CHAPTER NINE

 

Heading northeast out of Evergreen Jake turned on his siren when they were out of the city limits. The only other noise was the continuous squawk of his police radio. Afraid that Rachel might hear something she was not ready to hear Jake turned the radio down. As they drove closer to the farm they could see a faint orange glow in the distance. Knowing this was the glow from the fire at the farm, Rachel gasped. Thinking she may already be going into shock, Jake took her hand in his and silently offered his support. Her icy cold hand was another sign that she might be going into shock. Reaching the lane to the farm, Jake had to slow down and let a fire truck go by. Following behind the truck he drove up the hill toward the farmhouse.

Relief passed through both Rachel and Jake as they drew closer. It wasn’t the main house that was on fire; the fire truck continued past the house toward the chicken house. Turning off his siren and stopping at the back of the house, he jumped out and stopped Rachel as she started to run down the lane. Holding her back he said, “Rachel, baby you can’t do anything down there. Let the firemen do their job.”

A movement on the back porch of the house caught his eye. Turning he saw Sherry, Barbara and Dora standing there, watching the destruction below. Jake really needed to go see what had happened, but he was afraid Rachel would follow him. Placing his arm around her shoulder, he guided her toward the porch and up the steps. “What happened, do you know?” he asked. The ladies all shook their heads no at the same time. Pushing Rachel toward Sherry, Jake said, “Here, take care of her. I’m going down there.” Seeing the look on Rachel’s face he kissed her quickly on the cheek. Turning to Dora he added, “It may be a long night…why don’t you put some coffee on for everyone?”

* * * * *

Taking control of the group of women, Barbara said, “Of course, go. Just send us some word when you can to let us know how bad it is.” Opening the back door she stood back as Sherry took Rachel inside. Once inside, all three could see the fright on Rachel’s face. Sherry too, thought Rachel might be in shock. Leading her to the table she sat Rachel down and offered Dora a hand with the coffee.

In no time the kitchen smelled like a coffee shop. Not only did Dora put on some coffee, she started frying bacon and sausage also. While the meat was cooking she pulled out the flour bowl and buttermilk and started making biscuits. When the coffee was ready, Sherry poured them all some. Taking a cup to Rachel she sat it down in front of her and said, “Rachel, drink some. It might help.”

The innocent remark made Rachel’s blood boil. Jumping up from the table she paced as she ranted, “Help! How is that supposed to help? What is going on? Who is doing this to us? You tell me how coffee is going to help, when there’s a crazy person out there trying to kill us. First it was Aunt Darlyn, then me, who’s next?” Her anger finally vented, she burst into tears. Sherry stopped her before she could run out of the room. Pulling Rachel into her arms, she comforted her.

Sensing that Rachel was gaining control of herself, Sherry stood back and looked at her. “Now, will you drink some coffee? It may be a while before Jake comes back to tell us what happened.” Shaking her head yes, she went to the table and stirred some sugar into her cup.

After taking a sip of the steaming brew, Rachel half smiled and said, “Sorry, I guess I kind of lost it for a minute.” Reassuring herself as well as the others in the room, she continued, “I’m all right now.” Taking her grandmother’s and her mother’s hands in hers she smiled saying, “We’re all going to be all right because, after all, hens rule! They’re tough old birds, just like us.”

Trying to keep Rachel’s spirits up, Barbara gave her a regal stare and said, “Whom are you calling an old bird, young lady?”

Seeing the look on Barbara’s face, both Sherry and Rachel started laughing almost hysterically. A knock at the back door made them stop and turn around. Dora answered the door and seeing Jake standing there let him in. His clothes were smudged with soot and ash from the fire, and he smelled like smoke, but Rachel thought he was the best looking man she had ever seen. Running into his arms, she said, “Well, tell us something! How bad is it?”

Hugging her close he replied, “I have good news and bad news. The good news is the actual chicken house is fine, and so are the hens. The bad news is the incinerator is a total loss.”

“The incinerator? Is that what exploded? But how? I mean we haven’t used it since last week.” Confusion showed on Rachel’s face.

* * * * *

Thinking that her many facial expressions were just one of the things that he loved about her, Jake said, “That’s what Ollie just told me. The fire marshal will be combing over the rubble when it gets light out. He should be able to tell us what happened.”

Interrupting their conversation, Barbara said to Jake, “Come sit down and have a cup of coffee, Jake. Dora, if those biscuits are done he’ll have some of them too.”

Pulling Jake toward the table, Rachel didn’t give him an opportunity to refuse. Sitting down beside him she said, “Have the firemen got the fire completely out?”

Taking a bite of the hot buttered biscuit, Jake swallowed before he answered. “Not completely, and they will have to stay around for a while to make sure there are no hot spots. You know, nothing left that will flare back up.” Filling another biscuit with some bacon he ate it too.

Seeing Jake devour the food in front of him, Barbara looked at Dora and asked, “Dora, do you have enough to take down to the firemen?”

“Yes, ma’am. There should be plenty, but I’ll need help carrying it all.”

Standing up, Barbara said, “Well, between all of us we should be able to carry it. Feeding them some breakfast is the least we can do for their heroic work tonight.”

Agreeing, they all got up to help.

* * * * *

By mid morning word had spread about the fire and everyone who knew them had either come by or phoned to check on them. Staying at the house, Barbara and Dora took the phone calls while Rachel and Sherry spoke to anyone who came by. The fire marshal was climbing through the ashes and every once in a while he would pick something up and look at it. He either placed it in a plastic baggie and marked it, or he threw it back down where he found it. Finally, with something in his hand he walked toward Rachel and Jake.

Seeing him approach, Jake addressed him, “Did you find something, Chief?”

His hands covered in soot, the chief answered, “Yes, see this?” Showing Jake the piece of burnt and twisted metal he continued, “That’s what’s left of the thermostat. Look at it and you can see that it’s stuck. It seems to me that someone turned the gas on high, closed the ventilation ducts, and blew out the pilot light, leaving it like that. It didn’t take long for the gas to build up in the room. When there was enough gas built up in the room some kind of spark was set off and that is what made it explode. I’m still looking for the trigger.” Turning to Rachel he asked, “When was the last time anyone used the incinerator?”

“About a week ago; we haven’t been in there since.”

“Well somebody was in there yesterday. Like I said, it didn’t take the gas long to build up in there. My guess is about six or seven hours and there would be enough gas in the room to cause this kind of explosion. It’s a good thing that the incinerator was connected to a propane tank by itself. If that had been connected to a natural gas line to the house, everything would have blown up.”

“So you definitely are saying this was no accident?” asked Rachel.

“Accident? No, ma’am, no way this was an accident,” he replied.

Handing the thermostat back to the chief, Jake said, “Thanks; when do you think your report will be ready?”

“I’ll have it on your desk by this afternoon,” the chief said as he turned and walked away.

Looking at Jake, Rachel asked, “Now what?”

Thinking before he answered her, Jake finally said, “I need to catch whoever is behind this before someone gets killed, that’s what.” Kissing her quickly on the mouth, he said, “I need to speak to Oscar, and then I better get to the office. I’ll see you later.”

“I’m going to hold you to that,” she said.

Walking over to Oscar, Jake asked Sherry to excuse them and the two men walked toward Jake’s Blazer while they talked. Reaching her mother’s side, Rachel watched the men and said, “I wonder what that’s all about.”

“He’s probably asking Oscar to keep an eye on us po’ little women folk,” Sherry answered with as much southern drawl as she could put into it. Laughing with her mother, Rachel agreed.

Waving as Jake drove away, Rachel told Sherry that she was going to the house and asked if she was coming. “You go ahead, I’ll wait until Oscar is ready,” Sherry replied.

* * * * *

Cussing under his breath, the man was again watching the scene below. He was supposed to meet with the boss in about an hour and give him a report on what was happening. Leaving by the old dirt road the man reflected on what they had tried over the last several weeks. The boss was still mad about the last screw up. He was going to be furious about this one. Once again their plan had failed. The fire was supposed to take out the chicken houses too, not just the incinerator. That would have put those ladies out of business, and his boss would have been able to buy the property real cheap. Thinking to himself that this place was jinxed, the man wanted to tell his boss to forget about this one and leave it alone. But, he knew that he wouldn’t. His boss was even meaner and crazier than he was. Being honest with himself, the man realized he was afraid of the boss.

Reaching his cabin the man saw the boss’s car parked under the trees. This place was so far back in the woods, no one could see the cabin. He didn’t understand why the boss thought he needed to hide his car. Going inside, the man was suddenly hit in the head. Staggering against the door he looked at the boss but didn’t say anything. Waiting to see if he was going to get hit again, he looked around the room for something to defend himself with. Nothing was in reach so he prepared to block the next blow when it came. Instead of hitting the man again, the boss yelled at him, “You don’t have to tell me—I know you blew it again! Hell, the whole town knows about it already!” Seeing that the man was about to make excuses he said, “And don’t you say you’re sorry! I’m the one who should be sorry for trusting you do get the job done!” The man stood by the door, not moving, and watched as the boss ranted and paced around the small one room cabin. After a few minutes the boss stopped pacing and, turning around, smiled at the man. Knowing the boss was his most dangerous when he was friendly made the man cringe inside. Still smiling the boss said, “Well, don’t just stand there like an idiot, come on and sit down. I’ll tell you what we’re going to do now. I was hoping it wouldn’t come to this, but we don’t have a choice now.” Slowly walking to the old table and sitting across from the boss, the man listened to their next plan of action.

* * * * *

A week had gone by since the fire and things were starting to get back to normal around the farm. During the week Ollie helped Juan and Maria in the chicken house, and on the weekends he helped Rachel with the garden. Sherry and Barbara had settled down into a routine of household chores, surprising Rachel by their lack of arguing. Rachel had been busy that week making arrangements to have a new incinerator built and keeping the county health department from shutting her down. Thankful for the peace at home she was able to concentrate on business.

The afternoon sun was shining on Rachel’s back as she started walking down the dirt lane toward the mailbox: She had seen the mail lady go by when she was working in the garden earlier. As she walked back to the house she shuffled through the mail, noting that it was mostly bills. The last envelope was large and thick. Reading the return address first, she saw that it was from a pharmaceutical company in Birmingham, and was addressed to her Aunt Darlyn. She decided the mail could wait and put it on the desk in the study.

Hearing voices coming up the hall from the kitchen Rachel went to see who was there. Barbara and Dora were sitting at the table drinking ice tea and eating a piece of apple pie. Joining them at the table she picked at the crust on the pie and asked, “Where is Mama?”

Exchanging a smile with Dora, Barbara answered her, “Where do you think she is? Sherry is with Oscar of course. She has been spending a lot of her time with him lately.”

Sighing, Rachel said, “Yea, I know.”

“Are you still worried about him? I told you I’d tell you what I know about his background if it’s worrying you that much.”

“And I told you I don’t want to know what your private investigator had to say.”

Reaching over and tapping Rachel’s hand away from the pie, Dora spoke up saying, “Well, don’t listen to what your grandmother has to say, but leave that pie alone or get a plate and cut yourself a piece.”

Rachel had not been aware that she was even picking at the pie until Dora tapped her on the hand. Embarrassed, she put her hands in her lap. She wasn’t really hungry, she was nervous. Realizing this, a bad feeling came over her.

Seeing Rachel fidget made Barbara ask, “What’s really bothering you Rachel?”

Looking at her grandmother and Dora she slowly answered, “I’m not sure, but I have a bad feeling, like something awful is going to happen. I can’t shake it.”

Seeing the anxiety on Rachel’s face and hearing it in her voice, Barbara tried to reassure her that it was because of everything that had already happened. “I’m confident that your young man will find the person responsible for what is happening and arrest him real soon.”

Hearing her grandmother refer to Jake as her young man made Rachel blush at the memory of their night alone together. Smiling at the memory, she said, “You are probably right. Speaking of my young man, I have a date with him tonight, so I guess I’d better get ready.”

As she started up the stairs, Rachel could hear bits and pieces of the conversation between her grandmother and Dora. Hearing her name mentioned she stopped on the stairs just out of sight and listened as Dora said, “When are you going to tell her the truth?”

“Not until she is ready. She’s had enough to deal with this week.”

“You’re going to have to tell her sometime, and sooner is better than later.”

“I know, and I’ll tell her, I promise.”

The buzzer going off on the dryer in the laundry room stopped their conversation and Rachel could hear no more. Afraid she would be caught eavesdropping Rachel eased up the rest of the stairs and went to her room. Not understanding the conversation between the two women, Rachel dismissed it from her mind.

After her shower she glanced at the clock to see how much time she had before Jake would be there to pick her up. Roxanne was throwing a small dinner party and had invited them to come. She was going to have to hurry if she was going to be ready on time.

Rachel was ready when Jake arrived for their date. However, her grandmother had taught her at an early age to never meet her date at the door…‘a lady always keeps them waiting’ was her motto.

Jake was standing at the parlor doors talking to Barbara when Rachel came down the stairs. His eyes lit up at the sight of her. Rachel was wearing the spring green pants suit she had bought at Christi’s boutique. Her hair was pulled up in a French twist with a few spiraling curls in front and back. Small pearl earrings dangled from each ear. Thinking again that she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen he said, “Good evening, Rachel. You look wonderful tonight.”

Kissing Jake softly on the mouth, Rachel said thank you. Stepping back and looking closer at him she said, “You look pretty handsome yourself tonight.” Sniffing, she added, “And you smell good too.” Jake had not been sure what to wear to this little dinner party so he dressed up in his best black pants and a gray dress shirt. Thinking a tie was too formal he opted not to wear one.

“Are you ready to go?” he asked.

Nodding her head yes, they said good night to Barbara and headed for the party. It was a short distance to Roxanne and Ollie’s house. In fact it was just down Highway 31, about a mile or so. Jake and Rachel didn’t have much time to talk before they arrived.

Ollie greeted them at the door saying, “Come on in.” When they stepped into the living room Rachel was surprised to see Maria playing with Molly. Curiosity was killing Rachel, but she didn’t ask Ollie how long he had been seeing Maria.

Coming out of the kitchen, Roxanne said, “Hey, I’m glad ya’ll are here. I hope you like spaghetti. It will be ready soon.”

Teasing his older sister, Ollie said, “Yea, I hope you like it too! She made enough for an army!” Laughing he continued, “Jake if you don’t help me eat it, I’ll be having it for supper every night this week!”

Before Jake could respond there was a knock at the door. Looking at Roxanne in surprise Ollie asked, “Who can that be?”

Smiling wickedly at her brother, Roxanne said, “My date.” Not giving Ollie a chance to question her, Roxanne rushed to the door.

Still standing with her arm linked in Jake’s, Rachel felt him tense when Alec walked in on Roxanne’s arm.

Smiling broadly at the group Roxanne said, “Alec, you know everyone don’t you?”

Looking at Maria and Molly he said no he didn’t. After Roxanne introduced Maria and Molly to Alec she turned to Ollie and said, “Ollie, don’t just stand there looking like you been hit with a stupid stick! Get everyone something to drink!” Excusing herself saying she needed to check on the bread, Roxanne went back into the kitchen.

Ollie followed her and, taking a couple of beers from the refrigerator, he looked at her and said, “This should be an interesting night!” Removing the bread from the oven Roxanne thought to herself that she was counting on it.

The conversation was sparse at first, but finally everyone settled into a rhythm of topics. The men discussed sports while the women tried to keep Molly out of trouble. After a few minutes Roxanne said supper was ready if they were.

Ollie led Maria and Molly into the dining room and helped each of them with their chair. Neither Ollie nor Maria missed it when Jake practically bumped Alec out of the way as they both tried to pull out a chair for Rachel. Pretending not to notice, Rachel sat down in the middle chair, leaving Jake on one side of her and Alec on the other. This left Roxanne a place at the head of the table next to Alec and Maria.

As they ate Roxanne worked at keeping the conversation flowing. After exhausting every subject she could think of she said, “So, Jake, have you gotten any leads on Rachel’s attacker?”

Jake had been dreading the moment but he knew it would come up sometime tonight. Setting his fork down he said, “Roxanne, you know I can’t discuss police business with any of you.”

Seizing the chance to make Jake look bad in front of Rachel, Alec interrupted, “Oh come on, Sheriff, surely you have some sort of lead—or is this going in the records as an unsolved crime?”

Barely keeping his anger under control Jake replied, “No, it’s not going on the record as unsolved. My department is working night and day on this case!”

Feeling the tension on both sides of her, Rachel calmly said to Alec, “I have complete faith in Jake, and I know he will find the person responsible for my attack. Now if you gentlemen don’t mind, I don’t care to hear any more about it tonight.”

Sorry she had brought the subject up Roxanne asked, “Who wants dessert?”

Ollie answered saying, “Molly and I do, don’t we, my girl?”

Smiling sweetly at her daddy she said, “Yes, Roxy made cake!” The child’s innocence brought a sense of shame over Jake and Alec, both of them agreeing that cake sounded good to them too.

“Well then, if you ladies will help me take these dishes to the kitchen, we’ll get the dessert. You men can be getting the table ready for a game of cards.”

Grabbing as many plates as they could carry, the three women went into the kitchen. As soon as the door was closed Maria looked at Roxanne and said, “Man, I thought for sure those two were going to tie up in there! Why did you invite Alec?”

Setting dessert dishes on a tray with the chocolate cake she had made, Roxanne turned and looked at both Maria and Rachel as she answered, “Look, I know he is younger than me and everything, but I keep hoping that someday my prince charming will walk into my life. At my age I can’t be picky…I have to entertain any available bachelor I can find. Alec came into the shop yesterday for a haircut, so I invited him. I didn’t want to be the only one here tonight without a date.” Sighing she added, “Rachel, I’m sorry if Alec being here has made things between you and Jake difficult. I didn’t know Alec had the hots for you.”

Laughing, Maria said, “Yeah, it’s been obvious to all of us that Jake is jealous.”

Smiling at that, Rachel said, “I know; I thought I would like him being jealous over me, but I have to admit that his constant touching me is getting on my nerves. He kept playing footsie under the table with me or brushing his hand against mine while we ate.”

Giggling at Rachel’s remark, Roxanne finished arranging the dessert tray and said, “Sounds like Jake’s got it bad.”

The kitchen door opened and Ollie walked in whispering, “If you ladies don’t hurry up I’m not going to be responsible for what those two roosters do in there.” Looking at Ollie as if they didn’t understand, he added, “Well okay, but if any furniture gets broken, Roxanne, you’re paying for it.” Saying that he walked out of the kitchen.

“Oh no, I’ll go see what’s happened,” said Rachel.

“Me too,” said Maria.

Following the others out of the kitchen balancing the tray carefully, Roxanne walked into the dining room just in time to see Jake punch Alec in the face. Not having time to get out of the way Alec landed on top of her, knocking them both to the floor. Covered in cake, Alec sat there and looked at everyone. Instead of getting up and going after Jake he started laughing. “Guess I deserved that.” Turning and helping Roxanne off the floor he continued, “Roxanne, I’m sorry I ruined your party. I hope you will let me make it up to you and take you out to dinner sometime.”

Wiping cake off her face, she looked around the room at everyone’s faces and said to Alec, “Sure, dinner would be nice.”

So angry with Jake for his behavior, Rachel spoke up saying, “Roxanne, I’m sorry about all this, but I think Jake and I should be leaving.”

“It’s okay, I’ll call you tomorrow,” Roxanne replied.

Taking Jake by the hand Rachel pulled him from the room. When they were safely outside, Rachel stopped Jake and asked, “Do you mind telling me what that was all about? Why did you have to hit him?”

Disgusted and still angry, Jake stormed to the Blazer and got in, slamming the door. Rushing to get in, thinking he was going to leave her, Rachel jumped in and slammed her door. “Oh, no you’re not just driving away without giving me an explanation!” Starting the Blazer and peeling out of the driveway with rocks flying, Jake started toward town.

He was driving so fast that Rachel got scared on top of being angry. “Slow down, Jake you’re going to get us killed!” she yelled as she grabbed hold of the dashboard.

Still angry but sorry he had scared her, Jake slowed down and pulled off the highway onto a dirt lane. Before Rachel knew what was happening Jake had pulled her into his arms, roughly kissing her. Bruising her lips, he started pulling at her buttons. At first she kissed him back, but the rougher he got the angrier she got. Finally pushing him away from her, she yelled “Stop right now! You aren’t touching me again until you tell me what’s going on!”

“I couldn’t stand the way that jerk was looking at you all night! He knew you were there with me! He kept hassling me about your attack while you were in the kitchen. Just wouldn’t stop saying things like, ‘Maybe I needed to call the state police to see if they could solve the case’. He did everything he could to make me look bad in front of you.”

“So instead of ignoring him, you hit him? That was supposed to make you look good to me? Men! You’re all nuts! Take me home!”

Not saying another word they both rode the rest of the way to MacKinstry Farm in silence. Stopping in front of the house, Jake was ready to apologize for his behavior, but before he could do it, Rachel jumped out of the Blazer and ran up the steps into the house.

Immediately going upstairs to her room, she slammed the bedroom door. Getting ready for bed she tried to calm down; Jake had scared her with his jealousy. Crawling under the covers she cried herself to sleep.

* * * * *

Jake’s mood was no better by the time he reached his house. Taking a beer onto the back deck he leaned against the rail and thought about what he had done. The beer was not setting well on his stomach, so he poured it out and threw the bottle away. Climbing the stairs to his room he remembered the night Rachel had spent with him. With heavy footsteps, he too went to bed.

Restlessly both Jake and Rachel slept, their dreams filled with images of each other and the love they shared. Their hearts were breaking as they longed to be in each other’s arms.