Chapter 13
CHASE MADE it through the day without embarrassing himself. He was so tired that as soon as his shift ended, he went right home and collapsed into bed. So when someone pounded on his door a few hours later, he barely heard it. Still, he managed to pull himself out of sleep and answered the door, bleary-eyed.
“Red?” he asked, stepping back. “What’s going on? What time is it?”
“About eight at night.” He paused for just a moment. “Look, there’s been another fire. The department in town responded to it, and when they made their report, it looked enough like the ones we’ve already seen that I flagged it. The scene is under control and the fire is out. I checked with the captain, and he said that Hayden was out of town on vacation for a few days and suggested that you might want to come along.”
Instantly awake, Chase closed the door behind Red and hurried to his room. “Give me five minutes.” He checked that he was presentable, then slipped on shoes and socks before rejoining Red in the living room. “I’m ready.” He grabbed his wallet and keys before following Red out to his patrol car.
There was still a great deal of activity when they arrived at the house fire scene. Chase got out with Red and approached the captain. “What do we have?” Red asked.
“Possible arson,” he answered before turning to Chase.
“He’s with me,” Red said without explaining further. “Can someone show us what you found?” He had already taken charge, and the captain nodded and led the two of them inside.
“At first we thought this was electrical.”
“But then you found melted electrical caps and other debris near the box, but not part of it,” Chase supplied. The captain nodded. “We’ve seen this before in multiple locations, including at the construction location fire a week ago.” He knelt, carefully looking over what they had without touching anything. “This looks the same as the fire at Jerrod’s house and the one at the condominium construction site.” He turned to Red. “Is there any connection?”
“That’s what we need to find out. But I wanted to be sure before we went down that road,” Red said before making notes and taking photographs. Chase stayed out of the way and let Red do his job. After a few minutes, he took the time to look over the rest of the basement area.
“How did the arsonist get in?” he asked, partially to himself.
“What?” the captain asked while Red stood up.
“This device was planted in here. That I’m pretty sure of. But how did they get in? There isn’t any sign of a break-in, so how did it get here? I doubt the owner just let anyone inside the house.” He wandered through the basement area. “I never asked that question about Jerrod’s place either. Granted, so much of the house was damaged that it would be hard in that case to pinpoint anything.”
“True.” Red made a few more notes. “We need to speak to the homeowner.”
“They’re out front. It’s a man with three children. They have been near the sidewalk through this whole ordeal. We’ve contacted the Red Cross, and as far as I know, they are stepping in to help the family for the next few days.”
Chase followed Red outside, where they found the family huddled together, the youngest in her father’s arms.
“How is our house?” one of the kids asked as the father came forward.
“There’s extensive damage,” Red said as gently as possible.
The father handed the child to one of her siblings and spoke to them quietly before the three of them stepped away.
“Okay, give it to me straight.”
Chase remained quiet and let Red do the talking. “Well, we found the cause of the fire, and I need to ask you some questions. Has there been anyone in the house recently? Workmen? Visitors?”
“What are you trying to say? That someone set the fire?”
Chase nodded. “We believe so, yes.”
The man paled and seemed to zone out for a few seconds. “Why would someone do that?”
“We’re trying to figure that out,” Red said. “But what we don’t know is how they got inside.”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. I mean…,” he stammered, and Chase tried to help.
“Did you have any sort of workman in the house? The gas company or anyone like that. Anyone at all?”
The man paused and blinked a few times. “There was a gas leak in the neighborhood a few days ago, and a technician asked to come in so he could check for gas in the house.”
“Can you describe him?” Red asked.
The father just shook his head. “I don’t remember him, but I have a doorbell camera, and he came to the front door. My computer was in the front room of the house. Do you know if it’s okay? I can access the records through it.”
“Let me see if I can get to it,” Chase said before checking with the captain.
“The fire was mainly in back, so go through the front,” the captain answered, and Chase carefully went inside. The room was pretty dry, with most of the department’s efforts concentrated on the back of the house. He found the laptop sitting on the coffee table. He unplugged it and brought it out and handed it and the cord to Red, who passed it to the father.
They used the hood of one of the trucks as a makeshift table and lifted the lid, booting up the computer. Thankfully it started with no issues. They had to link it to a phone to get internet service, but they were able to access the doorbell files. “How long do you keep the records?”
The father shrugged. “I don’t know. I think up to a week, though it only records when there is activity. I hope things go back far enough.” He logged in, and then Red took over. He downloaded the files and then got a drive to save them to.
“You aren’t going to look now?” Chase asked.
“It could take a while, and my partner, Carter, is a computer expert. I’ll give all of this to him, and if there is anything to find, he’ll do it.” Red captured copies of all the files and then handed the computer back. “I appreciate your help.”
Chase moved away as Red got the information he needed. He wandered around the side of the house, staying away from the others, who were beginning to put their gear away. Chase felt like they were missing something. He looked up and down the building as he moved.
“What are you looking for?” Red asked.
“I don’t know,” Chase said. “I keep wondering what kind of link there could be to this fire.”
Red smiled as they stopped moving. “The father, Gordon Williams, is an HVAC contractor, and guess what one of his contracts was?”
Chase groaned. “No way.”
“Yup. He has a small firm with about six guys, and they were gearing up to do all the heat pump installations for the condos once the units were built. Now he’s wondering if the project will go ahead at all.”
“You think this and Jerrod’s fire were messages to stay away?” Chase asked. Red nodded. “I suppose that most people will be able to make the connection, especially in the construction community.” He sighed as the full weight of what was happening settled on his shoulders. “How in the hell are we going to find out who is behind this? Are we all putting our lives and homes in danger?” He was worried about Red now. “Do you think they’ll come after you?”
Red nodded. “Will you do me a favor and look over my house to make sure nothing has been planted there? We’ll also check out Jerrod’s new place.”
“Good idea,” Chase said. “Let’s go.” He rode with Red to his home on Pomfret Street.
“What’s going on?” a man asked as he entered.
“Terry, this is Chase,” Red said.
“I know you. I saw you win gold at the Olympics,” Chase said, unable to help his huge grin. “Your race was really something.” They shook hands, with Chase a little starstruck.
“We need to check the basement,” Red said.
“For gas?” Terry asked. “There was a man here from the gas company maybe an hour ago who said there was a leak in the area. He asked to check in the basement.”
Chase’s heart beat fast as he followed Red to the stairs. “Where is the electrical box? Go back and tell Terry to get out now and call this in.” He reached the bottom of the stairs and found the electrical box. He also found a small box up in the trusses nearby. If he hadn’t been looking for it, he probably would never have seen it from the way it blended in. It looked like it might be an electrical junction box, except for the zip ties holding it in place.
“I put out the alert,” Red said as he came up behind him. “What the hell do we do?”
Case looked around and pulled a lidded plastic tub off a nearby shelf, then dumped the contents on the floor. “Fill that with water. We can immerse it, and maybe that will stop whatever ignition mechanism is inside.”
Red dragged the green tub to the washbasin and used the extender hose to start filling it. Chase located a toolbox and found a set of snips to cut the zip ties that held the box in place. “How full is it?”
“About a foot?” Red answered as he continued filling.
Chase slowly reached for the box. He held it steady, his heart racing as he forced himself to stay calm. He snipped first one tie and then the second, hoping like hell this thing didn’t go off in his hand. The box came free, and he lowered it carefully before walking back toward Red. Chase wanted to run, but had no idea how motion would affect the device, so he took even, gliding steps until he reached the tub and then set the box on top of the water and let it sink.
Red dropped the hose in the tub, and they took off toward the stairs. They made it about halfway up before a gurgling, hissing sound came from the other room. “Go. Get out now.” Chase hoped his little trick would work, but wasn’t sure.
They met Terry near the front door as firetrucks began arriving. Chase immediately explained what they’d found to the captain as firefighters raced inside. He and Red kept out of the way, standing on the sidewalk with Terry as lights flashed all around them in the darkness.
Chase pulled out his phone and called Jerrod. “Has someone from the gas company stopped by today?” He found himself breathless with worry.
“No,” Jerrod answered. “What’s wrong?”
Chase breathed a sigh of relief. “Go to the basement and check to see if there is a small box zip-tied to the rafters anywhere in the area of the junction box. Better yet, get out of the house and take Peter to a restaurant for ice cream or something. I know it’s late, but just do it. Then text me where you are.” There was no way in hell that he was going to let anything happen to them. “It’s just a precaution, but please do this for me.”
“Okay. I was just putting Peter to bed,” he said, his voice jittery. “Okay. I’m getting him now.”
Chase ended the call as some of his colleagues exited the house carrying the green tub, which they set on the sidewalk.
“This is a mess, but good thinking to immerse this thing,” one of the second-shift guys said. “I’m Christopher, by the way.”
“Chase,” he said, shaking hands.
“It obviously went off, but the water put it out before it could get a real hold. You can see that this thing was primed to burn hot.” The upper edges of the tub had melted a little. “Don’t touch the water. It’s damned hot, and we don’t know what’s in it.”
Chase nodded and turned to find Red, who, along with Terry, was answering questions from a set of police officers. He strode over. “We need to get to Jerrod’s to see if the house is okay.” He hated to interrupt, but their job was only partly done.
“On it,” Red said. “Guys, I’ll answer your questions when I get to the station. But we have to check on another location.”
They got in the police car, turned on the lights, and beat it to Jerrod’s. Thankfully, they found nothing. The basement was clear, with no strange boxes lodged in any of the rafters. Chase sent Jerrod a text to let him know and got a response that he and Peter would stay where they were for the moment.
“What a night,” Chase said.
“Yeah. But we made some progress. We know how they were getting inside, at least for now.”
“But we also know they’re getting desperate and bolder. They tried to set fire to your house, which they had to know was going to bring the entire department down on them.” Chase paused. “We need to find out who this guy is and get him the hell off the street before someone is killed.”
“Hopefully the video will show us something.” Red sighed. “Look, I need to get back because the guys are going to be grilling Terry, and I need to be there. Do you want me to drop you off at your place?”
Chase hesitated but then nodded. “Please.” He needed to get his truck so he could meet Jerrod and Peter. He figured this was going to be a rough night.
HE WAS right. By the time he got to Jerrod, he was at his wits’ end: eyes wide, holding Peter next to him as he sat in the booth of the Italian restaurant. They sat in a room off to the side, a cup of coffee in front of Jerrod and a half-empty cup of Sprite for Peter. “How is it?”
“Everything is fine,” Chase said, taking Jerrod’s hand. “I just wanted to be sure. I’m sorry if I scared the two of you.’ He kept his voice soft. “But I needed to know you were safe.”
“Okay,” Jerrod said, making no effort to get up. “What was with the gas man?”
Chase sat across from them. “Let’s get you both home and Peter in bed. Then I can tell you everything. I have some questions for you as parts of this puzzle begin to fill in.”
Jerrod nodded and gently nudged Peter. Then he stood, got Peter in his arms, head on his shoulder, and they left the restaurant. Jerrod got Peter into his truck, and Chase followed him. He soon found a parking space just down the street from Jerrod’s house. By the time he got out, Jerrod had unlocked the door and was returning to carry Peter inside. Jerrod went right upstairs, and Chase closed and locked the door, then made another check of the basement before sitting on the sofa to wait.
When Jerrod came downstairs, he sat next to him. “So what’s happening?”
“First, let me ask something. In the week or so before the fire at your house, did you have anyone in? A workman or anything?”
Jerrod shook his head. “I did most of the repairs that were needed myself, so I didn’t have any reason to call someone.”
“How about someone who came to you?” Chase prompted, but he didn’t want to lead Jerrod too far.
“You mean like the gas company? There was a leak, and they wanted to check out the rest of the house. That was the day before the fire. At first I thought that might have been the cause of the fire.”
“No. There was no gas leak.” He waited for the information to sink in.
Jerrod gasped. “I never put it together. It was the day before, and I guess I completely forgot about it. You really think that was how they got inside?”
“It’s possible, considering there have been at least three other fires with a similar pattern. Tonight we found and disarmed a device in Red’s basement that would have started a fire. When that happened, I wanted to make sure you and Peter were safe. That’s all that mattered. I’ve checked the basement here twice, and there is nothing down there. But whoever is behind this is getting bolder. They even went after a police officer. So whoever is doing this is not afraid of anything, including the police. But there is a silver lining. The last person they tried to burn out had a doorbell camera, and it might have caught them on video. The police are going through that now.” He took Jerrod’s hand. “I know it may not seem like it, but we are getting closer.”
“I know you are. But I could have sworn that I smelled gas in the house,” Jerrod said softly.
Chase groaned. He hated bursting his bubble, but he truly thought the gas people were real. “Damn,” Chase said softly.
Jerrod jumped slightly. “My phone.” He pulled it out and paled before showing Chase the text message. “Gizelle.”
I know Peter is in danger because of you. After your house, what else will have to happen before they realize that Peter is safer with me?
“Jesus,” Chase said. “Be sure to keep that message, and we’ll send it to Red in the morning.” He sat back. “Look, I’m not a lawyer, but I looked at stuff online. They aren’t going to retry the case like she thinks. All she can do is appeal, and they will look at any irregularities. If the law was followed, they are not going to reopen anything. Her rights will remain terminated. And this behavior isn’t going to help her anyway.”
“I know. But she…. All this….” He leaned against Chase, and Chase held him tightly.
“Try to take it one day at a time. We’ve made sure the house is safe, and we aren’t going to let anyone we don’t know inside. If someone does show up claiming to be from the gas company, just ask them to wait and call the police. Let them sort it out.” Chase was getting edgy as well. Someone really seemed to have their finger on what was going on in town and who was doing what as far as construction was concerned. “I have to ask, who would benefit from all this?”
“Any of the other big construction firms. They all wanted the job. It’s a great development, and it’s supposed to help a number of people. Part of the development will be luxury apartments and condo units, but others will be smaller and much more affordable. In the end, there’s a lot of money to be made.”
“Yeah, okay. But who is big enough to take on a job like this?” Chase asked.
“Well, a job this size would draw firms from Harrisburg or even Philadelphia. They would come in here and put this up quickly.”
Chase nodded, thinking that maybe he was seeing a pattern. “And let me guess—they would bring in their own suppliers, and it would be hard for the borough or anyone associated with it to keep a good watch on them. They could cut corners and put up these expensive units with cheaper materials and make even more.”
“Yeah. There are standards in the building codes, but the borough set specific ones for this redevelopment, and I bet they would make things look like they were living up to them. But if the AR backs out, they’d sweep in like a rescuer to ‘save’ the project, look good, and get the job done without too many questions, because the last thing the borough wants is a project site sitting unfinished. That would not look good at all.”
“I don’t suppose it would. But why would the borough lower their standards for a new contractor?” Chase asked.
“They wouldn’t necessarily, but they would be grateful enough to whoever steps in that things might get overlooked and it wouldn’t matter too much because it isn’t like there could be a third contractor. So they could accept lower quality, or the project goes dormant and everyone loses, especially the people who have their money in this project.”
“You know a lot about this stuff,” Chase said softly.
“After working with the people in borough hall, you get to know them. They’re good people who really work for the residents and property owners, but with a project this size… let’s just say that a contractor who cuts corners and gets away with it could make a lot of money on this job.”
“Okay. So who would that be?” Chase asked. “You have to know the people in this area. Who would do that sort of thing?”
“I don’t really know. Everyone in the surrounding area is known to everyone else. The market isn’t that big. and if anyone were cutting corners, we would all know.” He sat back, thinking. “But I will say that a contractor who cuts corners might hire a pair of electricians who would do the same thing. Maybe we should try to talk to the guys I had to let go. They could be a valuable source of information.”
Chase nodded. That seemed like a pretty good idea. “Do you think they’ll talk to you?”
“Not a chance in hell,” Jerrod said. “But I do know one person that at least one of them will speak to, if for no other reason than to get his butt out of trouble for trying to scam me as well as her. Rosemary West is one person no one wants to get on the bad side of, especially in this town. She runs the electrical supply, and unless you want to get everything from Home Depot and deal with them, you have to go to her, especially for anything out of the ordinary.” He actually sounded gleeful.
“So what do you think we should do?” Chase asked.
“In the morning, I’ll give Rosemary a call and ask her to arrange a meeting with our wayward electrician so they can discuss how he is going to make his account whole, and when he comes in, you and I will be waiting to have a little discussion with him. It could turn out be quite interesting.” He sighed and yawned. “I don’t know about you, but this has been exhausting, and I think we need to go up to bed.” Jerrod stood and took Chase by the hand, leading him up the stairs and down to his room before closing the door behind them.