Hard Hat Man

by Curry, Edna

  “That’s too bad. How will they find the man’s identity, then? It’s not possible to get fingerprints after this long.”

  “No. But they might be able to get DNA. I’m not sure how they’d find anything to compare it to, though. It wasn’t common fifteen years ago to take DNA samples, you know.”

  “Hm. I have Nancy’s diary. Maybe she wrote his name in there somewhere.” Jan sipped her tea.

  Kyle’s head popped up and he stared at her. “You have her diary? Did you read it?”

  Jan shook her head. “Not yet. I packed it in the stuff I’m taking back to Chicago when I have more time. I wanted to finish the sorting for you.”

  Kyle set down his cup. “I wonder if the sheriff will want that diary. Do you think he’d call it evidence?”

  “I don’t see how. Surely she didn’t know who was going to kill them and write it down ahead of time.” Jan sent him a frowning glance.

  “Well, no, but she may have written down some things about him that could help him figure that out.”

  “I’ll try to read it soon and if it has any real info, I’ll tell that to the sheriff. But I don’t want to give it to him so he can read Nancy’s private thoughts if I don’t have to.”

  Kyle shrugged. “Okay.”

  Jan rose and began picking up the left-overs. She packed them in her ice chest. “I’ll be glad to get back to having a real refrigerator again.”

  Kyle came up behind her and handed her the last container. “We could go stay at my house,” he suggested.

  She closed the lid of the ice chest and rose, ending up in his arms. He leaned down and kissed her thoroughly. “Um. I don’t want to wait that long to get into your pants,” she said. “And it doesn’t feel like you want to, either.”

  With a giggle, she reached down between them and rubbed the bulge in his jeans that she’d felt against her stomach. “Did you remember to buy condoms?

  “Sure did. You didn’t leave my mind most of the day, so how could I forget?” he asked, pushing her tee shirt out of the way and unsnapping her bra. He reached down to suckle her breast.

  “Just checking,” she said, squirming and grabbing his hair.

  With a groan, he released her breast, picked her up and carried her to the bedroom. There he pulled back the spread and deposited her on the bed. With a laugh, she reached down to untie her sneakers and remove her socks.

  He quickly removed his clothes as well, then followed her down and helped her take off the remaining skimpy red lace bra and panties she wore.

  “Pretty undies,” he commented, letting his tongue run along the rosy tip of her hard nipple. “Like this?”

  “Yes,” she groaned, leaning back against the pillow.

  He followed her down, running a hand along her thigh, then spreading her legs and slipping a finger between her soft folds. He rubbed gently and she arched to meet him.

  Their kisses and caresses grew more frantic until she could hardly wait for him to enter her. “Now, Kyle,” she said.

  He pulled back and covered himself, then came back to her. With one swift motion he was inside, burying himself to the hilt.

  “Oh, my God, that feels great,” she gasped, meeting him thrust for thrust.

  Faster and faster they moved until stars burst behind her eyes and with a groan, Kyle followed her to completion.

  ***

  Hours later, Kyle woke, coughing and choking. Acrid smoke filled his lungs. He sat up and yelled, “Fire! Jan, wake up.”

  Rolling out of bed, he pulled her to her feet.

  “What’s going on?”

  “Fire! We have to get out of here.”

  They grabbed their clothes and ran for the door. Kyle flipped the light switch, but the light didn’t come on. “Power’s out, too.”

  He touched the doorknob, then quickly drew back. “It’s hot. We’ll have to go out the window.”

  Jan had already turned and was across the room. She grabbed her purse from the nightstand and struggled with opening the window. “It’s stuck!”

  “Stand back.” He grabbed the wooden chair and slammed it into the large, old fashioned window. “Thank goodness they’re too old to be thermal paned,” he grunted as the single paned glass easily gave way. Fresh air rushed in and they breathed it gratefully.

  He removed the remaining glass and pushed out the screen. Then he helped Jan out and climbed out himself and they ran toward their cars.

  Jan pulled her cell phone from her jeans pocket and dialed 9-1-1 and called in the fire. They both hurried into their clothes.

  “I’ve got my cell and billfold,” Kyle said. “Did you get yours?”

  “Yes. Thank goodness. I lost my purse one time and it was a major hassle getting all the credit cards and driver’s license replaced.” She glanced back at the flames shooting from the upper windows now and shivered.

  “Looks like it has a really good start,” Kyle said. “I wonder what started it?”

  “Me, too. More arson?”

  “I wouldn’t be surprised.” He looked at his watch. “Almost midnight.”

  “So much for all the sorting of stuff,” Jan said wryly. “Well, at least the historical society got what they wanted. Too late for Goodwill, now.”

  “I guess so. Did you get most of what you wanted to save?”

  “Yes,” Jan said. “I have most of it packed in my car. I doubt there was much more I’d want, anyway.”

  “Here’s the cavalry,” Kyle said as the fire engines drove into the yard.

  “Move your vehicles back out of the way,” one fireman shouted at them.

  “Got a good water supply out here?” the chief yelled.

  “No. Just a well, but the power’s off, so that won’t work,” Kyle replied.

  “We’ll use our tanker, then,” the chief said. “Usually have to outside the city limits.”

  One of the firefighter’s rescue squad came over to check them out. “Sure you’re feeling okay? You want to go to the ER to get looked at?”

  Jan shook her head. “No, I’m fine. Just coughing a bit from the smoke. But I’ll be fine.”

  Kyle also refused to go to the ER. “I’m fine,” he insisted.

  The sheriff drove up next. They moved their cars farther from the house and sat watching the firemen work.

  Sheriff Casey came over to them. “Everybody out and okay?”

  “Yeah,” Kyle said. “Just the two of us out here.”

  “Damned suspicious to have a second fire within days,” Sheriff Casey remarked. “How did it start?”

  “I have no idea. We were asleep. The smoke made me cough and woke us up,” Kyle said. “The door was hot, so we came out the window.” He pointed to the now screen-less lower window through which they’d exited.

  “Damn, guess I’ll have to call in the state fire marshal again. Maybe he’ll find enough evidence this time to catch the guy.”

  Kyle frowned at Casey. “I think it’s likely the same arsonist who set the barn on fire. Wouldn’t you?”

  Casey nodded. “Sure seems likely. But we need some evidence to catch him. Can’t do it on guessing. Seen anyone suspicious around here lately?”

  Kyle shook his head and slapped at a buzzing mosquito. “Nobody who didn’t have business being here, Casey.”

  “Well, who was here today that did have business here?”

  Kyle named his men and Jan told him about her visitors.

  “Hm. None of them sound like possibilities to me,” Casey said. “Well, you can’t sleep here, that’s for sure. Where will you go?”

  Kyle glanced at Jan, who shrugged. Kyle said, “I think we’ll just go over to my house.”

  Casey nodded. The fire chief came over then and said, “We’re out of water to fight with, Kyle. I sent the tanker to town for more water and asked for the next town’s help as well, but I think we’re losing this battle.”

  “Well, just like the barn, this house was to come down anyway, so let it burn,” Kyle said. “If you can keep it f
rom spreading to the trees, or to neighboring farms through the field, that would sure help.”

  “We’ll do our best,” the chief said, and headed back to give the orders to his men.

  Casey eyed Kyle. “You can’t claim fire damage if you don’t fight it, you know.”

  “I know. I won’t be filing a claim.” Why did everyone worry about his insurance?

  “Well, stop into my office in the morning and we’ll fill out the paperwork. I still need to file a report for the fire marshal.”

  “Sure thing,” Kyle agreed.

  Soon, despite the late hour, more cars with neighborhood people stopped to see what was happening.

  Then Harry pulled into the yard, wheels spinning on his red pickup. He honked loudly and waved at the sheriff. Casey hurried over to him.

  “Wonder what’s up?” Kyle asked as he and Jan followed the sheriff. “Harry was on watch tonight, I think.”

  Harry stepped out of his pickup and he slammed the door and tipped back his hat. “Saw someone running from the house with a gas can,” he told Casey. “He got away, but I found the gas can thrown into the woods. I didn’t want to touch it.”

  “Thanks, Harry,” Casey said. “I can’t leave here right now. Deputy, get some backup and take the dogs. See if you can trail him. And get the gas can for evidence. Maybe we can find some fingerprints on it.”

  The deputy hurried off to her car, talking on her cell phone.

  Kyle thanked Harry for doing a good job of watching the house.

  “Sorry I didn’t catch the bugger before he set the house on fire, though,” Harry said. “I saw you at the window, so figured you and Jan would get out okay. I took off after him, but he was too fast for me. Guess I’m a bit out of shape. Glad you’re safe, Boss.”

  Kyle and Jan got into his car to escape the night chill and the ever hungry mosquitoes. He put his arm around her and hugged her close.

  “I hope that’s the end of the dirty tricks,” Kyle said.

  “Yeah. But what about Aunt Esther?” Jan asked, watching the flames leap high into the night sky. “Do ghosts survive a fire? Will this make her go on to the here-after?”

  Kyle shrugged. “I have no idea. But fire can’t hurt somebody already dead, can it? I never thought about that before. Have you seen her lately?”

  She shook her head, staring at the leaping flames. “Not since the night you caught me talking to her.”

  “I guess she was right about you being in danger.”

  “Yeah. How did she know?”

  “I don’t know. Can ghosts read minds? Or see the future?”

  Jan just pulled her shoulders and cuddled closer. Sparks danced through the air and floated on the night breeze. A blaze started in dry grass under some evergreens and a fireman hosed it down, then wet the area of dry grass and dead pine cones where sparks kept landing.

  Soon the roof caved in. The flames devoured the house until only a heap of smoldering ashes and melted metal appliances remained. Finally, Jan got into her own car and followed Kyle as they drove to his house to try to catch a few hours of sleep.

  ***

  Harry showed Deputy Carol where he’d found the gas can. In a few minutes, Deputy Mike joined them with two police dogs.

  “Thanks for your help, Harry,” Carol said. “We’ll handle it from here.”

  “Okay. I sure hope you get the bastard.”

  “We will.”

  Mike let the dogs sniff the can, then let them lead them through the woods. The dogs had no trouble leading them straight to Alex Porter’s two story white frame farmhouse. A light still showed in an upstairs window.

  They knocked on the door, then stood aside.

  “Yeah? What do you want?” Alex asked.

  “Where were you for the past couple of hours, Alex?” Mike asked.

  “Right here, reading my Bible and writing my Sunday sermon. It’s my turn to lead services this week,” Alex said.

  “Did that Bible mention it was a sin to start a house on fire with people in it who might get burned alive?” Carol asked, stepping forward.

  “What are you talking about?” Alex blustered.

  “I’m saying our dogs got your scent off a gas can that was used to start Horace’s house on fire a couple hours ago. They led us straight over here to you. You’re under arrest, Alex Porter.” Carol nodded to Mike to cuff him and began reading him his rights.

  Instead, Alex swung a beefy fist at Mike, kicked out at him and took off running across the farmyard. But the two deputies quickly caught and subdued him, then phoned for another deputy to bring their car around.

  In a few minutes two cars pulled into Alex’s yard. Sheriff Casey was in the second. “The fire’s down to watch mode,” he said. “So I thought I’d see what you found. Glad you got him.”

  “The dogs say he’s the one. We had to bruise him up a bit to git him to agree to come with us, but here he is, Sheriff,” Carol said, tucking him in the back seat of her car.

  Alex glared at them through the windshield, then stuck his head out the open window. “I didn’t do nothin’. Those nuts of yours just took after me. ‘Course I was skeered and ran from ‘em. Any fool would. And that’s all I’m a sayin’.”

  “Well, we’ll see if sitting in a cell overnight loosens your tongue a bit,” Casey said. “My deputies will fix you right up with one, so’s you have plenty of time to think about it.”

  Carol checked the cuffs Mike had put on Alex. “I reckon those’ll hold you until we get to the jail.” She slammed the door, got in beside Mike and he drove away.

  ***

  Kyle was still sleeping when Jan woke early the next morning.

  She showered and dressed then went to the kitchen to make coffee. As she sat drinking it in his kitchen, she realized she no longer had any reason to stay in Minnesota. All of Esther’s things that survived the fire were in her car. The sheriff would call Laura when he was ready to release Nancy’s remains and she would arrange for their cremation.

  Jan sipped her coffee, her heart heavy. She could say goodbye to Kyle and drive back to Chicago today. But she found she no longer wanted to. She was in love with Kyle. Teaching in Chicago no longer held the appeal it had earlier. But he probably didn’t return her love. He’d said nothing to indicate he did.

  At least, she could make him a nice farewell breakfast. Rising, she checked his refrigerator and cupboards for ingredients. The sight of a muffin pan reminded her of the apple cinnamon muffins Aunt Esther used to make.

  “I’ll bet the recipe for them is in her recipe notebook,” she said and went out to her car to retrieve it.

  Pouring another cup of coffee, she paged through the book until she found it and turned on the oven to preheat. In a few minutes, the muffins were baking and she again sat reading the recipe book.

  Toward the end of the notebook, she found pages of Esther’s handwriting. It said,

  I hope someday someone finds this and will see that justice is done for my only daughter. I’m sorry I didn’t have the courage to go up against Horace and go to the sheriff myself.

  The night Nancy disappeared, Horace came home very late. He’d said he had a church meeting as he often does, so I didn’t question it until he came in, all dirty and bloody. He threw all his clothes in the fireplace and burned them.

  When I asked what happened, he broke down and said, ‘Nancy’s gone.’

  ‘What do you mean, gone?’ I asked.

  ‘Gone to her maker. Dead,’ he said. ‘Dead and buried.’

  I screamed at him in my grief and anger. ‘What happened?’

  ‘I found her fornicating with that man in the barn and I killed him. She fought me and swore at me, then ran, so I had to kill her, too, or she’d have told on me. It’s her own fault for sinning like that. She deserved to die for her sins.’

  I screamed, ‘And you should die for killing them. I’ll tell the sheriff.’

  He said, ‘If you do, they’ll put me in jail and you’ll lose this farm. We
owe too much on it to sell it and you’ll have no place to live and no income.’

  ‘I don’t care,’ I told him. ‘You deserve to be punished.’

  ‘If you tell, my church friends will punish you as well. They’ll protect me and their church members.’

  ‘She’s dead and buried with her lover. I got Alex Porter to help me bury them where no one will ever find their bodies. I’ll tell everyone she ran away and eloped with her lover. They’ll believe it and everything will go on as it has.

  ‘Remember the Bible says you must obey your husband’.

  So I kept silent. I sit in Nancy’s room and cry for her. I changed her room back as it was in the days when she was a happy and obedient child, not a rebellious teenager, so I can remember the good days.

  But I can’t continue living like this. I still have some of my dad’s heart medicine. When I took care of him before he died, his doctor warned me not to give him too much, or he would die from the overdose. So I have a way out and I must take it. I can’t stand living with Horace anymore, knowing he killed my only child.

  May God forgive him, because I can’t.

  ***

  The oven timer buzzed, bringing Jan out of her shock. She rose, turned the oven off and took out the muffins.

  Kyle appeared, his hair still damp from the shower. “Something smells delicious!”

  Jan looked up. “Oh, you’re up. I’d planned to make eggs and bacon, too.”

  “What’s the matter? You’re pale as a ghost. Your ghost didn’t follow us here, did she?”

  Jan nodded and poured him a cup of coffee. “I didn’t see her ghost, but I found a message Esther left before she died.” She pointed to the notebook. “Read this.”

  She put some muffins on plates, got the butter from the refrigerator, then sat and ate a muffin while he read it.

  Kyle face held shock as he read Esther’s words. “No wonder Alex didn’t want us to build here. He knew we’d take down the silo and find the bodies. He probably knew Esther would have left some evidence somewhere, too. He’s probably the one who searched the house looking for anything she might have left. And when he didn’t find anything, he set the house on fire, not even caring that we were inside.”