| |
Doc
“Thanks for going with me,” Tina said. “I appreciate it.”
“You’re welcome,” Doc replied as he opened the driver’s door for her. Thankfully, she hadn’t protested his tagging along.
Not that he’d asked.
Daryl Freed and Jerry Petraski—or Frick and Frack, as Smoke called them—were morons. Morons and bullies who, unfortunately, were in positions of power. They liked to remind everyone of that, using veiled threats and intimidation tactics instead of earning respect.
Like sticking them in a ridiculous interrogation room. Making them wait an inordinate amount of time. Casting vague insinuations.
Their plan had backfired. All they’d done was highlight the corruption within their own ranks. Doc was now certain that Joe Eisenheiser was behind the attack on Tina. He knew it. They knew it. And now, Tina knew it, too.
“I’m not sure I did you any favors,” Doc told her.
Maybe Eisenheiser had thought he was avenging his cousin. Maybe he had heard about Tina’s visits to Sanctuary and had been attempting to warn her off. Probably both.
As she stepped up into the truck, she placed a kiss on his cheek. That one simple act of affection, so readily given in the Sumneyville PD parking lot in broad daylight, lit him up from the inside. Those idiots inside had drawn a line in the sand, and Tina had stepped over it, placing herself firmly on the other side.
“Funny,” Tina said, “I was thinking the same thing about you.”
“How do you figure that?”
“Well, I’ve just basically confirmed the rumors that a Sanctuary man has seduced yet another local female into his clutches,” she said with the hint of a smirk. “I don’t imagine that’ll help your cause.”
As if he gave a shit about any of that.
“Totally worth it,” he said emphatically.
Her smirk became a genuine smile. “I agree.”
As she pulled away from the curb, she said, “I should probably head to the orchards. Want me to take you back to Sanctuary first, or would you like to come with me?”
“You’re offering?”
“Well, now that the cat’s officially out of the bag, I suppose I can be seen with you,” she said with a teasing grin. Then, the grin faded. “I can give you the grand tour before the developers come in and bulldoze everything.”
Tina tried to keep her voice light, but he felt her pain as if it were a blade in his own chest. He wanted to tell her about the Callaghans, but at the same time, he didn’t want to offer false hope. If things didn’t work out, it would be yet another cruel blow, and he wouldn’t do that to her.
“In that case, how could I possibly say no?”
After driving in silence for several minutes, Tina said, “Listen, I think we need to address the elephant in the room.”
He wasn’t sure to which elephant she was referring. There seemed to be a whole herd. “Okay.”
She gave him a sideways glance and cleared her throat. “You might have noticed that some people call me Bertina or Bert, not Tina. My real name is Bertina. Bertina Matilda Obermacher, to be specific.”
He waited for her to say more. “And?”
“And I just thought you should know.”
“Okay.”
“Okay.”
“It’s just that I really hate it,” she admitted. “That’s why I go by Tina.”
He thought about that for a moment. “You do know that Bertina means intelligent, right? And Matilda means might, strength, and battle?”
She gave him the side-eye. “How do you know that?”
He shrugged. “I find it interesting how closely people’s given names reflect their personalities. I’d say yours are pretty accurate.”
“Hmm,” she hummed. “I’ve never thought of it that way. What does Cole mean?”
He laughed. “It actually means swarthy and coal black.”
“No offense, but that doesn’t exactly fit you, does it?”
“No,” he agreed. “In my case, it’s a shortened form of Nicholas, which is my father’s name.”
“Ah. Do you see your family often?”
“Not really, no. My parents moved to Cornwall after my father retired from the Navy. His family owns property there.”
“What about your sisters?”
“They’re scattered across the globe. We moved around a lot as kids, and I guess we each had our favorites.”
“And you chose to settle in Sumneyville,” she said with a smile. “Why?”
“Because that’s where Church was building Sanctuary. And I hadn’t decided on a settling-down place yet.”
“And now?”
“Now, I couldn’t imagine living anywhere else. Although I wouldn’t mind traveling occasionally. I do miss that.”
“Me, too,” Tina admitted. “I got to see some amazing places in college. But farming isn’t really something you can take a break from, you know?” She exhaled and offered a small smile. “I guess I won’t have to worry about that for much longer, huh?”
* * *
After a tour of the orchards, a quiet dinner, and some intimate time at Tina’s, she gave him a ride back to Sanctuary. Once again, she refused his offer to spend the night, promising to call immediately if anything happened.
He made his way over to the main building, surprised to find the team hanging around, waiting for word. Apparently, Church had filled them in.
“How’s Tina holding up?” Church asked.
“Losing The Mill was a big blow, especially on top of everything else she’s had to deal with lately.”
“Arson?” asked Smoke.
“Petraski’s not saying one way or the other,” Doc told him, relaying the morning’s Q and A at Sumneyville PD. “But I’m thinking it has to be.”
Murmurs of agreement sounded from around the room.
“It’s the why of it that eludes me. Someone sending a message maybe?” Doc hated the thought that it had anything to do with Tina’s recent involvement with Sanctuary, but it wasn’t outside the realm of possibility.
In the last six weeks, Tina had been followed, sabotaged, and shot at.
Maybe those incidents had nothing to do with Sanctuary and everything to do with the clusterfuck her brothers had created. But maybe it did.
“Insurance is my guess,” Cage said.
“Tina wouldn’t burn down her own mill for the insurance money,” Doc said firmly.
“Relax. No one thinks she did. But one of her brothers might have. Financially, they’re fucked, right? What have they got to lose?”
Doc shook his head. “That doesn’t make any sense. They’d have no claim on an insurance payout. The Mill wasn’t part of Obermacher Farms. It was owned and operated solely under her LLC.”
“Misplaced guilt maybe?” mused Heff. “They had a moment of regret for screwing Tina out of her family legacy, thought it might be too painful for her to stick around and watch the farm go condo, so they gave her the means to start over?”
Church shook his head. “I can’t see Rick doing regret. Or Gunther for that matter. They’re selfish pricks. If they had anything to do with setting the fire, it was in the hopes of getting Tina to give them a handout.”
“Why not burn down their own homes and collect the insurance?” Doc asked.
“I can think of two reasons,” said Cage. “One, because it would be too suspicious. Obermachers are in financial straits, and the family homestead just happens to burn down? No one would believe it was an accident.”
“And the second?”
“There is no insurance on any Obermacher Farms property. We’ve been doing a little investigating of our own. Friedrich let it all lapse.”
“Fucking hell. Is he really that stupid?”
“Apparently,” Smoke said at the same time Church said, “Yes.”
“What about the other one?” asked Heff. “Kiefer? Could he have done this?”
“It’s possible,” Mad Dog said doubtfully, “though from what we know about him, he seems more inclined to do what the others tell him to do than have an original thought.”
Doc had thought so, too, but now, he wasn’t so sure. Tina’s youngest brother was good at being invisible. Almost too good. While the other two had been giving Tina a hard time, Kiefer had been hovering quietly in the background, watching and listening. He hadn’t said a word until they walked away.
But in that moment when he’d asked Tina if she was okay, Kiefer’s eyes had turned to Doc, and his gaze had been sharp and assessing. Perhaps he wasn’t the dullard he pretended to be.
“The likeliest suspects are our buddy Eisenheiser and his cousin, Eddie,” said Mad Dog. “They’ve already demonstrated a mean streak and an appalling lack of intelligence. Based on what Doc said about Tina talking to Eisenheiser about the truck incident, it seems pretty obvious.”
“I don’t know,” said Cage. “Something doesn’t feel right about that. Seems too easy.”
“Or maybe you’re just overthinking it. We’re not dealing with geniuses here.”
“Petraski’s going to rule it an accident, guaranteed. Any hint of arson is going to bring in outside investigators, and he sure as hell doesn’t want that,” said Smoke.
“My thoughts exactly,” Heff agreed with a nod. “Have we heard anything from the Callaghans yet?”
“Not yet.”
The words were barely out of Church’s mouth when the phone rang.
Cage looked at the display. “It’s Ian.”
“Put him on speaker.”
“Ian,” Church greeted. “Are you prescient or something?”
Ian laughed. “Me? No. But Maggie, on the other hand ... Is Doc there? He’s going to want to hear this.”
“I’m here,” Doc responded.
“Good. Maggie gave those items to Lex. Lex was really impressed. She’d like you and Tina to come to the Goddess and talk business.”
“That’s awesome. When?”
“The sooner, the better. Gunther Obermacher’s at it again. He’s decided the offers they have aren’t good enough, and he’s been reaching out in an attempt to foster competition and drive up the price of the land.”
“Greedy bastard,” Smoke muttered.
“He’s an opportunistic prick, for sure,” Ian agreed. “And too stupid for his own good. The buyer he had lined up and has now subsequently pissed off? Anthony Tollino.”
Cage sat up at the mention of the name. “Tollino? As in the mobster?”
“Yeah, I thought you might recognize the name. And heads-up, Tollino is not happy with Gunther’s decision to expand the buyers’ club to include Tollino’s competition.”
“Just what we need,” grumbled Smoke. “Organized crime in Sumneyville. Uh, no offense,” he said, shooting a look toward Cage.
Cage, who had grown up in that world, grinned. “None taken.”
“Whatever you do,” Ian said through the speaker, “make sure Tina doesn’t sign anything until she talks to Lex and Aidan.”
Doc’s conscience required him to speak up, particularly since Tina was no longer capable of producing the products their potential interest was based upon.
“Ian, you should know—”
“About The Mill? Yeah, we know about that. Can you get Tina here tomorrow night?”
“I’ll do my best.”