That Old Flame of Mine (17 page)

Chapter 19

“C
hief?” Tagger said, coming out of the kitchen and blinking rapidly, like an owl wakened in the daylight. “I didn’t know you were here. I think you might be a workaholic. I’m worried about you.”

She explained briefly about what had just happened outside. “You might need to turn that music down. Someone could sneak up on you.”

He laughed. “Now, who’d wanna do that? I know everyone for fifty miles around, and they all know me. No one would want to do old Tagger any harm.”

“Maybe not, but let’s turn it down a little anyway, okay?” He was supposed to be there to help with communications—not act as a guard dog, still he and Kent might have been having
too
good a time with the Beatles.

Kent came out with the Dalmatian puppy in his arms. “Thought I heard someone else out here. What’s up, Chief?”

She told him what was going on. They turned on the lights and took a look around.

Sure enough, the pumper and the engine had been vandalized. Large scratches had been gouged through “Sweet Pepper Fire Brigade,” and the intruder had scrawled “GO HOME STELLA”
all over everything.

“What a mess,” she said, irritated.

“Don’t worry, Chief,” Kent said. “I know someone who can take care of it. Old Jack Carriker will make it good as new. He’s a whiz. Kind of does handyman work all over the area. I can call him, if you like.”

“Sure. That would be great. Thanks, Kent.”

“Don’t know why anyone would want you to go home, Chief,” Tagger said. “I hope you never leave.”

“Thanks, Tagger,” she said. “I guess we should call the police and report this for the insurance company.”

“No need.” Tagger held the door open. “The police have come to us!”

John was pulling up in his pickup. He rolled down his window and called, “Doing a late night inspection, Chief?”

Stella walked out to the car. “We had a break-in.”

“Somebody wants to get rid of the chief,” Tagger said with tears in his old blue eyes. “They marked up the equipment.”

Stella started to explain what had happened, but before she could get out the first word, the siren at the top of the firehouse started screaming its warning. Stella’s and John’s pagers went off, as did Kent’s.

Tagger rushed inside and took a look at the computerized warning system. “Fire at Fifth and Main. It’s the old Dempsey house.”

“So much for dinner,” John moaned. “You owe me.”

Stella frowned as the pain in her ribs grew more intense. “I think you’ve got that backward. You invited me, which means you were paying.”

“You know you could stay in the truck and monitor the fire,” he suggested when he saw her wince. “You’ve been through a lot in the last twenty-four hours.”

“I can handle it,” she insisted. “Suit up.”

Within five minutes, six volunteers were at the firehouse. Stella noticed that Marty pulled up with everyone else. “I know I have no training, but I was thinking there might be something I could do.”

She was impressed, despite John’s sour frown. “Thanks. Hop on. You can see the action anyway and get an idea of what goes on during a run. Stay behind until you can get some practice in, okay?”

Ricky pulled the engine in the lead on the way to Sweet Pepper. Kent was driving the pumper. They might not need the water, but the pumper’s ladder or some of the vehicle’s other equipment might come in handy.

“You and John sure got there early.” Ricky smiled at her. “Were you close by, maybe together?”

“Not that it’s any of your business—we were going out for dinner.”

“See? I knew it. You and John are perfect for each other. Maybe the two of you could get married and you wouldn’t want to go back to Chicago.”

“In the next few weeks? I’d been dating my boyfriend back home for two years and we weren’t even engaged.”

“Tennessee boys work faster.”

“I thought you wanted to be chief when I was gone.”

“I can always wait until you retire. You’re a lot older than me, you know.”

“Yeah. Don’t hold your breath. Do you think Petey would wait? If she knew we were talking about it, she’d probably run us both down and take over.”

He shook his head as he carefully maneuvered the large truck around the corner of Fifth Street, which was barely wide enough to allow the turn. “I know. That woman is driven. I like that. I’m thinking about asking her out.”

Stella ignored most of his conversation, focusing instead on where they were going and searching for any signs of smoke. The air was clear—not even a whiff of smoke. She looked at the GPS. They were very close to the address. Maybe they’d caught the fire early.

“It’s right up here,” she said. “Slow down. I hope it’s easy to get into.”

“I know where it is. Mr. Dempsey used to be the football coach at the high school. I think he and his wife moved to Florida. There’s someone new living there now.”

The pumper arrived right behind them. Both trucks fit in the long driveway. A young man and woman, both brown haired and well dressed, were standing out in front of the older brick house.

“Where’s the fire?” Stella asked as she got off the truck with her volunteers behind her.

“We feel really stupid about this,” the man said. “We didn’t check the chimney flue before we tried to start a fire. Now the house is full of smoke.

“We got out right away. We couldn’t find Sylvia. We couldn’t look around much. The smoke was too thick.”

Stella sent Petey and John to put on their breathers and go inside to make sure that there was only smoke and no fire. “Sylvia?” she asked the couple.

“Our dog.” The woman started crying. “We got her from a rescue shelter last week. We gave her puppy away, which I told David was probably wrong. I feel so bad that I’ve abused them this way. They’ve been through so much.”

“We didn’t know, Kimmie,” her husband consoled her. “It’s my fault. I wanted to try the fireplace.”

“You were just excited, David,” she said. “I hope Sylvia is okay.”

Petey and John called out from the doorway of the house. “No sign of fire, Chief,” Petey said. “It looks like the logs they tried to use were green. They died out. There’s a lot of smoke.”

“Check around for a dog,” Stella called back. “She’s somewhere in the house.”

“Okay, Chief,” John said. “I’m going to open the flue. We’ll open all the windows. That should get the smoke out.”

Stella sent the pumper back to the firehouse. It didn’t look like they’d need anything from it, including the extra manpower. She stayed behind, waiting to hear about the dog as she and the young couple watched John and Petey go from room to room opening windows.

“We found the dog, Chief,” Petey yelled from the downstairs window a few minutes later. “I’m bringing her out now.”

David and Kimmie ran to the front door where Petey met them with Sylvia on a leash. At that moment, there were some yelps from the back of the engine. Everyone laughed when the little Dalmatian puppy they’d adopted ran into the yard.

“Who brought the puppy?” Stella asked. No one admitted to it.

The puppy yelped and cried excitedly, jumping all over the couple’s older dog. Stella started to apologize to the couple.

Kimmie grabbed the puppy and started kissing him. “It’s Sylvia’s puppy! Where did he come from?”

David explained breathlessly that they’d sold the puppy to Tory Lambert. He was supposed to be a gift to the fire brigade. “When we heard about the fire and Tory’s death, we assumed the worst. No one had seen the puppy. We thought he was dead.”

It looked like Tagger had been right about Tory not keeping a pet. “That explains the big red bow he had around his neck when we found him,” Stella said with a smile. “I guess he really belongs with us. The station house where my grandfather worked in Chicago always kept a Dalmatian around for good luck. You don’t see much of that anymore.”

“Does Sylvia need oxygen or mouth-to-mouth?” Kimmie asked as she hugged the dogs.

“She seems fine,” Stella answered. “Where did you find her, Petey?”

“She was in the basement.” Petey grinned. “I guess she knew it was the best place for her. She is a fire dog, after all.”

“We are so grateful to all of you,” Kimmie gushed. “You have to keep little Hero. He could be your good luck at the fire station. Tory wanted you to have him.”

“Hero?” Stella asked. The puppy ran to her when she said the name. She picked him up and scratched his neck. “Hero it is.”

“And Hero will be providing a community service by helping the fire department.” Petey picked up the idea with an appealing smile at Stella.

“I guess we’ll have to get him trained to work with us,” Stella said.

Ricky scratched the puppy’s head. “Somebody is always at the firehouse. We could feed him and take care of him. He could be a guard dog too. He could come with us to fires and stuff.”

“I’m going to miss you, Hero.” Kimmie hugged the puppy again. “But I know this is the right thing to do now. You were destined to be a true hero.”

The firefighters waited to make sure the house was cleared of smoke. There was going to be some minor damage—mostly odor—that might have to be professionally removed.

Marty had been disappointed that the call had been for nothing. “These people could have taken care of this themselves. It was a wasted trip.”

“They still needed our help,” Stella told him. “Besides, it’s better that all calls aren’t life-threatening. That would get old really quick.”

Kimmie and David thanked Stella again for her help.

“You should spend the night somewhere else and call your insurance company,” Stella advised as everyone packed up to go. Petey already had Hero, his food, bowl, and play toys in the back. She admitted that she’d brought the puppy with them.

“Thank you so much for rescuing us, Chief.” David shook Stella’s hand. “We’ll take your advice and come to visit Hero tomorrow. Good night, everyone.”

“Thought you didn’t think we should keep the puppy, Chief?” Ricky said as they got into the truck.

“Shut up and drive,” Stella retorted.

Cleanup of the trucks and equipment seemed to take forever. Stella was ready to go. Her ribs and head hurt. She noticed that Marty went home as soon as they got back. Maybe John had been right about him. Time would tell.

She knew her volunteers could handle getting the work done without her. She stayed because she remembered how nice it was to see Chief Henry standing around the station, working with them and watching. It was somehow reassuring. Besides, she needed to give them an assessment of their performance even though tonight’s call hadn’t been a major event.

She congratulated all of them on their speed. “We were right there where we needed to be in less time than we have been. You did a great job tonight. I know it might not seem like a lifesaving event, but those people wouldn’t have known what to do without you. Good teamwork, guys.”

It was nice to have a simple run—nothing dramatic. Or at least she thought so until they were spraying off the pumper. Everyone noticed the graffiti that had been etched into the paint on the engine too.

“Why would anyone do such a thing?” Banyin demanded. “We wouldn’t even have a fire brigade without the chief.”

“Maybe whoever put Chief Griffin into the ditch on her Harley last night was trying to make a statement,” Kent said. “Maybe that wasn’t an accident after all.”

“People do stupid things sometimes,” Stella explained. “You work at the library, Banyin. You know what I’m talking about. How many books come back ripped or written in? This happened at the firehouse. It was only vandalism. We need better locks on our doors.”

“What if Kent is right and someone has it in for you?” Ricky said.

“The wreck was an accident,” Stella reassured him even though she had doubts about it now too. “Let’s finish up here and go home.”

She didn’t say anything else about it as the volunteers completed their work and began to drift away from the firehouse.

Ricky was the last one to leave. He took Tagger home while Allen settled into the communications room for the night.

Stella was putting away the last of her gear as John approached her. “I think Kent might be right,” he said. “I think you might be in danger.”

Chapter 20

“Y
ou should’ve told me right away, when you had your first suspicions.” John paced the small living room in the cabin. They’d decided to go there so that they wouldn’t be overheard. He’d already called in the vandalism, but taking the engine and pumper out had destroyed the crime scene.

“When would that have been? We got the call right after you got to the firehouse. The vandalism had just happened. I didn’t think about it until then.”

“There’s no crime scene now. Any prints or evidence is gone.”

“I’m sure it’s not the first time the police have had to work with a crime scene that has been messed up.” She was getting a little impatient. She thought it might help to tell John about the vandal trying to run her down. If he insisted on mourning the loss of the crime scene, she didn’t know how much help he would be. “Besides, what else could I do? We’re the fire department. We had to answer that call.”

“We didn’t even need the pumper,” he argued. “It could’ve stayed behind and been dusted for prints.”

“There was no way to know that. We get a call, we don’t take chances on what we’ll find when we get there.”

John finally took a deep breath and sat down. Stella was already sitting back against the sofa, trying to ease the ache in her chest until the pain relievers she’d taken could kick in. She’d made coffee for John when they first arrived. She was sure it was already cold after his twenty-minute rant.

“All right. What’s done is done. We’ll have to go on from here. I’ll talk to Don. We’ll have to find a safe house for you and put you into protective custody until we can figure out what’s going on.” He sipped his cold coffee and frowned.

“First of all, I feel fairly sure that Don isn’t going to allocate funds for me to be protected. He’d probably want me to leave now instead of a few weeks from now. I’m not going home until the job is done, and I couldn’t do that job in protective custody anyway. We’re going to have to figure it out.”

“That’s plain crazy.”

“Maybe. If this person doesn’t like me because I’m the fire chief, you’ll have to protect Petey when I’m gone.”

“You’ve chosen
her
?” He looked at her in surprise. “I thought it would be Ricky. The two of you always seem pretty tight.”

He sounded jealous. Stella kind of liked that. “I would’ve picked
you
, but I knew you wouldn’t quit your job with the police to take the position.”

John suddenly seemed to relax. “That’s true. I’m flattered that you would’ve chosen me.”

“You’re the natural choice since you’re mostly trained for it already. Nothing personal.”

He moved from the chair by the fireplace to the sofa beside her. “Nothing personal? What about Ricky? Nothing personal there either?”

Stella’s heart beat a little faster. Her cheeks felt warm. “Not with Ricky. And I wouldn’t let my feelings toward you influence me if you were wrong for the job.”

He came closer and ran his fingers through her hair. “What am I going to do without you, Stella Griffin?”

She closed her eyes for his kiss as he leaned nearer. The anticipation was sweet and exciting.

A heavy book from the fireplace mantel dropped to the floor and the door to the deck opened. Chilly air blew across them.

They sprang apart like guilty teenagers. Laughter followed as they looked at each other. John picked up the book and closed the door.

“I think Mother Nature must be telling me not to get frisky with an injured woman,” John said.

“I don’t think that was Mother Nature.” Stella looked around the room, wishing she could see Eric. She’d have to wait until John left to give him a piece of her mind.

“I don’t know. We have some light seismic activity from time to time. The wind blows pretty strong off the mountains sometimes too.” He moved back to the chair and drank more coffee. “I guess we should be thinking about how we’re going to keep you from getting hurt again anyway. We can always resume the hanky-panky later.”

“The way I see it, there are only two things that might get someone angry enough to try and kill me,” Stella said, not necessarily agreeing about the hanky-panky part. “Recreating the fire brigade or the investigation into Tory’s death. That’s all I’ve done since I’ve been here. I suppose either of those things could be stepping on someone’s toes.”

John agreed and took out his battered notebook. “What did you actually see tonight at the firehouse? Could it have been anything to do with the wreck?”

She told him what had happened. “Honestly, that pickup could’ve been the same vehicle that ran me off the road. I don’t know. I wish I’d gotten a better look both times.”

He looked at what he’d written. “Either way, it sounds like a threat, Stella. Maybe you should reconsider and go home.”

“Changed your mind about wanting my job?” she joked.

“I want you to be safe,” he said with a straight face. “We can only do so much to protect you.”

“I’ll try to stay out of dark places when I’m by myself. For all we know, these are unrelated incidents. If we can’t find evidence to the contrary, I don’t want to blow them out of proportion.”

He put his notebook away, his eyes intent on hers. “Have you considered that someone might also want to get rid of you because you are the only blood heir to the Carson money?”

“You mean after my mother, right? John, everything can’t be about that. I know you don’t like them but—”

“I know. You can’t change who you are.” He abruptly got to his feet. “I’d better go. You need some rest. Stay out of trouble.”

Stella gritted her teeth as he left without even saying good-bye to her. He was an obstinate, single-minded man.

He was barely out of the house when Eric’s voice made his presence known. “Good riddance.”

“What was that all about?” She put the dirty coffee mug in the sink. “You had no right to interfere.”

“I have an obligation to stop a train wreck before it happens. I know you can’t see it, but he isn’t right for you.”

Stella was outraged. “You don’t get to make that decision. Any more outbursts like that and I
will
go and stay with Flo.”

“You mean the Mother Nature problem?” He laughed. “That was only the wind and seismic activity. Your
boyfriend
was clear on that.”

“I’m going to bed. I don’t want to talk about it anymore tonight. You’re such a coward anyway—hiding in the shadows. You could at least show yourself. I’ve watched ghost reality shows. I know you can do it.”

She looked around, thinking he might oblige her. There was no sign of him. He didn’t say anything else. She went in the bedroom and slammed the door behind her.

* * * 

Stella fell asleep faster than she’d anticipated. She slept through the night and felt much better in the morning. It was raining when she looked out of the bedroom window. There was also a police car right next to the cabin.

A little thrill went through her as she realized John cared about her, even though he was angry and hated that she was part Carson. She put on her jacket and shoes and went outside to talk to him. She had some bagels and cream cheese. Maybe they could have breakfast together—outside the perimeter that Eric could visit.

She was disappointed when she tapped on the car window. It was Officer Richardson who smiled and blinked, half-asleep. “Good morning, Chief Griffin. Hope you slept well last night. It was quiet out here.”

Well, at least John cared enough to send someone
else
to look out for her. “I’m fine. I’m sorry you had to sleep in the car. Would you like some coffee?”

He came inside the cabin and Stella made a cup for each of them. They ate bagels and stood around talking about the weather and the upcoming Pepper Festival until Officer Richardson had to leave. He thanked her for the coffee and took a brief look around the cabin.

“My dad was good friends with Eric Gamlyn. He still talks about him. Hard to believe this place looks like he built it just yesterday. I wasn’t even born yet when he died. There are some tall tales about him around here.”

“They say he haunts the cabin.”

“I’ve heard that. I was wondering about it myself. No one has ever been able to stay here as long as you have, Chief Griffin. Maybe it’s because you aren’t from here. Or maybe old Eric likes you.” He laughed. “Thanks for the coffee. Have a nice day.”

“He likes you,” Stella said when the officer had gone. “Or at least his father did.”

Eric didn’t reply. Stella took the coffee mug and put it into the dishwasher. She hated to run the machine with so little in it. “Maybe you could have a party while I’m gone today and dirty up some dishes.”

Still no reply.

“Hey, I really need a pepper recipe for the contest at the festival. Nothing with chocolate because I’m judging that contest. Do you know anything I could use?”

There was no laughter, no mocking voice. It made her feel a little lonely now that she knew that he was there.

It was silly. It didn’t matter to her. It might be better if he decided to be quiet.

She got dressed and left the cabin. At least there would be company at the diner.

* * * 

John stood in the impressive foyer while he waited for Ben Carson to join him. This visit wasn’t his favorite idea, but he thought it was the best way to protect Stella.

“Sorry to keep you waiting, Officer Trump,” Ben said as he came down the wide stairs to meet him. “Won’t you come into the breakfast room for some juice or coffee?”

John’s fingers were tense as he held his hat before him like a shield. “No thanks, Mr. Carson. I’m here about Stella. I assume you realize that someone might be trying to hurt her.”

Ben’s white brows knit together. “I didn’t realize that, Officer. What makes you suspect that anyone would harm my girl?”

The possessive sound of his words put John’s teeth on edge. “You know about the wreck. Someone scratched a message on the pumper last night and tried to run her over. Now, I know there’s no point in me trying to go through official channels to accuse anyone—where was that stepson of yours during both of those incidents? You might want to look into that.”

“Are you accusing Martin of something, Officer?”

“No, sir. I’m not accusing anyone in this family of anything. We both know where that would end up. You and I finally have something in common—we both want Stella to be safe. Not everyone in this family might feel the same, if you get my drift.”

Ben nodded. “I appreciate you coming to me with this information.”

John put his hat on and turned to go. He’d said what he’d come to say.

“I also hope you realize that I have big plans for my granddaughter. Don’t get overly attached to her.”

“No, sir.” John walked through the front door, which was being held open by one of the housemaids.

When the door closed behind the officer, Ben shouted for Felicity. When she reached him, he said, “Where is Martin?”

She looked bewildered but answered quickly. “He joined the fire brigade. He’s training with them this morning. Shall I call him for you?”

“No, thanks. I’ll handle it. Go on about your duties.”

Ben walked into the breakfast room and found his wife looking through a magazine. “Did you really think I wouldn’t notice you throwing your son at Stella?”

Vivian’s beautiful face was devoid of emotion. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“Martin is in
your
will. That’s as close as he’s getting to my money. He can’t have Stella. Whatever you have in mind isn’t going to happen.”

“I assume you’re talking about his interest in volunteer firefighting.” She smiled serenely. “That has nothing to do with Stella. Marty has matured. He wants to give back to the community.”

“That’s bull and we both know it. Keep him away from her. You won’t like the consequences if I have to step in.”