Chapter 4 #2
He’d tried not to show Trina how concerned he was about the escalation to arson.
Not that firing a gun at someone was any better than starting a fire.
Yet if the intent was to kill them, why not wait until the middle of the night to start the fire?
Sure, flames were easier seen in the dark, but choosing to strike at night had a higher chance of success.
He didn’t understand what the arsonist’s motive was here. To instill panic and fear? Or to kill Trina—why? To get custody of Ben?
Either way, he’d already decided to call both Doug and Griff as soon as they arrived back at the hotel. Considering the escalation tactic of turning to arson, he’d feel better having additional resources working with the local police.
He pulled around to the back of the hotel, so that his SUV wasn’t in plain view of the main thoroughfare. He released the back hatch for Royal, as Trina waited for Ben to climb out.
Moments later, they were back in the hotel room. The gasoline scent clung to his clothing and skin, so he gestured toward the second bedroom. “Sorry to make you wait, but I need to take a shower.”
“Go ahead.” Trina turned to Ben. “You have time to play with Royal while we wait.”
Ben ran around, inviting Royal to chase him. Royal looked torn as to whom to follow but eventually trotted after Ben. Maybe his K9 didn’t like the smell of gasoline, or maybe Royal understood Ben and Trina were in danger.
In the bathroom, Joel stuffed his stinky clothes into a plastic bag, then stood in the shower, scrubbing every inch of his skin with soap.
Finally, he climbed out, dried off, and donned clean clothes.
The gasoline scent lingered, so he knotted the plastic bag holding his clothes tightly.
He was half tempted to toss them, but he wasn’t sure if he’d need to wear them again at some point.
“Hurry, Joel.” Ben jumped from one foot to the other as if he couldn’t stand still. Trina was wearing shorts, a T-shirt, and flip-flops. No doubt in case she had to get into the water with Ben. “I wanna swim with Royal!”
“I’m ready, but I don’t know that they’ll allow Royal in the pool.” He belatedly realized he shouldn’t have brought up the subject of how labs like to swim. Kids had a way of remembering details you’d rather they forget. “The pool might only be for kids and parents, not dogs.”
“They will.” Ben shrugged off that as unimportant.
“Don’t forget a towel,” Trina called as Ben ran toward the door.
The boy glanced at her, sighed, then returned to the sofa to grab the folded towel.
Joel, Trina, and Royal followed Ben down the hall to the indoor pool.
A glance through the window confirmed the pool area was empty.
He was surprised, considering it was summer and this was when tourists flocked to the area.
Maybe because today was Wednesday, smack dab in the middle of the week.
The chlorine scent was strong enough to eliminate the last bit of gasoline that seemed to be seared into his nasal passages.
“Slowly, Ben,” Trina called as the boy raced toward the pool. “Don’t slip and fall.”
“I won’t,” Ben assured her.
“Trina, I have some calls to make.” He stopped at a large patio table in one corner of the room. “I want to follow up with my family.”
“Okay.” She hurried toward Ben who was already going down the concrete steps of the shallow end of the pool. “Be careful, Ben. Do you know how to swim?”
“Yes.” The way Ben clung to the side of the pool made Joel think the kid was overestimating his ability.
“Stay in the shallow end.” Trina’s voice was firm. “I don’t have a swimming suit to jump into the water to rescue you.”
“Okay.” Ben splashed Royal, grinning when the dog shook his body to get rid of the excess water. “Wanna swim, Royal?”
Joel crossed over to prevent the dog from going in. When Royal stretched out on the concrete to watch. rather than jumping into the water to play with Ben, he bent over to stroke the dog’s silky fur. “Good boy,” he murmured. “Watch him, okay?”
Royal thumped his tail, his gaze seemingly fixated on Ben.
Joel moved back toward the table. Scrolling through his contact list, he settled on Griff. Better to start with the FBI rather than Doug with the DEA. This wasn’t about drugs from what he could tell.
Granted, shooting and arson didn’t exactly fall into Griff’s jurisdiction either. But he wasn’t above playing the future brother-in-law card. Not when a woman and her child were in danger.
“Joel? Something wrong?” Griff’s tone held concern.
“Yeah, Griff, I have a situation,” Joel admitted.
He went on to fill his sister’s fiancé about the shooting attempts and the arson.
“The Cody police are working the case, but I’m not sure how familiar they are with incidents involving arson.
And I’m concerned our suspect is from outside the city, like the Laramie area, which might hamper their investigation. ”
“Give me the names of all possible suspects,” Griff said without hesitation. “I’ll run them through our database to see what pops. And I can call Laramie as well. Maybe I can encourage them to cooperate. I’m sure they’d rather work with the Cody PD than risk the feds taking over their case.”
“Thanks.” He took a moment to provide the details of the two men in Evie’s life along with Trina’s previous boyfriends.
“Do you really think one of Trina’s boyfriends are involved?” Griff asked, doubt in his voice.
“Probably not, but I wanted to cover all bases.” He flushed, wondering if it was his own dating experience that had colored his attitude.
“If you ask me, it’s strange that these incidents happened within weeks of Trina moving Ben to her place in Cody.
If Ben’s father, Brian Ashland, wanted custody of his son, why not act while she was in Laramie?
Why wait until she was settled here in Cody? ”
“Maybe he thought that would be too obvious? That waiting to strike out at Trina in Cody would cover his tracks so nobody would suspect him?” Griff sighed loudly. “Anyone in law enforcement always puts the spouse or ex-spouse at the top of a suspect list. No matter where they live.”
“Yeah, that makes sense.” Joel raked his hand through his hair. “I’m trying to understand the logic.”
Griff barked out a laugh. “Are you kidding me? Most of these perps think they’re invincible. They tend to believe they’re smarter than they really are. And logic is rarely front and center in their thought process.
“Yeah, I guess.” Ben was dog-paddling across the width of the pool. Maybe the kid had taken some swimming lessons. Trina watched him like a hawk, as did Royal. Reassured, he turned his attention back to Griff. “I was planning to call Doug too. See what he thinks about all of this.”
“I’m working from the ranch today, I’ll fill him in when I see him,” Griff offered.
The FBI offices were in Cheyenne, but since getting engaged and soon to be married to Joel’s sister Alexis, Griff had gotten permission to work from the ranch a few days every week.
The fact that the ranch was more centrally located, compared to Cheyenne, had worked to Griff’s advantage.
“Do you want us to head out to meet up with you and Trina in Cody?”
“No thanks.” As much as he wanted help in finding this guy, Joel didn’t want to be a burden.
“I think we’re safe here. I made sure we weren’t followed.
The fact that the fire was started after we headed into town to check into the hotel tells me the guy probably didn’t realize we had left the property in the first place. ”
“Okay, but if that changes, let me know,” Griff said. “I’m not too busy that I can’t make this a priority.”
“I will.” He was glad to have Griff’s support. “Let me know if you come up with anything.”
“Understood. Hey, looks like my boss is calling, so I better take this. I’ll be in touch.” With that, Griff ended the call.
Joel set his phone on the table. Talking to Griff helped, but he still felt on edge.
Like there was more he should be doing to get to the bottom of this mess.
He’d never worked law enforcement the way his older sister Maya had or his sister Jessica who’d worked TSA at the Cheyenne airport.
His experience was limited to search and rescue.
And while he and his Sullivan siblings had certainly uncovered and helped solve many crimes over the past few months, they’d done so with the help of law enforcement. He hoped and prayed Griff would come through for them.
Trina stood on the concrete steps of the pool, the water lapping over her knees.
Her smile was strained, but he doubted Ben picked up on her stress.
Not that kids couldn’t be perceptive. He knew they often absorbed more than their parents gave them credit for.
But in this case, Ben splashed and played in the water, clearly enjoying himself.
Joel briefly wondered if these attacks could in any way be related to his family, then dismissed the idea. There was no reason to set fire to Trina’s house if someone was mad at him or one of his siblings. It would make more sense for the ranch to be targeted.
No, this had to be related to Trina and Ben. How, he wasn’t sure.
He crossed over to where Trina stood in the shallow end of the pool. “I can watch Ben if you’d like to call your insurance company.”
She hesitated, appearing uncertain whether she should delegate the responsibility for Ben to someone else.
“We all chip in to help my brother Chase and his wife, Wynona, with their five-year-old son, Eli,” he said. “Don’t feel as if you have to do everything alone.”
She grimaced. “Easy to say, not as easy to do. I am Ben’s sole guardian. To be honest, I have a new respect for what my sister went through after her divorce. Being a single parent isn’t easy.”
“Especially not for you, Trina. You’ve had to pick up where your sister left off, without any preparation at all.” He held out his hand. “Take a break. Royal and I are here to watch over Ben.”
That made her smile. She placed her hand in his and leaned on him to step back out of the pool.
The fleeting touch sent a weird awareness zinging through his blood stream. Not cool. He turned his attention to the pool, reminding himself that his only reason for being there was to keep Trina and Ben safe.
A relationship was out of the question.
He turned to look through the glass window lining the wall behind him. The hallway beyond appeared empty. He still found it strange that they were the only ones here enjoying the facility.
A sudden harsh coughing had him spinning back to the pool. Ben’s face was red as he struggled to breathe, his arms flailing in the water.
Royal jumped up and leaped into the water, paddling toward Ben.
Joel kicked off his shoes and stripped off his shirt before jumping in after his K9.
He reached Ben in seconds, scooping the boy up and out of the water to hold him against his chest. “Easy now, you’re safe. Try to breathe. Can you talk?”
Ben shook his head, coughing frantically against the water he’d obviously inhaled by accident.
“You’re safe,” Joel repeated as he strode through the pool toward the steps. The fact that Ben was taking a few gasping breaths meant he didn’t have to perform rescue breathing. Joel took the steps up to the edge, his jeans plastered to his legs, huge water puddles forming around his bare feet.
Trina hurried over, her expression full of concern. “What happened?”
He kicked himself for taking his eyes off Ben even for a second. “I’m sorry. I should have watched him more closely. I think he accidentally went under and inhaled some water for his efforts.”
“Ben? Are you okay?” She ran her hand down Ben’s back.
The little boy’s coughing finally eased, and the boy began to breathe easier. Ben rested his head against Joel’s chest. After a few moments, the little boy said, “I swallowed some water.”
“I know.” He glanced over to where Royal had gotten out of the pool. The dog came over to sniff at his feet, then shook himself to get rid of the excess water, drenching Trina. Joel was already soaking wet. “I’m sorry that happened. Did you see how Royal jumped into the water to rescue you?”
Ben nodded, his head still on his chest. “You were right. He knows how to swim.”
“Did you really take swimming lessons, Ben?” Trina wiped water from her face.
“Sort of.” Ben pressed his face farther into Joel’s chest. “One class. Then Mom said I couldn’t go anymore.”
Trina frowned, catching Joel’s gaze. Clearly that one class thing was news to her. And why had her sister stopped the classes?
He slid his arm around her to reassure them both that everything was fine.
But deep down, he felt responsible for the near-drowning incident. He needed to do better or risk failing in his promise to keep them safe.