by Fox, Regina
“Do you think they’re connected?” asked Savannah.
“Yes,” said the captain decisively. “This arsonist is not even trying to disguise his pattern.”
Danny and Foley entered Savannah’s house. A couple of the other Ghosts of the Prairie followed.
“Thanks,” said Savannah said to the captain and the sheriff.
She was feeling crowded. She had a strong desire to go into the house as well. Immediately the smell of smoke was very strong. It was miserable. The guys were off doing whatever they were doing. She stole a little privacy in the kitchen and wept. Beau seemed to sense it. He nudged against her.
“Hey,” said Danny, who was the first to come around into the kitchen.
Savannah grabbed a paper towel and dabbed her eyes.
“We are going to set up some giant fans to blow the smoke out. You can probably stay here tonight. We can help you bust out the house tomorrow. Do you mind if we camp out?” he asked.
“That’s fine,” she said but she didn’t mean it.
Savannah didn’t think she had a choice. She wanted to stay, but she didn’t feel a hundred percent safe. In no time, huge fans ventilated the house. Bikers were worked like elves making things right for her. The smoke didn’t seem as bad in her room which was at the far corner of the house. As nice and wonderful as the Ghosts were, and she knew she was so lucky to have them in her life, she just wanted some space.
Foley knew that. He shyly ducked in. He looked her directly in the eye. He looked afraid.
“You okay?” he asked.
She shrugged. “There’s nothing left in this town for me. I’m all by myself. All my family and friends have moved on. I don’t know why I’m staying here, why I’m holding out.”
“You have me.”
“Then I’ll be putting your life in danger. Carolyn is smart, and she’s crazy. She won’t stop until I’m gone. If I stay, she’ll terrorize our lives forever. I can’t do that to you.”
“That’s not your choice.”
“What if she burns the house down while we are sleeping? Because she’s one hell of a firebug. Dating me isn’t worth your life.”
“I’m not fucking scared of her or the slimy lawyer. We’ll take them on and kick their asses. Now that we know it’s them, we’ll come after them strong. Nobody fucks with a Ghost’s girl!”
“I don’t want to think about this. I just need some time.”
“Okay.”
“I can’t stay here. I’m going to the motel up the street.”
“I don’t know if they take animals. But I think Doug can talk to them, and they can make an exception.”
“You and your connections. Thank you so much.”
“You’re welcome.”
She just couldn’t work up her feelings for him at the time.
“How about we pack up your car and get you and Beau over there,” said Foley.
“My bag is already packed, I’ll just take that,” she said tightly.
“Are you upset with me for walking Susan home?” he asked.
“I’m upset because of my dad’s house…” she couldn’t finish her sentence.
Savannah took a step forward into Foley’s arms and sobbed. He stroked her hair for a while until he guided her out of the house and into the car. Together with Beau, he took them to the local motor lodge.
Chapter 13
Foley didn’t join Savannah at the motel. He wanted to give her space, and she respected that. Plus, she needed time to think about the burnt guesthouse. In the morning when she rose, she kicked herself for being in a mood the night before. When she walked in her house the next day and fully realized that she had a big spacious house to come home to, that all her work and all her mementos were still intact, she was incredibly grateful.
And when she saw Foley and the other guys, her heart curled with affection for him. In fact, she couldn’t take her eyes off of him. She was stuck, staring at him. He didn’t even see her at first. She leaned against the doorway of the kitchen looking onto the living room as the men worked. The place smelled really good.
In the clear light of day, Savannah could see through the sliding glass door off the living room, down to the destroyed guest home. It wasn’t pretty. A skeleton crew of firefighters was tending to the guesthouse while the Ghosts and Foley were taking care of her main home.
Foley connected with her and his expression transformed to a loving one. Savannah felt like a total jerk for even being jealous. This guy had done nothing but work hard on restoring her home. Of course, he would walk his wife home. She had asked him. It wasn’t as though he offered. He wasn’t going to turn her down.
“So we understand you were shopping to have a party for us,” said Danny. “I think we should reschedule it with the fire and all.”
Savannah shook her head. “No, not a chance. It’s the only thing I have to look forward too. There’s nothing wrong with this house. I really want to have the party.”
“If you’re up for it.”
“Of course, I’m up for it.”
“I’m going to bring my wife, Penny, and Trenton will bring Jennifer. Have some gals, some guys, some food.”
“And if you are overwhelmed at any time, we’ll go,” said Foley.
“I think it’s a great idea,” said Savannah. “I think this house needs some joy.”
“Good,” said Foley with a wink. “I have to go to work, but I’ll be here a little later after everyone else is here. We think it’s a good idea to have a lot of people here so that if whoever is doing this has an idea about coming back, they will think twice.”
“You deal with chaos all the time, and yet you are so mellow,” she remarked.
Regardless of who was standing looking on, Foley took her head in her hands and kissed her slow and sweet.
“It’s going to be okay,” he whispered. “We’ll find out who is going up to this.”
“And we’ll take his ass out to the woodshed,” said Danny.
The bikers laughed.
“I’ll bet Beau needs a walk. Come on Beau,” said Danny. “Let’s bond.”
Trenton texted Savannah. He was making a claim on her behalf for the fire insurance. She nodded to the text. She could see that Foley was interested in knowing who it was.
“Trenton is taking care of the insurance on the guest home,” said Savannah.
“Good lawyer,” Foley winked. “Please call me if you need anything.”
He handed her a key.
“This is to my place. If the smell gets to you, or you just need a change of scene, please make yourself at home,” he said.
He kissed her again. Each sweep of his tongue against hers was calming; assuring. She touched his soft hair. Her fingers grazed his face and were pleasantly scraped with by his stubble. He needed to shave. She kissed him goodbye for the day.
She didn’t have to do a thing for the movie night either. The guys did all the shopping and preparing. Savannah actually got some work done. Work had been hit and miss since her dad died, but even worse lately. It felt good to get something normal done. She walked Beau again, and then she laid down for a nap. By the time everyone arrived, she was rested.
Some of the Ghosts brought their wives and girlfriends. The home theater was large enough for about twenty people, with furnishings able to be moved around. Savannah was really pleased to know that it was finally going to be properly used. Danny turned on the movie screen to connect with his Google account. His favorite movie was already loaded on his account. Savannah knew there was a way for the movie screen to access his account to show the movie. But when she hit the wrong button, the room froze.
“Wow!” said Trenton.
All the bikers chorused him. Whatever they were looking at, caused quite a stir.
“What?” asked Savannah.
“That,” he said and pointed to the screen menu. “You have an in-home surveillance system. Or at least that’s what it says on the menu.”
“What?” she aske
d.
“Did you not know that?” asked Trenton.
“I didn’t,” said Savannah.
“I wonder if it was operational this whole time,” said Trenton stroking his chin. “How come we didn’t notice the cameras?
“Because they’re disguised,” answered Danny. “They can be tiny. Like the size of a pen. They probably aren’t obvious because Savannah’s dad didn’t want anyone to know.”
“A camera can look like anything. Lot of times they are light fixture, a phone, a speaker,” said Pike. “Especially if you didn’t want to let someone to know you’re watching them. If this is what I think it is, and it is, you can watch the whole property remotely. From anywhere. Go to a restaurant and want to check the house? You can do that. Like from a laptop or your phone wherever you are. Savannah, didn’t you say your old man’s lady was fooling around?”
Savannah nodded.
“Did your old man know?” he asked. “Or did he want to find out? Why I am asking is, was there a reason for him to put in a surveillance system?”
“He did eventually know. Maybe this was the way he found out,” said Savannah. “They were estranged before he died.”
“Well, he thought something was up I’ll bet. People don’t randomly put surveillance systems in like this unless they thought there was something to watch. The recordings go straight to the computer,” said Pike. “What we need to look for is a remote. If there is a system, it will likely have a remote.”
He started giving the console of electronics a closer look.
“I would have to sit-down and look at all this stuff,” he said. “But I could figure it out.”
“And if it’s been going this whole time, we probably have an image of the perp,” said Trenton. “Or perps. But I think we should call the sheriff. If there is evidence there, we don’t want to tamper with it. And the other piece to this is, if the arsonist who set fire to her place set the other fires, surveillance video would be great for law enforcement.
Savannah was stunned that her dad could have been recording everything and she had no clue. She had no clue about a lot of things. It seemed like she was learning all the time.
“Yep. Well what do you know?” asked Danny with a big wide smile. “Wouldn’t that be something?”
Danny’s beautiful wife, Penny, sat next to him with as wondrous expression as Savannah was sure she had. It was clear to Savannah that Penny and Danny were so in love with each other. It was a reassuring thing. That the guys in the club had that value. Of devotion.
“Let’s get the movie started,” said Danny. “Can we figure that one out, Pike?”
Pike already had the big screen remote in hand and with a few button pushes had the movie queued up. The room gave a collective laugh when they realized Danny’s choice was the classic hippie motorcycle cult movie.
“Have not seen this in forever,” said Trenton remarked with delight.
Savannah just could not get into the movie even though it was one she had always wanted to see. Especially since all her new friends were bikers, she felt like she had a kind of obligation. But she was not even interested. She was missing Foley. He was due in just a little bit.
Her mind was filled with him and the potential discovery of her dad’s surveillance system. Even though it would be too much to hope for to catch on tape whoever had been harassing Savannah, she was excited to tell Foley. She decided to save the news for when he arrived in person. But he was later and later. That fact was too much of a distraction. She was uncomfortable.
At one point, the movie was loud with the sounds of motorcycle engines revving. The Ghosts soon caught on that the noise wasn’t the movie but coming from outside. Savannah realized after the fact. The Ghosts were on their feet and to the doors and windows of the house.
“Shit!” Danny said. “We got fucking trouble.”
Chapter 14
Motorcycles continued revving outside.
“Riggers,” Bull said, looking out the window.
Danny, Pike, Bull and John split up. Two out the front and two out the back. Before Savannah could defy Danny's orders to stay inside, the noise stopped. She ran out of the house to witness what was happening between the two biker clubs. The Ghosts of the Prairie were pounding on the Riggers. The Ghosts pin the invading bikers down while Danny snapped their photo. He worked his phone like he was texting.
"Thanks, boys. I just sent damn pictures to the Devil’s Lake sheriff. You know Sheriff Doug. Also sending these to your captain. You better not be fucking posers because we're having a meeting tomorrow with him. If he is your captain. If you aren’t Riggers, your ass is grass. Let ‘em go boys."
Even when he was laying down the law, Danny White Feather had such an ease about him. Always a levity about him. It was an almost spiritual character that Savannah had not ever encountered before. One of the Riggers came up fighting, but John managed to put his boot on the biker's shoulders and keep him down.
The Ghosts were such cool men. Able to take care of their own without being ugly. Powerful. Cunning, but nothing like the bullies who disturbed everyone’s peace for the sake of striking fear. But now a Ghost of the Prairie was putting the Rigger in his place.
"Better behave," growled John. "Or we are going to let Sheriff Doug deal with you."
Even Danny remarked that Foley was later than he said he would be. Savannah noted the worry in his voice or something. Whatever it was, she knew Danny wasn’t comfortable with Foley’s tardiness. The evening had come to a hard end. Danny didn't want to leave her until Foley got there. He texted Foley but got no response.
“You know what? I’ll stay,” said Trenton.
“Thanks, man,” said Danny. “Big day tomorrow. Or should I say, tomorrow evening. Sit-down at Outlaws. I’m going to show my pictures to the captain. I’m going to figure out what’s going on.”
Savannah was fine with Trenton staying behind. He was huge man. Though worried now that Foley did not show, she was so tired that she could sleep with Trenton present.
The house was super quiet with all the bikers gone. Trenton and Savannah were making up the couch for him to sleep on. A lone motorcycle engine cut the air. They both knew it was Foley, but joked that it was another Rigger who had been late for the game.
“Aw did someone get lost?” teased Trenton.
Savannah was worried. These were definitely unusual circumstances she was in with the harassment and vandalism. And him too with the arson fires. Those would be resolved. But Savannah wondered did she want to go any further with this guy if he had so many other obligations? No-shows were not a cool thing. She didn’t want to spend any time, let alone half her time being annoyed with him. Her feelings for him flipped from adoration to fury. She wondered if it was worth it.
But then Foley walked through the door. She didn’t have any doubt. Of course, it was worth it. He was worth it. He was so magnificent in his leather jacket and his swept hair. His skin was warm and cold to the touch. It was chilly outside, but he had been riding, so he was pumped. He had a strangely pained expression on his face. The look tugged at her heart strings.
“What?” she asked sympathetically. “Was there another fire?”
“No,” he said mournfully.
She laid the palm of her hand gently on the side of his perfect face. She could get addicted to looking at him. He was so handsome. But she recognized the look. It was not because he had had a hard shift at work. He felt guilty about something. Savannah stepped back.
“Shit. I’m sorry I was late,” he began.
But he didn’t have to say anymore. Susan. Somehow Susan called him and he got delayed. Savannah made an agreement with herself to sort out her feelings first before she went off half-cocked on him.
“There’s dinner in the fridge,” she said neutrally. “The guys went all out.”
“Did they?” he asked, his tone became flirtatious.
But Savannah didn’t want to flirt back believing that he had just come from his ex-wife�
�s. If he wanted something with her, he was going to have to cut the cord from Susan. She nudged him away.
“I’m so tired,” she said.
He studied her.
“Are you?” he asked rhetorically. “Hey, Trenton you staying?”
“Thought I might,” Trenton replied with his eyes closed.
Just as she thought that Trenton was about to sleep, Savannah could hear the two men talking. She could hear Trenton proceed to fill Foley in on the excitement. She hadn’t wanted to just blurt out the fact that bikers terrorized them basically. She was going to tell him in the morning after he had some rest. Getting him upset before bed might mean a restless night. She thought that with all the hours he had been putting in at the firehouse on top of going on long motorcycle rides with her, Foley really needed deep, uninterrupted sleep.
“What the fuck? I’m about to go hunt somebody down,” Foley threatened. “If they ever fucking step foot on this property again, I’m going to fucking kill them all!”
“Tomorrow,” murmured Trenton, drifting off to sleep.
“Right,” he said. “The sit-down.”
Chapter 15
Foley followed Savannah back to her room, but she pressed her hand on his rock hard chest to keep him from coming in the door.
“I am really tired,” she said.
“Hell, I get that,” he said with a twinkle in his eye. “Why do I sense that that is code for you that you’re fucking pissed off at me for some reason?”
Foley cocked his eyebrow. He didn’t wait for an answer. He hoisted her up into the room and closed the door behind them.
“I’ll respect your space if you want it, Savannah,” he said firmly. “But I think we have had this conversation before. If you have something to say, say it. If you’re going to hold me accountable for something you better let me know what it is.”
There was a hint of amusement in his face, but she had no doubt he was not playing. He was definitely calling her on the carpet.
