Chapter 21 #2
Dutton frowned. Why did Grady have all their names? Was he going after them all? As far as he knew, Grady had only gone after Dutton. Yvette had been the one who’d been called to put out all the fires. Did he just want to know who might be able to fight him so he’d know who to stay away from?
It might make sense that he was going to pin his crimes on one of them, except it was already clear that he intended to pin them on Dutton, since he’d somehow managed to mimic Dutton’s magical signature.
Dutton took a picture of the list.
He gave the RV one more search and found some herbs and crystals that might have been used for his firebomb spells. He took a picture of those, too. Then he slipped out of the RV and ran straight into Freddie Fink, Benny’s stepson and second in command.
“Hello, Dutton,” Freddie said, a smirk on his face. “I told Grady you’d show up here. He didn’t think you were smart enough to find us.”
“Freddie.” Dutton glared at him. “Why are you two here?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” Freddie’s hands started to glow with magic.
Dutton racked his brain for what type of magic the man had, but he couldn’t remember. He knew it wasn’t fire. Air, maybe? “Not obvious to me, unless you just came for me. But if so, why were you starting fires all over Keating Hollow?”
“For fun.” He shrugged. “Or maybe we plan to make this place our new territory. It never was the same back home after your performance in court.”
“What were you planning to do? Start fires all the time and then charge the residents to keep their properties safe?” Dutton asked, his voice incredulous.
“Not exactly. Grady and I have plans, but I’ll be damned if I tell you about them.”
Dutton was ready to strangle the man. “I will not let you burn down this town or rip off the people who live here. Do you understand? I’ll hunt you down and end you.”
“Not if we end you first.” His hand shot out and caught Dutton around the throat.
A bolt of electricity shot through Dutton, causing his body to convulse.
His teeth chattered, and he had a vague thought that this was the end.
Dahlia’s face, along with an image of Shortcake, flashed through his mind.
Regret filled his heart as the air witch pulled the electrical currents from the atmosphere, frying him from the inside out.
His vision started to blur, and Dutton closed his eyes, trying to summon his fire magic, to fight back in any way he could, but the current was too strong and had blocked his magic.
Just when he thought it was the end, he heard a cry, followed by a loud grunt as someone came out of nowhere and tackled Freddie.
Dutton crumpled to the ground, gasping for breath while the two men rolled around in the dirt. Magic filled the air, and Dutton knew that Freddie was about to pull his electrocution trick on the other man.
Without hesitation, Dutton grabbed Freddie’s legs and let his magic go just enough so that the man could feel the searing heat of his fire magic. No flames were ignited, but the heat was intense enough that Freddie let out an anguished cry as he reached for Dutton.
The other man scrambled to his feet, and when he spoke, Dutton finally realized it was none other than Sheriff Baker.
“Freeze,” he shouted.
Neither Dutton nor Freddie paid him any attention.
A shot fired, and both men froze.
Dutton looked over at Drew, noting his gun was pointed toward the sky. He slowly lowered it and aimed right at Freddie. “Step away from Dutton Williams.”
“He attacked me!” Freddie whined.
“Do it!”
Freddie crawled over toward the door of the RV and started to pull his pant leg up.
“Hands in the air!” Drew demanded.
Freddie glared at him but did as he was told.
“Dutton, get over here.”
“Sure, Sheriff.” Dutton limped as he made his way to Drew’s side.
“Grab the cuffs from my back pocket and secure the perpetrator,” Drew ordered.
“I’m on it.” Dutton had no idea where Drew had come from or why he was there, but he wasn’t looking a gift horse in the mouth. He quickly slipped the magic-neutralizing cuffs on Freddie and wasn’t shy about tightening them.
Freddie grunted. “This isn’t going to change anything.”
“It’ll keep you from electrocuting anyone else,” Dutton said and then stepped back.
Drew was on his radio, calling for backup.
When dispatch came on the line, the woman said, “Sheriff, where have you been? We’ve been trying to reach you.”
“My radio was off. I was investigating something. What’s going on?”
“We have multiple fires. We need all hands on deck!”
“Multiple fires? Where? How?” Drew asked, his eyes widening with shock.
She started rattling off addresses. “And Drew, one of them is at the inn. You need to hurry.”
“On my way!” Drew glanced at Freddie and Dutton. “We’ll put him in the back of the cruiser. Dutton, follow me. We have fires to put out.”
Dutton didn’t hesitate. He grabbed Freddie and shoved him along. The sheriff’s cruiser was at the entrance of the RV park.
Drew nodded for him to get in. “I’ll drop you at your car. Stay close to me. I’ll have my lights and siren on.”
“How did you find me?” Dutton asked.
“Dahlia called and told me you were out looking for Grady and she was worried. I put out the word to my deputies to tell me if they saw your T-bird. It didn’t take long for one to call it in. You’re never going to make it as an undercover PI driving that thing.”
“I suppose not.” Dutton pulled out his phone. The only messages were from Dahlia and Briggs, both admonishing him for taking off on his own. He sent them both texts that he was with Drew and headed to help with the fires.
By the time he sent the messages, Drew had stopped next to his T-bird.
Dutton jumped out, noting that neither Dahlia or his brother had texted back.
He wanted to call, but there was no time.
Drew already had his lights on and was speeding down the highway.
Dutton hurried into the T-bird and stepped on it, doing his best to keep up with the sheriff.