Chapter 17 #2
A low curse had Ethan shifting back against the oleander hedge. It was followed by a mutter and the rattle of the padlock on the barn door.
Did he think they would make it easy for him?
A moment later the smell of fuel drifted towards Ethan. Time to move.
He slipped around the corner, spotted the man pouring the fuel along the wall of the barn and tackled him to the ground, planting his face into the dirt and pulling his arms behind him.
The muffled cries soothed Ethan’s soul, but not the ache in his pelvis from the move.
“Target neutralised.” It was almost too easy.
The rest of his team shifted out of the shadows, Noah standing up the jerry can, Dobby telling Connor to call the police, and Rhys standing guard in front of the barn. Heath shone his torch on the man’s face as Ethan tied his hands together and hauled him to his knees.
Forty years old, greying hair, scowling face.
Not Darren.
“I’m guessing you’re Leyton.” A widening of the man’s eyes told Ethan he was right.
“Let go of me,” Leyton bellowed.
“Not going to happen,” Ethan told him pleasantly.
“We’ll watch the petrol,” Noah said. “In case he’s got help lurking around.”
Good idea. Darren could still be involved, plus Josh would want to capture the evidence before they neutralised it. He dragged the man to the front porch with Heath and Dobby accompanying him.
“Police called. Chelsea wants to come outside,” Connor said in his ear.
“Let us do a sweep first.”
Heath and Dobby disappeared into the shadows to check the rest of the garden. At one time, Aunt Maggie had lights in different areas, so it lit up at night, but Ethan had tested them yesterday and none of them were working. Something else to fix.
“What are you going to do with me?” Leyton demanded.
Ethan dropped his voice, murmuring in the man’s ear. “If it were up to me, I’d make you disappear. Will anyone miss you?”
“It wasn’t my idea.” The bluster was replaced by fear.
Ethan smiled. “I didn’t see anyone with a gun to your head as you walked through the garden carrying the jerry can.”
“He might as well have. He has evidence I lit the fire last night.”
“Who has?”
“Johann. He said if I didn’t finish the job, he’d turn me in to the police.”
Ethan grunted. “Well it seems to have backfired, because you’re going to gaol anyway. Was Johann bribing you to approve his development?”
Leyton pressed his lips together.
“Bribery and arson. I’m guessing you’ll be in prison for a long time.”
Leyton swore as headlights turned onto the road and the police car pulled into the driveway. Josh and a female police officer got out of the car.
Josh shook his head. “Leyton, what are you doing here?”
“This guy kidnapped me, took me from my bed and brought me here. He’s trying to pin the fire on me,” Leyton shouted.
Ethan barked a laugh. “We’ve got surveillance of him coming into the garden. He poured petrol over the barn wall, but we stopped him from lighting the match. Noah has the jerry can. And before you arrived, he admitted to starting the fire yesterday.”
“You’d better show me the footage,” Josh said. “Julie, can you guard him out here?”
Rhys appeared from around the side of the house. He gave Julie a warm smile. “I’ll help.”
She smiled back and nodded.
Ethan shook his head at Rhys in amusement.
Julie was probably capable, but Ethan felt better with someone he knew guarding Leyton. He unlocked the front door and let Josh into the house.
His gaze fell on Chelsea, who still wore what she had been wearing when he left. Her eyes were heavy and she should have been in bed hours ago. “Did you wait up?”
She nodded and waved her hands. “I couldn’t sleep knowing you were out there, and I had work to do.” She smiled at Josh and then took the couple of steps across the room to hug Ethan. “It wasn’t Darren?”
He shook his head, holding her in his arms for a moment before letting her go. The fact she’d stayed up for him, and was worried about him, created an unfamiliar feeling in his chest.
Josh cleared his throat. “It was Leyton, the guy from the council planning office. Is that the surveillance?” he asked Connor, who still sat at the table in front of the laptop.
“Yeah.” Connor shifted so Josh could look at it. Mila moved next to him, wearing pyjamas and looking as if she’d just woken up.
Ethan held Chelsea’s hand as he watched the footage of Leyton sneaking across the garden carrying the jerry can and then pouring it over the barn.
Ethan’s take down of the man took seconds and Josh let out a whistle.
“Remind me not to get on the wrong side of you.” He took a card out of his pocket and handed it to Connor.
“Can you send me a copy of the footage?”
Connor nodded.
Ethan smiled. “Leyton said Johann had evidence of him lighting yesterday’s fire and threatened to turn him in to the police if he didn’t light one tonight.”
“It’s time to question the man himself.” Josh glanced at Ethan and Chelsea. “I’m assuming you’re coming?”
“Yes,” Chelsea answered.
Outside, Josh read Leyton his rights as he arrested him for trespass and attempted arson.
“Johann’s gone crazy,” Lleyton blustered. “He wants the land, but Chelsea won’t sell.”
Chelsea stiffened next to him, and Ethan wrapped an arm around her shoulder, while concerned filled him. “How do you know the land is now Chelsea’s?”
Lleyton shrugged. “That’s what Johann said. He spoke to her dad yesterday.”
“Step-dad,” Ethan and Chelsea said at the same time.
Josh nodded. “Julie, do you want to gather evidence at the barn while I watch him?”
“Of course.” She got the evidence kit out of the car and Rhys showed her the way as Heath and Dobby returned.
“All clear,” Dobby reported.
Great. Ethan asked Leyton, “Was the arson his idea?”
Leyton nodded. “Said Chelsea wouldn’t want to keep something that had been destroyed.”
“Why didn’t he do it himself?”
“Said he was too close to it, but no one knew about me.”
“Why did you do it?”
Leyton pressed his lips together. “He threatened my family. Turns out his bosses are some kind of organised crime people.”
Ethan exchanged a glance with Dobby. “Who exactly?”
“I don’t know, but they sent photos of my kids at school and my wife in town. They’re watching us.”
“I’ll get Noah and do a wider sweep,” Heath said and headed towards the barn.
“How did you meet him?” Ethan asked.
“I worked with him on the sports complex development last year. He wanted to know if there was any land in the area for his retirement home. There wasn’t, but he drove past Lilydale Cottage one day and asked me to introduce him to Maggie.”
Ethan stiffened. “Johann met Maggie?”
Leyton nodded. “But she refused to sell.”
“I just discovered emails between them going back before Aunt Maggie died,” Chelsea said.
That put a whole new spin on things. He exchanged a glance with Josh.
“What happened next?” Josh asked.
Leyton looked away. “She died, and Johann asked me to change the zoning laws. He was certain Maggie’s heirs would sell.”
“Then why didn’t he ask us until now?” Chelsea asked.
“Ah, I don’t know.” He shifted in place. “Maybe it was to give time for the garden to die.”
The dodgy vibes coming from Leyton were like a siren. “Did you know about his arrangement with Darren?”
Leyton nodded. “Johann asked me to monitor him. Make sure he did nothing in the garden, but it wasn’t necessary. Darren knew a good thing when he had it.”
“Johann spent a lot of money to get Lilydale,” Josh said. “Why?”
“You’ll have to ask him.”
“What if Aunt Maggie’s death wasn’t an accident?” Chelsea asked, her voice soft.
The night froze. Every person stiffened at the suggestion, but the blood drained from Leyton’s face.
Son of a bitch.
Ethan lunged forward, but Dobby hauled him back. Leyton scrambled away and Josh towered over him. “What do you know?”
“I didn’t do it!”
“Who did?” Ethan growled. The urge to torture the answers from Leyton was strong, but Chelsea’s soft whimper demolished it and he pulled her into his arms.
“It was an accident.”
“Keep talking,” Josh suggested.
“We went to visit Maggie. She was on her roof cleaning out the gutters and told us to leave or she’d call the police.
Johann kept persisting, trying to persuade her to come down.
Eventually she did, and she said she was calling the police.
” Leyton squeezed his eyes closed. “Johann got mad and shoved the ladder. She fell and hit the ground. Her head hit a rock.” His eyes filled with tears.
“Johann checked her pulse, but she must have died instantly.”
Chelsea shook in Ethan’s arms.
Fury and grief warred inside him. “So you just left her there?” Ethan demanded.
“Johann said we’d be arrested for murder. I couldn’t go to gaol. It was an accident.”
Ethan narrowed his eyes. “Johann pushed a ladder with an old woman on it. What did he think would happen? At best she would have broken bones.” He shoved his emotions down so he could focus on the facts.
“It was then that he told me who he worked for. That he could make me disappear, or hurt my family. Please, I didn’t want to do it. I liked Aunt Maggie.” Tears filled his eyes.
Julie and Rhys returned, but Ethan’s attention was all on the snivelling man in front of him. They needed to know more about Johann and the people he worked for.
“I’ve heard enough,” Josh said. “I’ll get my colleagues in Perth to bring Johann in for questioning.” He helped Leyton into the backseat of the police car and then walked back to Ethan. “I don’t want you near Johann.”
Ethan said nothing.
“I mean it, Ethan.” Josh glanced at Chelsea. “Can you talk sense into him?”
She looked up at Ethan. “Aunt Maggie wouldn’t want you getting into trouble for her.”
He exhaled and nodded, though part of him wanted to storm Johann’s house and demand answers. Chelsea needed him. “Call us when you have more.”
Josh and Julie got into the car and drove away.
Chelsea turned to him. “Is Johann likely to be in Honeybrook?”
Ethan shook his head. “He’ll want an alibi for tonight. We should be safe for the rest of the night.” He glanced at Dobby as he pulled Chelsea inside and Dobby nodded, knowing they needed more information on the enemy. “You need to sleep.”
“We both do.”
“Yeah.” There was no way he was sleeping tonight with the possibility Darren was out there still, but Chelsea wouldn’t sleep if she thought he wasn’t.
Connor and Mila were in the living room. “I’m beat,” he said. “See you guys in the morning.”
“’Night. We’ll pack up here and hit the hay too,” Dobby replied.
Ethan smiled. They wouldn’t sleep without a debrief and the mission wouldn’t be over until morning.
He climbed the stairs, stripping out of his clothes and leaving them and his boots by the door.
Chelsea slid into his bed without question. “I can’t believe Johann killed Aunt Maggie. All for a piece of land.”
He pulled her into his arms and kissed her. “He’ll pay for it.” There might not be any evidence aside from Leyton’s statement, but somehow Ethan would ensure he paid.
“She wouldn’t have hurt anyone.” Tears fell from her eyes and Ethan’s heart broke.
“I know. I’m sorry, Chels.” He held her as she cried and her body grew heavy. A few minutes later her breathing became even. He held her for a little longer to make sure she was asleep.
It felt so right to have her in his arms that he struggled to pull away. She shifted, turning over, mumbling something, and he waited another moment before he climbed out of bed, gathered his clothes and slipped out of the bedroom.
He dressed in the darkened hallway, carrying his boots and socks downstairs, where only Connor was still monitoring the surveillance.
“Everyone’s back out there,” Connor reported. “Haven’t seen anything on the cameras.”
“Good.” Hopefully they were being overly cautious. “Tell us if the status changes.”
Then he headed outside to climb a tree.