[20]
Thursday
7:45 AM
Riley slid the hangar door open and walked to the front of the plane. She ran a hand down the side and closed her eyes, picturing herself headed for the clouds.
“You’re going to be late.”
She spun to find Daniel leaning against the back of the plane. “Just a little and Martin won’t care. In fact, he’s so preoccupied, he probably won’t even notice.”
Her uncle eyed her for a moment, then nodded to the plane. “You thinking of taking her up?”
“Yes. Maybe after school or on Saturday.”
“Why don’t you do Saturday? I’ll take her up and give her a test run, make sure everything’s ready for you.”
“You know I’ll do my own preflight check.”
He smiled. “I know. But I also know someone who’d like to go for a ride.”
“Let me guess. Katie?”
“Thought so.” She nodded. “Sure, I can wait until Saturday. That might actually work better. I have an essay I need to turn in by midnight tomorrow anyway.”
“I’ll see if Katie wants to go up this afternoon.”
“Cool. Was she all right last night?” He raised his brow and Riley rolled her eyes. “You left around 11:30 and didn’t come back in until around 4:00 this morning.”
He frowned. “What were you doing up so late?”
She shrugged.
“Riley?”
All smiles gone, she lifted weary eyes to his. “Look, Daniel, you took off in the middle of the night without telling me anything and you didn’t take anyone with you. Not a bodyguard, not a friend, no one. If someone wasn’t trying to kill you, I wouldn’t think twice about it. But someone is.”
“And you were worried.”
“Of course I was worried. You promised you wouldn’t do anything stupid.” Was he really that dense? If she hadn’t been tracking his phone with the app he’d provided so she could always find him, she would have been a basket case. But she’d watched the app that had put his location at Katie’s home and then she’d tracked his progress all the way back in the wee hours of the morning. “Why did you do that?”
“It wasn’t stupid, Riley. And I needed to talk to her.”
“It couldn’t have waited?”
He sighed. “I . . . don’t know if it could have waited or not. Maybe. I thought you were asleep and wouldn’t know whether I was there or not.”
“You thought wrong.” They fell silent for a moment. “You like her a lot, don’t you?” she asked.
Riley watched his face. He thought he was so good at hiding his feelings, and in some ways he was, but she had learned to read him pretty well over the last eighteen months.
He glanced back at the plane. “Yeah. I do.”
“You have a lot in common.”
This time he looked her in the eye. “What do you mean?”
She pressed her lips together, then blew out a small breath. “You’ve both lost a brother you cared about,” she said. He lifted a brow. “One day when we were eating lunch, I asked her if she had any brothers or sisters. She told me she had one of each but that her brother, Paul, had died. It seemed to make her really sad, so I didn’t ask her any more questions.”
“Yeah.”
“Also, you both have a lot of hurt in your past that you need to deal with. I think you’re probably good for each other in that you can help each other do that. Deal with it, I mean.” She waved a hand. “Ignore me. I’m not making any sense.”
He sighed and pulled her in for a hug. “Actually, you make more sense than most adults I know. Thanks.”
Surprised, she squeezed him around the middle. “Sure.” She paused.
“What?” he asked.
“What?” she countered.
“I can tell you want to say something else.”
She sighed and leaned back. “Forgive God. It’s not his fault.”
When he didn’t move or say anything, she figured maybe she’d pushed him too far. Then she felt a gentle kiss on her head. “I love you, Riley.”
“I love you too, Uncle Daniel. Which is why I want you to be safe. But we’ve already had that discussion.”
He cupped her face. “I really can take care of myself.”
“Yes, I know. In a face-to-face, hand-to-hand fight, I believe you can beat just about anyone, but if someone’s got a bead on your back, then you’re just as vulnerable as the next person.”
“Bead on my back?”
She grimaced. “Well, I’ve hung around you and your buddies enough to pick up the lingo. And you know what I mean.”
He nodded. “I know. But I’ll tell you, I won’t be bullied, Riles. I won’t take unnecessary chances, but I won’t be bullied—or run scared.” His jaw tightened, but he didn’t look away from her.
She held his gaze for a long while. “Something else happened last night, didn’t it?”
He hesitated and she thought he might be trying to decide what to say. He finally nodded. “Someone put a bomb under my car while I was at Katie’s house. That’s why I was so late getting home.”
She froze. Then nodded. She could see the anger in his eyes. Not at her, but at the person who was putting them through the craziness. “What are you going to do?”
“Fight back.”
“How?”
“I’m not sure yet, but I need you to understand that sometimes staying safe isn’t always the best choice.”
She swallowed and glanced away. “I’m not sure I want to hear what you’re going to say.”
He placed a finger under her chin and forced her eyes to meet his again. “You know me, Riley. You’ve known me for a long time. Have I ever run away from a fight?”
“No, you never have. At least not that I know about.” She sighed. “You fight for what you believe in. You stand up for yourself and for those who can’t.” She stepped back and crossed her arms. “Believe it or not, I do understand. It’s not in your nature to allow yourself to be bullied. Or anyone else for that matter. I know you need to fight back, just do it smart. Make sure you have backup.”
“Yes. Smart. That’s the key, isn’t it? And I was smart last night, I promise. I know how to watch my back and I know how to take care of myself. You’ve got to trust me to do that.”
“That’s what she said,” Riley murmured.
“Who?”
“Haley.”
“She’s pretty smart, you should listen to her.” He glanced at his phone. “Now go before you’re too late. I look forward to the ride this weekend.”
“Could I invite a friend?”
He hesitated. “Maybe not this time.”
She heard the unspoken words. He didn’t want her to bring a friend, because in spite of his words of not being bullied, he wasn’t comfortable enough putting someone else in the line of fire. She got that. Didn’t like it, but got it. “Okay. And I’m going to grab pizza with Steve after school today.”
“Steve? Little Stevie Patterson from kindergarten?”
Riley resisted the urge to roll her eyes. “Yes. Little Stevie. Only don’t call him that if you see him. Please?”
“Of course not.” He shot her a wounded look and she almost laughed. “I thought he was being a bit of a jerk.”
“Yes. He was.”
“He’s not being a jerk anymore?”
“No, at least not the last couple of times I’ve talked to him.” She pulled her hair up into a ponytail, slid the ever-present hair tie from her wrist, and wrapped it around the black strands. “I don’t know. I guess I’m going to find out.”
“Let me know if I need to beat him up.”
This time she gave in to the eye roll. “Ugh. Really?”
“No. Not really.” He kissed her forehead. “I just don’t want to see you get hurt.”
“I know. See you later.”
“Later, gator.”
“I’m not saying it.”
“Yes you are. Later, gator.”
“Bye.”
“After ’while, crocodile.”
“Stop, I’m not five.” She put her hands over her ears and turned to leave when she spotted Katie standing in the hangar doorway. “He’s being obnoxious.”
“I see that.” A smile played around her lips. “Lizzie’s going to hang out with you today.”
Riley dropped her hands from her ears. “That’s cool. I like her.”
Katie smiled. “She likes you too. And she has a fascination with archaeology, so you’re like her dream assignment.”
Riley laughed. “Glad I could help her out there.” She looked back at Daniel. “Could we do something after I get home from the dig and eat pizza with Steve?”
“What’s that?”
“I want to go to the restaurant site and look for Mom’s box.”
Daniel hesitated. “I tell you what, I’ll go out there today while you’re at school and see if I can find it. Okay?”
Riley nodded. “Sure. I don’t care who finds it, I just want it found.”
Daniel looked at Katie. “Do you think you can go?”
Katie drew in a deep breath. Then nodded. “Yes.”
“Thanks.” Riley walked out of the hangar and found Lizzie standing near her car. “Ready?”
“I’m ready.”
Riley looked back over her shoulder and saw Daniel smiling down at Katie. And Katie was smiling right back. Yes, Daniel liked her. And Katie liked him. Riley sucked in a deep breath, then let it out slowly.
“Lord, just let them live long enough for all that like to turn into something a little more permanent. Please?” she muttered.
“Sorry,” Lizzie said, “I didn’t catch that.”
Riley shook her head. “Nothing.” The only ears she needed to hear her words already had.
Back in the house, Katie listened absently as Daniel discussed options with the insurance company. The claims adjuster had already been out to look over the damage. She knew Daniel had received three estimates on what it would cost to rebuild the North Lake restaurant. He’d already decided to go with the middle estimate. He’d said it was pretty close to what he’d calculated. He figured the lower bid was just an attempt to undercut the competition and in the end they’d wind up going over budget.
She thought he was probably right. Her phone rang and she glanced at the screen. Bree. She stepped into the den area so she wouldn’t disturb Daniel. “Hello?”
“Hi, Katie, how’s it going?”
“It’s going. How’s your sister?”
“On her way to rehab. Finally.”
“Ouch. I’m sorry.”
“It’s time.” Bree cleared her throat. “I’ve got some information for you.”
“About?”
“A couple of things. The first is Tim Shepherd, the real estate developer.”
“Anything make your radar blip?”
Katie took a seat on the couch and got comfortable. This sounded interesting. “Tell me about him.”
“He’s in his midfifties and a millionaire several times over. He’s shrewd and can sniff out a deal almost before it’s been thought of.”
“But?” Katie glanced into the kitchen to see Daniel pacing back and forth in front of the bar. He looked agitated.
“There was one incident about two years ago,” Bree said. “Shepherd was after a small business owner named Joseph Bryant to sell and the man refused. Said it had been his father-in-law’s restaurant and he wasn’t selling it. A month later, the business burned to the ground.”
“Let me guess. Arson?”
“Yes.”
“Any charges brought against Shepherd?” Katie said.
“No, nothing could be proven and he didn’t wind up with the property. The insurance paid out and Bryant ended up selling the land to someone else. Said he suspected Shepherd was behind it and there was no way he was letting him have the property, he didn’t care how much Shepherd offered.”
“Oh boy. I’m sure that went over well,” Katie murmured.
“According to employees, Shepherd was furious. Apparently, he’s quite well-known for his temper and had a full-on tantrum right there in his office for everyone to hear.”
Katie stood and walked over to the mantel to study the two pictures Daniel had there. One was of a handsome couple she assumed were his brother and sister-in-law. The other was of Riley about three years ago, holding a huge fish in front of a sailboat. Daniel was helping her hold it. The big grins on both of their faces touched her. “What was the cause of the fire? How did the arsonist set it?”
“So he didn’t even try to hide it, cover it up and make it look like an accident,” Katie said.
“Nope. Found the gas cans on site. No prints meant the arsonist used gloves. There were no working security cameras within the vicinity, so . . .” A sigh filtered through the line. “The investigation never led to a viable suspect. Although one of the detectives I talked to who worked the case said he really thought that the owner did it.”
“Any reason why?”
“A search of Bryant’s financial records showed a possible motive, but it wasn’t strong. He wasn’t desperate, hadn’t missed any payments on anything, but he didn’t have any savings and they were living paycheck to paycheck. But again, nothing was ever proven.”
“But if that were the case,” Katie said, “why not just sell to Shepherd? Why go to the trouble of doing something illegal when he could have just sold and probably made more money to begin with?”
“Exactly.”
“No wonder Shepherd was ticked. Did he try to get the other person to sell out?”
Katie paced to the window and looked out. “No, he finally left it alone and moved on. The thing that really supported Bryant’s version was the documentation he had on Shepherd’s phone calls. The man or someone from his business called every day for two months to try and talk Bryant into selling.”
“Harassment.”
“At the very least.”
“Did anyone ever say anything threatening?”
“No, nothing that was proven. So Shepherd moved on and bought up that building downtown where the children’s store used to be. He put a sandwich shop in there and rakes in the big bucks.”
“But it does kind of make you wonder, doesn’t it? If he decided he wanted Daniel’s property, why not try arson again? After all, it almost worked last time. True, he didn’t get the property he wanted, but he didn’t get caught either.”
“I know,” Bree said. “Good point.”
“What was the second thing?”
“I went by the businesses near Martin Sheehan’s house and asked about their cameras. Out of the three, one wasn’t working, the other two had inside and outside footage. I’ve watched them both and never saw anyone other than the guy fitting your description of Martin going into his house.”
“No one.”
“Nope.”
“Okay then.” Katie sighed. “Thanks.”
“Do you want to tell me what you’re looking for?”
“Just . . . I don’t know. Someone lurking on the street, sneaking in through the window, something.”
“Did something happen?”
“Yes, but he didn’t want to report it to the police for various reasons that sort of made sense. In a weird way.”
“Ooookay.”
Katie laughed. “I’ll keep you updated. You keep an eye on Shepherd.”
“We’re going to.”
“Good,” Katie said. She saw Daniel hang up and rake a hand through his hair. “Because I’ve got my eyes on someone else.”
Bree snickered. “It wouldn’t be that good-looking restaurant owner, would it?”
“Hmm . . . I’ll never tell.” She hung up on Bree’s laughter.
Daniel walked into the den and sat opposite her. “Everything all right?”
She filled him in on what Bree said about the real estate developer and Daniel let out a low whistle.
“So Shepherd could actually be behind this.”
“It’s possible. Bree and a couple of other detectives are digging even deeper, checking him out.”
Daniel rubbed his eyes. “It doesn’t really make sense, though. If Shepherd’s after the land, why kill someone at the other place?”
“Could be simple coincidence. Perhaps Shepherd had planned all along to burn the restaurant down and that was his focus. It just so happened that same night, someone else was trying to break into the restaurant where you were, possibly with the intent of robbing it, stumbled across Armstrong, and killed him.”
Daniel narrowed his eyes. “And was desperate to cover up the murder so they tried to make it look like a suicide. Then ran when I came down the stairs. It’s a plausible explanation.”
“I thought so.”
“But you don’t believe that.”
“No, not really. Although I really can’t tell you why I don’t believe it.” She tapped her lip. “Probably because of the security footage that shows the killer being so careful about not exposing his face to the camera.”
He nodded. “And the fact that someone came back and used the old code to try to get in.”
“Yes, that too. It just doesn’t add up to be some random coincidence thing. I still say there’s some connection between the two events.” She stood and walked to the mantel, picked up the picture of his brother and sister-in-law. “They’re a beautiful couple.”
“Yes.”
“Desperately.”
She placed the photo back in its spot. “And I need to tell you something else.”
“What?” Wariness entered his eyes.
“Bree was also able to get ahold of some video footage of Martin’s house at the time he said someone broke in. There’s no indication there was a burglary.”
He pursed his lips and sat back. “So what are you saying?”
“I’m saying I’m not sure the coin was stolen by anyone.”
“So you think Martin lost it and is trying to shift the blame by saying someone stole it?” He frowned. “That doesn’t even make sense. I mean, if the coin were insured, then maybe that might be a little more plausible, but it wasn’t.”
“How do you know?” Daniel stared at her and Katie sighed. “I know he’s your friend, Daniel, and I’m not saying that’s what he’s doing. I’m just trying to look at all the facts and the evidence and come to a logical conclusion.”
He nodded. “I don’t think he’d do something like that. And besides, you saw his house, it was a mess.”
“I know.” She frowned. “A mess he could have created himself looking for the coin.”
“No. No way.”
“I hope you’ll at least consider it a possibility.”
He ran a hand over his hair. “After all the crazy stuff that’s gone on lately—” he shook his head—“I guess we have to.”
She drew in a deep breath. “I’m going back out to the site of the North Lake restaurant,” she said. “Charlie said he’d come hang out with you for a while, keep an eye on things.”
“What? Why?”
“Because you need someone to watch your back and I won’t be here.”
“Not that. Why are you going back to the restaurant site?”
“I need to.”
“Ah.”
She didn’t bother to pretend she didn’t understand what that “Ah” meant. “You sound like Haley, but yeah.”
“Going back and facing your fears?”
“Something like that. I’ll look for the box while I’m there.”
“I’ll come with you.”
“No. This is something I need to do alone. I don’t want . . . can’t have . . . an audience.”
He frowned. “I know exactly how you feel, but you don’t need to be alone. Shouldn’t be alone. You need support.”
“I want to be alone. Seriously, I’ll be fine.”
He crossed his arms. “I’ll sit in the car.”
She sighed. “No you won’t.”
“Yes I will.”
She studied him. “Promise?”
“Maybe.”
She gave an exasperated huff. “Daniel . . .”
“Fine, fine. I will. I promise.”
“Even if I look like I’m . . . in distress?”
“I can’t promise that.”
Another sigh slipped from her. “Then you can’t come.”
“Try and stop me.”