Jennie’s hand stung. She looked down and gasped at the pink-tinged water. “Shoot.” She pulled her hand out. Blood streamed from a cut on her forefinger. “I can’t believe I did that.”
“Did what?”
Jennie spun around, slinging pink soapy water all over his white shirt. “Oh, Dad, you scared me. I thought you were still—”
“What did you do to yourself?”
“I was washing dishes and cut my finger on a knife.”
He snatched her hand and raised it to the light. “Doesn’t look too bad.” Grabbing a paper towel, he wrapped it around the wound and applied pressure to stop the bleeding. “Come sit down.”
Jennie sank into a chair at the kitchen table. “It’s just a little cut, Dad,” Jennie said. “It’ll be fine.”
He unwrapped her hand and examined the cut. “Doesn’t look like it needs stitches. You should be more careful. Didn’t your mom teach you how to wash knives properly?”
Jennie bristled, resenting his attitude. “Dad, I know how to do dishes. I know I’m not supposed to put the sharp knives in the sink with the other silverware. It was an accident, okay?” She lifted her head and met his gaze, swallowing back her anger. It was the first time since he’d come home that she’d said a harsh word to him. “I … I’m sorry.”
Dad’s dark blue eyes shone with understanding. “You heard your mother and me arguing, didn’t you?”
Jennie nodded.
“Just like old times, huh? We can’t seem to be together for two minutes without a disagreement. Then I come and take it out on you.”
“You’re not going away again, are you? ’Cause I know Mom loves you. She’s just worried about Michael. He’s a good friend and—”
“You don’t have to defend your mother’s actions to me, Jennie. I don’t know why her going out upset me so much.” He sighed and went over to the coffeepot. Pouring himself a cup, he said, “I have to admit I’m jealous of the time she’s spending with him.” He took a sip and shook his head. “Don’t worry, princess. We’ll work it out.”
Jennie wasn’t so sure. Not wanting to dwell on the problem, she fixed herself a cup of peppermint tea and joined her dad at the table. “How’s the case going?”
He fixed a blank gaze on her. “What?”
“The investigation—you know, the fire and everything?”
“Hmm. Not great. Too many people with too many opinions and not enough hard evidence. We did find something today, though, that might shed some new light on things.”
“What evidence? Can you tell me?”
“Not just now. All I can say is that we’ve got to be certain of our facts before we make a move. We can’t afford any slipups. This is a touchy situation from a lot of standpoints.”
Jennie wished he would tell her more. At the same time, she wanted to tell him about the list B.J. and Allison had put together. Instead, she shifted directions and asked, “Is Philippe still in jail?”
“For now. He gave us a sworn statement this afternoon, against his lawyer’s advice. Says he set the fire because he was angry about the way some of the board members treated him. He claims he didn’t know anyone was in the furnace room.” Dad rolled his coffee mug between his hands. “I just wish Carlos would open up. The more I see of that kid, the more I think he knows something.”
They sat quietly for a few moments.
“Heard some good news today.” Dad set down his cup.
Jennie looked up at him. “What?”
“Come next week, you and Nick will have a school to go to.”
“Really? Where?”
“Beaumont offered Trinity the use of an empty warehouse he owns. With a little work, it can be converted into a school. He announced his plans this morning and by noon had enough volunteers and donated materials to get the project done over the weekend.”
“Wow. Do you know where it is?”
“Yep. Drove by it this afternoon. It’s in Oregon City, just south of the freeway. Not much to look at, but it’ll do until they can rebuild.”
“That’s super. I wonder why Allison and B.J. didn’t tell me. I think I’ll go call Lisa. She’ll be so excited.”
“Ah, Jennie.” Dad had turned serious again. “Would you mind if I went out for a while?”
“I guess not. Where are you going?”
“I’m not sure. I have some heavy thinking to do.”
When the front door closed, Jennie stood there for a moment looking at it, feeling like a part of her had gone with Dad. What would happen next? Her life had been like a roller coaster lately, up one minute, down the next. Now it felt like the train had flown off the tracks. Dad had said not to worry about his relationship with Mom. But how could she not? She couldn’t very well turn off her brain.
But you could think about something else, part of her seemed to say. With a deep sigh and a prayer for her parents, Jennie went upstairs to call Lisa. Her room glowed with the rosy light of a sunset. Jennie loved the warm, comfortable feel of it. She sprawled out on her bed, picked up the phone, and dialed.
“Hi, Jen.” Lisa greeted. “I was going to call you. I just hung up from talking to Allison, and you’ll never guess what she told me.”
“You mean about her dad donating the building for the school?”
“How did you know?”
“Dad told me.”
“Isn’t it cool? My dad’s volunteering to help get it ready. I am so excited. Mom says she’s proud of how the entire community is coming together to make it happen.”
“That is pretty cool,” Jennie agreed.
They talked for the next hour about going back to school and how some of the kids had already transferred to other places. Jennie did get some new information. Only the seventh through twelfth graders would be going to the warehouse. The other children would be going to two different churches in the area, both with lots of room that wasn’t being utilized during the week. As they talked, Jennie lost some of her earlier enthusiasm. Going to a warehouse in some industrial area had little appeal.
“At least it’s a building,” Lisa reminded her. “And most of the students will be back together again.”
Jennie heard Aunt Kate call Lisa to get off the phone. “Sounds like she’s upset about something,” Jennie said.
“What else is new? I’m forty-five minutes over my call limit. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
Jennie smiled as she hung up. The one great thing about having her private phone was that she could use it whenever she wanted. The private number had been Mom’s idea. Not because Jennie made too many calls, but because so many of the calls coming in were business related. Mom wanted people to get through and felt there would be less friction all around if she gave Jennie her own line.
Jennie had barely hung up when the phone rang again. It was Gavin Winslow.
“Solved the case yet?” Like a lot of sixteen-year-old boys, Gavin’s voice cracked as he spoke.
“What makes you think I’ve been trying to?”
“You telling me you haven’t?”
“Not exactly. What about you?”
He chuckled. “That’s one of the reasons I called. Wanted to touch base and pool information. I overheard one of the investigative reporters say the police are getting ready to make an arrest. It’s all hush-hush. Lots of speculation. Since your dad’s on the case, I thought maybe you might know. Truth is, I’d love to beat the other reporters to the punch. The more news stories I can do, the better my chances of being hired after I graduate.”
“Sorry, I can’t help you. Dad wouldn’t tell me anything. They’re being careful is all I know.”
“Which probably means they’re going after somebody big. Like Beaumont.”
“You think he started the fire? That’s crazy. Mr. Beaumont is letting Trinity use one of his buildings.”
“Rent, Jennie. Trinity is renting it with the insurance money they’re getting. It’s no secret Beaumont has been having financial problems. He recently closed a plant and laid off twenty people.”
“That’s no reason to torch Trinity.”
“Maybe, maybe not. All I know is he’ll come out of this deal with a ton of publicity and a lot of cash.”
“I can’t believe that of Mr. B. Look at all the good he does. He’s on the board of directors at church. He sponsored Rafael’s entire family and his uncle and Carlos so they can become US citizens.” Jennie paced across her rug, remembering what her dad had said about Beaumont believing that Carlos or Philippe might have started the fire.
“Nice guy or not, Jen, he’s got motive.”
“I suppose.” Jennie dropped one knee onto the window seat and peered into the semidarkness. “But he’s not the only one.” She went on to tell him about Jared and how she’d seen him on the school grounds. “Any one of those people could have set the fire.”
“That’s true enough. On the other hand, Trinity was well insured. And guess who was on the board when the policies were set up?”
“Beaumont—and Pastor Dave, and Michael and—”
“Yeah. There are a lot of possibilities, aren’t there.” His voice shifted up an octave when he said, “Just a minute.” When he came back on, he seemed out of breath. “Hey, listen. I gotta go. My ride is here. Call me if you hear anything, okay?”
“Sure.” Jennie pressed the disconnect button and sat back on the cushions. She hoped Gavin wasn’t getting himself into trouble again. They were alike in a lot of ways. Much to Jennie’s chagrin, they had nearly the same bean pole shape. And they both loved investigative work. He wanted to be a reporter; she planned to go to law school.
Jennie leaned forward to watch a brown van turn from Elm onto Magnolia. It slowed down in front of her house. When it passed under the streetlight, she caught a glimpse of the passenger. A young man—maybe still high school age—looked directly at her through an open window, then ducked back inside.
Jennie scooted away from the window, the hairs on the back of her head standing on end. She’d never seen him before, yet he looked familiar. His shaved head reminded her of Jared.
The van passed out of sight. Seconds later Jennie heard the distinct sound of glass breaking.