by Tim Myers
“I believe I’ll side with your mother on that one.”
Alex chuckled softly. “Mom nearly skinned him alive. She made Dad go out and look for every stone he’d planted. I can still see the sheepish look on his face, but to this day, I can’t tell if it was from his actions, or just because he got caught. I could never prove anything, but I don’t think he ever stopped salting the land; he enjoyed it too much, and there are a lot more stones around the inn than the times Dad admitted to. I don’t know, with Dad, it was always hard to tell when he was serious and when he was just having a little fun.”
Elise said grudgingly, “Okay, I guess I can understand that. Promise me one thing, though. I want you to take me where no one has salted any stones, okay? If I find something, I want to be sure it’s legitimate.”
Alex nodded. “If that’s where Junior goes, we’ll go there, too.”
They drove on in companionable silence. Alex finally caught sight of Junior’s car on the road up ahead. It was pulled off to the side, and Alex could see Junior leaning against the hood. He thought about passing, but when he saw Junior’s slumped shoulders, he pulled his truck in behind him on an impulse.
Elise said, “Alex, he’s crying.”
“I know. Do you want to come with me, or should I go talk to him alone?”
Elise paused in thought. “Why don’t you go? You knew his father, and he might feel uncomfortable with me there, too.”
Alex patted Elise’s hand and got out of the truck. Only when the truck door squeaked did Junior look up to see Alex walking toward him. He tried to wipe away his tears, but quickly gave up.
Obviously embarrassed, Junior said, “Um, Alex. What are you doing out here?”
“I thought I’d take Elise rock hunting since she’s never been before.”
Junior glanced at Elise and waved slightly. Alex could see the man’s discomfort at having been caught in such an emotional state.
Gamely, Junior said, “I was going to try it myself. I thought it might take my mind off all that has happened. Then it started to sink in that Dad’s really gone.” A few sniffles escaped. “Alex, my father wasn’t the easiest man in the world to get along with, and it didn’t help that he was my boss as well as my dad.” Junior stifled back a sob, then added, “I don’t know how I’m going to manage without him.”
Alex said, “Surely he’s been grooming you to take over for some time. Reg always talked about retiring up here so he could be closer to the inn.”
Junior snorted. “Don’t believe a word of it, Alex, he loved his work. Not only that, but I don’t think the company will survive without him. Dad was the glue that held everything together. I don’t care about that right now. I just want to mourn him as his son.”
Alex patted Junior on the shoulder and said, “Listen there’s a diner about two miles ahead. Why don’t we all get a bite of breakfast?”
Junior wiped his face with a handkerchief. Alex noticed that the man really was fastidious about his appearance. He began to guiltily wonder if Junior could have actually found a clean spot on the loop trail to take a nap. It didn’t explain the grass-stained outfit he had given Armstrong, but could Junior simply have made a mistake? Were these tears because of the man’s loss, or motivated by remorse for killing his own father? Now Alex somehow doubted that Junior could have done it.
Junior tucked the handkerchief back into his pocket. “Thanks, but I don’t want to spoil your plans. Why don’t you two go ahead? I’m going back to the inn to pack. It’s too tough staying there, Alex. Everywhere I look, I see something Dad loved.”
Alex said, “Why don’t we head back with you? Suddenly I don’t feel so easy leaving the inn at a time like this. We’ll put on a pot of tea and see if we can convince Elise to make something special. She’s really a great cook.”
Junior smiled slightly. “That would be nice. I’ll follow you back.”
As Junior got into his car, Alex headed to the truck. Elise had a puzzled look on her face.
He said, “We’re going back.”
Elise managed to hide her disappointment. “Why, what’s going on?”
Before starting the truck, Alex leaned over and looked her straight in the eye. “Elise, do you believe in hunches?”
“Sometimes that’s all we have to go by. Why?”
Alex repeated his conversation with Junior after he started the truck and headed back toward the inn. “I don’t believe that man had anything to do with his father’s death. He’s too torn up right now. I believe he’s sincere.”
Elise said, “You told me he said himself he can’t run the business without his father. Could it be the enormity of what he’s done has finally hit home?”
Alex shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve got to admit that thought crossed my mind. I still don’t think he killed Reg, though.”
They were just pulling on to Point Road when Alex saw the smoke.
Elise caught sight of it at the same time.
She said, “Is someone burning leaves and branches this early in the fall?”
Alex clenched his hands on the steering wheel as he raced up the road. He knew nobody near him did any regular burning this time of year. Besides the land that Alex had, the rest of the acreage surrounding Hatteras West was owned by people who lived out of state. That left the smoke coming from somewhere too close to home.
Alex felt a sickness in the pit of his stomach that made talking impossible. In two minutes, his worst fears were confirmed. As they pulled into sight of the two structures where guests stayed, only one building remained standing. The main keeper’s house, the place Alex had grown up and spent his formative years in, was burned to the ground.
From the look of things, only the dedicated work of the town volunteer fire department had managed to save the other building, now a lone twin left standing beside the lighthouse. Alex felt himself crying as he stopped the truck away from the firefighters. The pile of rubble, still smoldering under the steady stream of water from the fire truck, held just about every tangible memory of Alex’s childhood. And now it was all gone.
Chapter 14
Alex looked up to see Mor approach the truck. At first, it was hard for Alex to recognize him; the big man was covered with ashes and black soot. Alex stumbled out of the truck and nearly fell when his feet hit the ground.
“What happened?” His throat was raw as his gaze swept across the burned ruins.
Mor said, “We’re still not sure, but the chief says it looks like arson.”
“Arson?” That thought had never crossed Alex’s mind. Unlike the original it had been based on, the structure had been nearly solid wood, from the walls to the floors to the ceilings to the exterior. He had assumed that faulty wiring or something of that nature had destroyed the building. “My God, who would want to burn down my inn?”
Mor coughed lightly. “Were there any guests in the main house? I hate to ask, but we need to know.”
Alex blew out a sigh of relief. “No, we were slow, so I decided to keep everyone in the annex. I thought it would be easier to keep track of everybody that way.”
Mor looked visibly relieved. “Excuse me a minute, I’ll go tell the chief. He’ll be glad to hear it.”
Elise had quietly joined Alex. The two of them stood in silence, staring at the still-smoking ground where the main keeper’s house had once stood. Alex yearned to sift through the debris, searching for any lost relic of his past, but Elise gently restrained him, keeping her hand on his shoulder.
She said, “When everyone’s gone and the ashes have cooled, I’ll help you look for anything we can salvage.”
Alex said, “Do you think there’s a chance the fire had anything to do with Reg’s murder and what happened to Emma?”
“Don’t say anything to Armstrong about it. He still doesn’t believe Emma’s fall was really a push.”
Alex twisted around and looked deeply into her eyes. “You believe me, don’t you, Elise?”
She said softly, “Somethi
ng strange is going on around here, but if we’re going to convince anyone else, we’re going to have to get proof first.”
A shiny black Porsche pulled up to the inn, probably a tourist trying to see what had caused the black towers of smoke. Alex didn’t pay it any attention, but Elise suddenly dropped her hand from Alex’s shoulder.
“What’s wrong,” he asked her as a tall, handsome man with longish blonde hair got out.
Instead of answering, Elise hurried to him. “Peter. What are you doing here?”
Alex was close enough to hear them as the man said, “I was worried about you. Your cousin told me you were out here! When I saw the smoke, I was afraid I’d lost you forever.” He hugged her tightly, and Alex felt a tug of jealousy. Peter had to be the mysterious fiance.
Elise broke from the embrace, then led her fiance to Alex. “Alex Winston, this is Peter Asheford. Peter, this is my new boss, Alex.”
“So it’s true, you’re actually working as a maid,” Peter said to Elise after shaking Alex’s hand briefly. “Elise, we need to talk about this. Can we go somewhere?”
“Excuse me,” Alex said. “I’ve got to see about what’s left of my inn.”
All hopes of winning Elise’s heart were gone for Alex. He knew he couldn’t compete with Peter Asheford in looks or money. The way the man gazed at her, it was obvious he was in love with her.
Elise said, “Peter, Alex needs me here.”
Alex absently waved a hand in the air. “There’s nothing you can do, Elise. Go with him.”
Elise looked startled by his answer, but Peter jumped on the response. As he steered Elise toward the Porsche, he said, “There’s a quaint little diner in town. Let’s go have a cup of coffee. I’ve missed you so much, Elise.”
As the sports car drove away, Sam Finster’s Cherokee passed it on the driveway of Hatteras West.
Finster’s sympathy was as natural as machine-made snow, and just about as warming, too. Surveying the damage, he shook his head from side to side.
“It’s a darn shame losing such a fine old building. Have you kept your insurance paid up?”
Alex ignored the question. “How’d you hear about the fire, Finster?”
The man cracked a smile. “I’ve got my sources. To get ahead, a fella’s got to stay on top of things in this old
world.” Alex figured the vulture had most likely been eavesdropping on his police scanner. It was reported to be one of Finster’s best sources for leads. The second a homeowner died, Finster was at the funeral home making arrangements with the grieving widow to sell the home.
Finster repeated, “Alex, this is important. Is your insurance healthy?”
The man was relentless. Alex said, “If you’re worried about your clients losing interest in the property, don’t. It’s inevitable. I couldn’t afford replacement value on my policy, so I won’t be attempting to rebuild it. I don’t know how much I’ll be getting, but I know it won’t be enough to cover all of this damage.”
Without the extra money those rooms brought in during peak season, he was finished as an innkeeper. The wisest thing to do was to see if the buyer would still be interested in acquiring the property, at a reduced rate of course, then take the insurance money and leave Elkton Falls forever.
No one had ever accused Alex of doing the wisest thing.
Finster must have misinterpreted Alex’s expression. He leaned forward in a conspirator’s gesture. “Tell you what I’ll do. Let’s go down to my office as soon as everybody leaves. You can sign the offer sheet, I’ll date it yesterday, and nobody will have to be the wiser. That way this setback won’t touch you. You can pass the loss off to the new owner. It’s a sweet deal, Alex. You’d better jump on it.”
Alex didn’t try to keep the disgust from his face. “That would increase your cut of the commission, too, wouldn’t it?”
Finster stroked his chin. “Hey, you win, I win. Who cares about the buyer? What do you say, have we got a deal?”
Alex had suddenly reached his limit. All of his anger shot out at Finster.
Alex jammed his index finger hard into the real estate man’s chest. “Get the hell off my property this instant. If I so much as see your Cherokee anywhere near Point Road, I’ll run you into the bushes. Now go.”
Finster started toward his car, then turned back. His face livid, he shouted, “You’ll be sorry for threatening me, I’m a big man around these parts.”
Alex yelled, “Finster, get out before I kick your fat ugly butt all the way back to the town limits.”
Finster hurried to his Cherokee and drove off in a spray of gravel. Alex turned to find several of the firefighters cheering heartily. A chorus of “Yeah, Alex” and “Way to tell that old windbag” accompanied him as he joined their ranks. Somehow the confrontation had left Alex feeling dirty. He hated losing his temper.
The fire chief cut Alex out of the crowd and pulled him toward the back of the remains of the building. The firefighters took it as a cue to go back to work patrolling the area immediately surrounding the burned building.
Chief Weston was a small, wiry man who looked like an elf in a Christmas parade. Alex had personally seen the man lift timbers that would have stymied Mor Pendleton.
The chief looked coolly into Alex’s eyes. “You just made yourself one mouthy enemy there.”
Alex grunted. “He’s had it coming for a long time. Finster just picked the wrong man to go after today.”
Chief Weston nodded once. “I couldn’t agree with you more. Still and all, you’d better watch your step around that fellow.”
“I don’t think I’ll have any more trouble from him, Chief, but thanks for the advice.” Alex kicked at some of the rubble at his feet. “Mor tells me you think this is arson.”
The little man nodded in agreement. “They didn’t try to hide it too hard, either. We found a gas can overturned by the back part of the house.”
“So whoever set the blaze couldn’t be seen from the lighthouse.”
The chief said, “That’s about right. I hear you’re having your share of troubles over here.”
Alex offered a weak smile. “That’s putting it mildly. Did one of my guests call the alarm in? I want to thank them myself.”
A puzzled expression crossed the fire chief’s face. “That’s kind of curious. Mor Pendleton telephoned to say he was out here and for everyone to come quick. From what I hear around town, he’d been spending, quite a bit of his free time at the inn.” The fire chief scratched his chin. “You should be glad he saw the flare-up in time. Otherwise you could have lost everything but the lighthouse.”
Weston’s wife ran the town’s only pet-grooming salon, so it didn’t surprise Alex that the man had the latest word on everyone’s behavior, in or out of the Elkton Falls city limits. It usually tickled him that the chief was a far worse gossip than his own wife was, but this time it left him cold. Was Mor after Elise, or did he have another, hidden reason for being out at Hatteras West on the morning of a working day? Could Mor have set the fire himself? Surely the man was clever enough to make the job look amateurish, thereby diverting suspicion away from himself. Or maybe he got angry when he found Alex and Elise were gone, so he decided to get a little instant revenge. Blast it all, that didn’t sound like the man Alex had grown up with, but infatuation did strange things to people sometimes.
Weston interrupted his thoughts. “You’d better call Smiley O’Reilly and get him out here.” Smiley was the town’s oldest insurance agent, and most of the folks had policies with him. Alex had kept paying the premiums after his father’s death, but he had no idea what the actual policy was worth.
Alex agreed and headed toward the remaining part of the inn. He was almost to the front porch when Chief Weston called out his name. As Alex turned, he saw Smiley’s old Chevy pickup drive up. It was possibly the only running truck in the county in even worse condition than Alex’s own transportation. The vehicles had been a running joke between the two men for a long time.
Smiley popped out of the truck, awfully spry for a man just over eighty years old, though he only admitted to being seventy-eight.
Smiley glanced at the smoldering remnants, shook his head sadly and said, “Heard about the blaze. Figured I might save you a call.” The man invariably dropped the first word or two of every sentence he spoke, and Alex quickly found himself slipping easily into the pattern whenever the two of them talked.
“Good of you to come, Smiley.”
The old man grinned through a set of perfect dentures. “Saw Finster. Mad as a wet hornet.”
Alex laughed, consciously fighting the urge to continue Smiley’s speech pattern. “He’s been after me to sell the place for a while now. I must admit, I probably should have taken him up on it.”
Smiley looked grim for the first time Alex could remember.
Alex asked, “Is there something wrong?”
“About your policy. Should have been more. Doesn’t amount to much.”
Alex felt his blood run cold. He had suspected the premiums were ridiculously low, but truthfully, he had barely managed to pay them as it was.
“Go ahead and give me the bad news. I’m in shock now anyway.”
Smiley looked down at the dirt. “Twenty thousand worth of coverage.”
“For the entire building? You’ve got to be kidding. The wood alone was worth more than that as salvage.”
Smiley looked even more miserable. “Don’t understand. Twenty thousand maximum. Buildings, furnishings, whole blamed property, lighthouse and all.”
Alex couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “What? How could that be possible?”
Smiley started squirming. “My fault. Should have got you to carry more. Knew you probably couldn’t afford it. Didn’t ask.”
Alex’s head began to throb. Twenty thousand dollars. Just a portion of the land he owned, even undeveloped, was worth that. Finster’s offer was starting to look awfully good, and for a moment Alex regretted his abrupt behavior. No. No matter how bad things got, he wasn’t about to do business with a rat like Sam Finster.
