“Jane,” I said as the 911 operator picked up. “Fire. On the bluff. A big house in flames.”
The operator knew where I was talking about. She said something but I wasn’t listening. I was struck silent with horror at the view.
Jane stuttered in matched shock, her eyes fixed on the house. I ran towards the fire. Jane came with, and I demanded, “How many people live there?”
The flames had reached the roof but were centered towards the back of the house. If people were inside and could get to the front of the house…they might be all right.
“Just Donna,” Jane said woodenly. She seemed like she was in shock and I was going to ask her if she was okay when I heard the barking.
“Oh no,” I said. I didn’t even think. I ran up the path to the front door and tried to open it. It was locked. I tried ringing the doorbell and banging, but I didn’t hear anything but the dog whining. I searched for some sort of hide-a-key rock or something, but there were stained glass windows on either side of the double-wide doors. I looked for something to break the glass with and saw nothing. I took a deep breath, heard Jane calling my name, and kicked the window, breaking the glass.
“Here puppy,” I called, but the dog didn’t come out. I could hear sirens…but, I just couldn’t…I just couldn’t let the puppy stay in the fire. I wrapped my hoodie around my hand, and tried to unlock the door. It didn’t work because my arms weren’t long enough to reach the center of the double doors. I kicked at the glass again, calling for the puppy.
I tried whistling and kissing for the dog, but it just whined and barked, so I sidled sideways through the broken glass window, immediately coughing. I unlocked the door so the emergency people could get in behind me.
Jane grabbed my arm and said, “What are you doing?”
“The dog.”
“Firemen are unloading now.”
“Then they can get us both out,” I said, meaning me and the dog, but Jane followed me inside.
Smoke poured out of the house, but I didn’t see any flames. I followed the sound of the barking to a little crate and unlocked it, pulling out a long-haired wiener dog. Several little puppies started to follow their mom out, and I shoved them back inside and picked up the whole crate.
“I got you,” I told the mama dog. I turned, expecting to see Jane ready to drag me out, but she was gone. “Jane?”
There was no answer.
“Jane!”
Firemen burst through the door, yelling at me to leave.
“Jane!” I told them. “She’s in here somewhere. She was right behind me.”
I started coughing again, and held my hand over my mouth. The puppy was whining, but I couldn’t just leave Jane. I cried her name, but there was no reply.
“Rose!” That was Simon. I turned to see him behind the firemen.
“Get her out of here, Sy,” one of the men said. “And get out of here yourself.”
I started coughing, clutching the dog crate to me and saying to Simon, “But Jane.”
He grabbed my arm and pulled me out, ignoring my protest over my coughing. “What were you thinking?”
I could hear actual anger in his voice which was pretty rare for him. Even when I’d thoroughly infuriated him, he either went stone-faced or walked away.
“Jane!” I hacked out.
“We’re in their way, Rose. They’ll find her.”
I wanted to object, but he was far, far stronger than I was, and he was not accepting my objections. Also, I could hear the worry in his voice which told me that he was as concerned as I was. He pulled me all the way to the edge of the yard where Henrietta stood, stone-faced with her gaze fixed on the house.
“It’s good you got the dog,” Henrietta said. “She’s a good little pup. Too good for Donna.”
I turned to her shocked and said, “But Donna isn’t out yet.”
“She’s too mean to die,” Henrietta said.
I took a step back and said, “Do you think Jane is ok?” I coughed until I was leaning over and Simon was holding me up. “Did you see her come out?”
“She’s probably trying to find Donna, Rose. She is a doctor. She helps people.” Simon was trying to sound confident, but
I took a deep breath and started coughing. I covered my mouth with my elbow and realized I was shaking.
“Simon?” The trembling was rolling up my spine and down to my hand, and I was worried about dropping the puppies.
“Hey,” Simon said gently, wrapping his arm around me and taking the dog crate. “Marks, make a perimeter.”
Rather than going to help, he pulled me to his truck, opened the door and lifted me inside. I was crying in earnest then. Where was Donna? Why was I so helpless? Was Jane ok?”
But Simon just started the truck, directed the vents right at me, and then handed me his coffee cup, even though he had to wrap my fingers around it and make me hold it.
“It’s just shock, Rose,” he said. He cupped my cheek and then kissed me on the forehead before he opened the dog crate and put the mama dog in my lap. “She’s not Daisy. But she’ll do.”
The wiener dog licked my face repeatedly as I tried to stop crying.
“Drink the coffee, pet the dog, I’m going to track Jane down. I’m sure they have her out by now.”
The fluffy little mama dog licked my tears until I stopped shaking. I looked down at her and said, “I should say I’m being a big wuss.”
She cocked her pointy little face at me and then I added, “But I did break into a burning house to save you, so…clearly, I’m a superhero.”
She sniffed my lips and then licked my ear. I was having a hard time breathing without wheezing and my foot and arm hurt from where I’d broken the glass. It turned out it was harder to break glass than a flying baseball would indicate.
“Ok,” I said, warning my body and the dog that I was about to move. “Ok. Time to find Jane.”
I put the dog in the crate after kissing the top of her head. I slid out of the truck and immediately started coughing. I looked around and saw Jane at the end of the ambulance. She said something to the person and they came running towards me.
“Dr. Jane wants you to have a breathing treatment just in case.”
The EMT didn’t take a no and I was hauled over to the ambulance before I could object.
“Did you find Donna?”
Jane had a mask over her face, but she shook her head and shoved another over my face.
“Breathe deeply,” the EMT said. “We’ve been looking for you.”
I read his name badge and said, “Go away Bruce.”
He looked at Jane who nodded and then she said, “Donna didn’t make it.”
I took a step back and Jane said, “Breathe deeply.”
I did. We’d been too late. What had happened?
“Where did you go? What happened? Do they know? Some sort of malfunction in the wiring?”
Jane shrugged without taking her breathing mask off.
I glanced around. These were pretty new houses. I know Jane said that she’d only moved in during the summer. I hadn’t even lived in Silver Falls when the houses had been finished, but they were clearly brand new. The grass wasn’t in everywhere, the trees that lined the yard were newly planted. The ones that lined Jane’s house and the one next door had little border trees planted, but they were too little to do any good right then.
What a horrible way to go, I thought. Poor Donna. I had just been thinking about how many people hated her, but I’d been in that fire, and it had been bad. Donna might have been horrible, but she didn’t deserve that death. Sure, she made Zee look sweet and gentle, but…still…what a horrible way to go. I took the deep breaths that Jane insisted on and got a full breathing treatment. It made me cough and my lungs burned, but maybe that was the smoke?
Before I was done, Simon came over and said, “Are you all right?”
“Jane is doping me with whatever this is,” I said taking a deep breath. I was still wheezing but whatever
they were giving me was making it easier to breathe and giving me something of a buzz.
He brushed my hair out of my face and said, “Please never do that again.”
“I…had to.”
“I love dogs too, Rose. But I choose you over dogs.”
“Oooh la la,” Jane said as she pulled her mask away to tease us.
I didn’t care that Jane was watching, his affection was so rare—he was such a contained person that I was never quite sure exactly how he felt about me. But for once, Simon didn’t put a little distance between us when someone else was around. Instead, he tugged me close, wrapping his arms around me, and said, “You scared me. You both did. Donna was in the kitchen. I’m sorry you didn’t find her, Janey.”
She froze at that and said, “I went for the stairs. It seemed to be the thing to do.”
“I couldn’t have faced Hank if he came home and something had happened to you,” Simon’s attention was caught by a kid who was trying to circle the perimeter to get a better look, and he went striding off without a word.
Jane looked at me, at Simon and then at the ground. I reached out and took her hand.
“You couldn’t have known,” I told her, but she flinched a little bit. “You couldn’t have known where Donna was. You did what you could.” I repeated when she said nothing. I supposed it was rare for her to actually lose a patient herself, and I felt for her.
I squeezed her hand again wanting to be able to fix it for her, but I knew I couldn’t. When my breathing treatment was done, I asked, “Can I go? I was supposed to be at the diner a while ago, and I need to change now.”
“I’m sure Zee heard where you were,” Jane said. “You should rest. That breathing treatment has steroids in it. You don’t feel as good as you think.”
“I’ll take it easy,” I lied.
I crossed to Simon and said, “Can I take the dogs with me?”
He glanced at me and then nodded distractedly, saying, “That’d be great. We’ll figure out what to do with them later.”
“I’m going to shower, set up the dogs in my kitchen, and get to work.”
He paused and said, “Take it easy. You were just breaking in smoke.”
I nodded, so I didn’t roll my eyes. I was not a child, but I knew he was showing he cared, so instead of being prickly, I let his care warm me.
“Ok,” I said, looking back at him. I was by no means much of a risk taker, going into a fire after the dog notwithstanding. Then I noticed the way his jaw was tight and his eyes were hard and I thought back to how he’d been snapping orders at Marks and his partner.
“Was…” I bit my lip and his gaze met mine. “It was murder wasn’t it?”
The muscle in his jaw ticked. Well, I had my answer. Silver Falls had another murder.
“Be careful too.”
Chapter 3
On second thought, I drove the dog over to the vet, dropped her and the puppies off, and promised to be back and check on her later. I like the vet who reminded me of everyone’s favorite uncle, and he promised to text me as soon as he knew the dogs were ok. I went to my place, took ibuprofen and threw the bottle of both it and Tylenol into my bag.
I headed into the diner, hoping it wasn’t too much of a mess. I didn’t think it would affect our business much beyond the morning. As soon as gossip got around, we’d have people coming in for a first-hand account with a side of mashed potatoes.
“Is it true?” Zee asked the moment I stepped through the door of The 2nd Chance Diner. I unwrapped my scarf from around my neck and nodded once.
Zee hadn’t like Donna either but that didn’t equal murder. It equaled ‘accidentally’ serving her decaf coffee and giving her the smallest piece of pie when she ordered some.
“Well,” I said, and then snapped at Daisy. She followed me to the office and took up her place on the bed. I walked into the kitchen and found that Az hadn’t gotten there yet.
“Is Az ok?”
“He had an appointment at the clinic,” Zee said.
“Jane was at the fire too,” I told her and then pushed aside the new guy to start the cooking. Zee had put the new waitstaff to work and had been running between the kitchen and the dining area to check people out.
I threw the pre-made chicken fried steak in the fryer, checked the gravy, found it full and told Zee, “You’re a miracle worker.”
In between pouring out pancakes, I started another batch of gravy and threw down a bag of hash browns, and told the new guy, “You’re in the way. Go get the fresh strawberries from the fridge, wash them, and start slicing them for waffles, we’re running low.”
We busted out as many orders as we could and had the new folks clearing tables, washing dishes, and delivering food while we got into our groove for lunch. The breakfast rush was over and Simon came in. I considered making him something he would hate because sometimes torturing him gave me more joy than it should, but instead I met his gaze through the window and asked, “What can I get ya?”
He didn’t order. He came back into the kitchen and kissed me on the forehead. I cocked my head at him, finally grabbing his chin and pushing his face both ways while I examined him. There was a bit of black on his ear and a little more on the collar of his shirt.
“You aren’t acting like yourself,” I said. I frowned. I appreciated the kiss and the fact that something seemed to have finally cemented inside of his head, but…it worried me too. “You been digging through Donna’s house?”
He nodded. “What we could. It was still pretty hot, but…there’s no question about what happened.”
“Oh no,” I said, feeling sick. A horrible accident would have been so much better.
“It’s just…you have to stay out of this one, Rose. It really does look like murder, and I don’t want you involved.”
“I have no interest in investigating,” I said, crossing my finger over my chest. “I didn’t want to last time, and I liked Tara. The last thing I wanted to find out was what the poor kid had been driven to do because of her evil on again, off again boyfriend.
“She only got involved last time because it happened here,” Zee said consolingly.
There was a little something in her voice. I looked her way and so did Simon. I pulled away from Simon to flip the burger I’d started for him. When he wasn’t looking at me, I shook my head at Zee. I did not want to be involved in another investigation.
I hadn’t liked the victim. I hadn’t known her well, but I’d known her well enough to know that I didn’t want to have anything to do with her, dead or alive. Donna had been terribly mean, she probably drove someone too far, and got—if not what was coming for her—then what she’d caused. Zee waited until Simon looked back to me, and then nodded emphatically.
“What happens to the dog?” I really really liked that little mama dog. And I didn’t want to talk murder.
“I don’t know,” he said. “I’ll talk to the relatives and see. Otherwise, a shelter.”
Zee was alternating each eye and nodding at me and I cleared my throat to keep from yelling at her or laughing. I tossed a couple of pieces of the bacon on the grill and slammed down the grill press too hard.
As soon as Simon was distracted, I shook my head at Zee.
She nodded.
With a sigh and the need to grit my teeth, I went ahead and made his burger the way he liked rather than serving the toppings on the side like we usually did. Because I liked him so much, I made him an extra large order of fries and a salad with ranch.
“We’re figuring this out,” Zee hissed as Simon left the kitchen with his food.
“Go get him a drink and leave me out of this investigation,” I said, hoping I sounded firm.
Zee glanced over in a way that said she was mocking me and only holding back because Simon was at the window to the kitchen asking for hot sauce.
“Hmmm,” Zee said. She went out to serve the food I’d just plated, and I started on the cookies for the next day.
Why would Zee think
I’d join her in investigation of this crime? I was a baker and diner owner. Az arrived as soon as the lunch rush was in full tilt, and I got to start teaching Betty how to run the till.
“I don’t know,” Betty, the new woman said, pushing a pencil behind her ear. “I’m not real good with numbers. And this newfangled computer stuff just ain’t right. People should just use checks.”
Was she kidding? I examined her face and realized Betty was entirely serious. Considering Zee had hired this one, I turned and stared at Zee who smirked and then ordered the kid I’d hired to clear another table. That he had to be told—after we’d told him at least a half-dozen times—irritated me.
“We don’t accept checks,” I told Betty, and she jerked back a little bit.
“Maybe I could do something else? I’m real good at cakes.”
I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath. I was short on sleep, heavy on trauma, and stressed from being both short-handed and having hired a slew of idiots. Also, the meds I’d taken were wearing off, and my lungs hurt.
“No,” I said. “You have to be able to run the register, help in the kitchen, wait tables, and clean. If you can’t do that, you need to consider whether this is a good fit.”
“Oh. Well. Zee said you were real nice.”
That was not the reply I was looking for and what did being nice have to do with it? I licked my lips, took a deep breath, and tried again. In an even tone, I said, “Being nice does not mean you don’t have to do the work we do here.”
“But I like cakes,” Betty whined. Her eyes were actually shining with tears. Was she serious? This was not how you acted when you were starting a new job.
The cakes were mine. As was this diner. I might have snapped, “No.”
Betty stepped back and said, “I can see Zee told me a faradiddle about you.”
I took a deep breath and said, “Thank you for coming in today, Betty. It sounds like we’re not a good fit. I’ll send you a check for your hours.”
Zee’s brows rose as I fired Betty, but I walked out of the diner wordlessly, opened the office door, put Daisy on a leash, and said to Az, “I’m taking a break.”
Three Carols of Cozy Christmas Murder Page 19