Home Fires (28 page)

“That, my dear, is entirely up to you.”

Her mind raced in furious debate. She didn’t want to meet with the Judge, but it seemed she had no choice. “Mom has physical therapy with George at two this afternoon.”

“I will be in my office, waiting.”

Rose nodded wordlessly and hung up the phone. She gripped the edge of the cherry buffet, blew out a deep breath, and forced herself to stand.

The Judge was home again. And last night, Mike had worked another fire scene. A fire that had been officially labeled of suspicious origin.

The arsonist was back.

Rose gave the empty reception desk a furtive glance as she trailed the Judge into his office. “Where’s Judith?”

“Who knows?” He sighed as he sank down in the black leather chair behind the mahogany desk. “Speaking confidentially, my dear, I agreed to let everyone think she retired. But the truth is, I let her go.”

“You fired Judith?” Rose stared at him in disbelief.

The Judge nodded. He pinched his nose, his eyes weary. “She was robbing me blind.”

“Judith, a thief?” The thought was incredulous. “That sounds so…”

“Ridiculous? Yes, I thought so, too,” he agreed, “until the truth was revealed to me. I never should have allowed her control of the checkbook. She was very clever in the way she did it, I will grant you that. She took a little here, a little there. Over the years, it all added up. Once I discovered what she’d been doing, I had no choice but to let her go.”

Rose warily eyed her old friend. Judith had worked for the Judge for years. She ran his law practice competently and efficiently, without the assistance of additional staff or the benefit of a law degree. Now, merely on his say-so, the Judge expected her to believe that his longtime legal assistant had turned out to be a thief?

Rose’s thoughts returned to the investigative file she had discovered last night and the records contained in the report. The Judge was strapped for cash, and now—by his own admission—he’d fired his former assistant.

A regular, generous paycheck went a long way in purchasing an employee’s loyalty. Could it be that Judith wasn’t the thief he hoped to make her out to be? Perhaps her desk was empty because he’d run out of money, she’d learned the truth and quit.

Rose glanced around the plush office suite with fresh eyes. A thin layer of dust covered the bookshelves, computer, and the desk separating them. Did the Judge lack the funds to pay a cleaning staff as well?

Such disloyalty to her old friend. She tried to shake off the foggy doubt from her mind. Before today, he’d never given her cause to wonder if what he said was true. But suddenly everything her dear old friend said seemed suspect. She hated feeling like this—doubting the Judge, doubting herself. Damn that fireman for causing her all this grief.

“I didn’t ask you here today to talk about Judith. I want to discuss our partnership.” The Judge’s sharp black eyes narrowed. “Have you thought about my offer?”

“I haven’t had much time,” she said, hedging her bets. “You weren’t very specific.”

A frown of dismay encompassed his well-worn face. A face she’d known and loved all her life. “I was hoping you would have reached some sort of decision while I was gone.”

But where had he gone? Had he made a hasty trip to California to visit his ailing sister? Or had he gone to Las Vegas, the gaming capital of the free world?

“Perhaps we should discuss finances. If it is a question of money—”

“No, that’s not it.” She cut him off quickly. Until today, she’d felt only love and respect for this man. He was as dear to her as her own father had been, and she owed the Judge more than she could ever hope to repay. His wallet had been wide open upon her acceptance to law school, and he’d refused to accept any reimbursement. How could she sit here and listen to him discuss his financial situation and the mounting debts he faced? She owed him everything. Everything, and more.

“I would insist we be equal partners,” he continued. “Fifty-fifty, that is only fair. I will continue to handle the real estate portion of the business and you would handle the rest. Please say yes, my dear. I’d like to be able to tell my clients that you are on board.”

“Buying into a partnership.” Rose shook her head, frantic for time. “It’s a big decision.”

“I know it can be difficult when you are first starting out. Naturally you wouldn’t have a tremendous amount of cash flow—”

“Do we need to discuss this right now?” The words tumbled out, sharper than she intended, but she couldn’t stop herself. After reading Mike’s file last night, she’d developed a suspicion of what was going on. She couldn’t sit there and listen as the Judge admitted his gambling debts and how low his addiction had brought him.

“My dear, what has you so upset?” His face wore a puzzled frown. “Is it your mother?”

Hot tears prickled behind her eyes, threatening to overspill. She wouldn’t cry, she wouldn’t! She dabbed at them with the tissue he offered.

“Cecilia Rose, please tell me what’s wrong.”

If he had been a client, there would have been no difficulty maintaining a cool, studied composure. But he wasn’t a client. He was the Judge. And that familiar loving tone in his voice, the soft paternal look in his eyes, brought every defense crashing down.

“What’s wrong? Everything is wrong! I wish I had never come home.” She lifted red-rimmed eyes to meet his gaze. “It’s like the whole town’s gone mad. Mom and Lil are in a constant uproar over something, and Charles isn’t helping with those horrible articles he keeps printing.” Her face scrunched in a deep frown as she fanned herself. “Even the weather is screwed up this summer. It’s so damn hot outside. What happened to those cool summer breezes we used to have? Why can’t things be the way they used to be? That’s all what I want… things the way they used to be.”

The other part of her wish remained unspoken.
Please don’t let Mike prove me wrong about you.
Until today, the Judge had been her hero. His behavior had been above reproach, his ethics admirable, his words filled with truth. Until today.

If she could have any wish in this world, she would ask that the last two days be magically erased. Was that too much to ask? That the doubts and fears crowding her heart ceased to exist? That she never had cause to doubt this man again?

“We can’t always have everything we want, my dear. You know that.”

“Don’t you understand?” She shook her head. “Everything would have worked out if only you’d stayed away just a few more days.”

“If I had stayed away?” The Judge’s voice deepened in a perplexing tone. “What is that supposed to mean? My dear, you are not making sense.”

“Have you seen this morning’s paper?” She lifted her gaze in a sudden challenge. “There was another fire last night.”

He shifted in his chair. “I wasn’t aware of that. Was anyone hurt?”

No more hiding in the shadows. No matter how bad the outcome, better to have things out in the open than to keep evading the issue.

If you have to make a move, strike on point.

“Mike thinks you’re the one setting these fires.”

“He told you that?” The Judge’s words sliced through the hum of the air conditioner.

“He didn’t have to. I saw his file on you. I came across it by accident at the fire station last night.” She bit her bottom lip until it hurt. She’d already said way too much but she couldn’t stop. “He’s been investigating you all along. He thinks you’re the prime suspect.”

The Judge exhaled sharply. “Does he know that you’ve seen his file?”

Wordlessly she shook her head, waiting for him to speak. But contrary to her expectation, there was no bellicose bluster, no belligerent indignation. The Judge merely raised his eyebrows.

“You don’t seem surprised,” she finally said.

“Frankly, my dear, I would be more shocked to learn that your fireman friend
didn’t
consider me a suspect,” he replied. “He is only doing his job, and a difficult one, at that. He is trying to keep the entire town at bay while attempting to solve a series of crimes. I would assume everyone to be suspect in his book. Unless, of course, he should catch the culprit red-handed.”

A small smile appeared on the Judge’s face. “Do not worry, my dear. Let us trust him to do the job he was appointed to do, to protect our community and bring the arsonist to bay.”

She wanted to stomp her feet, to kick and scream like a ten-year-old. Despite his soothing words and the kind, patient smile on his face, the Judge was holding something back. Where was the anger? The resentment? The rousing call to action at hearing himself unjustly accused? An honest man would protest his innocence to anyone who would listen. So, why not the Judge? Or perhaps he thought they were all fools?

Or maybe she was the fool, for believing in him all these years.

“My dear, you tend to take matters too much to heart,” he said softly. “You’ve enough at home to worry about with your mother. Things will work out. They always do. You need to trust.”

Trust? She hid her hands in her lap so he wouldn’t see them shaking. Trust? Who was he to talk? Her belief in him had been shaken to the core.

“I’m very confused.” She tried to keep her voice from trembling. “I feel like I don’t know who I can have faith in anymore.”

“But of course you do, my dear.” The Judge reached across the massive desk and covered her hand with his own. “Never doubt it for one moment. You can always trust me.”

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

____________________________________

The James Bay Journal
:

____________________________________

Dear Editor: The
Journal
ought to be ashamed. The editorial you published trashing our fire department was unjust, untrue, and uncalled for. These fine brave men fighting the fires are doing their best to keep our town safe. The last thing they need while trying to do their jobs is criticism from people like you.

You owe our firemen an apology.

Sincerely, Lil Gillespie and Irene Gallagher

____________________________________

“Pick-up for Gallagher!” The deep male voice boomed through the crowd at Chuck’s Tavern.

“Thanks for letting me share your table, Lucy.”

“Bye, Rose. Tell your mom I hope she feels better soon.”

“I’ll do that.” Rose leapt to her feet with a smile for the girl she’d been chatting with for the past twenty minutes. Lucy’s grandmother had been the Gallagher’s housekeeper for years, and Rose and Lucy Carter had grown up together. Nowadays, Lucy worked on the
Journal
staff. Poor Lucy, having Charles for a boss, Rose thought to herself as she headed for the cash register and takeout counter.

A tall solid body dressed in crisp uniform blues blocked her way. Rose watched in disbelief as a tan muscular arm seized her dinner order.

“Excuse me, but that’s my dinner you grabbed.”

Mike turned with a cool stare. “Correction, I believe the man called
my
name.”

Rose fumed. They hadn’t talked since he’d hung up on her, and she was in no mood to be humored. She’d already waited more than twenty minutes in the hot, crowded restaurant. Who did he think he was, snatching up her dinner like that?

“That’s my to-go order, and you know it.”

“Got any proof?”

“I ordered fish.”

“What a coincidence. So did I.” The smile on Mike’s face was docile and sweet. “Funny, both of us having a taste for fish tonight.”

“Not funny at all,” she shot back. “Give me that sack.” She lunged for the bag but he held it high, a tantalizing three inches out of her reach.

“Hey, you two, take your lover’s quarrel outside. But first, somebody pay for that meal.” Chuck drummed his fingers against the bar counter, eyeing the two of them from behind the cash register.

Rose reached for her purse, but it was too late. Mike’s hand already contained a flash of green dollar bills.

“You are the most obnoxious, arrogant man I have ever met,” she growled as she watched him hand over the money.

“Careful now, Rosie,” Mike warned. He grabbed her arm and guided her through the noisy throng of customers waiting for tables. “You don’t want to say something you’ll later regret.”

“Don’t you dare call me
Rosie
.” She yanked free from his touch as they faced each other outside the restaurant door.

“Hasn’t this gone on long enough?” His voice dropped, coaxing. “Come on, Rose. I don’t get it. Why are you so mad?”

She shifted on her feet and leveled him with a tight stare. She wasn’t about to give him the satisfaction of a reply. Mike thought he was so smart? Let him figure things out on his own.

Or perhaps he couldn’t stand the heat?

Rose pushed down the small telltale voice that wouldn’t cease. Mike was only doing his job. Plus, her snooping through the file he kept on the Judge hadn’t exactly been an honorable thing to do. But at the moment, she wasn’t in the mood to be proved wrong by anyone. By Mike, or herself. Not when it came to the Judge.

“I’m not going to stand here arguing with you. My mother is waiting for me at home.”

“Just tell me why you’re mad.”

She glared at him. “Are you going to give me my dinner order or not?”

“First tell me what I want to know,” he insisted.

“Fine, I’ll tell you, but—” Rose broke off in heated reply.

Don’t say it, don’t say something you’ll only regret…

She pressed her lips together. She wouldn’t say it, she wouldn’t.

Mike held the sack tight.

“I can’t believe you hung up on me.” The words shot out before she could stop them. “That was pretty rude.”

His face reddened. “You were pretty rude yourself, if I remember correctly.”

“You called me bossy.”

“Did I?” He shrugged. “Well, you said I was bullheaded and stubborn.”