Bourbon Blaze

by Deanna L Rowley

  Halfway through her meal, she pushed it away and sighed. “I have got to learn how to cook, this crap is nasty.” She shuddered in revulsion. Sophia finished her drink, went to the sink, rinsed her glass, putting everything in the dishwasher. Wiping down the table and counter, along with the inside of the microwave, Sophia sighed, made sure everything was locked and headed to bed.

  Sophia glanced at the clock, noticed it was almost two in the morning, snuggled down in bed. Hoping to get at least four hours of sleep. The alarm went off at six in the morning, Sophia flopped the blankets back and sighed. “Finally.” she hadn’t slept more than a few minutes in the last four hours. One of the symptoms of her PTSD was insomnia. She probably should have gotten up to do something, but she laid there, hoping sleep would come. Ever since the second attack from Dawg, she didn’t sleep through the night. The best night of sleep since the attack was when Sean stayed with her. She didn’t know if it was him in general, or the extra security of having Kilo in the house with them.

  Sophia jumped into the shower while it was still cold, trying to wake up. Once she felt alert, she turned on the hot water and let it wash away the chill. By six-thirty, Sophia was showered, dressed, and in the kitchen, drinking her first cup of coffee of the day. For breakfast, she ate two slices of toast and laughed when she hadn’t burnt it. Doing a little happy dance, she laughed out loud. After eating her breakfast, she filled her travel mug and left for work. It snowed while she’d been inside, she used the shovel to make a path to the garage. This time, she didn’t need to clean off the snow. Since the car had been in the garage overnight.

  Sophia waved to Randy as she pulled out of her garage. He drove by with the first pass of his plow. She headed into work. Letting herself in the office she dealt with the alarm. Sophia relocked the door. She knew Ginny would leave it unlocked when she arrived in an hour. After making a pot of coffee, Sophia went to her office and put her purse away in the bottom drawer of her filing cabinet. With her travel mug of coffee from home, she went out in the shop to the paint booth. At the last minute she stopped into her office and changed into her sneakers.

  Happy with the way the paint had dried, Sophia set up the paints she needed, in less than twenty minutes she settled in her favorite chair. She began to paint the front fender of Sean’s bike for the second time in two weeks. In less than three minutes, she was lost in her craft.

  Sophia came up for air, stretched, and nodded, satisfied with the progress she’d made. At a standstill until it dried, Sophia cleaned up her paint supplies, made her way out of the booth and to her office in the front. Sophia knit her brows as she made her way to the dark reception area.

  Glancing at her watch, Sophia swore and ran to her office. She grabbed her cellphone, only to swear again when she found the battery was dead. She took the landline and dialed her cousin.

  “Susan, its Sophia, I’m sorry. I’m still at the office, I’ll leave here now and come over.”

  “Take your time, it’s one o’clock.” Susan laughed. “You have at least an hour before the party starts. I’m glad you called. Don’t be mad, but Sean called me. He’s been trying your cell. It keeps going to voicemail. He left a message for you.”

  “My battery is dead. I’ve been in the paint booth all morning. I thought Ginny or one of the guys would come to get me at closing time. Hell, I don’t even know if Curt came into work today. It is Friday, right? I’ve been so caught up in the paint booth. I’ve lost track of time.”

  “No, it’s Saturday.” Susan laughed. “Dana called last night and said since Erica’s been sick, Justin and Ryan came down with it. They won’t be here for the party. Others should be here. Now, do you want to know why Sean called me?”

  “Of course.”

  “Nothing to get upset about, he’s been trying to call you. He said the last time he’d called you was to let you know he had to go out of town.”

  “Correct.”

  “Good, he wanted me to tell you he would meet you here. He didn’t get into details, and I didn’t ask, figured it wasn’t any of my business. Oh, and he’s bringing a friend of his.”

  Sophia pursed her lips when she heard the tone of Susan’s voice. “Who?”

  “Neil Saunders, he works with Sean.”

  “Ah. Sean’s going to meet me there, good. I’ll shut down the office and come right over. Is there anything you need me to pick up?”

  “No, I stopped last night on the way home from work. I have everything. Oh, I don’t have any of your Bourbon here, if you want some, you’ll have to stop and pick up what you want.”

  “Give me at least an hour.” Sophia laughed. “I guess I can say I’m going to be fashionably late to Connor’s party.” The two laughed together because Sophia was never late for anything.

  “I’ll let you go so you can close up the office and stop for your bourbon if you want it. I have wine if you’re interested.”

  “Eew, sorry, not sorry.”

  “Understood.” Susan laughed. “See you in an hour or so. Don’t forget to plug your phone into your car.”

  “Yes, Mom.” Sophia laughed and hung up on her cousin. Making sure the paint booth was cleaned and ready to start fresh Monday morning, Sophia walked through the shop. She made sure everything was locked, shut, and turned off. Changing back into her riding boots, Sophia made sure she had everything, before she let herself out of the office. Outside she groaned and trekked through the shin-deep snow. She did the same thing as the night before. Starting the car, she grabbed the snowbrush and went outside and cleaned off the whole car. The temperature had dropped at least twenty degrees, and it was snowing hard and heavy. Back in her car, she did another happy dance when her cold ass hit the warm seat. It took fifteen minutes to drive five miles to the nearest liquor store.

  Sophia had no intention of drinking alcohol at Connor’s party, but she needed another bottle at home. So she picked up her favorite brand of bourbon. She had every intention of leaving it in her car. Since she was out in this nasty weather anyway, it made sense to pick up a bottle. Besides, making the run to the liquor store was only five miles out of her way.

  Sophia smiled when she hadn’t been in the store long enough for the snow to accumulate on her vehicle. Sophia’s stomach took that moment to grumble. She was a few miles away from her cousin’s place. She’d get something to eat there.

  Driving through town, Sophia slowed down at the yellow light and sighed when a snowplow turned from the intersecting road, heading in the same direction she was going. Resigned to following him, she settled into her warm seat and prepared to do that. It wasn’t that far.

  Once the light turned green, Sophia eased her way through the intersection and began following the snowplow. As they passed the halfway mark between the traffic light and Susan’s place, the snowplow pulled off onto a side road. She slowed for it to turn. Before she started down the road again. This time it was slower going because the road was slushy and nasty. Maybe by the end of her first winter driving, she’d be a pro. She counted herself lucky. Each time she went out in the bad weather and didn’t end up in the ditch was a plus on her side.

  Sophia saw a flash from the corner of her left eye. She turned her head to see what it was. She screamed when her car was hit. The airbag deployed. The side window and the windshield shattered. She felt a few bones on her left side break. She couldn’t remember what happened next before she passed out.

  23

  Sean looked at his partner, Neil and together they swore. “Son of a fucking bitch!” Sean gripped the steering wheel, bringing the SUV out of another skid. “Where did this fucking storm come from? Did you know it was supposed to hit?”

  “No! Watch out!” Neil yelled, pointing out the windshield. Together the two men watched a car several yards ahead spin out of control. They took several vehicles in the lane next to them out.

  Swearing again, the two slowed down, turned on their police lights. They eased up behind the accident. By the time they reached the scene, i
t had developed into a six-car pile-up.

  Neil grabbed the radio and called it in. He exited the SUV to help Sean. The first thing they did was assess each car. No one was seriously injured. Sean ran to the car he’d witnessed spinning out, the one who started it all. At the driver’s side door, he looked in and swore. He tried to open the door, but found it was locked, or wedged shut. He didn’t know which. All he knew was he couldn’t open it. Pounding on the window, Sean couldn’t get the person to look at him. The airbag had deployed. Sean saw blood on both the airbag and the driver’s face.

  “What do you have?” Neil asked, coming up to Sean. “Everyone else has bumps and bruises. Dispatch said units and wreckers are on the way, snow is slowing them down. Three cars will have to be pulled apart. The occupants are saying they’re only bruised.”

  “Good, the driver’s door won’t open. I can’t wait. Go to the back of the SUV, and grab the medical kit.”

  “On it.” Neil ran back to their SUV. After he returned, both Sean and Neil worked on trying to get the driver’s door open. Unsuccessful with the front door, Sean was able to open the back door. He climbed in. It wasn’t an ideal situation, but it was better than not being able to reach the driver. He unlocked the door, but Neil was unable to get it opened. Sean assessed what needed to be done. He asked Neil to pass him the collar to put on the driver. With her head stabilized, Sean sighed in relief.

  “What next?”

  “Nothing much, I can’t do anything until we get the door open. For now, I’ll make sure her head is kept stable.” Sean sighed in relief, hearing sirens in the distance. Before the accident they’d been going south, now they faced North. Sean saw several police cars, fire trucks, and ambulances approach. He stayed where he was. He nodded to Neil to have him take the lead with the locals.

  While he waited for help, Sean thought back to what had happened after they’d arrested Bidwell. They’d finished their paperwork around one in the morning, Sean and Neil opted to find a hotel room to get some sleep before driving the three hours home. The FBI wanted to go over their statements again. That gave them a late start. Instead of leaving by eight in the morning, they hadn’t taken off until almost eleven. Sean was due to pick up Sophia on his way to Connor’s birthday party. He’d called her several times. His calls went to voicemail. Sean had called Susan asking her to get a message to Sophia that he would meet up with her at the party. He caught a glimpse of his watch. It was going on one in the afternoon. Sean would have called Sophia to tell her that he was delayed yet again. He wanted to tell her directly not via a message. At this point, it felt like the universe was trying to keep them apart.

  Once they’d been cleared to leave for their own jurisdiction, Sean and Neil stopped for lunch, before heading south. It started snowing when they hit the interstate. The further south, the thicker the snow became. They’d been on the interstate for thirty minutes before witnessing this accident. They stopped to help. Suddenly, both passenger side doors opened, two EMTs entered.

  “What’s up?”

  “Driver’s been unconscious for fifteen minutes. I haven’t been able to assess properly. I put the collar on her. The driver’s door is stuck shut.”

  “We’ll take it from here. Go tell the firemen to bring the jaws of life.”

  Sean hurried away and did as asked. Within minutes he was back in the car, helping to hold a tarp over the driver. It was easier to cut the top off the car than using the jaws of life. Once the top was off, several of the men swore when they saw the woman was very pregnant. Sean hadn’t been able to see it from the angle he’d been in, the deployed airbag covered her from her chin down.

  The EMTs and firemen worked on getting the driver out of the car. Fifteen minutes later, Sean stood on the side of the road, watching Kilo run to the side to do his business, giving his statement to the State Police. Once the State Police were satisfied with both Sean and Neil’s statements, they were free to go. Sean whistled to Kilo, settled the dog in the back of the SUV. Within minutes Sean was back on the road. Sean’s knuckles were white the entire drive home. What would typically take three hours, ended up taking almost five. Approaching their hometown of Stormville, Sean glanced over at Neil.

  “You want me to drop you off at the station to pick up your truck?”

  “No, you forget I was already on duty when we were called in. I arrived at work in the work SUV. I left it there. My personal vehicle is at home. If you don’t mind, I’d like a ride to my house. It’s not far out of the way of your destination, is it?”

  “Not at all, a couple of miles.” Making a decision, Sean glanced over at Neil. “Want to go to a kid’s birthday party?”

  “Who’s?”

  “Connor Phillips, he’s thirteen today. We’re about two hours late, the party started at two, I’m sure no one would mind you being there. Besides.” Sean looked at Neil. “At least you’ll know where Susan lives when you show up at her place to ask her out.”

  “There is that.” Neil laughed. “Sure, I don’t have any plans.”

  “Good, because I wasn’t going to take the detour to your place. I’m excited to see Sophia. I haven’t seen her in a couple of days.”

  “Lovestruck, fool.”

  “Yep.” Sean laughed. He exited the interstate to take the back roads to Susan Phillip’s home. Surprised, the back roads were better plowed than the interstate. Pulling onto Susan’s street, he had to put his SUV in four-wheel drive. Frowning, he asked, “Does it look like anyone’s been down this road?”

  “No, why are we here?”

  “Susan lives at the end. It’s four-fifteen, the party was supposed to start at two. Several people were supposed to be here. I wonder what’s going on?” Making his way down the two-mile stretch of unplowed road, Sean white-knuckled the steering wheel. He hoped Sophia was safe. Not stuck in a ditch somewhere.

  Sean pulled into Susan’s driveway, he smiled when Neil leaned forward. “This is cute.”

  Neil didn’t know what else to say as he exited the SUV. Sean exited, then let Kilo out. The two men and dog made their way through the almost knee-deep snow to the front door. Neil saw a shovel beside the front door, grabbed it, then started shoveling. Sean saw a broom, though the snow was light and fluffy, it was deep. While Neil shoveled, Sean swept away the snow from the steps. Kilo jumped and played in the snow in the yard. They cleared a path from the driveway to the house. Once on the porch, they stomped their feet.

  Before they could knock, the door whipped open, both Connor and Susan stood there. Sean noticed Connor stood in front of his mother, protecting her.

  “Sean.” Connor looked relieved when he said the older man’s name.

  “Sorry I’m late for your party.” Sean kicked the snow off his boots. “Neil and I had business out of town. Has everyone come and gone?”

  “No, we canceled it. Justin’s sick, so is half of his family. Others called because of the weather. That’s why we canceled.”

  Sean turned to Neil, “Connor’s best friend. You saw him at the hayride. This is Deputy Neil Saunders. You may remember him from the hayrides at Curt’s.”

  “Oh, yes, come in.” Susan moved her son to the side to allow them to enter.

  “What about Sophia? Did you get ahold of her? I still can’t reach her.”

  “Yes, she called from the office around one o’clock. Her cellphone battery was dead. She was going to close up the shop, drive to the store for her bourbon, then here. I’ve been trying to call her to tell her not to come because everyone canceled. I can’t get ahold of her, at her house or on her cell phone. I was about ready to call her landlord to have him check her house to see if she was there.”

  Sean pulled out his phone, Susan sighed, “Don’t bother, it goes to voicemail. Come in, the least I can do is feed you for shoveling my sidewalk.” In the kitchen, Sean’s brows lifted, seeing all the food Susan started pulling from the refrigerator. Both Neil and Sean tried to tell Susan not to bother, but she wouldn’t hear their denials. �
��Someone has to eat all this food. It’ll take Connor and me at least a month to eat it all. It’ll go bad by then. Eat up.”

  Curt stood in his utility room with his arms full of dirty laundry. He had been on sick duty for the last few days. His daughter Erica had come down sick on Friday. Last night two of his sons had come down with it. He and his wife, Dana had been taking turns making soup and doing laundry for the last several days. Thank god Ginny had given him the list of supplies. He had purchased enough to take care of an army.

  “One good thing.” Dana chuckled from behind him. She grinned, nudging him with her hip. Together they started another load.

  “What?” Curt asked.

  “At least with the boys, you don’t have to change their diaper.”

  “Oh god.” Curt groaned, shuttering at the thought. A cell phone rang, he sighed, realizing it was his. Dana kissed his cheek and laughed as she took a basket of clean clothes out.

  “Bannerman.” Curt answered, not bothering to look at the ID.

  “Curt, it’s Chris, where are you?”

  “Home, Erica’s been sick. Justin and Ryan came down with it too. I’ve been home on Daddy sick duty since Thursday. Why? What’s up?”

  “Shit, do you know where Sophia is?”

  “No, why? Hell.” Curt laughed. “I don’t even know what time it is.” Chris swore loudly.

  Curt pulled a face at the phone then stood tall and then demanded. “What’s wrong?”

  “I’m sitting here at my work office. I have the district attorney pacing in front of me.”

  “This concerns me how?”

  “You’re on speaker, Scott tell him what’s going on.”

  “I’m the district attorney for Volusia County, Daytona, Florida.”

  “And?” Curt asked, then shook his head. “I’m sorry, maybe I’m not computing. I’m home with three sick kids. Why would the district attorney from Florida be calling me?”