Molly Dox - Annie Addison 02 - A Tangled Mess (5 page)

Before she could turn away, he grabbed her. The cameras were to keep an eye on the place, so that he and his partner
s could pilfer the shops. He didn’t expect to be noticed, and covered the best he could, but Annie caught him off guard. The lure of extra money was too much to resist. His salary was nothing to write home about and when the offer came through, he did something he had never done before. He looked the other way, and then broke the law. At first, he found it brazen to be approached. Then he realized the genius. Having somebody on the inside would allow them to strategically plan when and where to hit the homes. The deal was that they’d rob the empty homes; clean them out, and then burn them down. Greed got the best of him. The more he got paid, the more he wanted.

He hated the arson part of it, but knew that was what the lead guy needed for his juice. He’d come up from South Carolina. After a deal with an insider in South Carolina, he was close to being caught. He took a plea deal and ran. They scrubbed his file to make it look like sexual harassment. They couldn’t delete the complete file, since he was in the system, but they made the details change.

Coming to New Jersey, a sleepy beach town, he saw prime pickings. It was wealthy clientele, with high profile entertainment systems. If he could put a team together, get somebody to look the other way, an insider with access…it was risky, but it was either there or a gulf coast town in Florida for his next hit, and there were still warrants out for his arrest there, along with three other states.

When he first met Nick at one of the firehouse gatherings at the end of the summer, he knew he’d found his man. No room for advancement for way too long, a cop’s salary that didn’t keep up with the cost of living in the fancy community, and looking for some action, an adrenalin rush. When he finally got him alone, the cop’s face dropped like lead. How dare he think he’d go crooked…but when he heard the amount of money involved,
suddenly he perked up. He could easily double his yearly salary with this gig. There was a list of homes, if they hit a handful and got in and out, they’d be done and nobody would be any wiser.

Nick wanted money, but
Ian, Mr. South Carolina, wanted the thrill of lighting a place up. He chose empty homes. It was crucial that he targeted resort and vacation areas. He didn’t want to hurt anyone, but needed to light things on fire. He needed it to be big, and then he needed to show up and fight the fires he set. He needed it like a heroin addict needed a fix. Fires were his fix.

When Annie got so involved in the last investigation in town,
Nick knew it was smart to keep her close. He saw the glint in her eye when she talked about this stuff. Better to know what she and others were talking about to keep his back covered. He hated to use her that way, but he couldn’t risk losing his career. It was a part-time gig that was almost over. Six more houses on the list and he’d wash his hands of it, discarding whatever little evidence came into the police station.

Annie
’s scream pierced the air as Nick grabbed her. Pip heard the scream and ran out the door that was still open, lunging at the officer’s leg. Annie watched as Nick tried to kick off the dog, yelling in pain. Taking a hint from Pip, Annie bit down on Nick’s arm. It worked; he released her with a yelp. Annie took off running into the street…a car was coming. She stood in the center of the road, flagging down the vehicle. “Call 9-1-1,” she cried out. “Help me!”

The car stopped and let the distressed woman in. Her dog jumped in with her.

“Lady, are you okay?”

“9-1-1,” she was babbling, trying to calm herself.

The man held out his phone for her to use.

Catching her breath, she called dispatch, telling them what happened. A shiver ran through her. Nick was gimping to get into the van
to drive away. She read the tag to the police dispatcher and sadly gave his name to them. “It’s Officer Nick Rossi of Sandy Beach Township. He tried to kidnap me. I think he’s involved in the arson cases.” She also gave them Ian’s name as a possible accomplice and told them what she knew.

The man in the car’s mouth dropped open.

Hanging up the phone, Annie thanked the man for stopping. He may have very well saved her life.

***

Nick gave up Ian to lighten his own sentence. Plea bargains were struck, and puzzles were solved.

Annie sat on her sofa staring at the wall. Things could have gone even worse. She snuggled Pip and thanked her for coming to her rescue. “You’re the best friend a girl could ask for.”

Nobody expected a police officer to be involved in the crimes, so the talk of the town was alive with gossip. At least everybody would rest easy that night, knowing the crime spree had ended, and Sandy Beach Island could go back to the quiet place they all knew and loved.

THE END

Thank you for reading “A Tangled Mess” – an Annie Addison Cozy Mystery. Look for more titles by Molly Dox coming soon. If you enjoyed this story, please consider leaving a review so others can decide if this is a book they would like. Thank you for your time. If this is the first book you’re reading in the Annie Addison Cozy Mystery series, be sure to look for “Color Me Crazy” which starts it all. Thank you again for your time.