“What could have caused the fire? Jimmy’s always so careful.” She dabbed at her eyes, her mascara smearing. Murray didn’t wear much makeup, but what she did use was effective, making her look polished and pulled together for her job. Now, though, her face was streaked. I dug through my purse and pulled out a couple of the wet wipes I always kept handy.
“Here, use these. Here’s my compact. Joe will find out everything he can for us.” I left her cleaning her face and wandered over to the window overlooking the parking lot, where I flipped open my cell phone and punched in Harlow’s number. As she came on the phone, I dished out the latest news.
“Oh my God,” she gasped.
“Jimbo will be fine,” I quickly added, “but I don’t think I can meet you for lunch today. Murray’s going to need me. I don’t have time to find a dress, anyway. Instead, I managed to run out of Joanne’s Bridal Boutique wearing a corset for which I now owe five hundred dollars.”
Harl sighed. “That figures. Listen, give them my love and let me know if there’s anything I can do. I’m planning on throwing the dinner for you and Joe Thursday night. Do you think Jimbo will be able to make it?”
I mulled over what Roger had said. “If it’s just smoke inhalation and a few minor burns, he should. I’m worried though, Harl. I have a nasty hunch that the fire didn’t set itself.”
“You thinking arson?” Her voice grew serious. Harl might be all caught up in playing socialite, but when push came to shove, she always came through, and she always put her friends and family first.
An ambulance pulled up outside, lights flashing, and I watched, distracted, as the attendants sprang into action, unloading a stretcher from the back. The patient appeared to be in pain, and her neck was held in a bracelike object. Car wreck, probably. With a sigh, I turned way from the window and settled myself on the vinyl bench below. A palm frond from one of the potted trees next to me brushed my shoulder and I pushed it aside.
“My gut tells me so,” I said. The moment I saw Jimbo being wheeled into the ER, I knew that someone had made a second attempt on his life. “Yeah, I think so, but don’t say anything till we know for sure. The fire marshal will examine the scene. I’m hoping he finds the cause.”
“How’s Murray taking it?”
“Like a woman in love, how else?” I glanced back at her. She’d cleaned herself up and was clutching her purse, lips pressed together, as White Deer reappeared, tray of food and coffee in hand. “I’d better go. Thursday night is fine with me, but if Jimbo’s not out of the hospital by then, I think we’d better postpone it, okay?”
“No problem. Call me later and let me know if he’s going to be stuck there. If he is, James and I will come down to visit him.”
“Speaking of James, what’s going on between you two?” I asked. “I’ve never seen you two bicker like you did yesterday.”
“Just couple stuff. Don’t worry about us. Everything will be okay. Give Murray my love, and Jimbo, too.” As she hung up, I flipped my phone shut and slid it back into my purse. With another glance out the window at the now-departing ambulance, I rejoined Murray and White Deer.
“They have an espresso bar in the cafeteria,” White Deer was saying, handing me an iced mocha. “Triple shot for you, and one for Anna. I made sure they put in extra chocolate,” she said, smiling.
I accepted the mocha gratefully and saw that she’d bought sandwiches. As I bit into a turkey and provolone on sourdough, Joe peeked around the corner, helped himself to half my sandwich, and settled into a chair.
“What did Roger have to say?” Murray leaned forward so eagerly she almost spilled her drink. I steadied it for her, setting it on the table next to us.
Joe patted her hand. “The house is gone—totally consumed.” He swallowed another bite of the sandwich and accepted the coffee that White Deer offered him. “From what Jimbo told Roger, he was in the den going over some bills when he dozed off. Roo started barking like crazy, and Jimbo woke up to a room filled with smoke. The flames were just starting to lick the carpet, and he tried to put them out, but once he realized that the whole place was going up, he broke a window in order to escape. Roo jumped out after him. He had his cell phone with him and had enough strength to call 911 before he passed out.”
“Oh my God,” Murray said, staring at him in horror. “He could have died. Just how okay is he? Do you know how badly he’s injured?”
“Roger told me that Jimbo’s sustained a few burns on his hands. Nothing major and it’s doubtful he’ll have much in the way of scars. He got a lungful of smoke and some cuts from the broken window pane, but again, nothing serious. He lucked out, Murray. And thanks to Roo, he’s alive. That’s one courageous little dog. If it wasn’t for her, he might not have woken up in time.” Joe leaned back in his chair, a dark look across his face. “Damn it, I wish I’d been there when the call came in.”
“He’s going to be okay. You being there wouldn’t have made things move any faster. Give it a rest,” I said, crossing over to sit on his lap. “You’ll be back to work soon enough, if you let that shoulder heal up.”
He snorted. “Yeah, I guess I will. The doctor should be out in a few minutes, Murray. In fact, I’ll bet Jimbo’s released today.”
Sure enough, within ten minutes, the nurse led Murray to Jimbo’s side. I glanced at Joe after she left the room. “Arson?”
His eyes flickered. “What makes you say that?”
“A feeling.”
“Hmm … Roger didn’t say, but I know they’re checking it out thoroughly. I told them to notify the fire marshal that there’s already been one—if not two—attempts on Jimbo’s life, so to be on the lookout for anything suspicious. If this is arson, it pretty much confirms that Jimbo was the sniper’s target and not me.” He rested his arm around my shoulders and I leaned against his chest.
White Deer leaned forward, clasping her hands between her knees. “Emerald, would you go out there later on with me? To check on the energy? Anna told me about what you picked up before, both when you went to Jimmy’s land after Joe was shot, and then again last night. After an incident like this, the energy trails are bound to be stronger.”
A peculiar tone rang in her voice and I caught her gaze, holding it. Her eyes were dark, and as I fell into those brilliant chocolate orbs, I found myself terrified. Murray was in danger. And Jimbo was in the way, guarding her from the kook who was focused on worming his way into her life.
“You think her life’s in danger,” I whispered. “You think someone’s trying to kill her?”
She blinked. “There was a raven in the yard this morning. I watched as it waited while a cat stalked a mouse through the garden. The raven screeched and the cat backed off. But then the raven grew distracted by something—I’m not sure what—and flew into a nearby tree. The next moment, the cat was back and the mouse was dead. You take your omens where you find them.”
The air thickened as she spoke, and I rubbed my arms. Goose bumps formed a staccato pattern on my skin and I suddenly felt cold. “And you listen to omens, or you pay the price later.”
With a nod she said, “Anna trusts in her gun too much. She trusts that the law she upholds will be able to protect her, as if her badge is a magical shield that can ward off all danger.”
“I think she’s afraid that if she shows fear or vulnerability that her men will think less of her. She had to fight her way tooth and nail into that position, White Deer. She’s petrified that she’s going to fall off the mountain and that a new king of the hill will usurp her.” I studied my nails. They were in dire need of a manicure. “Tomorrow morning we’ll head out there and see what we can find. It might be best to leave Murray and Jimbo at home—their fear can shift the readings.”
Joe cleared his throat. “I know you’re both going to brush this off, but I’m going to ask it anyway. Will it put Emerald in danger to go out there?”
I looked at White Deer, who took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. “Emerald’s not in direct
danger,” she said, “but Joe, you know as well as I do that if we’re dealing with a psycho, then anybody who crosses his path is going to be in some sort of peril. Look at your shoulder. And you weren’t even aware you were in the way.”
Joe’s gloom didn’t lessen. If anything, her words deepened the shadow on his face. “That’s what I’m talking about. I don’t want my wife—fiancée—in danger. The last thing I want is for her to be shot or attacked.”
I put my hand on his. “Yes, I’m prone to getting myself into scrapes. The universe seems to be determined to put me in the path of some pretty shady characters. But this time, we aren’t dealing with ghosts or anything like that.”
“All the more to worry about!” He shook me off, standing and pacing the room. “Look, I trust that you can deal with the supernatural beasties, even if they come with ‘Beware of the Spook’ tags attached. You know how to cope with those matters better than any one of us, except maybe White Deer. But flesh-and-blood crooks … you can’t tell me that you’ve had a great track record. You’ve fielded several of them, yes, but luck has played a big part in your escapes. You can’t deny that.”
I stared at the floor. He was right, I had to give him that much. I’d escaped by the skin of my teeth several times, through grabbing opportunities rather than making them. “You’re right and I won’t deny it. But Murray’s my best friend. If there’s anything I can do to help, then I’ll do it, dangerous or not.”
He sighed. “I know, and I won’t try to stop you. I just want you to be careful. I want you to think before you run into somebody you can’t handle. One day, there might not be a way out.” With a glance at White Deer, he added, “You know I’m not trying to stand in your way, don’t you? That I care about Murray and I’d be out there in a flash if you needed me?”
She nodded. “Don’t worry about it, Joe. I know perfectly well how much you care about all of us. Just as you know that you can’t cage Emerald to keep her safe. The realities are that each of us could be swept away at any moment. You can step off the curb and get hit by a bus; you can eat the wrong oyster and die of food poisoning. You can get up early one morning to catch a flight and find yourself in the wrong place at the wrong time, like the people who were on the planes that hit the Twin Towers. Life is a gambit, but it’s also a gift, not to be squandered in fear. So, you take what precautions you can, and live it to the fullest.”
“I know, I see it in action every day at work,” Joe said. “All right, go out and check the land, but I want to come along. I won’t get in the way, I promise.”
“Joe, you need to rest. Our honeymoon’s coming up and I refuse to have a husband who can’t perform his groomly duties.” I leered at him and he laughed, holding up his hands.
“I get it, I get it. Okay, but you promise to look after her?” He waggled a finger at White Deer and she nodded, a rare smile blossoming across her lovely face.
“I promise to do what I can,” she said.
“That’s all I ask,” Joe said.
Murray peeked around the corner. “Guess who gets to go home in an hour?” Relief spread across her face like the sunrise after a long, dark night. She hurried over to us and settled down beside White Deer. “Jimmy’s got a few burns, but they’ll heal just fine. His lungs were pretty cloudy, but they’ve been giving him oxygen and they say they don’t see any reason to keep him overnight. So, they’re going to watch him for another hour and then, if there aren’t any problems, they’ll discharge him.”
White Deer wrapped her arm around Murray’s shoulders. “We’ll take him back to your place. Tomorrow, Emerald and I are going out to look over Jimmy’s land to see what we can find. We’ll check on the animals while we’re there.”
“I’m going, too—” Murray shut up as her aunt shot her a warning look. White Deer was the one person who could still reduce her to silence. “Okay, so I’m not. But will you go over to the neighbor’s and bring Roo back to town?”
“Of course we will.”
I glanced at my watch. “Oh shit! I was supposed to call Rose about Grandma M. She should be out of surgery by now. And the kids will be wondering if the aliens abducted us—”
Joe stood up and stretched. “If Jimbo’s going to be okay, we should get home and make sure everything’s okay there. Call us if you need us.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” White Deer said. “About ten?”
I hesitated, glancing at Murray. I didn’t want to leave until I knew for sure that everything was okay with Jimbo. She seemed to sense my worry and waved me toward the door.
“Go on home and find out how Grandma M. is doing, Em. Now that I’ve talked to Jimmy, I’m okay. He’ll be fine, and so will I.” She blew me a kiss, and Joe and I hit the streets. We’d arrived in separate cars, so I asked him to stop and pick up something for dinner while I hurried home to call Rose.
Miranda was watching from the porch when I pulled in. I raced up the stairs. “I’m sorry I’m late, honey. There was an accident out at Jimbo’s and we had to go to the hospital. Is everything okay?” I asked, noticing her pale face. My daughter could put Dracula to shame with her fair complexion, but today she looked practically bloodless. She bit her lip, then burst into tears and threw herself into my arms.
“What’s wrong? What happened? Oh my God, is Kip okay—?”
“Kip’s fine, he’s upstairs. But Gunner and Lori are going out! I saw them at the library today.”
I blinked. Gunner had broken up with my daughter a few months ago, and she had been upset, but survived without lasting damage. However, the girl Gunner had begun dating at that time had been a relative stranger. Apparently, things hadn’t worked out between them, either. I couldn’t believe, though, that Randa’s best friend would sneak behind her back and date her ex-boyfriend. Her first boyfriend.
“Are you sure about this?” Randa jumped to conclusions more often than she liked to admit. Maybe, just maybe, she’d made a mistake.
Randa gave me one of those “God, are you stupid” looks. “I saw them together, talking and laughing.”
Betrayal was a harsh mistress, and the only cure for her heartbreak would be time. I still had my doubts that what she really saw was what she thought she saw, but right now she just needed her mother’s support.
“Okay, honey. Come on, let’s go inside. We’ll talk about this more after I’ve called your Aunt Rose to find out if Grandma M. made it through surgery.”
She wiped her eyes. “I’m sorry. I forgot.”
“Don’t worry about it. Will you bring me a glass of lemonade?” I picked up the phone and dug out Rose’s cell number and typed it into my speed dial. As I waited for her to answer, I curled up on the sofa, thinking that there’d been so much chaos lately that home felt like a pit stop. The living room was cluttered with newspapers and magazines, the coffee table was listing under a stack of library books, and to my horror, I noticed a half-eaten sandwich sitting next to the computer. Samantha, our mother calico, was busy gnawing at it. As I started to shoo her away, Rose answered.
“I’m sorry I didn’t call earlier. There was another emergency here,” I said before she had a chance to speak. “How’s Grandma M.?”
“She made it through just fine. She’ll be in the ICU for a few days and probably leave the hospital in a week.”
Oh, thank God! I couldn’t take another shred of bad news. “How are the folks? Dad holding up okay?”
“He’s fine. Mother’s keeping it together for both of us. You know, I think I understand her a little better now,” Rose said, and I could hear the wheels turning in her head. “I always blamed her for being cold and aloof, but between all the emotions running so high in our house, I guess somebody had to be the rock.”
I thought about what she’d said. Nanna and I’d been off in our own world. Dad had been yanked around by Grandma M., who was always threatening a heart attack. Grandpa M. just wanted to hide out from Grandma and so gave in without an argument on every issue.
And th
en there was the infamous War of the Grand-mothers, as Rose and I’d dubbed the continuing rivalry between Nanna and Grandma M. Old World Europe versus Irish lace and linens. Yeah, that had been a riot. It had fallen on Klara’s shoulders to remain the voice of composure.
“Well, Grandma M. couldn’t stand Mom when she married Dad. She was a foreigner. That alone was enough to damn her in Grandma’s eyes.” I was taking a chance, knowing how much Rose idolized Grandma McGrady, but what I said was the truth. She surprised me, though.
“I guess you’re right. Maybe I never gave Mother the credit she deserved. Okay, I’ve got to go, but I’ll call you again tomorrow morning, unless something happens before then. Love you, Emmy.”
“Love you, too, Rosy.” As I hung up, Joe came through the front door.
“We’ve got to clean up this mess,” I called out, pushing myself to my feet. As I reached for the nearest pile of magazines, I saw his face and stopped. “What’s wrong?”
He motioned me into the kitchen. “I need a Coke, and I know you’re going to want some of that black death you love so much once you hear what I’ve got to tell you.”
Uh-oh. Not good. Anytime anybody warned me to hit the caffeine, they usually had bad news. “What happened?” I asked, grabbing a soda out of the fridge and handing it to him. I quickly ground beans for a double-shot espresso.
“I just talked to Roger, who talked to the fire investigation team. It’s not going to take a detailed examination to figure out why Jimbo’s house caught on fire.” He popped the top on the Coke and took a long swig.
“Was I right?” I asked, holding the mesh cup full of grounds.
“Yeah, arson. They found gasoline containers outside. It looks like the outside of the house, all around the foundation, had been doused with gasoline. Jimbo must have been sleeping while it happened. His truck and chopper were outside, so it was apparent he was home.”