Chapter 20 #2
They headed outside, where Boomer continued to guard Beaumont. Their family and friends stood in a loose group in the driveway. He assumed Mitch and Bella were in the garage.
He and Dani followed Marcus to the far side of the garage, where the window had been broken. It took Marcus only a few seconds to find what he’d been looking for. He took several pictures, donned gloves, and put the item in a large evidence bag.
It looked like a kind of water gun that kids played with, but not quite.
Marcus carried it around the front, letting Beaumont see. The man blanched. “That’s not mine.”
Marcus ignored him, but Boomer eased closer to the man. Beaumont shut up and cowered back.
Marcus showed them. “It’s one of the T-shirt launchers people use at sporting events. More evidence to keep this jerk in jail for a long time.”
After locking the evidence in his truck, Marcus and Lawson crossed to the sedan, which wasn’t even locked.
The packaging for the T-shirt launcher was in the back seat, with the instructions left open.
Gloves, which he hadn’t worn, rested on the passenger seat, along with a paper printout of what looked like an aerial view of Dani’s property.
Marcus grinned. “I love it when criminals are stupid enough to leave all the evidence out for me.”
They returned to the driveway, where Mitch and Bella spoke with Dani. The Molotov cocktail had been filled with gasoline. Dangerous enough to have done severe damage.
Bella held up a sample bottle. “I’ll know more once I test this back at Midnight Lake, but from the smell, I’m assuming he used the first recipe he found on the internet.
Thankfully, it’s not as volatile or deadly as others.
You won’t have lingering effects from the fumes you inhaled.
After Marcus is through cataloging evidence, we’ll help you clean it up.
My monitors say it’s safe to be inside, although Marcus may not clear the scene for a day or two. ”
All good news. With Dani’s hand in his, they followed Marcus to stand beside Boomer. Amber ruffled her fingers through the dog’s fur. “Easy guard, Boomer.”
The dog’s stance instantly changed. He sat at Amber’s side, eyes still locked on Beaumont. It would take only a command from his sister or a threatening move on Beaumont’s part to change that.
Marcus remained standing as he put on his blank cop stare. “What are you doing here?”
“I didn’t do anything.”
Marcus didn’t respond, simply stared Beaumont down. The man broke in seconds. “I came to get Daniella to sign some papers.”
“You tried to kill her.”
Beaumont shook his head. “No. I need her to sign the papers. That’s all I came for.”
Marcus barely blinked. “What papers?”
Beaumont’s eyes flickered to Dani, then Boomer, back to Marcus. “The family wants to merge the company, but she’s refusing to help. We need the money. She has no part in the company, but she won’t sign. Won’t do a simple thing to help her family.”
“Where are these papers?”
Beaumont blinked and stammered a few times. Lawson kept the laugh inside.
Marcus continued to stare Beaumont down. “You stated you arrived at this property to get papers signed. Where are the papers?”
The man’s mouth opened and closed, but no words came out. The dumbass hadn’t even brought the documents with him. So much for that excuse.
Marcus pulled out his handcuffs. “Jeremy Beaumont, you’re under arrest for attempted murder. More charges to be added later.”
“No!” Beaumont screamed. “I need her to sign. I wouldn’t have needed to come here if she would just sign. It would all be over. All she has to do is sign, and that fixes everything. It’s all her fault for being such a pathetic bitch.”
Marcus hauled Beaumont to his feet and led him to the cruiser, Boomer following in his wake. The dog was having the best time, which helped Lawson contain his need to slam his fist into the jerk’s face.
Marcus returned once Beaumont sat secured in the cruiser’s back seat.
“I have a deputy coming out. She’ll get Beaumont booked and locked up on the first set of charges.
I want to finish evaluating the scene and collecting evidence.
Beaumont doesn’t strike me as a master criminal, and I’m sure we’ll find more than we need.
Hell, we already have enough for probably a dozen charges, but I want all the evidence I can get. ”
Dani sagged into Lawson’s side. “Do whatever you need to do, but please come in and have something to eat first. Lawson made enough sandwiches to feed a few dozen people.”
That made Lawson laugh. “I probably did. It was the only thing I could think of doing that would keep me from kicking Beaumont’s ass.”
Marcus grinned. “Good choice. I’d hate to arrest a friend.”
Lawson smiled back, but he knew he would have done anything to keep Dani safe if it had been required. He figured Marcus knew it as well.
He took Dani’s hand and led them to the cottage with Bibi on her other side. “Come inside, everyone. We’ve got sandwiches.”
With a cheer, everyone moved inside. Dani’s cottage wasn’t large, but nobody cared. They were together, all safe, and that’s all that mattered.
Dani didn’t want to let Lawson or Bibi out of her sight. Although Marcus had sent Jeremy off with another deputy, she still worried he hadn’t been working alone and that he might attempt to injure one of them.
What if her parents had sent Jeremy? Or Evelyn or Nathaniel.
That didn’t feel right, and she shoved the thought away.
Was she such a terrible judge of character that her sister could have fooled her?
They’d had several conversations over the past week, and in each one, Dani had felt a stronger connection .
Even her texts with Nathaniel had been less strained as they got to know each other.
Dani sat on a kitchen chair beside Lawson, who’d brought his chair right next to hers. He hadn’t let go of her either. Jolie sat on her other side. Knox walked behind them and patted her shoulder.
Amber and Gray remained outside with the fire investigators and police. Boomer was looking for evidence for them.
Being surrounded by so many good people, she realized she couldn’t be a terrible judge of character. Her sister and brother weren’t in on this. She couldn’t be sure of her parents because she hadn’t spoken to them. Not like she’d had with Evelyn.
Could her parents have sent their son-in-law to hurt her? Kill her?
It seemed impossible. That was the stuff of movies, not real life.
As if sensing her thoughts, Lawson leaned in. “You doing okay?”
She nodded. “I don’t think Evelyn had anything to do with this.”
“I agree. I’m betting Jeremy has serious money issues, and that this merger is a way to boost his income.”
“I wonder if he’s skimming money from the company and changing the books. Or maybe he’s a gambler and is in debt. Somehow, the merger would help. He sounded desperate.”
“Marcus will get to the bottom of it.”
She sighed. “I know. I wonder if I should call Evelyn or let him do that.”
Lawson held out his hand. “Want to go ask Marcus what he thinks?”
She nodded and took his hand. Outside, they found another officer talking with the chief and the fire investigator. Bella smiled at her. “Hi Dani. How are you feeling now?”
“I’m okay. Have you found anything new?”
Bella shook her head. “There’s no evidence that he did anything else to your garage or property. There are no other incendiary devices anywhere. We’ve checked the buildings and your backyard.”
Panic raced through her. “My bees. The apiaries. Beatrice. I didn’t even think about any of them. I need to check them.”
Marcus frowned. “Is Beatrice someone who lives on your property?”
She choked out a laugh, and Lawson squeezed her hand. “Beatrice is the honey of a truck out in the apiary field. A 1931 Ford.”
Marcus grinned. “Shall we check on her and her bee friends?”
A few of the group stayed behind to guard the property, but most of Lawson’s family followed them to the field. Neither Bibi nor Boomer reacted to any other presence along the way.
At first glance, the field appeared untouched. Beatrice sat where she always did, with wind spinners and wildflowers in place. Bees buzzed around their apiaries. None had been burned or toppled. “It all seems fine.”
Marcus nodded. “I’ll have you all wait here while Bella and I check the field.”
Amber ruffled her dog’s fur. “Do you want Boomer to search?”
Marcus nodded. “Absolutely. Can he search without a scent to check?”
Amber nodded. “Boomer. Search. Go.”
Boomer loped off and moved through the field, with Marcus and Bella trailing behind.
The shepherd sniffed the edges of the clearing, the truck, and the hives, but nothing disturbed him. When he got to the edge of the trees, he looked over at Amber for further instructions. “Good boy, Boomer. Free.”
It didn’t take long for the humans to clear the area as well.
Marcus returned to their side. “I’ll know once I get back to the station, but at the moment, it appears that Beaumont didn’t bother going anywhere other than to the front of your property.”
“What if he wasn’t working alone?”
Marcus nodded. “Might be a good idea to get some solar-powered security cameras and equipment out here. Tansy out at Midnight Lake has been working on new systems for their property. I’m sure she’d love to have another test site.”
With everything taken care of, the group split up with the Malssum extended family returning to the farm. The others returned to her cottage, but that didn’t take long either.
Joe and Lia had boarded up the garage window without disturbing the inside. By the time the rest of the group left, Dani felt as if it had been a week since she’d been working on her apple pieces in the garage. Instead, it had only been hours.
Lawson locked and bolted her cottage door behind them. Bibi yawned and moved to her bed near the couch.
Lawson scooped Dani up, making her laugh. “I can walk; I’m not injured.”