Chapter 8 #2
“It wasn’t electrical,” Joanie said. “Could have been kids setting off fireworks too close. They did find an old gas can.”
Kenny started typing faster on the computer.
Was that guilty typing?
“But after the fire, we found this in the floor.” She walked over to the counter. “Kenny, do you know anything about old safes?”
He tipped his head and squinted at her. “Like in a bank?”
“No, like this.” She brushed her finger across her phone, showing him a picture.
Kenny was suddenly all business. “That was buried in the unit?” He didn’t sound surprised so much as impressed.
“Yep. I didn’t know it was under the floor. I guess there was a thin layer of concrete over the hole that failed in the fire. Can you tell how the door would have been opened before the safe became this melted mess of a lump?”
“Let me…” He took her phone and fiddled with the image.
I moved up beside her and took a peek.
“Steel. It could have been pried off, broken. Unless someone had the key or combination.”
“But the high heat wouldn’t have popped it off, right?” she asked.
“No.” He shook his head. “I say someone jimmied the door off, lock or no lock. What was in it?”
He glanced up from the phone and there was hunger in his eyes. I saw why he owned a pawn shop. He liked valuable things. He wanted them cheap, and he wanted to sell them high.
“I have no idea.” She pocketed her phone. “Whatever it is, it’s gone now.”
“Burned?” I asked.
“Or stolen,” she said. “Or maybe it was removed before I took over the business.”
Future possibilities fizzled and spun. I gripped the edge of the counter to keep myself firmly anchored in this reality, this now.
Bright, strong futures flooded my mind:
Me, standing with a fire extinguisher in my hand, looking terrified
Me, holding a roll of plastic wrap like it was a weapon
Me, running in the dark trying to find a phone
The futures carried an emotional wallop–fear and raw determination.
In each future, I was doing everything I could to make sure the outcome didn’t turn into a disaster.
“You okay?” Joanie’s hand fell on my arm.
The futures faded away.
I laughed a little, trying to shake off the emotions from the visions. “Just, you know, it’s been a long week.”
“Oh.” Realization crossed her face. Joanie was a nature spirit and unlike Kenny who was human, she knew about the supernaturals in town.
I knew her mostly as Fawn’s friend, or, as Sage liked to point out, the woman Fawn had a huge crush on and who Fawn was too (uncharacteristically) timid to ask out on a date.
“You had a disaster recently, too, didn’t you?” she asked.
“Hugo? Yeah, that was bad.”
“Hugo?” Kenny narrowed his eyes. “Were you there?”
“Yes. I found him. Outside the diner.”
“Did he have…anything on him?” Kenny asked.
“Like what?”
Kenny shrugged, but he was sweating. “He was always taking things from the shop and not telling me.”
“That’s right,” I said, “you’re counting inventory. What are you missing?”
Kenny froze. It was like watching an old-school computer boot up (slow and blank-screened).
Then he kicked into action.
“I’m not missing anything. If you’re not buying, I have work to do.”
He stormed into the back of the shop and stabbed a button on a boombox that looked like it came out of the ’70s.
Loud—very loud—country music crackled and twanged.
Joanie raised her eyebrows, and I pressed my fingers over my mouth because, wow, that was a mood change.
We left the store and had to get several feet from the door before the music faded.
“I didn’t mean to upset him,” Joanie said.
“Oh, you didn’t, I did. Say, have you asked Gabriel at the lock shop about the safe?”
“Yes, I ran it by him, but he didn’t recognize the type of safe, just that it was very old. I thought Kenny might have seen something like it since he’s…”
“Scummy?” I suggested, then laughed at her grin. “Sorry, that was impolite.”
“No, you nailed it. He’s scummy. Did you know he tried to haggle Crow out of half of the stuff in that big garage sale?”
“Pandora’s stuff?”
“Yes. Kenny wanted to haul it away and pay less than pennies on the pound before the sale even started.”
“Boo,” I said as we ambled to our cars. “That money went to the food bank, didn’t it?”
“It did. But Kenny’s never met a shiny object he didn’t want to get his mitts on.”
“Say,” I said, “do you mind if I ask a, I don’t know, maybe a personal question?”
“Go for it.”
“Why did you give Pandora’s stuff to Crow?”
“Pandora contacted me. She said she didn’t need any of it. She wasn’t coming back to town and wanted to give minimalism a try. It’s a good thing we sold it all, too, because that was the unit that burned down.”
“Do you think she put the safe in the floor?”
“She might have. I’ve only owned the place for ten years or so. The past owners are living in Florida now, and they’d bought it when it was more of a barn than storage units.”
“So, if the safe had been buried by Pandora, then the safe would kind of be her box and…yeah. Maybe that’s not good?” I laughed.
“I was thinking the same thing.” Joanie glanced at her phone. “But there could have been something she wanted to lock away. Something important.”
“Like?”
“I don’t know. Old embarrassing photos? Money? Or,” she winced. “Her box—the—box? I’m going to talk to Delaney and Myra. They might have some history on the safe. Maybe the door was missing before the fire broke out but…why would someone pour concrete over an empty safe?”
“Right. That makes sense. I’m glad you’re following up with Delaney.”
Her phone pinged and she scanned the text. “That’s Myra. She has time now.” She put her phone in her pocket. “It was great to see you, Piper.”
“You too! Good luck figuring out the safe stuff.”
She waved and headed out.
I got in my car and put a check by Kenny’s name. I’d talked to him. Did I think he acted like he was innocent? Not really. He seemed jumpy and angry. But a lot of things in life could make someone jumpy and angry, including finding out your business partner had been killed.
Next stop? The car wash where Gail worked. I had a couple questions I wanted to ask Mrs. She-didn’t-kill-him, and I couldn’t wait to hear what she had to say.