16. In The Middle Of It
IN THE MIDDLE OF IT
“Skye, you’re crazy,” Tate yelled an hour later. “I mean it. What is wrong with you?”
“Give it to her,” Ash said, nodding his head. “Let her know how foolish she’s being.”
Foolish was Skye calling Tate and having him come over with Ash still there. Her brother was going to ask why Ash was.
He had no clue how this was going to be played off and he’d have to let Skye take the lead there.
That kiss on Saturday night.
After she’d opened up and let him in, she’d told him not to tell Corbin.
No shit. He wasn’t letting his best friend know.
But here was his best friend’s older brother looking at him with curious eyes on top of it.
“I’m not doing anything,” she yelled back. “This person contacted me.”
“And you replied,” Tate said, pulling the laptop out of her hand to scan it again. “At least you didn’t do it a second time.”
“I couldn’t with Ash here,” she mumbled.
“Which means you wanted to?” He threw his hands in the air. This was nuts. “Do you not realize how dangerous this is? Or how it’s getting? Car fires are bad enough. But this time, it caught a house on fire and almost killed two people.”
“That’s right,” she said. “I know, I’m reporting it.”
“Of course you are. And now they’ve got your name and you’re giving this person center stage,” Tate said. “That puts you right in the middle of it.”
“I’m doing my job. The people of this community have a right to know the truth. Something I never got.”
“What does that mean?” Tate asked, then looked at Ash.
“You tell him,” he said. “You said it.”
“And why are you here?” Tate asked.
Skye looked between her brother and him. “I asked Ash to look into my parents’ fire for me,” she said. “He was telling me what he had found in the report.”
Damn, he’d have to remember how smooth she was at covering her tracks. And how fast.
He wasn’t so sure he liked that trait of hers.
“Why would you do that?” Tate asked.
“Because it didn’t sit well with me and if I brought it up to you or anyone else in the family you’d tell me I was nuts.”
Tate put the laptop down and let out a sigh. “And, Ash, did you find anything in that report that was different from what we were all told?”
“No. I told your sister that.”
“And then that email popped up and I went to read it and Ash saw my face.”
“I’m glad you told him at least,” Tate said. “Were you going to tell anyone else, or just let the public know?”
“Cut the sarcasm,” she said. “I wouldn’t print anything without facts and I’m not stupid enough to think this might not be some kind of a prank.”
“That’s right,” Tate said. “Your computer is coming with me. We need this traced.”
“You can’t do that. I need it to work,” she argued.
“Let’s go,” Tate said. “You need to come with me to the station. They won’t keep it, but they need to get this off your computer, then you can leave with it.”
“Can’t I just forward it to them?”
“I don’t know that shit and am not saying one way or another,” Tate said, shutting the top and tucking it under his arm. “Out. The sooner, the better, and you can get back here and to work.”
She looked at Ash. As if she thought he was going to save her.
Nope. No way he was stepping in, even if he wanted to. Even as pissed off as he was.
He turned toward the door, walking out behind Tate, Skye behind him and locking her place.
She jabbed him in the back with her finger, but what was he supposed to do? It’s not like he could turn around and say anything else to her with witnesses.
When she pulled out to follow her brother to the police station, he had to decide if he was going to do the same.
It might look funny again. It’s not like he was in a position of authority.
He put his blinker on and went to the firehouse. The least he could do was cover his own ass with this knowledge and let the fire chief know what he knew.
Once that was done, he went to the sheriff’s department. Not that he was reporting it, but he needed to talk to someone and Ford was his best bet.
“That’s interesting,” Ford said, leaning back in his chair behind his desk. “Do you think it’s the real person reaching out to her?”
“They are going to find out. I want to say no, because I don’t want it to be.”
Ford nodded his head. “Why?”
“What do you mean, why?”
“Ash. I’m going to address the elephant in the room. What were you doing at Skye’s this afternoon?”
“Talking to her,” he said. “She asked me to look into something for her and I did.”
“What?”
His nose scrunched up. He didn’t want to make this into something bigger than it was, but he was the idiot who came here and started this.
“She’s got it in her mind that she wasn’t told the truth about her parents’ fire. That her memory is different from what she was told and wanted to see the report. She asked if I’d look into it and let her know since I’d understand it more.”
“She could have easily asked for that information herself.”
“I know that. I brought it up. She said she’d been calling there a lot and didn’t want to do it for something else. She didn’t want to get the two things mixed up.”
Ford’s upper lip disappeared behind his bottom one. “Do you believe that?”
“I don’t think she’s lying to me. I know she believes that what was in the report isn’t right. By the way, the report said exactly what we all knew. It was an accidental fire started by a cigarette that ignited papers.”
“So why doesn’t she believe that?”
“She insists her mother puffed the cigarettes down to the filter. There is no way it could start a fire. She also said she didn’t remember any papers being anywhere near the ashtray. Yes, there was cardboard around, empty food boxes and containers, but no paper.”
“Could be her memory is faulty. Maybe it was mail.”
“I said that too, but she said it was kept in the kitchen. I don’t know. It was years ago. She wanted closure and I think she finally got it.”
“There is no way she thinks this has anything to do with the car fires, does she?” Ford asked.
“No. She said it just triggered it for her. I think it gave her the courage to at least finally look into it. She wants to write a book about what happened. A fictional book, but I think she just needed some facts first.”
“A book?”
“She’s always loved writing. I remember that now. She always had her nose in a book too. It’s her job. Not writing books, but she writes manuals or documents for her full-time job and then the freelance reporting stuff.”
“And now she wants to add a book to it? She should talk to Rory.”
He snorted. “I actually thought of that. I’m not sure she even knows Gale is engaged to Rory. Or that Rory Connors is Rory Rene. I want to say she might not even know who he is, but he writes crime fiction and that is what she wants to write, so my guess is she’s read his stuff.”
“What’s this all about?” Ford asked. His brother could play this game all day long.
Ask one question after another until he spilled it all out of his mouth.
“What’s what about?”
“Why you’re here telling me this? From a law enforcement standpoint, I appreciate it and would have been looped in anyway. It’s still my county and I need to be aware if it moves outside of Glens Falls.”
“I know. I hope it doesn’t.”
“You’re worried that might not be the case though, right?”
“I don’t know what to think. We can handle it better than any of the volunteer departments.”
“You’d be called in anyway, but yes, it’s not the same. Not as fast. I’d like to keep it where it is if it’s not stopped right away.”
“I’m hoping whoever it is will be sloppy now. That email was a joke. Why do that? It’s like this person is taunting her. She’s putting herself at risk now. For what? A fucking story.”
There went Ford’s head nodding again. “You’re getting worked up. You never get worked up. What’s really going on with you and Skye? And don’t forget, you’re pretty easy to read. I remember you had a thing for her years ago. Not that she had it back. Or is it that?”
He blew out a breath. “That would be a dick move if it was that. If it had to be with her rejecting me. And she didn’t reject me. I mean, she was going through a lot of shit back then.”
“And most likely still is now,” Ford said. “She’s your best friend’s sister on top of it. You’re talking to me about this and not him. How come?”
“Just ask what you want to.”
Ford laughed. “This is much more fun though. I haven’t seen you squirm in a long time.”
“I’d hardly say I was squirming.”
“Not from my perspective. Do you still have a thing for her?”
“I don’t know that I ever stopped having one,” he admitted.
“And now that is the biggest problem and why you came to me. Because I went through this with Reenie.”
“Yeah. But we are only friends. I think. I don’t know. We had dinner at my place and she cooked me dinner at hers. And no one knows that but you.”
“Got it. My best advice is to keep her close. Keep in her ear, but don’t tell her what to do.”
“That’s a bit hard when I think she might be putting herself in danger.”
“Which is why you stay close. She’s got brothers doing the same. If Tate knows, the rest will find out. She’s going to need backup, not another person standing in front of her. Think that way. You’ll win more points. And you’ll get closer to her without being obvious that way.”
“That’s almost sly. I didn’t expect that of you. I’m impressed.”
“I’ve got a couple more years on you and know how to work people.”
His smile dropped. “I’m not working anything.”
“Sure, you are, but you’re just feeling guilty about it.”
Which wasn’t a lie either when his phone rang in his truck thirty minutes later as he headed home.
No surprise it was Corbin.
He answered without hesitation. “How badly did you light into your sister?”
“She hung up on me,” Corbin said. “So I need the facts from you since you were at her place when Tate arrived. And don’t think we won’t get to that part either.”
Aw, fuck. There was no hiding anything from anyone it seemed.
“Are you on site?”
“Yep. I stepped away to make this call. Be at my place in thirty. I’m heading there now.”
He couldn’t dispute it because his best friend had hung up on him.
All he could hope for was that when he pulled in, it was only Corbin there and not the rest of the Lancaster brothers.
He stopped to pick up subs first. Might as well get on his buddy’s good side.
When he walked in the back door and put the dinner on the counter, Corbin looked up at him and tossed him a beer.
“I was hoping you’d bring food. What the hell is my sister getting herself into?”
“What do you know?” He pulled the subs out, grabbed his Italian and let Corbin serve himself.
Corbin brought over two paper plates and glasses, so he poured his beer and took a sip before he bit into his dinner. He needed it after today.
“I know she got an email from someone claiming to be setting all these fires. Almost baiting her now. That he gave her quite a story. She’s going to sink her teeth into this. She’s going to want to know more and maybe be in the way more than helpful.”
Ash sighed. “I thought that too. I’ll keep an eye on things the best I can with her.”
“I figured as much. We’ll get to that too. What’s going on with her questioning her parents’ fire?”
“I don’t want to betray her.”
“It’s too late. It’s out. You said it in front of Tate. It’s made the rounds in the family.”
“I didn’t say it. She did,” he argued.
“Because Tate wanted to know why you were there. Is that the truth?”
This really wasn’t a lie. “It is. She asked me the other day, I looked into it and went over to tell her.”
“How did you know where she lived? How did she reach out and talk to you about it?”
He took a bite of his sandwich, chewed and thought this through.
Lying would serve no purpose. He knew that much.
But he didn’t want to get on the bad side of his best friend either.
“I ran into her at Fire Mission last week. I was waiting on my dinner and having a beer, she was picking up. We talked a few minutes, then ate our dinners together at my place.”
Corbin lifted his eyebrow. “Why am I only hearing of this now?”
“Because it was a spontaneous dinner. We were friends, you know. We chatted some. She asked me about the fires.”
“So, all for her story?”
He didn’t want to think that. “That was some of it. Then she told me about her thoughts on the fire when she was a kid. I knew where she lived because she told me and once I looked into it, I went back to give her the information.”
“Rather than call her?”
“What do you want to know, Corbin? Did I have a thing for your sister years ago? Before she was even your sister? You know the answer to that. Because I told her I’m the one who asked for your family to take her in.”
“Wow. And she wanted to know why?”
“Yes.”
“What did you say?”
“As much as I felt comfortable with. When she moved in with you guys, she pushed me off.”
Corbin laughed. “She was pushing you off long before that.”
“That’s right. But that didn’t mean I didn’t feel for her. Then I just backed off and she moved away and end of story.”
“But it’s not the end, is it?”
“I don’t know what it is. She’s not your blood.
She was someone I had my eye on long before she became your sister.
Do I think she’s hot? Yep, I do.” He put his sandwich down, trying to keep this conversation as calm as he could, but it wasn’t helping any with that look.
“Get that pissed off glance out of your eyes.”
“She’s my sister.”
“You think I don’t know that?” he asked. “You think this isn’t hard for me too?”
He ran his hand through his hair and took another drink to wash down his food that didn’t want to go.
“What is your plan?”
“I don’t have a fucking plan. I never do.”
“That’s right. You don’t. That’s the problem.”
“I’m not that person anymore. And if you want to know my plan, it’s sticking by her. One, to keep her safe and in her ear so I can find out what her moves are. Do you think she’s going to tell you and your brothers?”
Corbin met his stare head on. “No.”
“That’s right. So I’ll be there for that reason. And maybe for the support she needs. She’s an adult. If I’m just a friend, then I guess I’ll have to accept that. I’ve done it once, I can do it again.”
“Oh, fuck you,” Corbin said, laughing. “Now you want me to get my violin out, don’t you?”
He laughed. “It wouldn’t hurt.”
“Don’t mess her up. I heard you. I don’t really like it, but I can’t argue your logic. She’ll confide in you, maybe. Or more likely than she would us. And I can’t forget how much you talked about her prior either.”
“That’s right.”
“But if you hurt her...”
He held his hand up. “Enough said.”