Chapter 15
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Gideon
The following week was quiet…too quiet. I’d heard nothing from Nathanial, so I asked Hank what he knew.
All he could tell me was that Nathanial was acting a little more unhinged each day.
I wasn’t sure what unhinged meant in terms of how Nathanial was acting, and this worried me because tomorrow was the deadline.
If he didn’t handle this house situation, I was going to have to, and bodies would fall.
It was a cool evening, and Penn and I were enjoying dinner outside. I’d just wiped my mouth when the ground quaked, and a resounding boom echoed through the street.
“What the fuck?” I spun in my chair and saw smoke billowing from the trees.
“Sounded like an explosion.” Penn got up as Danny and Toni came running over to me.
“It’s the Marion Estate!” Toni shouted. “It fucking blew up.”
Nathanial. Sweet motherfucking God.
“Was anyone inside?” I asked.
Danny shook his head. “Vacant. Benito was supposed to move in there in two weeks, I think.”
Sirens were heard in the distance, and within minutes the street was flooded with fire trucks, police cars, and ambulances.
I wasn’t sure if the houses on either side of the Marion Estate were damaged but as I walked down the road to see, the fire appeared to be rather contained.
Minus some debris that landed on a few cars, that was.
“Hendrix.”
I turned at the sound of my name and saw Kevin, the chief of police, strolling toward me.
“What happened?” I knew exactly what was going on, and even though Kevin was in my pocket, that didn’t mean I openly admitted to anything.
“Not sure. Gas leak, maybe. Everyone okay at your house?”
“Yeah, we were far enough away. Hit like an earthquake, though.”
Kevin leaned a little closer to me. “You know who was moving in here in a couple of weeks, right?”
“I do.”
“And I know how unhappy that made you.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Are you accusing me of something, Kevin?”
He held his hands up. “Not at all, of course not. Just seems like a coincidence is all.”
“I’d get that thought out of your head unless you want to lose it.”
He nodded and stepped away. “I hear you loud and clear.”
I watched as he went to talk with some officers, and Penn sidled up next me. “I texted Nathanial from the burner. No answer.”
“I’ll get someone to find him and see if this is his doing, but I’m sure it is. You should get back to the house.”
He scoffed. “Uh-huh, and what are you going to do, stare at the flames and draw more attention to yourself?”
He had a point. I left the scene and went to my house. Danny was in the living room with the news on. “Alex called. He and Mila were downtown and said they heard the boom from there. Do you want me to call him in?”
“No. Let him enjoy his night.” Ever since that dinner when Mila had found out she’d gotten the date and venue for her wedding, she’d been so thankful. Granted, I’d told her it was all Alex, but her sly little wink had told me she knew better.
“News is saying possible gas leak.” Danny looked at me. “Nathanial, I’m sure. I guess he couldn’t get that injunction.”
I hummed. “I need you and Toni to find him. He’s not answering messages.”
“You got it.” Danny dropped the remote on the table and left the house with Toni.
Penn and I watched the news for a while until they were simply repeating themselves because they had nothing new to report. After checking in with Danny and finding out he still hadn’t found Nathanial, Penn and I went up to bed.
Tomorrow would come, and answers would be given.
It took two days to find Nathanial. I’d had Danny drive him to a safe house instead of the crate. I wasn’t sure of his mental state, but according to Danny he’d been found at a dive bar where, according to the bartender, he’d pretty much been every hour they were open.
When I walked into the small cape that was off the beaten path, I saw Nathanial on the couch.
Half his shirt was untucked, his pants were wrinkled, he had days of scruff on his face, and he smelled like he hadn’t showered.
His head was back, his eyes closed. The moment I kicked his foot he shot up and as soon as he met my gaze, he crumbled.
“I didn’t know what else to do.”
“So you blew the place up?”
He raked his fingers through his greasy hair. “I couldn’t get the injunction. I tried calling in some favors, but nobody wanted to get involved once they heard Benito Calvern owned the property.”
I glanced at Danny. He’d thought the injunction would be a no-go. “Did they say why they didn’t want to get involved? While he’s running for governor, nothing I’ve found on him proves he’s a violent man.”
Nathanial shrugged. “I don’t know. But I was desperate. I figured if I made it look like a gas leak, it would be fine.”
“And has it been?”
He swallowed loudly. “I think so. Gretchen kept the utilities on—didn’t want things to get stagnant, or whatever.”
“Have you heard from Benito?” I moved to sit on one of the chairs near Nathanial.
“Yeah. He called. I acted surprised, but I don’t know if he bought it.”
I hummed. “Why were you in a dive bar, Nathanial?”
His hands were shaking. “I was scared.”
“I had men on you; you evaded them. They would have kept you safe even though you blew up the house.”
His eyes were wide and frantic. “I had to. If your guys knew I was going to do that, they’d have told you and stopped it, and then I’d have been killed by you for missing the deadline.”
Sweet Jesus. “You have to go home, Nathanial. By disappearing, you look guilty. Does your wife know?”
He shook his head. “Not that I had anything to do with the explosion. I told her I was dealing with the fallout and had to go upstate for a few days.”
I motioned to Toni. “Here’s a change of clothes and toiletries. Shower, get cleaned up, get the fuck home, and act like nothing has happened. My guys will stay on you.”
“What if he finds out?”
“We will figure it out. Right now you need to join society again. This…” I motioned with my finger his dirty self. “Makes you look responsible. Shake it off, and get back to it.”
He nodded wearily. “Yeah, okay. Are we good?”
“For now. Just keep your mouth shut.”
“Yes, Mr. Hendrix.”
I left Nathanial at the house with four guys who I instructed not to let him out of their sight. I had my family returning next week, and I had to make sure this Benito Calvern shit was put to rest by then.