Teacup Novellas 02 - Strike the Match (15 page)

Bud pursed his lips. “Ah. That explains it then. Must be one of yours.”

Something in the back of her mind began to spin. But what?

“Then again . . .” Bud began, tapping the eraser end of his pencil on his blotter.

She looked up at him. “What?”

“Doesn’t Zack wear that greasy mess of hair of his in a pony tail most of the time? Do guys use these too?”

“Sure. They don’t exactly make ‘his and her’ pony tail holders. And guys usually wear this plain kind, without any decoration.”

They stared at each other, thinking. Something just out of reach in her mind nagged her. But what?
Who else wears a pony tail?
“I’m trying to think if any of the guys in Dad’s crew have long hair but most of them wear it short or even shave their heads.”

“And you’re sure that’s not yours? I mean, it’s red just like yours.”

“They come in all kinds of colors. Mostly black and navy and red, but they could be any color.” She closed her eyes, trying to think if she’d had her hair pulled back when she was at the site. The night of the fire, she hadn’t had time to do anything with her hair. After she got Carson’s call, she’d quickly dressed, but she didn’t remember pulling her hair back. Besides, that night she never got near the hearth where she’d seen this . . .

“Oh my gosh.”

“What?”

“I remember when I saw this. It was a few days after the fire. I’d gone out there to the site to nose around. Grant had just hired me and asked me to start probing into the fire, come up with a list of suspects. I drove up and found Matt Blankenship at the cabin.”

“Matt? What was Matt doing there?”

“He said his folks were having trouble getting back from Europe.”

“I know, Keri. We’ve been in constant communication with them since the fire. They just flew into Portland late last night. Should be in town later today.”

“Matt said he’d come in town on their behalf to check out the damage. He said—”

Keri jumped at the sound of Bud’s chair scraping against the floor as he stood abruptly. “Keri, when was the last time you saw Matt?”

“What? I just told you. That morning at the cabin.”

“When? What day was that?”

“I don’t know, it must have been . . . it was Tuesday. Same day I started working for Grant. Wait—it was right after I came by and talked to you that morning. Remember?”

“I remember. So?”

“After I left here, I drove out to the cabin. Just to look around. Matt was already there. When I pulled up I saw—” She gasped, jumping to her feet. “Bud! Matt drives a pickup! A dark pickup! Remember, Shep said he saw a dark pickup leaving the
Weekly
office just before he saw the fire?”

“Focus, Keri. Focus. Back to Matt. You saw him at the cabin and he had a black pickup?”

“I saw it parked around back. Or I mean, front. The front of the cabin. But it wasn’t black, it was navy. A navy blue pickup . . .”

The memory raced through her mind. The surprise at finding him there. The compassion she’d felt toward him about the loss of his new home. The awkward conversation . . .

She gasped again. “Bud!” Her eyes tracked up to his. “It was really windy that day. A big gust of wind came up, blowing all that ash in our faces . . . and once I’d cleared my eyes, I looked up just as Matt took
a red band
off his wrist and pulled back his hair into a pony tail.”

Bud started to say something, but she stopped him.

“But wait. That was
after
he left that I saw this in the ash near the fireplace.” She picked up the evidence bag again, looking at the singed remnant. “I sat on the hearth and toed my sneakers in the ash. That’s when it caught my eye. So it couldn’t have been Matt’s because I’d just seen him put it in his hair.”

Bud tried to interrupt but she continued, dropping the plastic bag and stretching the band she’d just taken out of her hair. “But of course, when you buy these, you buy them in a pack of a dozen or so. And they usually come in an assortment of colors.”

“Keri—”

“And if he’s like me, he keeps extras in his pocket or on his wrist . . .”

Bud came around the desk and held his palm in her face. “Keri! Listen to me!”

She blinked, snapping her head up to face him.

“The Blankenships haven’t talked to Matt in years. They’re estranged. Some kind of huge fight they had years ago. He’d threatened his mother, and his father kicked him out.”

“But why was he . . . oh. Oh! Oh my gosh—he burned their house down.”

“I think we’ve found our guy.”

Keri rushed after the sheriff as he hurried out the door, barking orders at his deputies.

“I’m coming with you.”

He turned and grabbed her by the shoulders. “No ma’am, you most certainly are not. Your father would have my hide if I put you in any kind of danger. You either sit tight here or go check in on your father. But whatever you do, do NOT interfere. And that’s an order.”

She bit her lip as he turned to leave, knowing he was right. “Be careful, Bud. I’ll be at the hospital with Dad. Call me if you find him.”

He nodded just before ducking into his cruiser.

A few minutes later, Keri stopped by the paper to talk to Grant. As she walked up the back steps of the building, she remembered he’d headed out to Shep’s boat after leaving her at the lighthouse. She tried to call him on his cell but it went straight to voice mail. Instead of leaving a message, she called her aunt, assuming she’d be at Shep’s side and maybe she’d know where to find him.

“Hey sweetie. No, he’s not here. He called from Shep’s place with a couple of questions for his dad. Then he said he was going by Chandlers to pick up some of Clara’s meatloaf and mashed potatoes for Shep. Our patient is a bit cranky about the hospital food he’s been served here.”

“Okay, tell you what. If you hear from him, tell him I need to talk to him as soon as possible. He’s not answering his cell.”

Nita hooted. “That’s because he dropped it in the john in Shep’s bathroom here at the hospital. I couldn’t help laughing but he was
not
happy about it. Oh what a sight that was!” Nita continued to chuckle. Keri could hear her chatting with Shep in the background.

“AUNT NITA!”

“What? Good heavens, Keri, what’s the matter? You sound upset.”

“I’m fine. But I’ve got to talk to him. In fact, I think I’ll stop by Chandlers and see if I can catch him there.” She hurried down the steps and back into her car.

“All right, sweetie. I’ll tell him in case you miss him.”

Keri snapped off her phone and turned her key in the ignition. A few moments later, she pulled up in front of Chandlers, disappointed she couldn’t find Grant’s car in the parking lot.

That’s when she saw it.

The dark pickup parked toward the back of the lot. A navy blue pickup.

Her heart raced. She knew she should wait. She knew she should call Bud. But without a second thought she got out of her Jeep and hurried to the front door. When she entered, she spotted him immediately, sitting up at the front counter.

What should I do? What should I say? Oh God, help me out here.

“Hi Keri,” Clara called from the window to the kitchen. “How are you?”

Matt turned, looking over his shoulder at her. He nodded, studying her as he continued to eat.

She was quite certain he could see the fear in her eyes, hear her heart pounding in her chest.
He knows that I know. There’s no way that he knows that I know. But he knows. I’m sure of it.

But it made no sense. She told herself to calm down, breathe normally, and stop acting like such an amateur. Even if she was one.

“Hi, Matt. Nice to see you again.”

He just nodded then took a sip of his Coke.

“Keri, are you here to pick up that order Nita called in?”

“Uh, yeah. That’s why I’m here.” She shot Matt a plastic smile. “Picking up food. For a friend.”

He took another bite of his burger, indifferent.

She slowly made her way to his side, biting back the huge lump of fear in her throat before climbing up onto the stool. She left a stool between them. “I haven’t seen your folks yet, Matt. Did they make it back yet?” She prayed he didn’t hear that nervous crack in her voice.

He didn’t turn to look at her, instead focusing on the fries he was pushing through a puddle of ketchup. “Not yet.”

“Really? I would have thought they’d made it home by now. I mean, it can’t take
that
long to fly home. Even with the storms. I read once where—”

“They’ll be here soon enough. Why?”

“Why what?”

He chomped down on the messy fries, taking his time to chew. Finally, “Why you need to know where my parents are?”

“Oh. Well. I was just, uh . . . Dad needs to talk to them. He’s got a lot to discuss with them, you know. So many decisions to make now that . . . now that, uh . . .”

He reached for his Coke again, his eyes sliding sideways toward her.

She pushed her hands into her coat pockets to hide the trembling. “Anyway, if you hear from them . . .”

He blinked.

Her fingers grasped something in her pocket.
The elastic hair band.
She felt the heat creep up her face as an idea immediately took shape in her mind. She swallowed hard again, her eyes briefly closing. Then she locked eyes with him as she pulled the red band from her pocket and placed it next to his plate on the counter.

He looked at it, his brow dipping slightly. “What’s that?”

“What do you think it is?” She cringed, hearing the waver in her voice again.

He pushed his plate back then wiped his mouth with a wrinkled paper napkin. “I don’t have a clue. Why don’t you tell me?”

She leaned to one side for a better view of his hair. “Oh, I think you know what it is. Especially since there’s one just like it holding your pony tail in place.”

He looked ahead, shaking his head slightly. “Okay. What’s this all about? Is this some kind of game? Because I’m really not in the mood.”

“It’s no game, Matt.” She pushed her own hair out of her eyes and leveled them at him. “The investigators found the burned remnants of one of these out at what’s left of your parents’ house.”

He shrugged, his body language saying, “So?”

“Just like the one you were wearing that day I saw you out there. Just like the one you’re wearing now.”

He suddenly spun on the stool to face her. “Are you making some kind of accusation here?”

She stepped down off her stool, backing away. “Maybe.”

“Because you had better have something more than that if you’re saying what I think you’re saying.”

Keri tried to steel her nerves. “You never told me you were estranged from your parents.”

His eyes narrowed almost imperceptively but he said nothing.

“You said you were checking on the house on their behalf. But you haven’t talked to them in years. Not since . . .”

He stood up, nearing her. “Not since what?

Her heart pounded, her chest heaving in response. “Since you threatened your mother. Something about a big falling out.”

“And you think because I had an argument with my parents I would come all the way back to Oregon just to torch their dream house?”

She let the theory hang in the air, knowing it was true. Even his cocky demeanor couldn’t hide the guilt written on his face.

He stepped even closer, grabbing her elbow in his hand, squeezing hard. “I asked, is that what you think?” he growled under his breath.

“Actually, it’s what we all think.”

Matt stepped back, Keri’s elbow still in his grasp. The sheriff and his deputy stood just inside the door of the café, their hands on their holstered weapons.

“Matt, why don’t you let go of Keri and let’s have us a little chat.”

Keri yelped as Matt’s fingers dug into her skin.

“Let her go, Matt. Let’s don’t make this any more complicated than it already is.”

He started to move sideways, his back to the row of stools at the counter, as he drug Keri along with him. “Stay back. You guys don’t know what you’re talking about. I had nothing to do with those fires.”

“Fires?” Bud echoed, emphasizing the ‘s’ on the end of the word.

“Bud, please . . .help me,” Keri croaked, pulling away from Matt.

He tugged harder, jerking her closer to him as he continued moving backward toward the kitchen area.

“You’ve got nothing on me. A stupid piece of a hair band? Are you kidding me? That could belong to anyone. Even your little keystone cop here. Ever think about that?”

“She had no motive. In fact, she had a lot to lose in that fire. Same as her dad. You, on the other hand, have an ongoing feud with your parents.”

As if on cue, a middle-aged couple entered the door behind the sheriff and his deputy. Keri recognized them immediately.

“Matt? What are you doing? What’s going on here?”

Matt grabbed Keri’s other elbow, shoving her in front of him like a human shield. She felt his hot bursts of breath on her neck.
Oh God, please don’t let me die.

The man stepped beside Bud. “Matt, let her go. Whatever this is about, we can handle it. You don’t want to hurt anyone else.”

“Oh, that’s rich coming from you, Dad. ‘Anyone
else
’? You just confirmed what I’ve known all these years.”