Chapter 14
JERROD HUNG up the phone with a smile and went to call Chase right away. He paused a moment to think about how important Chase had become to him and Peter in such a short period of time and the change that seemed to have come over him. He never would have imagined a few weeks ago that whenever something happened in his life, he would have someone to pick up the phone and share it with. Now he didn’t even think about it; he just called Chase. What was more, he knew Chase would be there, which was almost a strange sensation that he still had to completely process.
“I’ll be off shift in half an hour,” Chase said once Jerrod explained what was happening. “I should be able to meet you there.” Just as they were about to end the call, an alarm went off behind him and Chase said he had to go but would message him. Then the line went silent and the call dropped.
And just like that, a new sensation washed over Jerrod: worry. He knew that Chase was most likely out on a call, and he hoped he would be safe.
The very reason that Chase was even in their lives was because of his job and the way he had rescued Peter. Yet at this moment, Jerrod found himself wishing that Chase had a different, safer job. Of course it was stupid—being a firefighter was part of who Chase was—but as he became more and more important to Jerrod, Jerrod wanted him around, and he was well aware that the very job that had brought Chase into his life in the first place could be the thing that did the exact opposite.
“Daddy, is something wrong?” Peter asked.
Jerrod shook his head, forcing the thoughts from his mind. “No. Mr. Chase is out on a call, helping someone.” He made himself smile before scooping Peter up into his arms. “Let’s get going. I’m taking you to day care and then I need to see Miss Rosemary.”
Peter’s eyes widened. “The lady with the candy on her desk?” Of course that was what he remembered. Rosemary always had a large bowl on the corner of her desk, and it was filled with chocolates and more. Rosemary herself was diabetic and never touched the stuff unless her sugar dropped too low.
He decided to ignore that or else he’d have Peter begging to go with him. “Go get your shoes on and we’ll get going.” He watched Peter scramble upstairs. While he waited for him to come back down, Jerrod took a call from the insurance adjustor. His chest tightened when he saw the number.
“I wanted to let you know that everything has been cleared. The final numbers are being run. I’d like to make an appointment for next week so we can go over everything so you know what to expect and the process you’ll need to follow going forward. We got your household inventory information, and that has been approved as well. An initial check will be sent based on current valuation. As items are replaced, keep your receipts so any differences can be paid to you.”
Jerrod sighed softly. “Thank you. That’s very helpful. But what about the house itself?”
“The building will be demolished at this point. The foundation of the house was solid enough but would not stand up to current building code, so if you wish, you can rebuild on the site, but it will have to be a complete rebuild. You should think about your next steps. If you wish to rebuild, then we can help with that process. If you wish to purchase a new home, we can aid with that as well. Take a little time and decide what you want to do.” Suddenly, once again, it felt like he had to make huge decisions rather quickly. “There is no clock on those decisions. If you have questions, we can talk them over when we meet next week.”
“Thank you.” Jerrod forced his stomach to unclench. This was going to be okay. It was just a step in the process, and maybe it would be best if he simply bought a new home and moved on from there. “I appreciate all your help.” They agreed on a date and time to meet and then ended the call.
Jerrod took a few seconds to stop his thoughts from running in circles. There were decisions to be made, but he had time. Nothing had to be done now. He kept telling himself all that until Peter came back down the stairs.
“I’m ready to see the candy lady,” Peter said with a grin.
Jerrod snatched him into his arms and flew him through the air. “Oh you are, huh?” Peter giggled, and Jerrod blew a raspberry on his belly before setting him on his feet. “I have to take you day care, but I’ll take you to see Miss Rosemary soon.” He took Peter’s hand, and they left the house and got into the truck. He buckled Peter into his car seat before heading out to the day care, where Peter was very good about joining his friends. Then, once he was settled, Jerrod headed to West Electric.
His good mood lasted until he saw smoke just to the north of where they drove on High Street heading to the east. He tried to think of what might be in that direction and sent a silent thought out into the universe that Chase would be safe and that this wasn’t another suspicious fire. The last thing he wanted was for anyone else to go through what he had been these past few weeks.
For a second, he thought about heading that way to check on Chase, but of course he’d just be in the way. Instead, he continued out until he reached the light tan pole building that housed West Electric, then pulled around the back and parked next to Rosemary’s Audi. He took a second to gather his thoughts before getting out of the truck.
“Come on in,” Rosemary said from the back door, then led them inside and down to her office. “Mr. Wilson is going to be here in half an hour,” she said as she closed her door. Jerrod sat in one of the office chairs. “Now, can you tell me what you think is going on?”
“There have been a lot of fires in town, and a number of them seem to be linked. One of them is the large fire that burned the supplies at the new condo construction site a few days ago. What we think is that there is someone who is trying to burn out the competition.”
“We?” Rosemary asked. “Is there a mouse in your pocket?”
“It’s quite a story, and one I’ll tell you when we have more time. But Chase—he’s a firefighter—first recognized the issue. I’m trying to help him track this down. He knows fire, I know the construction industry in the area…. Anyway, I know it’s a bit of a long shot, but someone is putting the squeeze on in order to force the current contractor out of the project. I know it, but I don’t know who is behind it.”
She nodded, her shoulder-length hair waving slightly as she moved. Rosemary was a knockout, with intense eyes that stopped just about everyone in their tracks. She was also smart as hell and nobody’s fool. “And you think Steve Wilson does?”
This was the leap of faith. “I think he might. This is a bit of a stretch. But the more I learn about him, the more I think he’s just bright enough to get sucked into something like that. There is no way he’d talk to me.”
“I see. And you think if he does know anything that he’d spill his guts to me?”
Jerrod nodded. “I think you have leverage with him because of the bill that’s coming due. And even if he isn’t involved, a little pressure might get him to tell what he knows. Steve knows things without a doubt. He’s too plugged in to what’s going on not to. It’s how a guy like that survives.”
She seemed to ponder what he was saying. “Okay. There is only so much I can do. But the guy did try to cheat both of us, so I’m not opposed to leaning on him to see what we can get out of him. But I draw the line at any sort of deal regarding his bill. He will pay every penny or so help me I will roast his… butt… on a spit.” Her eyes darkened, and Jerrod had no doubt she meant it.
“Thank you.” He checked his phone for a message. Jerrod wished that Chase was here with him, but if he went out on that last call, then there was no telling how long he would be. Still, with Rosemary’s help, they might be able to get some information.
“All right. I’ll put the pressure on him to see if I can rattle him and get him off guard. You can add more pressure because he put the charges on your account, and then we’ll exact our price and see what information he can give us.” Rosemary definitely had a killer instinct. “I don’t know if he can tell us anything, but I get the feeling that something is happening and no one is really talking about it.”
Jerrod leaned forward slightly. “How do you know?”
“I don’t. It’s just a feeling… and I don’t like it.”
A knock sounded on the door, and then Kurt poked his head in. “Steve is here.”
“Okay.”
While he waited for Steve to come in, Jerrod sent a message to Chase, but he hadn’t received a reply by the time Steve came in. His eyes widened in surprise when he saw Jerrod. “What’s he doing here?”
Rosemary hit him with an icy glare. “Since it’s possible that you tried to steal from him as well as me, I thought he should take part in our conversation.” She leaned back as Steve shifted his weight from foot to foot. “We’ve been through all of Jerrod’s invoices for the past few months, and we’ve discovered a number of discrepancies… and they all lead back to you.”
“That was an innocent mistake. I thought that the charges were going on my account,” Steve said.
Rosemary snorted. “I pulled all your invoices, and since very little was charged on your account during that period, I’d say either that’s total bullshit, or that’s what you have between your ears. Do you want to try that again?” Damn, she was good. “All the charges you made have been transferred to your account, which is due and payable immediately.” She handed him a thick stack of papers. “As in right the hell now.”
Steve paled and began to wobble as Jerrod stood next to Rosemary. “I sure hope you have the money. We have paperwork and witnesses that you specifically had your items charged to my account under false pretenses,” Jerrod said. “So what are you going to do about it?” Maybe if he shook the leaves off the trees, he might come up with something good.
“I can get the money, but I’m going to need a few days. I have some really lucrative jobs on the horizon that will take care of this.” Sweat broke out on Steve’s brow, and Jerrod knew he was lying through his teeth.
“And what sort of jobs are those?” Rosemary asked. “They wouldn’t have anything to do with the development on the north side of town, would they?” She gave him a glare, and Jerrod knew that they did.
“You do realize that I’m the electrical contractor on that job.” He watched Steve very closely.
“Only if the general contractor doesn’t change.” The slight curl of his lip made Jerrod want to smack him. His phone vibrated in his pocket, and he pulled it out to glance at the message from Chase that he was on his way over.
“And why would that happen?” He shoved the phone back in his pocket. “The fire department is aware that the fire was set intentionally, and the police are well into their investigation. Do you think for one second that they aren’t going to scour the records and dealings of anyone who tries to push them out and step in?” Now it was his turn to smile as he drew even closer. “Maybe I should take out my anger and frustration at being burned out of my home by the same assholes who set fire to the construction site on you.” He let his smile fade and his eyes harden. “I’m sure Rosemary isn’t going to see a damned thing if I decide to beat the living shit out of you right here and now.”
“What the fuck?” Steve asked. Fear filled his eyes as his composure broke. “I had nothing to do with any of this. I was just offered the electrical contract if they took over.” Now they might be getting somewhere.
“Who are they ?” Jerrod demanded.
Steve shook his head, fear increasing to the point Jerrod could almost smell it.
“If those people are behind this and you are in bed with them, then if any of these fires are linked to them, you will be implicated.” He didn’t know that for sure, but he figured Steve definitely didn’t. “They burned down my house, and they did the same thing to the guy who was supposed to install the AC units. Left his family homeless in the night, watching their house burn. Mine has been destroyed, along with almost everything in it.” He gritted his teeth. “Peter could have been killed.” He was going to pile it on, forgetting that Rosemary was there. “You’d better fucking tell me what I want to know.”
Steve shivered. “I don’t know anything.”
“Other than who wants to replace AR so badly they’ll even make promises to others in case it comes to pass.”
Steve turned to Rosemary, who gave him no quarter. “Don’t look at me. I’m not going to come to your aid. The only thing I’m going to do is call your account and, if you don’t pay, take you to court as well as turn you in to the union and have your license suspended. I’ll let Jerrod here tear your cowardly ass apart right here in my office and not see a thing.”
“If I tell you they might burn me out too,” Steve said softly. “I have a family as well.”
“Let me put it this way: if you don’t tell us, then we’ll call the police right now and you can explain to them exactly what you know and what you don’t. I’m sure they’ll be more than interested in that, as well as how you used someone else’s account.” Man, she had brass balls and wasn’t afraid to use them.
“Okay.” He put his hands up. “It was Connor Warfield. They put in a bid for the job, but it wasn’t accepted, but they said that the owners were reconsidering.”
“My ass,” Rosemary said softly. “They should never be allowed to do business anywhere. Those people are the worst kind of crooked. But I thought they stayed closer to Philly, where they’re protected. It looks like they’re trying to branch out.” Rosemary picked up the phone and made a call while Jerrod called Chase, intending to leave a message.
“I’m just pulling in,” he said with an almost forced calm. “I have news.”
“Me too. We have the name of the firm. Connor Warfield. But I’m not sure what we should be doing with the information. We can call Red and let him look into it.”
“Definitely. I’ll be right there.” He hung up, and Jerrod wondered what was going on.
Rosemary ended her call with a smile. “The codes officer at the borough was very keen to hear what I had to tell him. He’ll be in touch with the owners so they can take action on who might have tried to send them a message. And I think a friend of mine at one of the television stations might be interested in this latest development as well.”
Steve sank into one of the chairs, clearly shaken. “What the hell am I going to do?”
“Nothing. You say nothing to anyone. Keep your damned mouth shut. This meeting was about a bill dispute and nothing more. You have the perfect cover for being here. Now I suggest you go out front and make a purchase and a show of carrying it out to your truck before going home.” Jerrod didn’t like the guy, but he didn’t want him to get hurt. “Act normal and no one is going to be the wiser.”
Rosemary was on the phone again. “Yeah, you can treat this as a tip.” She continued to explain what they had learned. “Just report that a firm from Philadelphia with possible underworld connections seems to be trying to muscle into the area. That’s all you need to do and these worms will crawl back into their own hole and leave us alone. They like the darkness and shadow. Yeah. … Good. Yes, this is related to the fire and possibly others in this area.” She ended the call and sat down at her desk.
“You sold me out,” Steve said with more than a little panic in his voice.
“Hardly. Just do as we told you and go about your business. No one needs to know what you said here or that your coming in here was anything other than business.” She motioned toward the door. Steve turned to Jerrod like he was supposed to help him. “You made your bed with your own behavior. Don’t expect Jerrod or anyone else to come to your rescue. Your only chance is to keep your mouth shut, settle your bills, and get your business on the straight and narrow, otherwise you aren’t going to have one for much longer.”
Jerrod had to love Rosemary. Steve looked at each of them once more and then huffed before stomping out of the office.
Jerrod closed the door. “Thanks for that.”
“Hey, good people are worth supporting,” she said. “Now, I need to get back to work. I’ll let you know if anything comes of our tip, but if I know my friend, he’s already digging into the story. If there is anything to it that he can prove, then they’ll run with it and whatever is going on here with be out in the open. Connor Warfield Construction will find themselves in a bunch of hot water, and their pressure tactics are going to melt away faster than snow in July.”
A knock sounded and Chase poked his head inside. “Sorry to bother you, but they said Jerrod was in here.”
“We’re about done,” Rosemary said.
Jerrod thanked her again, then joined Chase out in the hallway. “I’ve got lots to tell you.”
Chase nodded, his expression bleak. “So do I, and I think what I have to tell you is best done at your place.” He turned, and they both left. He got into the truck and followed Chase home and inside, where he closed the door. “Look, the investigation is still going on and we’re trying to piece together the details of exactly what happened. But you might be aware that in the back of Seven Gables Park, those woods have been a hangout for various unhoused families. At times there have been as many as twenty tents and other shelters out there. The police have been hesitant to clear out the area because the folks don’t have another place to go and they would only scatter and try to find other places.” Chase sat down, and Jerrod did the same, knowing that Chase was getting around to something.
“Okay. I think I saw something about that on one of the local news boards.”
“Yeah, well. It’s been a windy day, and that area has quite a bit of underbrush. It seems a fire got started, probably by someone cooking on an open flame, but we’re still figuring out the case. Because of the wind, it blew through the shelters and tents, burning everything in a matter of minutes. Three people are dead, and a number have been taken to the hospital.” Chase paused, and Jerrod found himself leaning forward, wondering what he was getting at.
“I’m sorry.” He figured that any fire scene where people died had to get to Chase. “I know stuff like that has to be hard, and I’ve always wondered how you dealt with it.” He took Chase’s hand, not wanting him to feel alone. “What can I do to help?”