Blaze (A Stone Mountain Mystery Book 2)

by Kristina Stanley

  “Leanne Olsen heard me asking about Connor and Neil.” Pain stabbed at her ribs, and she groaned.

  “Do you need to lie down?” Nora asked.

  “Just give me a minute.” Kalin took several deep breaths and the pain eased. “I asked about Jason’s accident and about the fire.”

  “What did your friend say about them?” Miller asked.

  “That they are a family of bullies who stick together. Nothing very flattering.”

  “Did you see the car that hit you?”

  “I think it was a red truck. It happened too fast.”

  “Don’t Ben and Connor have the same make and model of red truck?”

  “Really. You think Ben drove into me?”

  Miller laughed and stopped abruptly. “Sorry. I shouldn’t be laughing. I was only making an observation. Can’t you tell me anything more about the truck?”

  “You don’t actually think you’re going to find out who hit me?”

  “Why would you say that?”

  “My late husband died when he was hit by a car. The Ottawa police never found out who killed him. I know from personal experience how hard these things are.”

  “What do you think?” Miller asked Nora.

  “Maybe the Olsens started the fire and didn’t want Kalin investigating them.”

  “You know we arrested Pete Chambers this morning. What were you meeting him about?”

  “Nothing. We were just talking,” Nora said.

  “About?”

  “I’m thinking about getting a dog, and I like his. I wanted to know if his is good with kids.”

  Kalin’s thoughts were blurring. Pete was arrested, and Nora wants a dog. That doesn’t make sense. Maybe I hit my head harder than I thought.

  * * *

  “Where have you been? I thought we were meeting for lunch,” Susan Reed said.

  “I need to talk to you.” Pete heard Susan sigh. He placed his elbows on the table in front of him and palmed the phone against his ear. Constable Miller had relaxed their rules and allowed Pete more than one phone call.

  “I went by your office, but it was closed. Then I thought maybe I misunderstood, and I was to meet you at the restaurant. I waited forty-five minutes before leaving. You embarrassed me.”

  “I won’t be allowed to talk for long. I’ve had a bad day. I’m sorry I didn’t call you earlier.”

  Susan must have heard the distress in his voice, and she relented. “Who won’t allow you to talk?”

  Pete noticed her demeanor changed and appreciated she was going to give him a chance to explain. He didn’t know where to start, but she’d hear about his arrest eventually, and it might as well be from him. “I have a lot to explain.”

  “Are you angry with me?” Susan asked.

  “No. Nothing like that. I was arrested this morning.”

  “What for?”

  Pete scraped his chair backward and stood. He walked as far as the cord would allow, between the empty table and the empty wall, and back. “For starting the fire at Stone Mountain.”

  “That’s crazy. Why would the RCMP arrest you? Are you all right?”

  “I’m fine. I was talking with Nora Cummings in my office. They came in and handcuffed me in front of her. Then I spent two hours in a cell waiting to be processed. They’re letting me make a couple of calls before I’m put back in the cell for the night.”

  “Have you called your lawyer?”

  “Yes. She’s on her way to see me.”

  “That’s good.”

  Pete relaxed, just a bit. She believed in him. Her first reaction was he was innocent. He wouldn’t forget that.

  “Why do they think you started the fire?” Susan asked.

  “They said the gas cans at the site had my fingerprints on them. They also think I’m having financial troubles and because of my large insurance policy, I stand to come out ahead. The fire happened on the anniversary of my family’s death. I guess that makes them think I cracked up. It was enough to get a search warrant for my home and office. There’s something else I need to tell you.”

  He could hear Susan breathing as she gave him time to speak.

  “Nora Cummings is my daughter.” Pete waited. “Can you say something?”

  “Since we’re admitting things, I should tell you I snooped through your house. The morning of the accident at the cabin, when you left me alone, I found your file from the private investigator. Aren’t you worried about Nora’s mother?”

  For some odd reason, Pete wasn’t angry. He didn’t mind she’d looked through his things and understood why she’d been watching Janet’s room at the Motel 8. He didn’t want to hide anything from her. If they were going to have a future together, then he had to trust her. She needed to discover who he was. “Yes and no. It’s complicated.”

  “Does Nora know you’re her father?”

  “I told her yesterday. She needed some time to think, and we were talking this morning when I was arrested. She must be going crazy thinking her mother is a murderer and her father an arsonist.”

  “Well, you’re not. We’ll get this cleared up.”

  Pete told Susan about the second investigation by the private investigator and what he’d uncovered. “It’s possible Janet was wrongly convicted. For Nora and Ethan’s sake, I want to help Janet prove that. She has no financial means and can’t fight her conviction on her own. She didn’t even know it was a possibility. Could you tell her where I am?”

  “Of course.”

  Disappointment filled Pete when Susan didn’t ask about Farley. For all she knew, Farley was at the pound. He pushed that thought away. “Since we’re being honest here I have to ask you something.”

  “Sure.”

  Pete’s heart pounded. “I found a lighter at the site where the fire started.”

  “Did you give it to the police?”

  Pete stretched the phone cord to its limit, flattening the twists, then turned and walked back to the table. “No. I hid it. They discovered it this morning when they searched my place.”

  “They can’t know where you found it.”

  “It had yellow police tape stuck on it. They’re going to try to match it to the tape that was at the site.”

  “I don’t understand why you hid it.”

  Pete stalled, but then decided he needed to ask. “You know how you’re always burning incense? It looks like the kind of lighter you use. Will they find your fingerprints on it?”

  “Oh, Pete. You think I started the fire and dropped the lighter. Tell them why you hid it.”

  An officer strode into the room. “Time’s up. Let’s go.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  Kalin woke when Nora pulled over to the side of the highway and shifted into park. She let the fogginess lift, then eased herself out of the passenger side of Nora’s truck and stepped tenderly onto the road. Pain sliced through her shoulder, and she took a few deep breaths. Her bike lay on the side of the road between two outcrops of rock. The bent frame and twisted front tire showed how lucky she’d been.

  “There’s no hope for it. It’s toast,” Kalin said.

  Farley barked, and Kalin looked in his direction. He jumped into the front seat, pressed his nose on the inside of the window and left a streak of dog snot. Just like Chica. “How come you have Farley anyway?”

  “He was there when Pete was arrested. I didn’t know what else to do with him.” Nora stared at the bike. “This could have been so much worse. You could have been killed.”

  “I wasn’t.”

  “What about next time?”

  Kalin was too tired to argue. She’d had this conversation with Ben before, and she didn’t intend to have it with Nora. “There won’t be a next time.”

  “Last year—”

  “This has nothing to do with last year. So I push things until I get what I want. Sometimes that causes grief. I can’t change that. If Ben wants to marry me, he’ll have to accept me as I am.”

  Nora’s eyes widened. “I
’m not Ben. I care about you, that’s all. You don’t have to change for me.”

  “I’m sorry. I’m just so mad at Ben for leaving me.”

  “You know he’ll come back and everything will be fine. Come on, let’s get your bike, and I’ll take you home.”

  Nora struggled until she managed to lift the damaged bike into the back of the truck. They drove the next ten minutes in silence.

  At the sight of her home, Kalin checked for her Jeep and was disappointed. Ben wasn’t there. Nora parked in Kalin’s empty driveway and followed her inside. Chica ran in circles with Farley and ignored Kalin.

  Kalin lay flat on her back on the living room floor. Chica curled by her side, apparently having lost interest in Farley, and rested her head on Kalin’s arm. “Good girl.”

  The dislocated rib on Kalin’s back didn’t cause too much pain, but her left shoulder pounded. She concentrated on Chica’s breathing and that combined with the painkillers made her drowsy.

  Farley sniffed every inch of the room. Dust bunnies, energized by him, drifted over the hardwood.

  “I don’t usually see the floor from this angle,” Kalin said. “I need to vacuum.”

  Nora sat on the floor beside her. “Do you really think the hit-and-run was unintentional?”

  “I can’t believe it had anything to do with my conversation with Charlotte. It was just an accident.”

  “Then why didn’t the person stop?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe they were drunk or stoned and didn’t want to get caught.” Nora seemed to be trying hard to keep the conversation on Kalin and not on herself, and Kalin changed the direction. “Can I ask you something?”

  “Sure.”

  “What was really going on between you and Pete?”

  Nora picked up a Mountain Biking magazine and fingered the pages. “What do you mean?”

  “I can tell something’s up.”

  Nora returned the magazine to the coffee table and fiddled with Farley’s collar, slipping it back and forth on his neck. “This is big. I don’t even know how to say it, but Pete Chambers is my father.”

  “You’re kidding. Are you okay? I mean with him being arrested and all. How did you find out? Why did you lie to Miller?”

  “Whoa. Slow down with the questions.” Nora filled Kalin in on everything that had happened since Pete and Janet showed up at her house.

  “You didn’t say why you lied.”

  “It’s none of Miller’s business.”

  “There’s not more to it?” Kalin asked.

  “I know you like Miller, but he was a jerk to me last year when he told me Janet was alive. He already knows who my birth mother is, and I don’t want to give him any information he could use against Pete.”

  A muffled ring sounded from within Kalin’s backpack, and she winced when she moved her neck. “Can you get that for me?”

  “Why don’t you let it go to voicemail?”

  “I’m on call.”

  Kalin lifted her head. “Ow.”

  “Stay put.” Nora unzipped Kalin’s pack and handed her the phone.

  “Kalin Thompson.”

  “We’ve got an issue. Can you get here in five minutes?” Reed asked.

  “I’m on my way.” Kalin rolled on her right side and pushed herself into a sitting position.

  “You’re not going in.”

  “Yes, I am. And what? You’re pretending you’re Ben.” Kalin stood and caught her breath. She was in more pain than she would admit to. “Sorry. That wasn’t fair. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

  * * *

  Reed was waiting in the parking lot when Kalin and Nora pulled in. Kalin eased herself out of the car, trying not to jar her shoulder or her back.

  Any hope Reed wouldn’t notice she was injured disappeared when he said, “What’s wrong with you?”

  “I fell off my bike this morning.”

  Reed draped his eyes from her head to her toes. “You okay?”

  “Yup. What’s going on?”

  “Come with me.” Reed strode toward the temporary security office in the administration building. Pain seared through her with each step, but she refused to let it show.

  Reed reached the open doorway. “Well?”

  Kalin was confused for a moment, then she understood what he was getting at. They hadn’t been greeted by anyone on the security team. Fred’s strategy for investigating the fire covered one whiteboard. A second whiteboard was blank. Unlocked cans of bear spray rested on the desk tucked against one wall. And the security office was wide open.

  “Who’s on duty right now?” Reed asked.

  “I don’t know. I’ll have to pull the schedule.”

  “Do that.”

  Trying to change his focus, Kalin said, “Pete Chambers was arrested this morning. He’s been charged with arson.”

  “Chambers? I wouldn’t have thought that. He seems like a decent sort.”

  Fred returned. His cheeks were flushed and his hair disheveled. He seemed a little surprised at finding Kalin and Reed in his office. “What’s going on?”

  “Why did you leave the office open?” Reed asked.

  “I…” Fred looked to Kalin, but she couldn’t help him. “I was called to a medical emergency. I had the portable AED in my hand, and I guess I forgot to pull the door closed behind me.”

  “It better have been serious,” Reed said.

  “A guest had a heart attack. He was on hole sixteen of the golf course.”

  “How is he?”

  “Dead.”

  Kalin could tell the statement unsettled Reed.

  “I’m sorry to hear that,” Reed said. “Is there anything I need to do?”

  “No. It’s all taken care of,” Fred said.

  The three remained standing. What was there to say? Kalin cleared her throat. “You’ve had a tough day. Why don’t you close up and go home? I’ll take care of anything that comes up.”

  “I’m fine. Anyway, I need to brief the oncoming shift at five. I’ll go after that.”

  Kalin walked with Reed back to his office. “It was an honest mistake.”

  “He’s the manager. He can’t make that kind of error.”

  “That’s harsh. I’d like to let this one go.”

  Reed eyed her for a minute. “I don’t think so. You need to fire him.”

  “I really don’t—”

  “You look sore. I’ll drive you home.”

  Kalin and Reed walked past the outdoor pools on the way to the parking lot.

  The awkward silence was too much for Kalin. “What’s the schedule to get the new sauna built?”

  “Since Chambers can’t do it, I’ll have to find someone. Neil Olsen approached me about the work.”

  “What did you tell him?”

  “That I wasn’t interested and that made him angry.”

  * * *

  Kalin gingerly stepped down from Reed’s truck, entered her empty home and stood in the middle of the kitchen. Chica rubbed against her leg. The silence stabbed her ears. She wanted Ben home. She put water on the stove and opened a box of pasta. Before the water boiled, her phone rang.

  “Did you touch anything in the office?” Fred asked

  “No. Why?”

  “The whiteboard’s been erased.”

  “What was on it?”

  “Our Be-On-The-Lookout list. Connor’s name was written along with a note that we were to notify Reed if he did anything unusual. There were also theories about him causing Jason’s accident.”

  “Shit. That means he was in the office.”

  “Either him or one of his friends. Are you going to tell Reed?” Fred asked.

  “I think I have to. Can we meet tomorrow?”

  “Sure. What about?”

  “We need to review this.” Kalin hung up, had a quiet dinner and went to bed early. She had no reason to stay awake. At eight-thirty her cell rang. She’d only been asleep for fifteen minutes.

  “It’s Alex. I tried Fred, but hi
s phone’s off. The bike teams are arriving for the downhill race, and we’ve a problem with one of the coaches.” Alex was Fred’s second in command and on the fire department with Ben. He’d been with Ben when Jason was killed.

  Kalin settled further into her pillow. She hated issues with coaches. Some of them had huge egos and weren’t easy to deal with. “What happened?”

  “Cindy Tober was the unlucky front desk agent on duty. The coach was checking in, and Cindy asked him to leave a deposit for the lock to the gear locker that goes with the condo. He didn’t want to, and he threw the lock and hit her just below her neck.”

  “How badly is she hurt?”

  “She’s fine. She has a bruise and is a bit scared.”

  “You have the camera?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’ll take a picture of the bruise when I get there. I’m on my way.”

  She found Alex sitting with Cindy on the couch facing the reception desk. Elevator music played in the background. Why did it have to be Cindy? She had enough to deal with. The investigation into her husband’s death was ongoing. She was grieving, and now she’d been assaulted.

  “What kind of crazy person throws a lock? Can I take a photo of the bruise?” Kalin asked.

  “Sure.” Cindy lowered her uniform top, showing the soft spot below her left collarbone. Kalin photographed the bruise, made sure she’d taken a sharp photo and gave the camera back to Alex.

  “I’ll call the RCMP,” Kalin said once Cindy finished telling her story. “Do you want to go home?”

  Cindy shook her head. “He’s not going to scare me. This is my job.”

  Kalin would have given the same answer if it had been her who was hit. “Alex will check in with you every hour. Call him if you need him.”

  “Did you hear Pete Chambers was arrested today?” Cindy asked.

  Kalin nodded.

  “If he’s the arsonist, do you think he had anything to do with Jason’s death?”

  Kalin took a deep breath. “I don’t know.”

  “I mean, if he’s capable of starting a fire, maybe he’s capable of killing Jason.”

  “Even if he cut corners, I’m sure he didn’t mean for Jason to die.”

  “What if the fire and Jason dying are related?” Cindy asked.