy when he came back to Baytown earlier in the day.
Linking fingers, he led her to his worn sofa and pulled her down next to him. “For one, contact your lawyer tomorrow to see what headway he’s made. I don’t want you dealing with Thomas directly, so let the lawyer contact him and get the insurance company and policy information. Once you have that, you just have to list a new beneficiary if you want to keep the policy. It looks like Thomas has continued to have it paid for…the fees just came out of his pay and he never noticed it along with everything else. Or you can cancel it and it’ll stop.”
“I don’t really know why I would need it,” she sai
d. “The inn is paid for and I have no children…”
His eyes quickly searched hers. “Not yet. If the cost isn’t prohibitive, you could keep it…for the future.”
Her lips pinched together for a moment, causing him concern. The idea of being with her and possibly having children one day was a plan he wanted to pursue, but the expression on her face gave him the realization that she might not share his view.
“But who for now, Mitch? My sister? My mom? I’ve got no one in my family that I’d leave it to right now!”
Releasing a sigh, he smiled slightly, catching her curiosity. “Sorry, babe. I…well, I was thinking about children down the road and saw your face and thought…well, that maybe you didn’t wa—”
Grabbing his jaw with her hands, she pulled him in for a kiss. Soft, then searing. Pulling back, a moment later, she panted. “Oh, that’s not what I meant at all! It’s just that everything’s so…so…” Suddenly a sob tore from her lips, her face crumpling in sorrow.
Tucking her head under his chin, he let her cry it out, her tears wetting his shirt. Rubbing his hand on her back, he murmured soft words, soothing the tension from her body. After a few minutes, she took one last shuddering breath and lifted her face from his neck.
Wiping her cheeks, she leaned over and grabbed a tissue from the end table. She attempted to climb off his lap, but he held firm.
“Mitch, I’m sorry. God, I’m such a mess,” she proclaimed.
Cupping her cheeks, he caressed the last of the moisture from them. Leaning down to stare deeply into her eyes, he said, “Babe, you’re not a mess. Hell, I’m a mess ’cause I can’t seem to catch this asshole and keep you safe.”
Concern filled her face. “It’s not your fault,” she cried.
“Well, it sure as hell isn’t yours either.”
The silence filled the couple, circling them in a warm blanket of care. Smiling slightly, Tori said, “Did you mean what you were saying earlier? About us…kids? Um… you know?”
“Hell, yeah,” he vowed. “I want it all with you, Tori. Finding you again after all those years…perfect.”
Coming Home: Baytown Boys Series Page 23
