Christmas Carol (Sweet Christmas Series Book 3)

by Samantha Jacobey

  A shiver ran up Gary’s spine at the recollection of the fire that had come near taking his mother-in-law and stepson’s lives two years ago. “These were no accident,” he mumbled aloud, flipping the rest of the pages, hoping to find some other clue.

  Unable to locate anything else, he decided to start there. But first, he needed to arrange a meeting with the only people he felt he could trust at that exact moment; Caroline Baker and Benjamin Monroe. But how? He couldn’t have Caroline roaming around in public if someone were after her; they would have to be discrete.

  Snapping his fingers, he recalled that being Tuesday, it would be late in the evening before Candy arrived home. “If I plan this right, we’ll be done, and Ben will be gone before she gets there.” Of course, Lanelle would know about the meeting, so he would have to work around that, but an excuse would be easy to manufacture.

  Deciding he would have to risk it, he made the quick call to Ben’s office, but Diane informed him that he was in court. “Well, shoot. Could you let him know that Gary Ford called?”

  Recognizing the name, Diane laughed, “Mr. Ford! Ben was trying to reach you yesterday! I guess the two of you keep missing each other. He even took your address when he left, so I assumed he went to see you at home.”

  “No,” Gary hesitated, then had an idea, “I guess he changed his mind. But if you can get a message to him, tell him to come over for dinner tonight. We’ll talk then,” he added with a jovial chuckle for effect.

  “I’ll text him exactly that,” the receptionist agreed before hanging up.

  Deciding to give Caroline a heads up, Gary next dialed the house, which his target answered on the second ring – “Hello, Ford residence!”

  “Caroline, it’s me, Gary. Are you ok? You sound flustered.”

  “I’m fine,” she replied breathily, “I’m cleaning. What do you want?”

  “I’ve invited someone over for dinner, so make an extra serving,” he informed her crisply, considering for a moment if he should keep their guest’s name to himself. Deciding it might be better if she were prepared, he continued, “It’s Ben.”

  “Ben! Are you crazy?” she hissed. “I told you I think he might be involved –“

  “He’s not involved,” Gary soothed, cutting her off. “He’s just as scared as you are. He’s the one who came to the house last night, and I think you’re both right about things being questionable with these incidences.”

  “Well, I’m glad you agree,” she huffed in his ear.

  “Yes, but I really don’t want to drag Candy into this if we can help it, so dinner needs to be ready so we can eat, talk, and get him out of there before she gets home.”

  “Ok, I’ll take care of the dinner part,” Caroline reluctantly agreed. “What about Lanelle?” she asked more quietly, in case the older woman was no longer asleep. “Won’t she be suspicious?”

  “We’ll think of a good excuse,” Gary agreed, noticing the time. “Right now, I have to go. I have a client to meet for lunch, but I wanted to make sure everything would be set for when I get home.”

  “It’ll be set,” Caroline nodded as she agreed. “We’ll see you tonight.” Hanging up the phone, she paused with her hand hanging onto the receiver for a long moment as she considered how easily their plan could come unraveled. After all, this wasn’t a game, and if the men who trashed her apartment found them, innocent people could be hurt or killed.

  Looking around the spotless kitchen she had given a good scouring, she sighed. Having spent most of her life looking out for herself, it wasn’t like her to worry about what might happen to someone else. But Dakota was just a kid; a sweet and innocent child, and she would hate to see him pay in any way for her mistakes.

  Keeping herself busy with lunch and more cleaning for the afternoon, Caroline tried not think about what her hiding place could cost them. Shortly after four o’clock, she greeted the youngest member of the household at the front door. “How was school today?” she asked as she helped him out of his jacket.

  “School,” he repeated, tearing himself away and darting for his stash of toys.

  “Hey, now!” she called after him, catching his arm and insisting he stop and speak to her. “You may play after our conversation.” Working to garner his attention, she knelt before him and waited patiently until he had looked her in the eye. Then, she repeated, “How was school today?” in a slow, well enunciated style.

  “School,” he repeated, anger sending his voice up a few decibels.

  “Yes,” Caroline smiled warmly, “Say ‘school was fine’ and I will let you go.”

  “School’s fine,” he managed with a bit of drool.

  Catching the trickle of slobber with a napkin from her pocket, Caroline nodded encouragingly. “That’s it, Dakota. Manners are important!” Once he had been cleaned and returned her grin in his crooked fashion, she released his arm and he resumed course for the box in the corner.

  “He’s a handful,” Lanelle informed her from the doorway, having taken up the location to watch the exchange.

  “Yes,” Caroline agreed. “Candy mentioned she would like to see his social behaviors improve. The impulsiveness I think we can curtail; not sure what we can do about the spitting, though.”

  “It’s part of his condition,” the boy’s grandmother explained.

  “I know. I looked it up last night, while I was in bed. He’s better off than some, but not as well off as others.” Standing straighter, she announced, “Daks, you have one hour to play. Then dinner will be ready and we will need to eat when Gary gets home.” Eyeing Lanelle as she brushed past her, the blonde made for the kitchen to begin preparing the meal, and to contemplate exactly what Mr. Ford might be thinking with his current course of action.

  Any Day Now

  Candy had felt odd about having Caroline Baker in her home from the moment Gary had suggested it. Therefore, walking in the back door that night to find her, Ben and her family seated at dinner when she arrived home over an hour early hardly qualified as a surprise. Seeing the shocked expression on all of their faces confirmed any suspicions she had been unwilling to voice.

  “Hey, more company!” Candice played it off with a smile. “I guess Ben is here to woo his secretary back to her desk?”

  Latching on to the offered excuse, Gary joined in with a boisterous laugh; “I mentioned we had hired her, and he insisted on my arranging a meeting on neutral ground.”

  Serving her plate of steak and salad, Candy joined the group, noting that Caroline occupied her favorite chair next to Daks. Taking a seat beside her mother, who preferred sitting against the wall on the end next to her bedroom door, she watched as the new nanny seemed to have settled into her role with ease.

  Eating and monitoring as Dakota munched on his carrot sticks, Caroline could feel the tension building in her shoulders and neck. She had known as soon as she hung up the phone with Gary that trying to sneak behind the woman of the house’s back was a mistake; a lie that they had begun weaving the moment she had arrived there.

  “Here, Daks,” the young woman reached over to help her charge with his fingers on his fork. “That’s it,” she praised. She could almost feel the burn of Candy’s squinted orbs as they glared at her, and regret stole what had remained of her appetite. Managing a few bites between helping the boy, she waited until most appeared to have completed the meal before she stood to clear the table.

  Watching the blonde as she scraped plates and loaded the dishwasher, Candy wondered what the trio had really been up to. The situation had gnawed at her ever since she left the house that morning, and by the time class had ended for the evening break, she couldn’t take it anymore; she had to know what was going on. She had skipped the lab in order to get home and check on things, and settle the situation once and for all.

  “Mom, are you going to give Dakota his bath tonight?” Candy asked sweetly.

  “Yes, of course,” the older woman smiled with obvious pleasure. “Caroline may be the new nanny and houseke
eper, but bath time is still all mine.” Claiming the boy’s hand, she led him into her private quarters and closed the door, where a tub full of bubbles would soon occupy them for at least half an hour.

  Spying the satisfied smirk on his wife’s face, Gary knew he was in trouble. Leaning back in his chair, he studied her soft features and waited for her to begin her assault. When she didn’t speak, he offered, “They dismissed you early tonight?”

  “No,” she replied flatly, shaking her head slowly.

  Running his hands over his stubble, Gary cut his eyes over at Ben, who had remained silent from the moment of her arrival. “Are you sick?” he tried again, hoping for an innocent reason for her busting in on them.

  “No, Gary,” she bit, her teeth grinding slightly.

  “Maybe I should be going,” Benjamin finally spoke up, getting to his feet.

  Cutting her eyes over him, they gleamed like sharp daggers when Candy rebuked him, “What’s your part in this, Ben?”

  “My part?” he scoffed, patting his chest with the tips of his fingers. “I’m not sure what you’re talking about.”

  “The hell you don’t,” Candy hissed. “Yesterday, my husband shows up with your secretary in tow, insisting that we give her a job and a place to stay after she has left your firm for some mysterious reason. Then, twenty-four hours later, you’re here and the three of you are cozy as kittens eating dinner with my mother and son while I’m supposed to be in class. Coincidence? I don’t think so!” she practically shouted.

  “Baby, calm down,” Gary soothed.

  “I am calm,” she screamed back. “I just want to know what the hell is going on here!”

  Exchanging glances between the three of them, Caroline finally spoke up. “Candy, I’m really sorry about all of this. I didn’t know who I could trust –”

  “Who you could trust?” the other woman cut her off. “What is going on, Gary?” she addressed her mate through a clenched jaw.

  “Could you two wait in my office for a moment? Candy and I need to talk for a minute, and then I’ll be in and we can finish our business,” Gary instructed calmly.

  Dropping her cloth in the sink, Caroline ceased her cleanup and left the room with Ben close behind. After the pair had disappeared down the hall, Gary swallowed hard and then began to confess, “Honey, I’m sorry we made you worry. That was not my intention.”

  “I’ll bet,” she shot back, causing his brow to furrow. “I don’t understand why you would lie to me. Do you not trust me? Is there some secret you guys are in on, something you’re planning or they’re planning?”

  “It’s not like that,” his voice cracked, hardly above a whisper. “Something’s happened, Candy. Something terrible, and I didn’t want to get you involved.”

  “And bringing her into our home doesn’t make me involved?” Candy sniffed, her hands clenched into fist on the table in front of her.

  Leaning towards her, Gary placed his fingers over hers. “I didn’t want you to worry. I didn’t think you would be in any danger; we would figure everything out and it would all be fine.”

  Her eyes wide, she glared at him in dismay. “Why would I be in danger? What have you done?”

  “I haven’t done anything, yet. Caroline came to me yesterday. She had some suspicions about a few fires that had taken place over the last couple of years, and since I had been an arson investigator, she thought I could help.” He stared into her warm hazel eyes as he spoke, not daring to look away.

  “And you were more than willing to help her out,” Candy surmised.

  “No, I wasn’t. Not at first, but when she explained that the first fire was the one that destroyed your apartment two years ago…” his voice trailed away and he shrugged. Swallowing, he felt foolish at having hid the truth from her. “I should have told you last night, but I wasn’t sure what to make of it all.”

  “And how does Ben fit into the picture?” her tone still roiled with angry undertones.

  “He was here, last night; it wasn’t someone from the office. He’s the one who interrupted dinner. He had just made the same discoveries that Caroline had made, and he also thought of me as a source of help.”

  “Seems your good-guy reputation is well known,” she said with a slight grin at his discomfort. “Go on.”

  “Well, it is well known,” he withdrew his grip on her and leaned back in his chair. “You have no idea how hard this has been. I’ve never kept any secrets from you, and this one was about to tear me apart!”

  Studying him for a long moment, Candy finally asked in a calmer voice, “So are they right?”

  “I can’t say for sure, but after having a look at the evidence today, I think we need to investigate further,” he replied, glancing at the closed door of his mother-in-law’s suite. “They’ll be done soon. I think we should move to my office and finish this discussion away from innocent ears.”

  Priorities

  Stomping down the hall, Candy couldn’t wait to get Gary into his office and slammed the door behind her after they had entered. Her anger boiling red-hot through her veins, she intended to let all three of them have it, but stopped cold when she realized that Caroline had been crying. “What are you blubbering about?” she demanded instead.

  “Candy, I’m so sorry,” the other woman sniffed while adjusting her grip on a wad of tissues. “I know we don’t know each other very well, but your mother and son are both wonderful people; I’m sure that applies to you as well.”

  “And?” Candice snipped.

  “And she needs our help,” Gary stated firmly, closing the discussion. Opening his briefcase, he withdrew the envelope of evidence and unclasped the flap. Laying each of the stacks out on his desk, he continued, “I had a chance to go over these today, and I agree that there are some oddities that bear further research, starting with the investigator of the fires.”

  “Harvey Waters,” Ben interjected.

  “Yes,” Gary agreed, picturing his slender, previous coworker.

  “Harvey Waters,” Candy echoed, recalling the guy from her few visits to Gary’s office when he had been at the county investigator’s department. “You know him,” she glared at her mate.

  “Yes,” Gary smiled slightly, “balding head, scrawny build, and smokes like a freight train. Pretty ordinary guy by all appearances.”

  “So, what does he have to do with this?” Caroline asked in a meek voice. “Did someone really set everything up, or is he simply incompetent?”

  Gary and Ben exchanged glances, then Gary soothed, “I think it was intentional. If it had been a coincidence, no one would have needed to search your place, looking for whatever it is they think you’ve got. I’m still curious how they knew to go after you. Any idea how they knew, Caroline?”

  Her crystal blue orbs staring back at him, the blonde swallowed her reply; she had a good idea why she had been targeted, but still didn’t understand how they had located her. Shifting her gaze, she watched the other woman while she formulated her response, then mumbled, “I’m not sure how they found out. Maybe someone I contacted about those documents just got suspicious.”

  Ignoring the exchange, Candy adjusted the pages on the desk with trembling fingers, noting her old address on the top of one of the stacks. Lifting it to flip through it, she shrugged, “What is all this stuff?”

  “There’s insurance documents, statements of record, and a copy of the official findings from the investigation; which Harvey signed. All four fit in a neat little package; two fires two years ago, two fires last year. If there’s been any this year, I haven’t heard about them yet,” Ben summed up the situation. “I filed the paperwork for the last of the claims a few weeks ago, and we finalized the details on it last week. It took the better part of a year for my client to get paid on this last one, but it finally went through. Of course, that’s when I noticed that something didn’t seem quite right about it, and I came to Gary for help.”

  Moving to the next stack, Candy continued her inspection, only ha
lf hearing as Gary continued to question Caroline, who seemed to be evading him with her responses. Once she had viewed them all, she asked, “What are you going to do about this?”

  “Well,” Gary inhaled deeply, and his voice deepened, “we’re going to ask a few quiet questions and get a few answers. I’ve already put together a short list of people I think can and will help us. Harvey is the senior investigator here at the fire department; he’s got respect and he’s got friends.”

  Ben shook his head slowly, examining the list of names Gary had produced, “I see you have Tom Harris on here. I’ve deposed him as a witness a couple of times; I think I could get him into the office without any suspicions being raised. But Christmas is in a couple of weeks, so we will have to act quickly, before things start shutting down for the holiday.”

  Candy shivered at the mention of her least favorite time of year; the time where things seemed to always be the darkest for her.

  “That’ll be fine,” Gary agreed. “I’ll need to have a case of some kind as well; something I need to file and have you working on. We’ll schedule the meetings around noon; you can send your new secretary to lunch and we’ll have the place to ourselves for our chat, since our priority here is to find out everything we can without getting too many people involved.”

  His eyes flicking over at his wife, he noticed she had remained silent, even though she appeared fully engrossed in their conversation. “Are you ok, baby?” he prodded.

  “Yeah,” she agreed, nodding slightly. “I just can’t believe someone would burn a building on purpose, much less one with people still in it. Everyone made it out of our building, but people died in some of these fires!”

  His spine tingling, Gary agreed, “I know. It’s one of the reasons I loved my job; helping people, if you know what I mean.”