Chapter 11 Axel
ELEVEN
AXEL
Even before we pulled into her bakery, I could see the emergency lights.
My quick assessment of the scene showed there were no flames or smoke visible, so whatever fire may have occurred was now put out. Her building itself was also intact, with no significant damage that I could see.
The instant we were in her parking lot, she unbuckled her seat belt and tried to exit the car. I gently grabbed her arm to pause her quick exit.
“Hold up, Stella. You can’t just race up to a scene like that with all those cops and firefighters. Let’s walk up to the police together.”
She sighed and dropped her head. “Sorry, I’ve never dealt with this, and I just want to find out what happened.”
“I know, but we have to be careful not to make the situation worse.”
I walked around the car to her door and grabbed her hand as we started to walk over to where I saw several cops and the back of Luna’s head. As we approached, one of the officers turned to likely tell us to leave, but Luna also turned and began running to us.
“Stella!” She hugged her tightly and then pulled back and apologized. “I’m so sorry I ruined your date.”
“Luna, please don’t apologize for that. This is way more important,” Stella told her. “Tell me what happened.”
“It’s better if you talk to the cops and firefighters. Come on. Follow me.” Luna turned and walked back to where she had been standing when we arrived.
I took a hold of Stella’s hand again in a show of support, but also because I knew she would need it.
“Are you Ms. Nielsen, the owner of Scandinavian Sweets?” the officer to our right asked.
“Yes, I’m Stella Nielsen.” Her voice was strong, but I knew she was anxious and on edge.
“I’m Officer Trenton, and this is my partner, Officer Crafter. Miss LeBlanc here informed us you also live on the second floor, is that correct?” the officer asked, referring to Luna.
“Yes,” she said, a choked sound, like someone trying not to fall apart.
I squeezed her hand softly, and she squeezed right back.
“The fire is out, but the firefighters are still going through to check things out, so we can’t let you inside until we get the all clear,” he explained.
“You’ll need to get a company to assess any equipment damage before you can open back up.
The fire was contained to a small portion of your kitchen on your first floor, but you should still contact your insurance company and get them out as soon as possible. ”
“Okay, I can do that.” Stella sounded more like a robot than her usual self. “Can you tell me what happened?”
“Do you know the business owner next door?” Officer Crafter asked her.
“Mr. Hanson? The body shop guy?”
He nodded back at her. “He said he was packing up for the evening and heard glass break and your alarm go off. When he came outside, he saw the fire and called it in. He also went back inside to grab his hose to try to put out the fire before we got here, because he said your overhead sprinklers didn’t go off.
He likely minimized your fire damage, but now you’ve got some water damage to contend with. ”
“Oh my God! I’ll have to thank him for doing that,” Stella said, echoing my thoughts.
“He’s getting free baked goods for life,” Luna added.
“Why did the sprinklers not go off?” I asked because that seemed huge to me.
“I can answer that.” A man in firefighting gear appeared behind us. “I’m Lieutenant Moeller. It appears someone may have tampered with the water valve in your riser room.”
“What’s a riser room?” Luna asked, and I was glad because I, too, had no idea.
“The small closet at the back wall of your building that houses all the water valves and pipes that come in and out of the building,” Moeller added. “The water valve was turned off, which means that when the fire inside reached the sprinklers, the fusible link was pointless.”
“That what-ible link?” Luna added.
“The fusible is the little red glass bulb and metal link in the sprinkler valve,” Moeller continued. “Usually, the heat from a fire would set off the fusible link and pop. When it pops, the system fills with water and goes out to where the sprinkler heads are.”
“H… How do you know it was tampered with?” Stella asked, her voice hitching.
“I don’t know for sure,” Moller added. “Did you or one of your employees accidentally turn it off?”
“No, I can’t see why they would have,” Stella replied.
“You don’t have a padlock on the riser room or the valve itself, and you really should,” Moeller pointed out. “I recommend you get one after this is all fixed.”
“I can do that,” Stella promised him.
“What started the fire in the first place?” I asked, hoping to start from the beginning before I went too deep into the water being turned off.
“It appears someone threw a Molotov cocktail through the window into the kitchen,” Officer Trenton spoke up.
“She has security cameras that should show us who did it,” I told them.
“Mr. Hanson also has security cams, but none that face this direction, and neither does Ms. Nielsen, but we will still go over the footage to see if we can get any kind of clue to who did this,” the officer added.
Of course, it wouldn’t be that easy.
While the investigator took down her insurance and business information, I sent a text over to Vince, Archer, and Wade to let them know what was going on.
Vince: I’ve got a buddy who does fire investigation that we can reach out to and get some insight.
Me: Thanks, man.
Archer: Diego and I are still at the office. We can come over to help you board up any windows or help with cleanup.
Me: Let me talk with the cops first, and I’ll let you know.
Wade: I know a company who can come in and look at the fire damage cleanup and handle the restoration. I’ll call and get them over tomorrow to take a look at her bakery. I used them when we had that small kitchen fire at the Watering Hole a few years ago.
Me: Let me know when they can come, because Stella will want to be there.
Wade: Okay. If not, I can come and stand in for her since I know all the lingo already.
Naturally, my mind went straight to Doucet. I didn’t want Stella to worry, but I needed the cops to know what had been going on.
I also realized our talk with Doucet clearly had not sunk in like we’d thought, so I decided to also send a text over to Tex and Kitty.
Me: Someone set Stella’s bakery on fire tonight. Cops said it was a Molotov cocktail through the side window.
Tex: Everybody okay?
Me: Yes. Shop was closed up for the night. This was not random, though. I can feel it.
Tex: No, this feels personal. Your perp is escalating. She have security footage?
Me: Yes, but he was smart and knew exactly how to avoid the cameras. No good angle. I want to check nearby businesses, but I am still here at the bakery, so I will do it later.
Tex: I got it. Melody is out with her friend Amy tonight. I’ll let you know what I find.
Me: Thanks.
Having Tex on it would help. I knew Kitty would help too, but it was the middle of the night in Portugal, so it would have to wait until the morning. Though hopefully Tex would find something before that.
I wasn’t far, but I had stepped about twenty feet away to send my texts while Stella and Luna gave the cops the information they needed. I made my way back over to them and let Stella and the officers know that we had someone coming out tomorrow to look at the damage.
“Let us know what time and we’ll have an officer stop by to let them in since this area will be blocked off until we can secure everything for the investigation,” Officer Trenton said and gave us his contact information. “One other thing, Ms. Nielsen…”
“Stella, please,” her voice somber.
“Because you live in the apartment above, I’d highly recommend you sleep elsewhere for the night until the damage to any connected pipes or electrical can be assessed by the company Mr…” The officer looked at me for an answer.
“Skarsg?rd. Axel Skarsg?rd.”
“Until the company Mr. Skarsg?rd arranged can check it out.”
“You can stay with me,” I offered before I thought better of it. “I have an extra bedroom.”
“Thanks, but I can stay with Luna for…” Stella began to say but was cut off by Luna.
“Stella, you know I love you and will gladly house you if that’s what you want, but you might be safer with Axel, especially since it looks like Braden has gone off the deep end.”
“Speaking of which,” I said, using this as my chance to inform the officers of my suspicions.
“Ms. Nielsen and Ms. LeBlanc already gave us the details of a Mr. Braden Doucet,” Officer Crafter mentioned.
“Our company investigated him over the last few weeks, so we can send over some details from that,” I told them.
“Appreciate it,” Officer Trenton said, handing me his business card.
The officers collected contact information from all of us and told us one of the firefighters would show her the kitchen—from a safe distance—so she could take a look around.
Stella sent Luna home and told her she would call her in the morning when she knew more details.
“Luna, one more thing.” Just before she walked away, I told Luna not to tell anyone that Stella was staying with me until I had time to look into it. I wasn’t taking any chances and wasn’t ready to rule anyone out just yet.
“Try not to worry too much, Stella,” Luna said, giving her a big hug. “I’ll text the other employees and let them know what’s going on in the morning. Let me handle that for you since you’re dealing with everything else. We’ll get this all fixed and back open as soon as possible. Okay?”
Stella’s response was just to nod before breaking away and coming back to me.
“I’m ready.” Her voice seemed stronger than her face gave away.
We walked to the back of the building, where one of the firefighters offered to take us in—carefully.
She gasped as we took one step through the back door.
I moved my hand to her back and pulled her into me. “Hey, we don’t have to do this right now.”
My voice was soft as I used my other hand to stroke her cheek.