“I can do it if you don’t have the stomach for it.”
Julia looked back toward the house. “Let’s circle around to the side and see if we can hear anything inside the house.”
FOURTEEN
Maybe he’d actually get through a Saturday without a call. Kevin parked his truck in front of Breakwater Cottage, then hopped out and opened the door for Sadie and Fiona. The dog’s tail wagged, and he gave her a pat as she waited to assist Sadie to the house. Mallory had called him after getting back from the mail run today to tell him what Dixie said. He couldn’t think of anyone fitting that description, but he had an idea he wanted to talk to her about.
Mallory and Haylie stepped out the screen door and onto the front porch. Haylie rushed toward him and Sadie, and at first he thought maybe she was warming up to him. Then she cast a glance back toward her mom and came close enough to whisper.
“Can you convince my mom to let me join the swim team here? She has me locked up like I’m in jail. It’s like she’s afraid to let me out of her sight. I’m going crazy.”
He put his hand on her shoulder. “She has cause to be worried, Haylie.”
“What can happen at swim team? I mean, come on, the place will be crawling with adults.”
The kid had a point. “I’ll see what I can do.” She looked too much like Mallory for him to offer much resistance.
Her lips curved in a smile, and she took Sadie’s hand. “Let’s throw a Frisbee to Fiona. I’ll throw the Frisbee toward your feet so if the dog misses it, you can find it.”
“Okay.” Sadie’s sweet face lit with a smile.
Kevin watched them go with an odd ache in his chest. Haylie seemed to be looking for ways to help Sadie be more like a normal kid, and he was grateful. Most teenagers wouldn’t have bothered.
Mallory lifted a brow as he reached her on the porch. “What was that all about?”
“Swim team.” When she started to shake her head, he put his hand on her arm. “She has a point, Mallory. You can’t keep her locked up. I know you want to protect her, but I know the swim team coaches. One is a big guy who used to be in the Marines, and the other is a no-nonsense woman who also teaches martial arts. Haylie’ll be safe.”
“You’re all ganging up on me. Carol is trying to talk me into it too.” She slanted a glance up at him. “You’re sure she’ll be safe?”
“As safe as at school. Loosen the apron strings, little mama.”
Amusement sparked in her eyes. “Okay.” She called Haylie over and told her she could go join the swim team. “When is the next practice?”
Haylie’s ponytail bounced as she hugged her mother. “It’s this afternoon. Thanks, Mom!”
Kevin winked at her, and she reached over and deposited a quick kiss on his cheek before rushing back to join Sadie.
Carol, dressed in khaki slacks and a blue Windbreaker, stepped through the door. “What’s all the excitement?”
“Swim team. I finally said yes.” Worry still creased Mallory’s brow. “I hope I don’t regret it.”
“She’ll be fine. I think I’ll go play with the girls. My back hurts from working at my computer all morning, and I need some exercise.”
“Thanks, Carol,” Mallory called after her, then smiled up at Kevin. “She’s just making sure I’m not worrying while we’re in my office. I’ve been going through things to see if I can find a clue to my birth parents. Come with me.”
He followed her to the office. A big wooden desk, covered with bins of mail, took up most of the room. “Shew, it’s stuffy in here. Mind if I open a window?”
She picked up some papers on the desk. “Have at it.” She frowned. “Oh shoot, I need to run get my adoption papers out of the car. I took them to town to make copies because Dad’s printer didn’t have a photocopier.”
Kevin struggled with the sticky window until he managed to get it up. “I thought you swore you’d never track down your birth parents. Are you sure you want to do this?” The salt-laden breeze lifted his hair and cleared the room of the stale odor from being shut up.
She started for the door and stopped. “I have to. Dad mentioned my mother, and it couldn’t be Mom he was referring to. It has to be my birth mother.”
She looked super cute today with her dark hair pulled back in a long braid. The dark circles were gone from under her eyes, and there was a flush of color on her cheeks. He averted his gaze. Any attraction he felt was just the lingering mist from when he was young.
“The first thing I have to do is find out her name. Then maybe I can track her down.”
“That’s one of the things I wanted to talk to you about. I know a private investigator in Louisville, Abby McKinley. Let me give her a call.” He whipped out his cell phone and called up her number. Mallory leaned against the door frame, obviously interested in what he might learn.
Abby answered on the first ring. “Kevin, I haven’t heard from you in forever. How’s everything in my favorite state?”
“Nice now that spring is here. Listen, I have a job for you—finding my friend’s birth mother. It’s pretty important and may be tied to a murder.” Mallory flinched at the word murder, and he realized he’d never called her dad’s death a murder until now.
“Sure, give me the details and I’ll see what I can find out this week. Those are usually pretty easy to track down these days.”
“I don’t know a lot.” He gave her Mallory’s name and birth date and the names of her adoptive parents.
“That should be enough to get started. This probably is none of my business, but has she had counseling? It’s recommended these days to make sure an adopted child is ready for what she may find out. I mean, the parents could be convicts . . . they could be on welfare and eager for a handout from her. It might not be pretty.”
“I don’t think she has, but right now there doesn’t seem to be much of a choice.”
Abby let out a heavy sigh. “If I have any questions, may I call her?”
He gave her Mallory’s cell phone number as he wandered over to the window. A flutter of movement by the shrubs bordering the yard caught his attention. Frowning, he leaned closer and saw someone disappear into the trees. The shadows were too deep for him to make out more than the person’s baseball cap.
He ended the call and dropped the phone into his pocket. “Someone was watching the house.”
Mallory’s dark-brown eyes went wide, and she wheeled toward the door. “The girls!”
“They’re fine. I can see them, and Carol is throwing a Frisbee with them. But I want to look around. Tell Carol to take them to town for ice cream and then on to swim practice. I’ll see if I can track this guy. I’d like them away from here.”
He strode after her to exit the kitchen door and hurry toward the grassy area where the children played. His boots sank in the soft ground, and he paused as he reached the row of shrubs.
It didn’t take much of an investigation to see the impression where someone had laid on the ground and watched the house. The same person who had ransacked the office?
Mallory sent Carol away with the children, then ran to catch up with Kevin. She batted away bugs as she followed him. How was he even following the trail? She couldn’t see anything in the short grass and weeds, but he was like a bloodhound tracking a scent as he climbed over rocks and through wild-blueberry barrens. His muscular arms flexed against his brown game warden shirt as he pushed branches aside for her.
He’d always been tall and strong, but the years had broadened his shoulders and chiseled his features even more. In his early twenties he’d been handsome. At thirty-five, he compelled attention in a way that went beyond mere good looks. Being around him was going to test her fortitude in ways she hadn’t expected.
She forced her attention back to the ground. “Can you tell who it was?”
“Someone light—either a teenager, a small man, or a woman.”
“Lots of open territory here.” She stopped to wave away a cloud of insects.
He stopped at the top of the hillside looking down into the cove. “The granite steps lead to the water here. Whoever it was came by boat.” He squinted in the bright sunshine. “Several boats out there, but they’re too far to see anything.”
The only boat she recognized was her dad’s blue-and-white one bobbing at the dock.
He shoved his hands in his pocket as he turned back to face her. He opened his mouth, then stopped for a second. “You smell that?”
She started to say no, then the acrid scent of smoke came to her nose. “Smoke?”
“Fire!”
When he pointed, she saw flames licking the roof and spilling out the windows. She started back toward the house, but he grabbed her arm. “Wait. Let me check it out.”
She lifted her chin. “I’m going with you.” She shook off his grip and darted along the edge of the trees toward her house.
The structure was fully engulfed in flames. Even if the fire department arrived this minute, they’d never be able to save it. A weight pressed against her chest. Gone. Everything inside would be incinerated. Pictures, trophies, all the little mementos.
Her arms felt like lead and her legs didn’t want to hold her. She fell to her knees in the damp grass and stared at the flames flaring high in the spring wind. Crackling, popping, and whooshing sounds of fire mingled with the sound of breaking glass and falling beams. How could it have spread so far so fast?
Kevin rushed past her, but an explosion of flames forced him back. The heat of it baked against Mallory’s face until her skin felt tight. Her eyes burned, both from the smoke and the unshed tears she struggled to hold back. The smoke filled her lungs and made her cough. All her childhood memories were in this place. The flames consumed them in front of her eyes.
Kevin knelt beside her and slipped his arm around her waist, pulling her against him. Even the spicy scent of his cologne failed to push away the choking odor of smoke. She let her head fall to its natural place in the crook of his neck and allowed the tears to escape.
“I’m sorry, Mal.” He pressed his lips against her forehead.
The familiar nickname and the kiss both gave her fresh courage. “Someone set this fire, didn’t they? It went up so fast. There had to be an accelerant.”
His chocolate-brown eyes narrowed, and he nodded. “I smelled gasoline.”
She smelled it, too, then, a cloyingly sweet scent mingled with the smoke. “What if Haylie had been inside? Or anyone else, for that matter?”
“I think whoever it was knew Carol had taken the kids and left us here. I’m not sure what message they’re sending either. What was the point of burning the house?”
“Maybe they think if I don’t have a home, I’ll have to leave.” She pulled away and stood.
Rubbing at her stinging eyes, she stared at the house as several rafters groaned and collapsed. Glowing embers fanned into the air and blew toward them. Kevin pulled her farther away from the fire as the heat intensified.
What would she do now? Her father was a stickler for insurance, but it would take months to rebuild. Where would she and Haylie live in the meantime? Going back to Bangor wasn’t an option, not with someone after her. The only way to make all this stop was to find out who was targeting her. And why.
Kevin backed her away a few more feet. “I have a big house. You, Carol, and Haylie are welcome to stay with me.”
“We could probably stay with Aunt Blanche too.”
He shook his head. “An old woman isn’t going to protect you. And the stress of having you all there would probably be hard on her. Besides, the travel would be rough. Don’t be stubborn. We’ll be chaperoned with Carol there.”
The thought of staying at his house drew her—and scared her to death. If she was already feeling this pull toward him, how much harder would it be to see him every morning and every night? But he wanted to help her find whoever was behind all this. Not even the sheriff seemed all that interested, though maybe this act of arson would change his mind.
She stared up into Kevin’s face, searching his expression for any sign of uncertainty. “I guess I don’t have much choice.”
He lifted a brow. “Don’t make it sound like a death sentence. I don’t think whoever did this is going to stop. At least with me, you’ll have some protection.”
“I don’t even have my gun any longer. My purse was in the kitchen.”
So was her phone and all their belongings. Haylie would be upset too. “We’ll have to make a run to my house in Bangor and get some things.”
“You’re not going back there alone. I’ll take you.” His voice was grim. “And I’ve got a small revolver you can borrow.”
“Thank you.” Her gaze collided with his, and she thought she saw a hint of yearning in his face. Or was it wishful thinking? They’d both moved on long ago. She had to be careful not to read too much into his concern.
FIFTEEN
What was he thinking bringing Mallory here? Kevin tossed the last pillow on the bed and gave a quick look around the bedroom. He could hear Mallory’s voice upstairs in Sadie’s room as she got Haylie settled.
Sadie was thrilled to have Haylie sharing her room, but he suspected Mallory’s daughter would be less happy. Carol’s room was down the hall, and he’d put Mallory in his bedroom near Sadie. The thought of her in his bed nearly made him crazy, but he wanted to take the downstairs bedroom so any intruder would have to get through him first.
He shut the door and went back to the living room, where he found her going through a photo album of Sadie’s first year. “She was cute, wasn’t she?”
Looking up, Mallory closed the book. “She still is. And more than that, she’s wonderful and well adjusted. I always knew you’d be a good dad.”
The blood drained from his face at her reference, and the anger he’d kept in check for days flared out of control. “And that’s why you were so quick to run off when you lost the baby?”
In long strides he made for the door. He never should have brought her here. He stepped out into the cool breeze. The sunset gave a colorful show as it sank over the budding trees to the west. He inhaled and tried to grab the tail of his rage.
The door squeaked behind him, and he smelled the scent of her vanilla shampoo. “We have to talk about it, Kevin. I knew you were still mad.”
He turned and, keeping his distance, leaned against the porch post. “What was so much better about Brian? You left here and married him practically the next day.”
Her big brown eyes held an ocean of sorrow. “Everyone thought you only wanted to marry me because I was pregnant. I wasn’t so sure myself.”
“Don’t give me that, Mallory. You were out of here like a shotgun blast. Were you afraid I’d never match Brian’s income potential?” A bitter laugh escaped his lips and he set his jaw. “As it happened, you were right. But we’re happy, me and Sadie, even if I’m not rolling in dough.”
She looked away, but not before he caught a glimmer of moisture in her eyes. “It wasn’t that at all, Kevin. I . . . I felt Mom’s death was punishment for o-our sin. That I didn’t deserve to be happy.” She passed her hand over her forehead. “I was stupid, okay? When I look back, I realize how messed up my thinking was, but it’s too late to fix it now.”
“It’s too late, all right.” A movement caught his eye, and he saw the sheriff’s big 4 x 4 pickup roll to a stop. “The sheriff’s here.”
Just as well. There wasn’t much to be said about the situation. It was done.
The big sheriff unwound his long legs from under the wheel, hiked up his belt, then headed toward the house. He pushed his hat away from his forehead and lifted a hand to Kevin when he met him at the steps. “Got a minute?”
“Of course.” Kevin opened the door and stepped aside to allow him to enter. “Mug up?”
“Ayuh, I wouldn’t say no.” Danny’s hazel eyes were sober above his flowing red mustache.
“I’ll get some coffee.”
The flush in her cheeks deepened when s
he saw the sheriff, and her expression went wary. “Sheriff Colton. Any news about the fire?”
The sheriff took off his hat, revealing his bald head, and turned it in his hands. “Looks to be arson, Mrs. Davis. Lots of gasoline in your dad’s office. Any idea what the arsonist might have wanted to destroy in that room?”
She shook her head and went to sit on the blue-plaid sofa. “That was the mail room, but I’d delivered all the mail that had collected there.”
Danny’s eyes narrowed. “Makes me wonder if someone had hoped to prevent a letter from being mailed. First your dad dies and now this.”
“So you believe me about Dad’s death—that it wasn’t an accident?”
“Maybe. This incident makes me wonder what really happened. I’m going to look into Edmund’s death a little more.” He stared down at her from his six-foot-seven height. “I hear you’ve been poking around yourself.”
She crossed her jean-clad legs. “Who told you?”
“I ran into Dixie out on Walker’s Roost this morning. She’s all exercised about this, so if she says to take a look at Edmund’s death, I’m going to do it.”
“I guess that makes me chopped liver.” Kevin grinned to take the sting out of his words. At least he wouldn’t have to buck Danny as they looked into this. “What can I do to help?”
“You get called to people’s homes pretty much every day. Keep your ears open, ask if anyone knows if Edmund had mentioned anything. Someone has to know something.”
Mallory clasped her hands over her knee and leaned forward. “Did Dixie tell you about the argument she saw between Dad and a guy in a suit?”
Danny shuffled his size-fifteen feet and took a sip of his coffee. “She didn’t mention that. Just said you were suspicious that his death wasn’t an accident.”
Kevin watched Mallory as she told Danny about the argument. Every emotion showed in her expressive dark eyes and full lips. When she was twenty, there was never any question of what she was thinking or feeling, but since she’d returned, he noticed she held back. He wanted to smile at the way the old Mallory was showing herself now, even if it was dangerous to his equanimity.