“I’ve already got someone in mind to take the fall, but to pull it off I’ll need your help. We should be able to wrap it up within a week.”
“I knew you’d figure something out. You’re so smart about stuff like this.”
“I’ve had practice. Now, hurry up. We’ve got work to do.”
WHEN JORDAN AND NOAH WALKED INTO THE POLICE station, Sheriff Randy was in Chief Davis’s office trying to pace in front of the desk. Since the office was so small, he could only take two steps forward and two back.
Noah made her stay behind him as he entered. She knew Noah didn’t want to give J. D. another opportunity to punch her.
But J. D. was nowhere in sight. Joe spotted them and waved. “Come on in,” he called out.
Noah didn’t waste time on introductions. “Where’s your brother?”
“I don’t know where he is,” Randy said. “I swear to you I’ve looked high and low for him, and I’ve left at least five messages on his home phone and twice that many on his cell phone telling him to come in, and that it was going to be okay because Miss Buchanan agreed not to press charges…” He tried to see around Noah. “I was right, wasn’t I, Miss Buchanan? Joe told me you weren’t going to press charges.”
Although Noah took up most of the doorway, she was able to squeeze in next to him. “Yes, that’s right.”
“Thank you,” he said. “I’m trying my best to help J. D. make some good decisions, but it’s an uphill battle.”
He sounded sincere and contrite, and Jordan suddenly felt sorry for him. It must be awful trying to keep his punch-happy brother in line.
Randy once again addressed Noah. “I know he messed up, but he’s my brother, and the only family I have. I really am trying to help him move forward and stay out of trouble. I thought he was on the right path. He was closing down The Lux, and that’s a real positive step.”
Noah didn’t care about that. “How did he know there was a body in Jordan’s car trunk?”
“J. D. told me he got a tip on his cell phone.”
“I want to know exactly what J. D. told you.”
“We were supposed to go fishing, and I went by his place to pick him up. He came tearing out of his house and told me about the tip.”
“Who called him?” Noah asked. “Did he tell you who the tip was from?”
“A woman,” Randy answered. “It took a long while for me to get that much out of him. He wouldn’t tell me her name though. J. D. said he had to protect her, that he’d promised. To be honest, I don’t know if he was telling the truth or not.” He added fervently, “I hope to God he was.”
Looking defeated now, Randy leaned back against the desk. “J. D. is always looking for the big score. He has this pipe dream to buy a ranch. He doesn’t know the first thing about ranching, but that don’t matter to him. He thinks he’s clever, but he isn’t, and that’s why he gets into trouble. He’s done some real stupid things, and he’s got a temper, that’s for sure, but he wouldn’t kill anyone.”
“He went to prison because he killed someone,” Joe pointed out.
“It was a bar fight J. D. didn’t start. That was bad luck all around.”
“Bad luck seems to chase J. D., doesn’t it?” Joe remarked. “I’ve got the sheriff’s deputies combing the county looking for him,” he told Noah. He suddenly noticed Jordan. “Where are my manners? Jordan, come on in here and have a seat.”
“I’m fine where I am,” she replied.
“All right then. Noah, I’ve been thinking about the woman J. D. said called him. Now that’s something Maggie Haden would do. I wouldn’t put it past her.”
“I thought of her,” Randy said. “She hooked up with J. D. right after I got married. She got real hateful.”
“She was always hateful, Randy,” Joe said. “You just didn’t see it.”
Randy shrugged. “I’ve been looking for her too. Her cell phone goes directly to voice mail, and she doesn’t have an answering machine at home.”
“Why were you wanting to get hold of her?” Joe asked.
Randy looked over his shoulder at the chief. “Why do you think? She might know where J. D. is. That’s the only reason I’d ever call her again.” Randy stood. “I’ve got to head back to my office. I’ll keep looking for J. D., but if you and Joe find him, call me right away. I’m worried about him.”
Noah got out of the way so Randy could get past him.
The sheriff walked to the door, hesitated a second or two, then turned around and looked at Noah. “Could I have a word with you in private?”
“Sure,” Noah said.
He followed Randy out to his car, and the two men stood there talking for several minutes.
Joe took a phone call while Jordan waited for Noah’s return. “Where’s Carrie?” she asked when he hung up the receiver. “Taking a break?”
“No, she’s back in prison,” Joe said. “They’re supposed to send me a replacement tomorrow, but until then the calls I don’t catch get forwarded to Bourbon.”
Since his office was not big enough to accommodate a second chair, Jordan leaned against the door frame. “Why is she back in prison? She was part of a work release program, wasn’t she?”
“That’s right, she was,” he said. He moved some papers out of his way and rested his elbows on the desktop. “As one of Maggie’s last vengeful acts, she called the prison and gave Carrie a terrible evaluation. Said she was incompetent.”
“Did you think she was?”
He shook his head. “She had trouble learning the computer, but she was good enough with the phones and taking messages.”
“Then why don’t you get her back?”
“Maggie also accused her of stealing supplies, but I don’t believe that.”
“Joe, you have to do something.”
“I’m trying,” he said.
Not good enough, Jordan thought.
The minute Noah came into the station, she told him about Carrie. She didn’t have to ask him to do something about it because she knew he would.
“There isn’t anything more we can do here,” Noah said. “So we’re going to check out of the motel and get on the road. I want to get Jordan to the airport and back to Boston. If you need anything…”
“You’ll come back, right?”
“Agents Chaddick and Street will come in on this if you need them to. All you have to do is ask.”
Shaking Noah’s hand, Joe said, “I wish you could stay around, but I understand you wanting to leave and get back to your life and your job.” He turned to Jordan. “Eventually there’ll be a trial. You’ll have to come back for that.”
“I will,” she promised.
Relief washed over Jordan when they walked out of the station. She was finally going to leave Serenity.
It didn’t take either of them long to pack up their things. Noah planned to put the bags in the car and then check out with Amelia Ann. A phone call changed the plan.
“Noah, it’s Joe. The MacKenna house is on fire.”
“WHAT IN GOD’S NAME IS GOING ON?” JOE’S VOICE SHOOK when he asked the question. He stood with Jordan and Noah on the sidewalk across the street from MacKenna’s tiny rental house, watching the roaring fire consume it.
He shoved his hands in his pockets. “We had a good long rain last night. It should have soaked that roof and kept it wet, but it sure didn’t. Look at it burn.” He shook his head. “I’ve never seen a fire eat up a house this quick.”
They could use another storm right now, Jordan thought. She shielded her eyes with her hands and looked up at the sky. Not a cloud in sight. The sun was bright and beating down on them mercilessly. As usual, the desert sun was hot and unforgiving.
“No, sir,” Joe muttered. “I’ve never seen anything like this.”
Although there wasn’t any doubt in his mind that the fire had been set, he still wanted and needed confirmation.
“Look at the way it’s going, all four sides of the house burning straight up like tha
t. It’s like it was napalmed.” Joe pulled his attention away from the fire and looked up at Noah. “I know the fire chief will have to make the call, but I’m betting he’ll say it’s arson. Don’t you agree?”
“Looks that way,” Noah said without hesitation. “And I’d say a very powerful accelerator was used to get it started and keep it going.”
“Never seen a house burn so quick,” Joe repeated, clearly impressed. “I don’t get it though. Why burn it down? The detectives and the crime scene crew from Bourbon went through the house from top to bottom, and any evidence they found they bagged and took to their lab. You were in there too. You saw what was left. Just old papers and used-up furniture. Did you see anything worth burning? I sure didn’t.”
Joe moved so he could see Jordan, who was standing on the other side of Noah. “Sorry about those boxes of papers. I know you were hoping you could have them.”
She didn’t correct his misconception. Joe had obviously forgotten that she’d made copies. Either that, or he thought she still had more copies to make, but it no longer mattered. The hard copies of his research would have gone into the professor’s estate, and she no longer needed them.
“I don’t think anyone would go to this much trouble burning a house to get rid of some old history papers,” Joe concluded.
Jordan watched the volunteer firemen. They’d given up trying to save the professor’s house and were frantically working to keep the house next door from catching fire. If the wind picked up, the entire block could go up in flames.
“Did you make sure all the neighbors got out?” she asked.
Joe nodded. “Old lady Scott was the only one who gave me any trouble. She wouldn’t let me get near her to help her down the steps. One of the firemen carried her out kicking and screaming. You know what I heard her say? She didn’t want to miss her stories on the television.”
“Why won’t she let you near her?”
“She doesn’t think anyone does enough for her. She’s a real pain in the neck. She calls Sheriff Randy one day, me the next complaining about something or other. Doesn’t care whose jurisdiction it is. Anyone walks through her yard, front or back, and she has a fit. Calls it trespassing. She called me the other day about kids trampling on her flowers by the front porch.” He pointed to the right. “Her house is two down from MacKenna’s. Now I ask you, would you call those weeds flowers?”
Noah wanted to get him back on track. “Did you talk to the neighbors? Ask them if they saw anyone hanging around MacKenna’s house?”
“I haven’t interviewed all of them yet,” he admitted. “I only just got here a few minutes before you, and I was busy getting everyone out of their houses. I’ll start asking questions now. Would you mind helping me with that?” He walked toward the group of people clustered together at the corner and then stopped. “I’m in over my head here,” he said. “I just don’t have the experience, and I can’t be everywhere at the same time. I think maybe I could use some help from your FBI friends. Why don’t you go ahead and call them?”
It’s about damned time, Noah thought. “Be happy to,” he said instead. He made the call immediately, before Joe could have second thoughts. He got Chaddick’s voice mail and left a message for him to call.
As they walked toward the neighbors, Jordan asked, “Where are the deputies? I know the Grady sheriff is in Hawaii, but didn’t you ask his deputies to lend a hand?”
“They’re helping,” he said. “Right now they’re combing two counties looking for J. D. He could be hiding in one of about a thousand places, but they’ll keep at it until they find him and bring him in for questioning.”
MacKenna’s neighbors were eager to tell what they knew, but unfortunately none had seen anything out of the ordinary. One woman had noticed a carpet cleaning van drive down the street, but she was pretty sure it had driven on to the next block.
Mrs. Scott had information, but every time Joe tried to talk to her, she turned her back on him and looked up at the sky. It was left to Noah to charm her, and that only took a couple of smiles and a look of sympathy when she went into a rant about her flowers.
“As a matter of fact, I did see someone,” she said. “I saw that no-good Dickey boy cut through my backyard today. I saw him as clear as he could be. I was standing at my kitchen sink making my cherry Kool-Aid drink because I like to have my Kool-Aid while I watch my programs.” She paused to glare at Joe before continuing. “Then I saw the Dickey boy sneak past. He was carrying something that had a big handle, like a gas can. I was all set to open my back door and yell at him to get off my property, but he was moving so fast, he was gone before I could get my second dead bolt undone. Not five minutes later I hear shouting about a fire, and people start banging on my front door, so I got out of my La-Z-Boy and turned up the volume on my television so I could hear my programs.” Once again, she shot Joe a glare.
“You’re certain it was J. D.?” Joe asked.
“I’m certain I’m not talking to you,” she snapped. “Now if this nice gentleman were to ask, I’d say, yes, it was Julius Dickey. That ten-pound belt buckle he always wears was plain to see. It was him.”
Joe and Noah thanked the various neighbors and headed down the street. Jordan stayed behind, talking to a few of the women. Noticing she wasn’t with him Noah turned around and saw Mrs. Scott wagging her finger in Jordan’s face. He backtracked to tell her it was time to leave.
“Are we leaving the street or leaving Serenity?” Jordan asked after saying her good-byes to the neighbors.
He honestly didn’t know. Though he was anxious to get her out of town and on a flight back to Boston, Jordan was at the center of this craziness, and until Noah understood why the killer was hell-bent on implicating her and keeping her in Serenity, he wasn’t going to leave her alone for a second. The thought popped into his mind that he never wanted to leave her.
He shook his head, trying to clear it.
“Do you know what Mrs. Scott called me?” Jordan asked.
He slowed down. “What?”
“‘You there.’”
He smiled. “So?”
“So she wanted to know why ‘you there’—that would be me—came to Serenity.”
“And what did you say?”
“To wreak havoc.”
“Good answer.”
“‘Serenity,’ she said, ‘used to be a peaceful place.’”
“Until you came to town.”
“She would also like to know when I’m leaving. I believe she plans to stay inside and keep her doors locked until I do.”
He laughed. “Soon,” he promised. “We’ll be on the road in a couple of hours. Joe asked me to wait until Chaddick and Street get here. He’s nervous. It’s a big case, and he doesn’t want to mess up. I know you’re ready to take off…”
“I’m…conflicted,” she said with some hesitation.
“Yeah? How come?”
“I want to leave, but I also want to find out who, what, and why. And I have a funny feeling the answer’s right in front of me.”
“You can read all about it in the papers when it’s over.”
The comment about the papers triggered something in Jordan’s memory, but it was too elusive to catch hold.
“After you drop me at the airport, are you going to come back?”
“Sugar, I’m not dropping you anywhere.”
He pulled her toward the car. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Joe standing in the middle of the street, talking to a fireman.
“Then what’s the plan?” she asked.
“I’m going with you all the way to Boston, so no, as much as I would like to help, I won’t be coming back. This isn’t my area of expertise anyway. Chaddick’s the man in charge now—or will be as soon as he returns my call—and he knows what he’s doing. He’s been at it awhile, and he’s got a lot of experience.”
He handed her the keys when they reached their car. “Why don’t you turn the motor on and get the air conditioner going? I’l
l be right back.”
Jordan got behind the wheel, started the engine, and adjusted the air-conditioner dial. She watched Noah in the side mirror. Now he and Joe spoke to the fireman. Then Joe pulled out his cell phone and made a call as Noah headed back to the car. Shaking his head, he looked frustrated. He walked to the passenger side, but she climbed over the console and motioned for him to drive. Sweat trickled down his neck, so she turned up the fan and adjusted a vent to blow directly on him.
“How come you don’t want to drive?” he asked.
“Traffic,” she said. “I hate driving in traffic.”
It took a second to realize what she’d said. He laughed. “What constitutes traffic in Serenity? Three, four cars in front of you?”
“Okay, I just hate to drive.” Before he could comment, she asked, “What happened with Joe?”
“He’s getting a warrant to go into J. D.’s house. He’s talking to a judge in Bourbon now.”
“I’m going in there with you,” she said. “Because I bet I’ll find my laptop. And if I do…”
“What? What will you do?”
“Something,” she said. “All my files are on it, all my accounts…”
“Are you worried someone can get private information?”
“No,” she said. “It’s encrypted. No one could get into my files.”
“Then what are you so worried about?”
“I just know that with all the right information and data, I can figure all of this out.”
He was looking out the window. “I wonder how long it’s going to take Joe to get in his damn car and drive to J. D.’s house.”
“I’d say about five seconds.” The calculated guess was based on the fact that Joe was sprinting toward them.
“It’s signed,” he shouted at Noah. “But we could go in anyway. A neighbor just called in. J. D.’s front door’s wide open.”
A moment later, they were on their way.
“Shouldn’t someone call Sheriff Randy?”
He shrugged. “I’ll leave that up to Joe.”