Blaze (A Stone Mountain Mystery Book 2)

by Kristina Stanley

  “What’s your overall impression?”

  Charlotte stood and peeked around the corner of her cubicle. “Just checking we’re alone. Leanne Olsen works here.”

  “Is she related to Connor?”

  “She’s his sister. I went to high school with several of the Olsens. Leanne wasn’t bad, but the rest of them were bullies. They used their numbers to pick on others. Their father works at the paper mill. I’ve heard he’s a bully too. Connor’s uncle owns the Petro Canada.”

  “What about Neil Olsen?” Kalin asked.

  “He’s one of Connor’s cousins. It’s his dad who owns the gas station. He’s nasty. I think he got what he deserved when his business went under last year. He’s been unemployed, as far as I know, since then.”

  “How come he doesn’t work for his dad?”

  Charlotte shrugged. “Maybe he thinks it’s beneath him after owning his own business.”

  “Do you know why his business went under?”

  “I heard Leanne talking on the phone about it. They, the Olsen clan, blame Pete Chambers. They think he stole the business from them. That he paid suppliers not to deliver to Neil’s company.”

  “Could they have had anything to do with Jason Tober’s death?”

  “I don’t know,” Charlotte said.

  “I’m thinking Connor might have started the fir—”

  “Why are you talking about my family?” Leanne Olsen asked.

  “Where did you come from?” Charlotte asked.

  “The bathroom, not that you should care.”

  “How long have you been snooping?” Charlotte countered.

  “I’m not snooping. I work here remember? And don’t talk about my family.” Leanne was a female version of Connor. She matched Kalin’s height at five-foot nine but didn’t match her fitness level. Her lack of makeup and jewelry, combined with a man’s dress shirt and straight cut jeans made Kalin suspect Leanne tried to be one of the guys.

  Kalin introduced herself.

  “I know who you are. Keep your nose out of our business.”

  “Sorry,” Kalin said to Charlotte. “I didn’t mean to cause a problem. I’ll call you later. Maybe we can go for lunch sometime.”

  Making things awkward for Charlotte was not Kalin’s intent, and she politely left the office.

  On the ride up to Stone Mountain, she stood on her pedals and gained momentum. She pumped her legs hard on the steepest section of the road. Air from passing vehicles buffeted her, and she rode close to the right edge.

  She heard a vehicle coming up behind her and steadied her peddling. She felt the air before she felt the impact.

  A red truck clipped her outside pedal, shoving her off the road. She didn’t have time to unclip her shoe, and she fell shoulder first onto the ground. Still attached to her bike, she lay winded and confused.

  * * *

  Ian stood in the doorway to the living room with Ethan on his hip. When he left for his walk with his son, their home had been empty. Now he was looking at his sister passed out on the couch. Nora had gone to see Pete Chambers to talk with him about being his daughter, and he hoped she hadn’t seen Melanie.

  “Hey, get up.”

  Melanie groaned and shoved her face into her pillow.

  She’s losing it again. “I said get up.”

  Melanie rolled over and placed her hands on her face. “Stop yelling. I don’t feel so good.”

  “I can see that. We talked about this. You can’t come here when you’re stoned.”

  “You don’t know what it’s like for me.”

  “The last time you called me, you promised me you wouldn’t bring this here.”

  Melanie sat and pulled a blanket around her shoulders. “Can’t you try to understand? There are things I’ve done I can’t forgive myself for.”

  “You have to put that in the past. I have a baby. I have Nora to think of.”

  “What am I going to do?”

  Ian stepped toward her, breathed in her stench and chose a chair on the other side of the room. Ethan nestled into his chest. “You’re going back to rehab.”

  “I’ll kill myself first.”

  Enough with the manipulation. “Don’t say that. You can get over this. Look at Ethan.”

  Melanie stared at the floor.

  Ian turned Ethan so his face was toward Melanie. “Look at him. He’s your nephew. Can’t you do this for him?”

  Melanie slowly lifted her head. Black mascara smudged the skin beneath her eyes, and her black lipstick smeared one side of her mouth. She was a mess, but Ian didn’t give in.

  “Make a decision, Melanie. Let me help you get your act together or stay away from us.”

  She closed her eyes and sat for a moment.

  Ian waited.

  “I’ll try. Just give me one more chance.”

  Ian nodded. “Go have a shower. You smell.”

  * * *

  Pete cycled hard, trying to peddle away the hurt. He was thinking about Nora and what a mess he’d made of finally telling her who he was instead of paying attention to the road.

  Nora was twelve when he saw her for the first time. He watched her blast through the finish line of a downhill ski race. He’d been proud, and wanted to meet her then, but the thought of Emily stopped him. He’d been there when Nora was fifteen and busted her knee. His legs hadn’t obeyed when he wanted to run to her and help. Last year, when her boyfriend had been murdered, he’d almost broken his silence. Almost. He hadn’t been able to betray Emily. He thought if he met Nora, then he was negating Emily’s life. So many years wasted. So stupid.

  He heard tires squeal, and he clamped his hands tight, engaging the brakes. He skidded sideways and a red Dodge Ram stopped inches from his thigh.

  He rested his hand on the hood and caught his balance. He unclipped his right shoe, using his foot to stop himself from falling. Christ, that was close.

  Neil Olsen leaned his head out of the driver’s side window and glared at Pete. “Hey, asshole, don’t touch my truck.”

  “Sorry,” Pete said, although he didn’t know what he was sorry for. His words were just an automatic reaction. His heart raced from almost being hit, and he lowered his head and took several deep breaths. For a pristine vehicle, he was surprised to find a scrape along the front. Flecks of blue paint spattered the bumper.

  “You’re Connor’s cousin,” Pete said.

  “Yeah. I didn’t do anything. You rode right in front of me. It was all I could do to stop.”

  “It’s okay. I’m fine. No harm done.”

  Pete clipped into his pedals and cycled away from Neil. He should have prepared himself better before talking to Nora. He shouldn’t have surprised her with Janet at the same time. He’d been too excited about telling Nora he was her father that he hadn’t thought through what a shock it might be to her. He still hadn’t figured out how to approach her, but he’d had enough of cycling for the day.

  * * *

  Nora stood outside of Pete’s office. She’d walked the entire length of Main Street, twice, before gathering enough courage to speak with him. He was her father and Ethan’s grandfather. She’d asked around about him, and the general opinion was that he was a good guy. Solid. She hadn’t decided what to do about Janet Wood yet. That whole scene was unstable and unpredictable. Pete would be a start to building a family. She hadn’t realized she wanted roots and to know where she came from. If Janet was a murderer, then at least she could focus on her father’s side of the family.

  After talking for hours, Ian had persuaded her to speak to Pete. Pete had lost his own family and might get as much out of a relationship as she did, even if they were starting late. He could be there for Ethan too. Ian thought that was important, and he was Ethan’s father, so Nora felt she had to consider his feelings.

  An ambulance blasted through the intersection, and Nora hustled onto the sidewalk. She took a deep breath and opened the glass door to Pete’s office.

  The second he saw Nora in the
doorway a grin filled his face, showing deep dimples. His eyes sparkled with pleasure. His hair was wet, and he looked freshly showered. He stood and came around to the front of his desk. “Come in. Can I get you anything? I’ve made coffee, or I have cold water in the fridge.”

  Nora smiled at his nervousness. “Water would be great.”

  “Give me a sec.” Pete disappeared and returned without delay. He handed Nora a bottle. Condensation dripped down the sides, and she looked for somewhere to wipe the droplets.

  Pete hustled to the small kitchen in the back and brought her a tea towel. “Where’s Ethan?”

  “I left him with Ian so we could talk.”

  “I’m glad you came. I wasn’t sure after…I thought you didn’t want to see me.”

  “I didn’t. Ian talked me into coming.”

  Pete sat across from Nora and placed his palms flat on his desk. “Did you read what was in the folder?”

  “I did.” Nora gazed behind him. “Lisa painted that.” She pointed to the canvas covered with a storm passing over the Purcell Mountains.

  “I bought it because it was a link to you.”

  “It’s so her,” Nora said. He couldn’t have known he’d picked one of her favorites. Maybe they had the same taste in art.

  “I don’t mean to pressure, but did you read the stuff in the file about Janet too?”

  “Can we not talk about her today? I want to get to know you, but I’m not ready to deal with her yet.”

  “Sure. We can talk about anything you want.”

  “Are you one hundred percent sure I’m your daughter?”

  “I am.”

  Nora reminded herself this was for Ethan and that she needed to calm down and talk to Pete. “How come you never told me?”

  “It didn’t feel right. I’ve kept an eye on you since I moved here, but you have your own life. I didn’t know if you would want me to be part of it. I put my name on the adoption registry, hoping you might do the same.”

  “It didn’t occur to me until Ethan was born. Lisa told me she didn’t know who my father was, so I assumed he…you…didn’t know I existed.”

  Pete nodded as if agreeing she made sense.

  Nora liked the way he took his time processing information. He had a thoughtful way about him. She twisted the cap of her water bottle, working the threads back and forth. “I’m not sure you’re being truthful about why you didn’t tell me who you were. You’ve been here a long time. Weren’t you tempted?”

  “Every day. You don’t know how hard it was for me to stay away. Sometimes I felt like I was stalking you. I watched you snowboard. I went to Lisa’s funeral just to get a glimpse of you. I even walked by your hospital room on the day Ethan was born. I didn’t want you to find out who your birth mother was. If I told you who I was, I’d have to tell you about Janet. I just couldn’t do it.”

  “But you brought Janet to my house. I don’t understand that part. How did you know Janet was in Holden?”

  “I saw her by accident, then I started following her. I knew she’d been in prison for killing her son, and I was afraid she might hurt you or Ethan. I almost told you you’re my daughter the night I ran into you at Kalin and Ben’s. Holding Ethan and knowing he was my grandson but not being able to admit it just about killed me. If Kalin and Ben hadn’t been there, I might have said something. When I realized Janet was following you, I decided to have an investigator dig into her background and that’s—”

  “Was the child she killed your son?”

  “No. I don’t—”

  “I really don’t want to talk about her. Do you think, maybe, you could tell me about your wife and daughter? Your daughter would have been my half-sister. Wouldn’t she?”

  Pete swallowed hard. “I’m not used to talking about them, but I’ll tell you what I can. I miss them. No matter how much time goes by, I think of them every day. I felt guilty about you. That they never knew. They’re part of what kept me from you. You inherited your crazy hair from me. Not that you can tell now.” Pete ran his hand over his balding head and chuckled. “My daughter, Emily, had the same hair. My wife and I used to laugh about it sticking out at odd angles all the time. I have photos I can show you. If you’re interested.”

  “I’d love to see them.” Nora’s mix of emotions bubbled around. She’d found her father and found a family that she’d lost before even knowing about them. Just like her half-brother.

  “Emily laughed a lot. She liked to ride her bike. She had this teddy bear she took everywhere. I almost kept it for myself, but I buried it with her.”

  Nora could see the pain in his face when he talked about his daughter, but she had a right to know something about her half-sister. “I’m sorry you lost them.” She hadn’t expected Pete to say more, but he was on a roll.

  “She wore blue. Not just sometimes, but always. For the last six months of her life, we couldn’t get her to wear anything else. We had no idea why, but it didn’t seem worth fighting. She wanted us to wear blue too. Sometimes, just to humor her, we would. We looked like a family of Smurfs. I would dress in blue every day for the rest of my life if it meant I could have her back.”

  Before he could continue, the door opened and Constable Miller along with another RCMP officer walked in. Farley ran to them, welcoming the intruders with his wagging tail.

  “Pete Chambers, you are under arrest for arson. Please stand.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  Nora pushed aside the hospital curtain and rushed to Kalin, giving her an awkward hug. “Are you okay? Did you see the car that hit you?”

  Kalin sat on a gurney in the emergency room at the Holden Hospital. Her family physician had been on call and treated her. The benefits of small town living. She was still unsteady, but ready to go home. Her doctor gave her a prescription for Tylenol with codeine, and not one to put up with pain, Kalin planned to stop on the way home to pick up the pills. “I’m fine and no, I only saw a flash of red before I fell, nothing useful.”

  “Where were you coming from?”

  She told Nora about meeting with Charlotte Summers. “Can you drive me home?”

  “Sure. Where’s Ben?”

  Kalin frowned. She hadn’t wanted to talk about Ben. “Out of town.”

  “Where’d he go? Does he know you’re here?”

  Kalin sucked her lips between her teeth and held back tears.

  Nora put her hand on Kalin’s arm. “What’s wrong?”

  “I think Ben left me.”

  The blue hospital gown drooped off her shoulder, and Nora nudged it back in place. “That can’t be right.”

  “He’s gone to some stupid fishing cabin in the middle of nowhere Manitoba to think.”

  “To think about what?”

  “About whether he wants to break up or not.” Saying the words out loud made it seem possible he would actually leave her.

  “That’s crazy. He’ll come back. He loves you.”

  From behind the curtains surrounding her bed, Kalin heard patients being admitted to emergency. A woman entered with a child who had a fever. A man who stepped on a nail needed a tetanus shot. The phone rang every thirty seconds. A nurse’s shoes squeaked on the tile floor.

  “What did the doctor say? Are you sure you’re okay. You’re pale.”

  “I have two dislocated ribs. I turned the handlebars when I fell, and one end jabbed underneath the bottom of my ribcage and shoved it upward. I’ll be bruised for a while, that’s all.” Kalin took in the worry on Nora’s face. “I’m fine. Really.”

  “You must have been scared. I mean, considering how Jack died.”

  Kalin and Ben didn’t often talk about Jack. Occasionally she’d mention a memory. Ben pretended he wasn’t bothered by talking about Jack, but she could tell he was hurt. Now she’d almost been killed in the same way. If Ben came back, maybe she could find a way to hide this from him. “I thought about Jack when I was lying on the ground. How could I not?”

  Nora placed her arm around Kali
n’s shoulder and gently hugged her.

  “Where’s your bike?”

  “On the side of the road I guess. I think it’s ruined.” Kalin had spent two thousand dollars on her road bike, and couldn’t afford to replace it. She really needed to read her insurance policies. First she hadn’t known what the fire insurance would cover, and now she didn’t know if she’d be compensated for her bike.

  “We can pick it up on our way home. Maybe it can be repaired.”

  “I doubt it.”

  Nora squished her eyes into the heels of her hands and held her breath for several seconds.

  “Nora, what’s wrong?”

  “Something bad happened this morning.”

  “What?”

  “Constable Miller arrested Pete Chambers. I was in his office, talking to him, then—”

  Miller cleared his throat and pushed the curtain aside. Kalin wouldn’t consider Miller a friend in the sense that they hung around together, but they’d known each other since she’d moved to Stone Mountain. She trusted him. He liked to kid her about her way of always getting into trouble. If he arrested Pete, he’d had a good reason, but why would Nora care so much?

  Nora swiveled her head and hid her face from Miller. Kalin passed her a tissue, and she wiped her eyes.

  “Tell me this was an accident and not something else,” Miller said.

  Kalin rolled her eyes at him in an exaggerated way. “Of course.”

  “Not of course. If it was unintentional, why didn’t the driver stop? Tell him what you were doing before you were hit,” Nora said.

  Miller wore his RCMP uniform, had his notebook ready and carried an expression of amusement on his face. “Were you interfering again?”

  “Wow. You two. I didn’t do anything wrong. I went and talked with a friend who works at the newspaper office.”

  “About?” Miller probed.

  Kalin sighed. “I wanted to find out a bit about the Olsen family.”

  “Why?”

  “I think they might be involved in the arson.”

  “Tell him who was listening,” Nora said.

  “You sound like Ben. It doesn’t mean anything.”

  Nora held her gaze. “It might.”