by Susan Stoker
“So this really could be Adeline’s old boss?” Driftwood asked.
Taco shrugged. “I guess.”
Chief approached. “Does that flare mean I should be more worried about my shed burning down?”
Taco hadn’t even thought about that.
A whistle pierced the air, and they all turned to see Sledge motioning them over.
As Taco walked toward his friend and the impromptu meeting he was obviously calling, he glanced over to Adeline and Koren. They were standing shoulder to shoulder, and their attention was fixed on the car.
Gritting his teeth at this latest unwelcome event, Taco gathered around Sledge with the others.
“It looks to me like someone may be targeting firefighters,” Sledge said, keeping his voice low but not beating around the bush. “It’s possible it could be Adeline’s previous boss, but we just don’t know. Chief, I’ve asked the deputy to get with the fire investigator and re-investigate the fire at your house. Everyone else needs to stay on alert. So far, torching material possessions is just an annoyance rather than anything more life threatening, but the fire at the shed could’ve spread to the trees if Tiger hadn’t been there to help subdue it until we arrived. And this…setting fire to a firefighter’s car in his driveway? Doesn’t exactly give me warm and fuzzy feelings.”
“What’s the plan?” Squirrel asked.
“Look for anything out of the ordinary. I think we have to assume whoever is doing this knows where we live,” Sledge said.
“Come on, this could all be a coincidence,” Driftwood argued. “Two fires don’t automatically mean someone is targeting us.”
“Are you willing to gamble Quinn’s life on that?” Sledge asked with a hard look. “Maybe it’ll be your house next. And she could get hurt by association. I’m not willing to put Beth’s life at risk for anything. If this turns out to be a personal vendetta against Adeline, fine, we’ll shut this shit down and deal with it. But if it’s someone who has a thing against us? We all need to stay on our toes.”
“Has anything happened to the others on the other shifts?” Taco asked.
“I texted Mick, and he said he hadn’t heard of anything,” Sledge said. “Which makes me all the more leery about this shit.”
“And we have no idea if our women are safe, do we?” Chief asked.
Sledge hesitated, and Taco’s stomach churned.
“I’m not sure of anything at this point,” Sledge admitted. “All I know is that my oh-shit meter is pegged and I’m not feeling good about this.”
“What am I supposed to be sorry about?” Crash asked. “It doesn’t make sense. It makes more sense for it to be about Adeline. And Chief’s shed could’ve been an unfortunate coincidence. I still don’t think we should panic at this point.”
“I agree,” Taco said. “But that doesn’t mean I don’t think it’s worth keeping our women close for the time being.” Even though they were having a serious conversation, he couldn’t help but feel how right it was to think of Koren as “his woman.” He’d never really thought of anyone else that way.
He looked over and saw that Koren and Adeline had sat down on the grass with Coco between them. Both looked worried and stressed out, and Coco was doing his best to console them. The two women were holding hands and leaning toward each other, obviously taking comfort in each other’s presence.
“Could this be related to Jen?” Taco blurted. Then more thoughts crowded into his brain. “Or what about that doctor at the hospital that was fired? He was really pissed off at Sophie. And should we tell the cops to check into that gang Blythe had issues with? Lord knows we’ve had our share of people who might be pissed at us over the last year or so.”
No one said anything for a long moment.
“Shit,” Chief said. “I’ll talk to the deputy.”
“No, I’ll do it,” Sledge said. “And Taco is right. This could be any number of people. Let’s not do anything crazy at this point though. Until we know more, we really know nothing. While I definitely don’t like the look of that flare, that doesn’t mean unequivocally that someone has it out for us. Be careful, tell the women to be careful, and we’ll carry on as normal. But let’s encourage them to check in more often when we’re on shift. If they have errands, maybe they can team up and go in pairs or groups. If this is a vendetta against us, let’s not make it easy on whoever it is.”
Everyone nodded and Taco made his way back over to where he’d left Koren.
She immediately stood when he approached. “Is everything okay?” she asked nervously.
Taco wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her into him.
She came willingly.
And, as he was coming to expect, her fingers gripped his shirt at his sides.
“Everything’s okay,” he assured her, even if he wasn’t one hundred percent positive about that.
“This wasn’t an accident,” Adeline said from next to them.
Crash walked up and said, “Come on. We’ll talk inside.” He grabbed hold of Adeline’s hand and took Coco’s leash at the same time.
Taco felt Koren turn her head, but she didn’t pull away from him. “I’ll talk to you later, Adeline.”
“Definitely. Remember what I said,” Adeline replied, then let Crash lead her into their house.
“What’d she say?” Taco asked.
He didn’t think she was going to answer. But after a beat, Koren said, “Just that she’d never seen you look so content.”
Taco wasn’t surprised everyone else noticed. “That’s because it’s been too long since I’ve been this happy.” He kissed her temple. “Come on, I want to get home too. It’s been a very long day.”
He realized just how tired she was when she didn’t respond. He turned her, but kept his arm around her shoulders. She wrapped her arm around him and they walked side by side down the street to where he’d left his truck earlier that evening.
Taco still had a hundred questions about what had happened to Crash’s car and what was really going on, but at the moment, he just wanted to get Koren home safely.
Chapter Ten
It was easy to remain undetected with all the chaos outside the firefighter’s home. Nadine didn’t stay to watch the police and fire investigator do their thing. She didn’t care what they found; it wasn’t as if she was trying to hide the fact that she’d set the fire. Not anymore.
Her eyes stayed on Hudson Vines and his girlfriend. She had a few more things up her sleeve before her coup de grace.
Absently, she scratched at the scabs on her arms as her gaze followed her nemesis. She needed another hit, but before she left, she watched as Hudson opened the passenger side door for the woman with him. He kissed her tenderly before she hopped inside.
“Enjoy your whore while you can,” she muttered.
The second the truck was out of sight, Nadine turned and headed back through the neighbors’ yards to get to her car parked two blocks over. A dog barked from nearby and the cicadas were loud, but she heard none of it. She was busy thinking of the perfect revenge.
It took her two tries to get the key into the ignition, but that didn’t really register either. She needed more meth. She’d smoked her last rock before setting the car on fire. As she drove, she picked up her phone and dialed her dealer’s number, not noticing that she almost side-swiped a parked car in the process.
When he answered, she simply said, “I need more.”
“Nadine, I just gave you a rock.”
“I know, but I need it!”
“You got money?” he asked.
Nadine didn’t answer.
“I’ll take that as a no. You know what I want in exchange. I’ll be at your trailer in an hour.”
“I need something sooner,” she whined.
“An hour. I got shit to do,” he said, then hung up.
Nadine clicked off her phone and gripped the steering wheel with both hands. She hated what she’d become, but she needed the drugs now more than ever. Th
ey helped her forget. Without the numbing bliss, as she drove toward the trailer, Nadine’s mind automatically drifted to the past…and how far she’d fallen.
* * *
“Honey…I’m pregnant!” Nadine said.
“Really? Oh my God! That’s so awesome!” Preston exclaimed. “I love you so much…”
* * *
Shaking her head, Nadine scowled. Yeah, Preston had loved her then, when things were going well. But after Stevie was born, he’d found fault with everything she did.
* * *
“All I’m asking is that you do a bit of housekeeping while I’m at work,” Preston said when he got home.
“I’m doing the best I can. It’s hard to keep up with Stevie. I got the laundry done today.”
“Do you want a fucking cookie, Nadine? Jesus, look at this place. There’s toys and shit everywhere. The kitchen’s a disaster. Honest to God, I have no idea what you do all day. You’re not working, your only job is to make sure my son doesn’t hurt himself, and look,” he threw out a hand, “he could choke on those toy pieces over there! All this damn food on the floor isn’t exactly sanitary either. And look at yourself.” His gaze went from the top of her head to her toes. “You’ve let yourself go. You’re fat, you’re dressed like a slob. I want to know what happened to the beautiful Nadine I married.”
“You asshole!” Nadine said. “You want to try staying home and watching Stevie? It’s not as easy as it looks.”
“Whatever. Clean yourself up. Jesus. If you’re so damn tired, I’ll take Stevie and we’ll go out to eat. Hopefully after you pick up this pigsty, you’ll be asleep by the time we get back so I don’t have to see you again tonight.”
And with that, Preston put his briefcase on the floor and went to pick up their son.
* * *
Nadine gripped the steering wheel so hard her knuckles turned white. What a dick. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t tried to keep him happy. She’d tried everything to lose the extra weight she’d gained, and when a normal diet hadn’t worked, she’d turned to more extreme measures. She’d started smoking weed…but instead of helping her lose weight, it gave her the munchies, and she’d put on even more pounds instead of taking them off.
* * *
“If you really want to lose weight, darlin’, smoking weed isn’t gonna do it,” said the man she’d been getting her marijuana from.
Nadine frowned. “Well, no shit, I know that now.”
“Weed’ll make you feel good, and you won’t give a shit what your old man says, but if you really want to win him back, you’re gonna have to lose that baby weight.”
She scowled harder. “Fuck you. What else do you have for me then?”
The dealer just laughed as he reached into his pocket. “You’re hot, Nadine. But you could be so much hotter. Here, this one’s on the house.”
Nadine looked at the small blue-white rock in his palm. “What is it?”
“Ice.”
She had no idea what that was, but she didn’t want to look stupid. “Oh.”
The dealer rolled his eyes. “I’ve got some time. I’ll show you how it’s done.”
Nadine hesitated. She only had two hours before she had to meet Stevie at the bus stop. She’d never not been there when he got home, and she didn’t want to start now. He was the best thing that had ever happened to her.
And Preston…
He was definitely fucking around on her. But she wasn’t ready to let him go. Wasn’t that why she’d started smoking pot in the first place? To try to lose weight so he’d be attracted to her again? If this ice stuff could do what the weed obviously hadn’t, then she could get her husband back and they could all be a happy family again.
“Okay,” she agreed.
She watched carefully as the dealer put the chunk into a small glass pipe, then used a lighter to heat it up. She saw the rock slowly melt into a liquid. He turned and smiled at her, then concentrated on what he was doing. Once the drug started to solidify again, he handed her the pipe.
She looked at him in confusion.
“I’m gonna heat it up again. Once it begins to smoke, inhale slowly. Don’t hold it in, exhale immediately.”
“That’s it?”
“That’s it.”
The second the smoke built up in the pipe, she sucked it into her lungs. She didn’t feel anything. Turning to the dealer, she shrugged.
He laughed. “It takes a few minutes. Here, take another hit.”
She did.
Ten minutes later, Nadine felt a euphoria like she’d never felt before. It was beautiful. She felt as if she could take on the world. She had more energy than she’d had in a long time.
“Feels good, doesn’t it?” the dealer said, running his hand up and down her arm in a slow caress.
“Yeah,” Nadine said, nodding and grinning like a fool.
“Trust me, you’re gonna love this. You aren’t gonna feel like eating, which is where the weight loss comes in. You’ll have the energy to clean your house ten times over, so your old man’ll have nothing to complain about when he gets home.”
“Awesome,” Nadine said.
“Now…that one was free, but how about showing me some gratitude?”
“What? How?” She should’ve been alarmed, but at that moment, she felt too good to worry about anything.
“Just a kiss, baby. Just a kiss.”
A kiss. She could do that.
When she kissed the man ten years younger than her, Nadine didn’t feel a sexual spark of any kind. But he sure seemed pleased.
“When you need more, let me know. We can work out a deal, I’m sure,” he said with a smile.
“Awesome,” Nadine said again. Then she headed out the door to pick up her son from school.
* * *
Thinking back on that first high, Nadine felt sad. It had been so beautiful. She’d felt deliciously happy and slightly numb for hours. She’d cleaned the house from top to bottom, and even Stevie being a whiny little brat hadn’t bothered her. Of course, the next day had been hard. And the next even harder. She’d been more depressed than she had in a long time. And she’d eaten everything she could get her hands on.
It hadn’t been long before she’d called her dealer again.
The second time she’d done meth had been just as good as the first.
Then she’d done it again.
And again.
It soon got to the point where she needed a hit every morning.
Then her dealer had shown her how to shoot it instead of smoke it, which was great because it was faster, and there wasn’t a chance that Preston would smell the smoke.
But she hadn’t been careful enough.
* * *
“What’s this?” Preston asked as he came out of the bathroom holding a used syringe.
Nadine froze—and couldn’t think of anything to say.
“Are you doing drugs?” he asked, the anger clear in his tone.
“What if I am?” Nadine said. “It’s not like you care.”
He sneered. “You’re disgusting!”
“Really, Preston? Because you didn’t think so when I was sucking your dick last night! You told me to lose weight. I did. You told me to keep the house clean. I did. I don’t know what you’re so pissed about.”
“I’m done,” he said, heading for their closet.
“Done with what?” Nadine asked.
“You. I’m moving out.”
She just stood there staring after him. Nadine knew she should feel something, anger, disappointment, sadness, but because she’d recently taken a hit, she felt nothing. And nothing felt awesome.
She’d managed to make it through her job at the nursery today without a hit, but it had been a close call. She’d started working part-time at the greenhouse when Stevie was old enough to go to school. She hated the job, really, but it gave her the money she needed to buy the meth she’d become so reliant on to make it through the day.
“Go ahead! Move in with t
he secretary you’ve been fucking!” she yelled. “I don’t care. But you aren’t taking Stevie.”
Preston came out of the closet after several minutes and headed for the bathroom.
“Did you hear me?” she yelled. “You aren’t taking my son!”
Preston reemerged from the bathroom a minute later, and the look he threw at her was full of scorn. “I don’t want anything that will remind me of you.”
“Good. Get out!”
“I should’ve done this a long time ago. Who knows how much of my money you’ve used for whatever shit you’re putting in your body. Good luck finding enough to live on. That shitty part-time job won’t cut it. You’ll never get another dime from me.”
“We’ll see about that,” Nadine told him, suddenly calm. She wasn’t stupid. She’d been collecting evidence against her husband for years now, just in case. She had cold, hard proof of his affairs.
After he left, she checked to make sure he hadn’t taken the syringe she’d carelessly left on top of the trash can that morning, and smiled to realize he hadn’t. He might try to bring up her drug use in court, but he had no proof. None. She was a model wife—and she was going to take him to the cleaners.
* * *
Nadine pulled up to the trailer she’d begged her dealer to let her use after her house burned down. She managed to turn off the ignition, but was too tired to get out. She should get inside. Eat something…she couldn’t remember when she’d last eaten, but first, she’d rest for just a bit.
* * *
“Stevie! I’m headed out for a bit.”
When her son didn’t answer, she knocked on the door to his room. “Stevie?”
“I heard you, Mom.”
“I’ll be back soon.”
“Sure. Whatever.”
Nadine hesitated. Stevie had been withdrawn and sullen lately, but from everything she’d read, that’s how thirteen-year-old boys were. And she knew he was upset because he’d wanted a pair of expensive sneakers, but she’d had to tell him no. She didn’t have any extra money to buy the shoes. The cash she’d gotten from Preston in the divorce had seemed like a fortune at the time, but somehow she’d managed to go through it in less than three years. Yes, the courts were making Preston pay child support every month, but that money was practically gone before it hit her account. Spent on the drugs her body so desperately needed.