by J. J. Cook
“Maybe you should test him.” Eric appeared in the Cherokee next to her.
“Maybe. Are you talking about John or Chief Rogers?”
“Chief Rogers. Keep some of the sample and give him some. See what he does with it. He may be obnoxious, but John and Walt could be right about him being a good man. Don’t forget, he was Walt’s choice to succeed him as chief.”
“I know. I know.” She started the engine. “Even if Rogers runs with it, I won’t like him any better.”
“You don’t have to. All you have to do is be able to trust him.”
Stella drove back into town. She was looking forward to having lunch with Phil. She wouldn’t admit it to Eric. He’d only make fun of her.
“If you don’t mind, I’m going to walk as far away from you having lunch with that rich developer as I can. I don’t want to sit through all those smiles and winks.”
Stella was trying to fit the Cherokee between two other cars in front of the café.
“That’s fine. But I don’t wink.”
“Okay. All that blushing and giggling.”
“I definitely don’t giggle.”
Eric grinned at her. “Whatever you say. Tee-hee.”
Before she could protest he was gone. She promised to get him back later and locked the Cherokee before she walked toward the café door.
Stella enjoyed her lunch with Phil. He was fun to talk to and had a way of saying things that made her laugh. He confessed to being a former businessman and an NFL team owner from Louisiana. They talked about their past lives and how they’d ended up in Sweet Pepper.
“I was raised in a town smaller than this, if you can imagine.” Phil worked on his sirloin steak. “We didn’t have a stoplight because that would’ve interfered with the gators crossing the road.”
“I really can’t imagine that,” she confessed over her pimento cheese sandwich. “When I came down here from Chicago, I couldn’t believe people could get by with real stores being thirty miles away. I never had a car at home. I found out right away that you need some type of vehicle here if you want to eat and have toilet paper.”
Stella was constantly looking over her shoulder. Maybe Eric wasn’t officially there, but his badge was in her pocket. He could be anywhere. She was definitely leaving the badge home when she went to eat dinner with Rufus on Friday night.
“Chief!” Ricky Hutchins Jr. stopped to talk as he held a gray tub full of dirty dishes. “I heard you put Clara and her family into a burning car. I wish I could’ve been there.”
“Me too. Clara and her family came out fine.” She introduced Ricky to Phil. “You would’ve been proud of Sylvia and Hero too. Hero jumped in the burning car without even thinking about it.”
“That’s great.” Ricky laughed. “I hope my dad gets out soon. I miss the fire brigade. Hell, I miss working on the trucks. I spend my whole life washing dishes and busing tables. My mom is a wreck without him. This has to end.”
Stella sympathized. “I know he’ll be back soon. You’ll have to fight JC to drive the engine again. He’s taken your spot, and he’s possessive.”
“Chief! I can’t believe you let him drive. What about me?”
“Someone with big rig experience had to drive. You know that. When you get back, we’ll work it out.”
“He’ll have to work it out,” Ricky promised. “I was there first.”
Lucille, Ricky’s mother, called from the kitchen. Ricky left their table reluctantly to ask what he needed to do.
“I’m afraid to ask why you put Clara and her family into a burning car.” Phil sipped his sweet tea and smiled at her.
Stella’s heart beat a little faster, and she thought about Eric talking about her pulse. Could he really do that or was he faking? She never knew with him. She wished Madam Emery had been a little more forthcoming—and a lot less creepy. Maybe there was a book she could get that would tell her the limits of Eric’s ghostly superpowers.
“Clara and her family have served us well at the firehouse.” She explained about the family of dummies Molly Whitehouse had made for them. “They’ve escaped every emergency without a scratch.”
“No doubt due to the excellent supervision of the Sweet Pepper Fire Brigade’s chief.”
Stella laughed and surreptitiously glanced around. She wasn’t giggling. Eric had made her self-conscious.
“Mind if I ask a question?” Phil pushed his plate away. “Are you expecting someone? You’re not married, are you?”
“No. I’m not expecting anyone. I’m not married.”
“The last woman I went out with that acted as nervous as you are right now had a husband looking for her. He was a six-foot-four, three-hundred-pound former Marine. That night didn’t end well for me.”
Stella tried to explain her nervousness without mentioning Eric. “I still can’t get used to everyone knowing who I am, I guess. I’m always expecting someone to come up and speak to me. It goes with being fire chief in a small town.”
Phil smiled and said he understood. They finished lunch and were getting ready to leave when town clerk Sandy Selvy ran into the café. She zeroed in on Stella with frantic eyes, her teased-high hair hidden beneath a bright green scarf.
“Thank goodness I found you,” Sandy said. “Willy Jenkins sent me to warn you.”
“What’s wrong?” Stella asked.
“There’s a special called meeting of the finance committee in about five minutes. Nay Albert is going to push for the council to go ahead and buy his boat for the fire brigade.”
Chapter 24
“Can they do that?” Stella wasn’t sure what committee was responsible for things that the town council did.
“It’s preliminary,” Sandy explained. “Nay will get the committee’s okay to take it to a vote at the next council meeting. They won’t hear from anyone else at that point. With Bob and the mayor behind him, it’s kind of a done deal. Willy thought you should know.”
Stella didn’t even bother asking how they knew she was in the café. “I’m on my way.”
“What’s the problem?” Phil overheard their conversation as he’d finished paying their bill for lunch. “I thought a fireboat was a good idea.”
“Not this fireboat. I had planned to ask the council to buy a boat from Rufus Palcomb. He’s got a good boat at a fair price, and he’s a member of the fire brigade. I have to go.”
“Let me go with you. Maybe I can help.”
Stella dialed Rufus’s cell phone number as she and Phil hurried to town hall. She couldn’t believe Nay would stoop so low to get a few thousand dollars from the town.
Rufus didn’t answer. She was going to have to deal with the problem using her limited boat knowledge and hope the finance committee would see things her way.
The Sweet Pepper finance committee normally met once a month in council chambers. Bob Floyd and Nay Albert were members, representing the council. Baker Lockwood, who owned the town pharmacy, was also on the committee, along with Tommy Potter, who ran the hardware store. Myra Strickland, whose family had started the Sweet Pepper Festival, was also a member.
Stella and Phil burst in through the closed doors of the chamber to unappreciative stares from the committee members. The group had already started the meeting. Stella wasn’t sure if they’d had time to vote on the fireboat issue yet.
“I don’t see your name on the agenda to speak, Chief Griffin.” Nay glanced at the paper on the clipboard.
“This is an emergency.” Stella was going to have to make up what she wanted to say as she went along. Sandy Selvy relieved her assistant town clerk to take notes of the meeting, giving Stella a few precious seconds to organize her thoughts.
“And Mr. Roth.” Nay inclined his head toward the developer. “Always a pleasure to see you here at town hall, sir. Did you need to address the finance committee?”
Phil glanced at Stella. “Yes. I think I do need to address the committee. That’s why I brought Chief Griffin with me.”
Stell
a thanked him with a nod of her head. “We’re both here to address the issue of the town purchasing a fireboat.”
“We aren’t to that matter yet, Chief Griffin,” Myra Strickland said. “You’re welcome to sign up to speak when we come to that measure. Good day, Mr. Roth. How are you?”
There was a decided warmth in the way the committee members spoke to Phil. Stella supposed it was greased by the money he’d put into infrastructure and other town necessities since he’d come to Sweet Pepper.
The committee droned through several requests for funding from the town. There were road improvements and sewer pumps that needed to be replaced.
Stella glanced at her watch hoping Rufus might still make the meeting. She wasn’t sure what Phil’s knowledge of boats was—she hoped it was better than hers.
There was a back-and-forth between Baker Lockwood and Bob Floyd about the particulars of replacing incandescent lights in the town’s decorative streetlights with bulbs powered by small solar panels. Stella found herself nodding off while they spoke of the savings to the town versus the cost of installing the new panels.
“Hey!” Eric’s voice penetrated her sleepy subconscious. “You’re up next.”
Stella was startled. She sat up straight and peered around herself.
“I think we’re next,” Phil said.
Eric was sitting next to her in the chair on the other side.
“Were you trying to ditch me?” Eric demanded. “If so—you should’ve left the badge at the café.”
She couldn’t answer him. The conversation had turned to the fireboat purchase. Nay was speaking about his boat.
Stella waited politely for him to finish his presentation, which included pictures of his boat as it was and drawings of what it would be like set up as the town’s fireboat.
When he was finished, Myra nodded to Phil and Stella. “I believe you have something you want to say about this matter, Chief Griffin.”
She got to her feet with Phil and cleared her throat, not sure what she was going to say that would be as impressive as Nay’s presentation.
Rufus burst into the meeting room with large poster boards under his arm. His red hair was standing on end. He hadn’t shaved and appeared as though he’d spent the night in his clothes.
“I’m sorry. I got the message late, but I’m here.” He bowed to the finance committee as though they were royalty. “I hope there’s still time.”
“There’s plenty of time,” Stella muttered to him as she helped with his visual aids.
Rufus was even better prepared than Nay. He actually had videos of fireboats, including the one Stella remembered from Chicago. He had a PowerPoint presentation and renderings on the poster boards that were before-and-after representations of what the boat would look like.
“Mr. Albert’s boat is capable of doing the job,” Rufus addressed the committee. “It’s small for what’s needed, and in my opinion, that will make it difficult to mount the hoses and other equipment the fire brigade will need if they want to save the houses at Sunset Beach.”
“That’s very impressive.” Tommy Potter ventured an opinion. “Do you have figures to back up your plans?”
“I certainly do, Your Honor.” Rufus passed out his documents.
Tommy Potter chuckled as he took the paperwork. “We’re not judges. You can call us by our names.”
“Oh, sorry.” Rufus looked embarrassed but finished passing out the paperwork. “As you can see, because of the extensive work that would have to be done to Mr. Albert’s boat, the estimates for my boat are much lower. My boat is ready right now and has years of my family’s boat-building knowledge backing it. It only needs the modifications you see on the list.”
While they were reading Rufus’s figures, Stella added, “I should also point out that Rufus has joined the fire brigade and has offered, at no cost to the town, to work with the fireboat and help us get it set up.”
Baker Lockwood glanced up and nodded at her.
“I would also like to put a few good words in about Chief Griffin’s recommendation to accept this bid on creating the fireboat for my community.” Phil had a practiced speaker’s voice. All the committee members looked up.
“Yes, Mr. Roth?” Myra smiled invitingly at him.
“I believe Chief Griffin has given a great deal of thought to this project. I think she’s our best resource for making this decision.”
“This wouldn’t have anything to do with you two having lunch together, would it?” Nay demanded in a sour voice. “We don’t want to make a hasty decision that will affect the town based on some flirtation between our fire chief and Mr. Roth.”
“Jerk,” Eric said.
Stella was shocked that Nay would say that.
She was even more surprised when Bob Floyd agreed with him. “I suspect our best effort right now might be to table this decision until later this year.”
Stella was furious. “Are you going to let a decision as important as protecting the Sunset Beach community stay on the table so Bob and Nay can make a few extra bucks? If you like you can take anything extra for Rufus’s boat out of my salary.”
“You can’t accuse me of wanting to make extra money,” Nay argued. “I’m practically giving my boat to the town.”
Phil took him up on it. “In that case why not be a Good Samaritan and donate the boat to the town. Chief Griffin is willing to give up part of her salary. Surely you must be as dedicated to the project as she is.”
Myra looked at her fellow members of the committee. “Well, I’ve heard enough. I think we should take a vote on this.”
Nay and Bob tried again to stall, but Baker Lockwood and Tommy Potter were ready to vote too.
“All in favor,” Myra began, “say aye. All opposed, you know the drill. Although I can’t imagine for one minute why anyone would vote against our fire chief, Mr. Roth, and the Palcomb family, who has been building boats right here in Sweet Pepper for a hundred years.”
There were three ayes to two nos—Bob’s and Nay’s.
“That settles it. Chief Griffin, we’ll make the recommendation to the council that they fund this project for you. Thank you all for being here today.” Myra brought down her gavel to end the conversation.
There was still more to be discussed by the committee. Stella was glad she didn’t have to sit through it. She, Rufus, and Phil left the meeting room with Eric trailing behind them.
“Yes!” Rufus high-fived Stella. “I’ll get started on everything right away. Thanks for giving me a shot at this, Chief.”
“Thanks for putting all of it together. I thought Nay’s presentation was impressive—until you walked in like you’d been thinking about it for weeks. Good job, Rufus. I’m looking forward to working with you.”
Phil shook hands with Rufus. “Thank you. If you need anything from me, let me know. Nothing is more important than the safety of my community.”
Stella and Phil helped Rufus take all his presentation materials to his pickup.
Rufus waved as he pulled away from the curb. “Are we still on for dinner Friday night?”
“Yes. I’ll see you then if not before.”
After Rufus was gone, Phil turned to Stella. “Is that a date type of dinner? Are you two a thing? I don’t want to step on anyone’s toes.”
“We aren’t a thing. He invited me to dinner because I told him I hate to cook. I just met Rufus when we started thinking about the boat project.”
“That’s good to know.” Phil smiled at her. “Would it be all right if I asked you out to dinner too? Not on Friday night, but some other time.”
“Oh brother.” Eric was perched on the hood of Phil’s Jeep.
“That would be nice.” Stella ignored her ghostly roommate. “Give me a call.”
“Good. I’ll talk to you later.”
Stella was flushed with her victory—and knowing that she had two excellent dinners coming up with two attractive, interesting men. She got in the Cherokee and started the engine.
“You’re supposed to take part of your cocaine sample to Chief Rogers,” Eric reminded her. “Unless you’re too busy gathering boyfriends to find out who killed Barney Falk.”
She turned off the engine. “I know. You probably don’t realize this, but I can’t give him a sample. I’d have to give him the whole thing without breaking the seal I put on it. It’s part of the chain of evidence.”
“Whatever.”
“That means if he throws it away all I have is photos. Are you seriously advocating that I trust him that much?”
“Yes. If he throws it away we’ll find another way around the problem. You’ll know for sure that you can’t trust him. If he does his job, he’s an ally.”
She opened the driver’s side door. “An irritating, misogynistic ally.”
“Obviously.”
“Okay.” She took a deep breath. “Let’s go.”
Stella went back into town hall. She asked Sandy if she could speak to Chief Rogers.
“He’s in with someone right now. It shouldn’t be long.”
“That’s fine. I can wait a few minutes.”
“Congrats on your win,” Sandy said. “I thought Nay was going to pop. He’s still in there arguing with Myra even though the meeting’s over. I’m sure that won’t be the last of it.”
“I’m sure you’re right.”
A moment later, John and Chief Rogers came out of Rogers’s office. They were still conversing in low tones that didn’t sound particularly friendly. When the two men saw Stella they stopped in their tracks.
“We were just talking about you, Ms. Griffin,” Chief Rogers said. “Is there something I can do for you?”
“As a matter of fact, I think there’s something you can do for both of us.” Stella held out the container she’d filled with what she thought was cocaine.
“All right then.” Chief Rogers stepped to the side. “Come on in.”
Chapter 25
Stella wished John were going into the office with them. Instead he gave her an inquisitive look, put on his uniform hat, and headed out the front door.
