Chapter 3
Caleb
“You just happen to have a security system laying around?” Jaxon quirks an eyebrow.
“I’ll pick one up. She’s not safe. She said she was supposed to be at work today but was asked to swap days. Was the arsonist expecting her to be gone, or hoping she’d be here?”
“Damn good question. I’ll talk to Clay.”
“Is there more I should know about her or her husband.”
“He was a good guy. Quiet, gentle, caring. Sometimes too caring.” He looks away, the muscles in his jaw clenching before he meets my gaze again. “He died in a fire that was started with gasoline. It escalated too fast. They got the command to abort, but ....
“He was first on site and already inside. His last comm was that he heard a child calling for help. He had to check. The building collapsed on him. His was the only body they found. Never found a child or learned if one escaped the blaze either.
“It was an old, abandoned schoolhouse that sat on some neglected property outside of town. The owners at the time were... let’s say junk dealers. Always a lot of trash. And yeah, kids had been warned off the property before, but...
“Some other fire fighters, towns people, speculated he must have been hallucinating. Something about the whole thing never felt right to me. But I can be a cynical sonofabitch.”
Not cynical, realistic, I think. He saved our asses more than once in battle because something didn’t feel right. I’d trust his instincts every day till hell freezes over.
“He wasn’t into something I should know about or look for?”
“No, that’s not the kind of guy he was. Methodical. Straight arrow. He knew his job and did it well. He wasn’t a hothead. He heard something, I just... We’ll never know. It was hard on the whole community.”
“Let’s get the damage patched, then I’ll run to town and get a system. Can you help me install it tomorrow?”
He nods.
We secure the workshop enough for the next couple days and take measurements to make the real repairs. Jaxon orders those supplies over the phone for pickup later today.
I glance back through the door to where Grace is staring out the kitchen window as she wipes down the counter. “I don’t think she should be alone.”
He glances her way and pulls his phone, stepping away to talk. Disconnecting, he motions for me to follow him.
“Grace, I have a favor to ask. I got called into town and Maura is home struggling with a fussy baby. Is there any way I could drop you off to help her for a couple hours? You could stay for dinner then Caleb would give you a ride home since he’s coming too. It would be a big help.”
“I... I’d love to. Let me grab my purse and shut off the coffee and tea pots.”
Waiting for her to be out of earshot, he turns to me. “Meet me at the lumber yard and we’ll get what we need, and I’ll go with you to get the security system. Tomorrow we can work on repairs and installing the new system.”
“I don’t like this. I’m not letting her stay alone tonight. I’ll sleep in my truck if I have to.”
He nods. “Agree. You gonna follow me?”
“No, I want to walk through the woods, see if I notice anything.”
Walking a thirty-foot grid back and forth behind the studio I find two places where there’s a partial boot print. Whoever it was they were trying to cover their trail. It looks like they came up the mountain from the main road to the east.
Planned. Coordinated. Not spur of the moment. What the hell is going on?
I go back to Grace’s and get my truck. At my place I take a fast shower, dress, pack a go bag with extra clothes then retrieve my weapon from the safe. I don’t know what’s going on and I intend to be prepared.
The lumber is ready and waiting when we get to the lumber yard. Together Jaxon and I select the security system and get everything we’ll need to mount it. As a precaution, she’ll have a monitor and so will I.
Maura has dinner ready when we arrive. Grace is cuddling Reenie, one of the toddlers and Johah and Tilly, the five year old twins, are vying for attention while watching Reenie’s twin brother Daniel.
At first being around so many kids was a shock to my system, but now I envy the chaos. Their happiness is contagious.
I pick up Daniel and Jaxon steps right in to enlist the older twins to help set the table. The meal is filled with laughter, kid jokes, and a feeling of contentment.
Grace looks a little wistful, but calm and content.
Jaxon and I set a time for the next day, and I lead Grace to my truck. “You need anything from town before we head home?”
“No. I called off tomorrow. They understood.”
“I thought it was your shop?”
“It was. Mine and Guy’s. But after he died, I couldn’t afford the rent anymore.
Jaxon wanted to just let me stay and not pay.
I couldn’t do that to him. It wouldn’t have been right.
The people who bought the business kept me on to manage when they’re gone and to help recruit local talent for sales.
It’s just a hobby investment for them. But they’re nice people. ”
Pulling into her yard, I don’t like that there’s no lights on. “You don’t have a security lamp that comes on at dark?”
“It quit working a couple weeks ago. I just haven’t gotten a new one yet. The manual is in the studio. I need to look up the bulb information. I’m sure one of the guys from the fire department will help me change it once I do.
“When I get inside I can turn on the outside building lights for the studio. There’s one in the front and in the back.”
“Jax and I will look at the yard light tomorrow. With mountain predators it’s not safe to not have a working yard light.” Both four and two legged I think to myself.
She nods and climbs out of the truck. The light is on over the sink, and she flips on the ones for the main area.
The simple open kitchen with an eating area and conjoined living room is cozy. Three doors open off the far side. A bedroom in each corner and bathroom in the middle. “This is a really comfortable space.”
“It was my grandparents’ home. When my parents died, they took me in. It was comfortable. Would you like some herbal tea before you leave?”
“Sounds good.” Leaning on the counter I watch her carefully measure the ingredients and fill the tea kettle. She softly hums as she works. I wonder if she realizes.
“How old were you when you moved here?”
“I was thirteen when my parents died in a car accident. I was a late life baby, which meant my grandparents were already late seventies. I was the last of the line, so they left me this house and a few acres when they passed. I had just turned twenty-one.
“Guy was also an only child, raised by a single mom. His mother died in a fire at the plant where she worked. His uncle took him in. Both of us came to this town unexpectedly in our early teens. Being outsiders at that age, we bonded and clicked immediately.
“That didn’t sound right. Most of the kids accepted us. We were the ones who held back in the beginning. We felt different, being orphaned.”