by Vikki Walton
The woman winced as she held a hand over her chest. “I’m okay. It’s not a fun disease. At first, I could handle the pain with pills or patches, but it got worse. A lot worse. At that point, I told Bill I’d try anything. He heard about people helping the pain through marijuana, so I said I’d try it. It helped, but I needed more than what I could buy as we’d started juicing it into smoothies. Then Bill decided that he’d grow some in the greenhouse.”
Anne nodded and sipped her tea. She listened as Lori continued.
“I actually began feeling better and I could get out of bed. It’s so much nicer in here, where I can look outside, so Bill wanted to convert one of the potting shed areas at the back of the greenhouse to grow more plants.”
Lori shivered, and Kandi pulled a shawl from the back of her chair and wrapped it around the thin woman’s frame. “I don’t know if that’s when things started getting…” She became lost in thought.
“Started getting what?” Anne urged.
The woman looked up. “Bill had to see about more plants. He talked to … um, Ben, or—”
“Bennett?”
“Yes, that’s it. Do you know him?” Lori asked Anne.
“No.” Anne shot Kandi a look to not say anything about the burning down of the Bennett homestead or about Ray being found dead in the greenhouse.
“It was like something had changed. Bill’s demeanor.” She shook her head and pulled the shawl tighter.
“Do you mean from doing marijuana?”
“Oh, no. Bill would never use recreationally. It’s just not his thing. But as he saw me feeling better, he said we should try cannabinoid oil. It’s more potent and some people have reacted well to it.”
“That sounds like something a husband would want for his wife,” Anne replied.
Lori nodded. “Yes, but it’s not cheap. It’s pretty expensive to purchase and with Bill cutting back on his job to care for me, money’s been tight. I had to quit my job, and the only reason he keeps his is to ensure we have medical insurance.”
Anne wondered how the pair were making ends meet when Lori interrupted her thoughts.
“This,” Lori waved her hands around, indicating the room. “It’s how we’re surviving. We took out an equity loan. I didn’t want to do it, but Bill said not to worry, that he’d found a way to generate a good income and we could pay off the loan soon.”
“Did he say what it was?” Anne replied.
“No. He said I had enough on my shoulders. That I only needed to worry about getting well.” She looked at her now empty cup.
Kandi popped up from her seat. “Let me put more water on to heat.”
Lori leaned forward in her chair. “I’m worried, Anne. Something’s going on and this attack on Bill proves it. No way it was simple vandalism. Someone meant to hurt Bill. I don’t know why. But it has me scared now too.”
“Now too?”
“Bill came home not too long ago, and I’d never seen him look the way he did. He was angry but also afraid. It’s something I’ve never seen in all the years we’ve been married.”
Kandi had returned, and they refilled cups with the warming tea. She plopped down in her chair and then waved. Stewart stood outside and motioned to his watch. He’d said he’d give them a twenty-minute warning before they needed to leave.
“How is Bill doing?” Anne sipped the delicious tea.
“He’s doing better. The doctor has said he’s out of the woods and should be able to come home in the next few days. But that’s why I’m worried.”
“Why?” Anne motioned for Kandi to clear up the dishes.
“Because he told me the first thing he wanted to do when he got out was to go buy a gun.”
Chapter Thirteen
The crowd was small as they gathered around the gravesite. Mrs. Lawrence wept silently into her handkerchief as a group of foster teens stood sullenly behind her. Anne caught Spencer’s eye and he nodded acknowledgment.
Anne surveyed the rest of the group. Mainly people from the town she didn’t know. Strangely, the Bennetts weren’t attending, even though Ray’s body had been found in their greenhouse. They had to have known him.
She also noticed Officer Dale standing apart from the crowd, leaning against his police cruiser.
What was that old saying about the killer coming back to the scene of the crime? This certainly wasn’t the scene of the crime, but maybe Officer Dale was seeing who showed up at Ray’s funeral.
Was the killer here?
Her gaze moved across the group. She didn’t know many of the people, so there was no way to know who might have wished harm to Ray Lawrence.
She looked up to see that Police Chief Everett had joined Officer Dale. The pair stood as sentinels next to their vehicles. Why had they come? It was a small town, but it seemed strange to see the pair. Anne turned as she heard a sob being stifled. It was the Bennetts. When had they arrived?
“Ashes to ashes,” the pastor intoned.
A cry escaped Mrs. Bennett’s lips. Anne watched as the pair turned and quickly strode away from the scene. If Ray had been killed, had the Bennetts been the intended victims? If so, why? Anne turned back to see that Everett had left and only Officer Dale remained.
The service broke up and Anne made her way over to the policeman while Kandi and Stewart stayed behind, waiting to pay their respects.
“Hello, Officer Dale.”
He bent his head down to look at her. “Yes?”
“I’m Anne Fremont.”
He didn’t respond.
“I know that you’re working the vandalism case over at the Connors. I’m just wondering if that case and Ray’s death aren’t connected.”
He stiffened. “What do you mean?”
“Well, we tried to talk to Sheriff Carson—”
“You’ve spoken to Sheriff Carson about this?”
“Well, we—”
“Who’s we?”
Something niggled at the back of her mind, but Anne ignored it. “Hope and Kandi.”
“Go on.” He pushed his sunglasses back up his nose.
“Well, he said that we had no proof—”
“Proof of what?”
“Of the cases being related.”
“I think that it would be best if you came into the police station and we can take down your statement.”
“Do you think I did the right thing by coming to you?”
“Oh yes, you did the right thing.”
Anne turned as she heard Kandi call out her name. “Coming!”
Officer Dale got in his car and drove off. As he did, Anne looked up, and to her surprise, found the guest that was staying at Sam’s place watching the scene. Anne walked over to the woman. Had she also been standing there during the funeral?
“Hello,” Anne called out to the woman.
The woman approached. She was wearing blue jeans and a tank top, but it was covered by a chambray shirt, the sleeves rolled up to the elbow. Her hair was in its same tightly pulled-back bun. “Hello.”
“I have to say, we have lots of interesting places to see in town, but I probably wouldn’t consider the cemetery one of them.”
“It’s a hobby of mine. I go to cemeteries to see the older headstones. Usually, they’re eighteen hundred but trying to find earlier ones.” She nodded toward the freshly dug grave. “Is that the funeral for the man found in the burned-out greenhouse?”
Anne started. “Yes. How did you know about that?”
“I read it in the paper. It was at Sam’s place.” She pushed imaginary hairs off her face and in that moment, Anne caught a glimpse of a concealed weapon.
Who was this woman? Why was she here at the cemetery? Why was she carrying a gun?
Certainly, lots of people were concealed carriers but not usually when it was someone visiting from out of state.
“I need to get back to the others. They’re waiting on me and I’m riding with them.”
“You know I found some old clippings. Something abou
t you helping solve a case or something?”
Anne laughed but it came out flat. “Oh, our silly town newspaper has nothing else to write about, so they try to sensationalize the little they have to work with. I really better be off. Good seeing you.”
She made to walk away when the woman grabbed her arm. Startled, Anne turned back to face the woman.
“Be safe. You don’t want to get involved in things you don’t understand.” The woman dropped Anne’s arm and strode away.
What in the—? Anne rubbed the place where the woman had tightly gripped her arm. Then she walked quickly to join Kandi and Stewart.
Chapter Fourteen
“What do you mean she had, like, a gun?” Kandi’s voice rose as they made their way indoors.
Hope interjected, “She threatened you? What exactly did she say?”
“I’m telling you. She was standing over by a tree, so I thought I’d say hi. She raised her arm and her shirt came open and that’s when I saw the gun. Then she told me to be safe and not get involved. Involved in what?”
“I don’t know, but something strange is going on.” Hope raised up her fingers. “One, the fires. Lots of little ones being set around town. Why and who’s behind it? Two. The big fire out at the Bennetts. Is that the same arsonist or someone else? What was Ray doing at the Bennetts and why did someone kill him? Are the killer and the arsonist the same person?”
Anne interjected, “Or did they think it was one of the Bennetts? I heard at the funeral that only his wife had planned to go out of town, and he joined her at the last minute.”
“They’re moving,” Kandi spoke up.
“What do you mean?” Hope turned to Kandi.
“They, like, told their neighbor they’d sold the property ‘as-is’ and were leaving.”
Normally, Anne would have asked how Kandi knew that, but in this town, nothing stayed secret for long.
“Okay, back to our list.” Hope held up her hand. “Recap—the woman at Sam’s with a gun, telling you to stay out of something. Next, Ray Lawrence killed. The Bennett’s place burned down. Why? To cover the murder? Three, someone attacks Bill, and his greenhouse wrecked.”
Kandi tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “We need to, like, talk to Sheriff Carson.”
Anne shook her head. “Nope. He said we don’t have any facts or proof. I’ve already talked with Officer Dale and he said I should come into the station and talk with them. He’s taking this far more seriously than Carson is doing. Plus, Carson told me to stay out of it.”
“I don’t know. There are just too many variables.”
“Too many what?” Kandi turned on the light, dispelling the gloom from the room.
“Basically, we have lots of questions and no answers.” Anne sighed. “I guess this is one time we can’t figure out what’s going on.”
“You think, ND?”
Anne started. Sheriff Carson stood in the doorway. How long had he been standing there? Long enough for him to hear her talk about him? She felt the hot flush of embarrassment creep into her face.
He held up his hand. “For your information, I do take this seriously. In fact, I take this very seriously. More so than you know. But I also know how you three are. So far things have turned out okay, but that’s not always going to be the case. You need to know when to back off your meddling.”
“Meddling?” Anne hopped up and stood toe to toe with Carson. “Meddling! I’m so tired of you constantly demeaning me.”
“I’m not demeaning you. I know that you’re a smart, capable woman.”
Anne’s anger fizzled, and she backed up.
He held up his hand. “However, I also know I don’t want to see you…” He gave a quick nod to Hope and Kandi. “Or them, get hurt. Know your limits. You need to step away from this.”
Hope spoke, “Sheriff. There’s definitely something going on that we’re missing. And what you’re saying is good advice.” She spoke to Carson, but she gazed over at Anne. “We’re not invincible as much as we all think we are.”
“Fine. Even you’re not on my side anymore,” Anne huffed.
“It has nothing to do with sides. I know we have to be realistic here. Sometimes we don’t know what we don’t know.”
Anne retorted, “Okay, fine. But will you at least hear us out? Officer Dale is interested in what I have to say.”
“Officer Dale, huh?” Carson turned back to Anne. “What did he say?”
“That I should come into the police station and tell them everything I thought.”
“Like?” he countered.
“Like Ray dealing drugs and then he’s killed, and Bill hit on the head and the Bennetts leaving and the woman carrying a gun—”
“Whoa. What?”
Kandi joined in. “Anne says the woman staying at Sam’s had a gun at the cemetery at Ray’s funeral.”
Carson turned back to Anne. “What woman? She had a gun? She was at Ray’s funeral?”
“See. That’s what I mean. I know things.”
The phone rang, interrupting the debate between Carson and Anne.
Hope picked it up, listened and screamed out, “Oh, no!”
“What is it?”
“Someone set my shop on fire!”
Chapter Fifteen
“I’ll drive. Come on.” Anne grabbed her keys as Hope rushed past her out the back door. Kandi starting crying, and Carson said he’d help her home.
Anne pushed past the speed limit to get to town while Hope was on the phone trying to get through to Autumn. “Autumn, this is Hope, please pick up. Call me!” Her voice grew more frantic.
“Is your mom at home alone?”
“Yes. I told Autumn that I wouldn’t be long, and as long as Mom is in front of her favorite show, she doesn’t move until it’s finished.” She buried her head in her hands. “Oh, Mom. Mom. I’ll never forgive myself…”
They arrived to see a firetruck outside of the store. The window in the front was completely gone, but no fire seemed to be coming out of the window—only thick, black smoke.
From around the back, Anne watched as a frail older woman emerged.
“Mama!” Hope cried out, running over and embracing the woman.
“It’s okay, baby. Don’t cry.” She patted Hope’s head.
An EMT came over and began checking Faith. “Ma’am, are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?”
“Hurt? Why would I be hurt?”
“Because of the fire. Did you get burned?”
“Fire? Where’s a fire?” She glanced toward the front and saw the black smoke. “Is there a fire? I hope no one is in the fire.”
Hope stole a look at Anne. Her mother’s dementia had taken hold. Had Faith accidentally started the fire?
A firefighter came over as the EMT led Faith to the waiting ambulance. “Ma’am, is this your store?” he spoke to Hope.
She nodded. “Yes.”
“I think we caught it before it could get too bad. You’ve lost anything that was close to the window, but it could have been a lot worse. Thankfully someone called it in.”
“They saw it on fire?” Anne wrapped her arm around Hope.
“At first, they thought it was a trick of the light, so they didn’t do anything. But then they thought they’d drive back by it. That’s when they noticed that the door in the alley for the store entrance had been broken. They called in the police, as they thought it might be a burglary.”
“What started it?” Hope fought back tears.
“Looks to be some type of incendiary device.”
“What!” Hope and Anne exclaimed in unison.
“Yes, but I have to wait for the fire marshal to give a ruling on it. But it wasn’t an accident.” He walked back to his crew as they began the process of putting all their gear away.
“Who would want to do such a thing? Why? Why? My mother could have been killed.” Hope broke down, weeping silently.
As Anne comforted her friend, the words haunted her: “I don’t want you t
o get hurt, or Hope or Kandi, or someone get killed.” Did Carson know anything about this?
A hand landed on her shoulder and Anne jumped. It was Spencer. “What’s going on?”
“Hope had a fire in her store. It doesn’t look to be too bad, but it’s still upsetting.”
“For sure. Did they catch, you know, who did it?”
“No. We just got here, and they’ll only be starting the investigation—wait, what do you mean ‘who did it’? How do you know it wasn’t an accident?”
“I overheard some kids talking at Ms. Lawrence’s the night after the funeral. One said they were going to make some quick money and score some weed by doing an easy job.”
“I don’t see how this relates to the fire in Hope’s shop.”
“He went on to say that all he had to do was break into a shop and leave a package. It had to be during a certain time at night.”
“You mean tonight?”
Spencer nodded his head. “Yes.”
Anne took hold of Spencer’s arm. “We’ve got to find this kid. He knows who set him up to do it. You need to tell the police.”
Spencer shook his head. “I don’t think so. I don’t want to end up, you know, six-feet-under like Ray.”
“Why would you say that?”
Spencer’s agitation grew. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
“Look, we’ve got to find this kid right away and we have to know what he said. This is serious. Hope’s mom could have been killed.”
“You’re not going to like it. I don’t know. I—” Spencer moaned.
Hope grabbed Spencer. “Spit it out. What did he say?”
Spencer jerked back at Hope’s force. “He said it was the sheriff. The sheriff paid him.”
Anne clutched at her throat. She felt sick to her stomach. No. It couldn’t’ be. He wouldn’t go that far to make a point. Before she knew what was happening, gentle arms were lowering her to a seated position on the side of the curb. The tears fell with a low keening that turned to sobbing. Not caring what anyone thought, Anne felt as if her heart had been shattered into a million pieces. It couldn’t be true. It couldn’t. Not after she ‘d opened her heart up again. She rocked back and forth.