Sweet Fire and Stone (A Sweet Cove Cozy Mystery Book 7)

by J A Whiting

  A bang and the tinkling of glass shook Angie from her slumber. She sat up, blinking. Exhaling loudly and annoyed with her disturbed sleep, she wondered why she’d been startled awake again by another foolish dream. She wondered what they meant and why they were tormenting her. She put her head on her pillow and moved to her side trying to get comfortable when a strange smell flickered in her nostrils.

  Angie jumped out of bed and stood barefoot on the wood floor listening. Another whiff of the unusual smell drifted past her. Just as she started for the bedroom door, she heard Euclid let out a howl somewhere in the house. Angie’s heart pounded double-time and she broke into a run.

  On the second floor landing, she paused.

  Euclid shrieked again and Angie flicked on the lights and flew down the staircase to find the orange cat standing over some object on the foyer rug. Circe let out a cry near the front door. Angie could see the door was slightly ajar. She whirled around trying to see if someone was in the house. She looked at Euclid. “Is someone inside?”

  The cat just stared at her with his big green eyes.

  “I’ll take that as a no.”

  Courtney leaned over the railing of the second floor landing. “What’s going on down there?”

  Angie lifted her face. “I think someone broke in.”

  Courtney rushed down the stairs. “Why do you think someone broke in?” She spotted the door pushed open a few inches. Cool air streamed into the foyer. “Oh.” She scrunched up her nose. “What stinks?” She saw Euclid standing next to something. “What’s that on the floor?”

  Angie and Courtney took a few steps forward.

  Courtney crouched. “It looks like….” She stood up fast. “Is that a homemade firebomb?”

  Angie’s mouth dropped open. “Is it going to go off?”

  “I’m sure that was the plan.” Courtney edged closer and peered at the thing. “I bet it’s a dud and didn’t ignite like it was supposed to.”

  “How do you know what it is?” Angie looked pale.

  “I watch crime shows, Sis.”

  Angie stepped to the front door. “Someone broke the window in the door. They must have opened it and tossed that thing in here.” Angie put her hands on her hips. “Thank heavens it didn’t go off. I’m going to call the police.” Before pushing the numbers on the phone, she remembered that a police car was parked in front of the house at night so she stepped out on the porch to signal to the officer.

  Ellie appeared on the landing looking down with bleary eyes. “What are you doing?”

  Courtney explained what had happened and Ellie had to grip the banister as she slid to sitting position on the top step. She pressed her hand to her eyes. Just as she was about to dissolve into tears from her fear and worry, Ellie’s face hardened and she sucked in a long, slow breath. She lifted her face, her eyes flashing like steel. “You aren’t going to beat us,” she whispered. “Whoever you are.”

  19

  Courtney went up to check that Ellie was okay and she was glad to see that her sister had recovered from the momentary shock. She glanced to the stairs that led to the third floor. “Is Sleeping Beauty awake? That girl can sleep through anything.”

  The sisters always teased Jenna that she wouldn’t wake up even if an atom bomb went off in the house. Courtney climbed the staircase to the third floor to wake Jenna and on the way back down, one of the B and B guests poked a head out of their door.

  “Is there a problem?” An older man stood just inside his room, his wife behind him looking over his shoulder.

  “Just a fire bomb.” Courtney headed for the first floor. “But it didn’t go off.”

  Ellie glared at her sister. “Don’t frighten the guests.” She stood up and went over to speak to the man to reassure him. “It was just a prank. Everything’s fine, but we’ve made a call to the police for them to check things out. Why don’t we all head down to our family room at the back of the house until the police arrive? We’ll set out some treats and drinks for everyone.” Ellie smiled reassuringly.

  Jenna appeared on the landing, her hair tousled from sleep. She tied the belt of her robe around her waist. “What’s going on? Someone threw a firebomb into the house?” She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and yawned.

  “You don’t seem very concerned.” Ellie stared at her sister.

  Jenna pushed her hair back from her face. “Courtney said it was no big deal.”

  Ellie shook her head. “Will you help me gather the guests and herd them into the family room? No one should stay in their rooms until the police give us the all clear.”

  Jenna and Ellie moved from room to room to rouse the guests.

  Before long, someone knocked on the door. It was Officer Talbot. “I just talked with the officer on duty outside. I’ve contacted Chief Martin. He’s on his way.” Talbot asked Angie to explain what had happened. While she was telling him, he and the other officer carefully checked the object on the foyer floor. “Looks like a homemade incendiary device.” Talbot bent down to have a closer look. “Some of the liquid is leaking out. You’re lucky this thing didn’t go off. It would have caused a lot of damage.”

  Angie frowned. She had her arms wrapped around herself. “Someone must be very disappointed.” Suddenly she looked at Courtney with wide eyes, grabbed her phone, and punched numbers into it. “Mr. Finch. He might be a target as well.”

  Courtney didn’t wait to hear another word. She and Officer Talbot raced out of the house heading for Mr. Finch’s place with Circe and Euclid chasing after them.

  After several rings, a sleepy-sounding Finch answered his phone, and Angie sank onto one of the dining chairs, relief flooding her body. She told the older man what had happened and that Courtney and Officer Talbot were on their way to his house to check things out.

  Chief Martin strode through the front door, his eyes darting around taking everything in. His face softened when he saw Angie. “You okay?”

  She nodded and stood up. “Never a dull moment.”

  “A technician is on his way to look this over and remove it. We’ll check it out for fingerprints and what not.” The chief stepped across the room to confer with the other officer about the front door’s broken glass and the condition of the incendiary device. He decided there was no need to evacuate the premises, but that everyone should stay at the back of the house until the thing had been removed.

  “Ellie and Jenna have moved the guests to the family room,” Angie told the chief. “Tom’s on his way over to close up the broken window.”

  “Why don’t you join the others in the family room? I’ll let you know when the coast is clear.”

  Courtney walked into the foyer with the cats next to her. Her eyes were twinkling. She leaned towards Angie as the two of them headed for the hallway. “Guess what? It seems Mr. Finch has an overnight guest.”

  Angie’s eyebrows shot up and a smile crept over her lips. The cats trilled.

  “Betty came to the door with him. You should have seen him blush.” Courtney chuckled as they went to the kitchen to help prepare more snacks and treats for the inconvenienced guests. “Everything was okay. If I knew Betty was there with Mr. Finch, I wouldn’t have bothered to go check on him.” Courtney was only half-kidding when she said, “If anyone ever tried to hurt Mr. Finch, I have no doubt they would have to go through Betty first. Mr. Finch has his own personal bodyguard.”

  Ellie stood at the counter placing a pot of coffee and a silver tea pot onto a tray along with a sugar bowl and creamer. Her sisters could see the anger on Ellie’s face as she faced them. “Everyone is present and accounted for except for one of the guests.”

  Angie was about to ask which one when she caught herself. “Oh.”

  Courtney was steaming. “Could the missing person be Mr. Walter Withers?”

  Ellie lifted the tray. “Chief Martin might want to have a talk with the gentleman about his whereabouts this evening.”

  “Is Professor Tyler in the family room?” Angie asked.


  “Yes.” Ellie spoke over her shoulder as she headed for the hall. “He was asleep in the sunroom. He said he was restless and came downstairs to read. He didn’t hear anything because he’d fallen asleep in the chair.”

  * * *

  COURTNEY, ANGIE, and Jenna sat at the round table next to the fireplace in the jewelry room bent over mats with silver findings and different colored glass beads spread out between them. It was a cool night and they thought it would be nice to have a fire going while they worked putting together Jenna’s necklace designs, but with all the fire trouble in town recently, Jenna was reluctant to light the logs.

  “We can’t let some evil creep keep us from enjoying ourselves.” Courtney strung a blue and white bead on the wire. “Let’s just light it.”

  Angie got up and started the fire and once it kicked in with a lovely blaze going, Jenna agreed that it made the room cozy and was glad that Courtney had convinced them. Euclid and Circe curled up on the rug in front of the fireplace.

  Suddenly, Courtney grew quiet and Angie asked her what was wrong.

  “Rufus is leaving in three days.”

  Angie and Jenna could see the light from the fire reflecting off their youngest sister’s teary blue eyes.

  “We’ve talked about me going to England so we can stay together while he finishes his studies.”

  Euclid raised his head and released a soft, low hiss. Jenna froze in place with her crimping tool suspended in mid-air. Angie’s heart clenched thinking of Courtney leaving the family to move to England, but she hid her feelings. “You love each other. You should be together.”

  “But I just started the business with Mr. Finch and I don’t want to leave all of you.” Courtney let out a sigh. “I don’t know what to do.”

  Jenna swallowed hard. “Keep thinking about it. Do what you think is best.” She put her hand on her sister’s arm. “We want you to be happy.”

  Just as Courtney was about to say thank you, Jenna added, “Even if what you do makes us unhappy.”

  Courtney bopped her on the shoulder. “Thanks a lot.”

  “I had to lighten the mood.” Jenna smiled. “Honestly, you know we support whatever you want to do.”

  Angie got in on the act. “Even if we think you’re wrong.”

  Courtney groaned. “You two are horrible sisters.”

  The door to the jewelry room opened and Ellie poked her head in. “Look who I found lurking on the front porch.”

  Rufus came into the room and Ellie returned to the kitchen. He looked handsome with the front of his light brown hair hanging over his forehead and his bright blue eyes shining at Courtney. Leaning down, he touched her cheek and kissed her on top of the head. He sank into the sofa next to the desks and the two cats walked over, jumped up, and settled against him purring.

  “I’m almost finished with this piece, and then we can go.” Courtney put the last bead on the necklace she was working on. She looked up at Angie and Jenna. “I forgot to tell you. Jack’s having a little going-away get-together for Rufus at the law office. He’s going to have cake and coffee and tea. He invited all of us.” She told her sisters when the gathering would be and they said they’d love to come.

  Rufus said, “Did Chief Martin find out anything about your firebug of last night?”

  Angie leaned over the necklace she was working on. “No prints were found, nothing on the device and nothing on the front door.”

  “Not much to go on then.” Rufus watched Courtney as she added the clasp to the jewelry piece. “I suppose it could be unrelated to the fires in town.”

  Three pairs of eyes turned and stared at him.

  He modified his statement. “Or it was absolutely related to the fires in town.”

  “Too bad we don’t have a security camera on the front of the house.” Courtney placed the necklace she had just finished into a jewelry box, stood up, and picked up her sweater from the back of her chair.

  “Tom wants to install one on the porch roof.” Angie smiled. “We keep him busy around here.”

  Rufus extricated himself from the cats and got up from the sofa. He and Courtney had made plans to see a movie at the theatre in the center of town.

  “Too bad I didn’t come by the house just a few minutes later.” Rufus took Courtney’s hand.

  Angie looked up. “What do you mean?”

  “Last night. I was working late in my apartment.”

  “He’s a night owl,” Courtney told them.

  “I was feeling antsy and wasn’t ready to sleep, so I went for a run.”

  “You went for a run in the middle of the night?” Jenna made a face thinking how that would be the last thing she would ever want to do.

  Rufus nodded. “It’s nice out then, peaceful. I usually run down Main Street and turn onto your street. I go right by your house, head down to the beach, and make a loop up Willow Street.”

  “Was the police car out front when you went by?” Angie asked.

  “Yes, but no one was in it.”

  “The officer must have been walking around the house,” Jenna noted.

  “You didn’t see anyone suspicious?” Angie set her tool on the table.

  Rufus shrugged. “Like I said, if I was a few minutes later I would have caught the guy in the act.”

  “Did you notice a car go by or someone walking around?” Jenna knew Rufus probably wouldn’t have paid attention to anyone nearby since he had no reason to suspect wrong-doing about to occur.

  “No one dangerous looking.” He and Courtney headed for the door. “Unless you count an old lady in a dark coat standing across the street.”

  20

  Angie’s eyes bugged out and Jenna’s mouth dropped open.

  “An old lady?” Angie stood up.

  “Where?” Jenna’s eyes bored into the young man.

  A surprised look washed over Rufus’s face. “She was standing across from your house. I thought she must have been waiting for a ride. I didn’t pay much attention to her.” He took a look at Courtney and then shifted his gaze back to the sisters. “You think an old lady wanted to burn your house down?”

  “What did she look like?” Angie stepped around from behind the table.

  “Um.” Rufus thought back on the night. “She had on a dark coat.”

  “How long was the coat?” Jenna turned the palm of her hand horizontal to the floor and held it to her knee and then to mid-calf. “Here?”

  “I think it was below the knee.” Rufus didn’t sound positive. “Maybe?”

  “Why did you call her an old lady?” Angie wondered what it was about the person that caused Rufus to think she was old.

  “She had grayish hair, sort of whitish. Like I said, I didn’t really pay attention. I just ran by.”

  “Was she wearing a hood?” Jenna asked.

  Rufus shook his head. “No hood.”

  Angie thought there was a possibility it could be Mrs. Crosswort. “Did she seem frail, sickly?”

  “Ahh….” Rufus looked perplexed.

  Courtney took her boyfriend’s arm. “I don’t think Rufus could determine that in the split second he ran past. It was dark.”

  “Sorry that I didn’t see more,” Rufus said as he and Courtney left the room.

  Angie and Jenna stared at each other.

  “Was it Angelina Crosswort?” Angie sat back down.

  “Or was it Gloria?” Jenna walked over to the sofa and stretched out. “My head is spinning. Who would have thought Rufus would be out at that time of night and happen to see whoever broke in here?”

  “I guess there’s a chance the woman he saw didn’t have anything to do with it.” Angie put her chin in her hand.

  “Really?” Jenna made a face. “That woman must have been watching the house for a while, waiting for the officer to do his walk around the back. As soon as he was out of sight, she sprang into action and was gone before he came around front. I bet she’d watched him on more than one occasion to find out his pattern, how much time
it took to do his round.”

  A cloud settled over Angie’s face. “Something doesn’t seem right. Something feels off.”

  Before the conversation could continue, Ellie came into the room. “Can you fix my necklace?”

  “What’s wrong with it?”

  Ellie handed it to Jenna. “The chain was caught in my hair and when I tugged on it, the latch got distorted.”

  Jenna placed the necklace on the felt mat in front of her and adjusted the lamp to shine on it. She peered at the clasp and then picked up one of her tools.

  Ellie yawned. “I have to go clean up the carriage house apartment.”

  “Why?” Angie picked up some beads and went back to working on a necklace.

  “Professor Tyler wants to stay longer. He asked if he might move into one of the apartments. He’d like to do some cooking instead of eating out so often.”

  “He’s planning to stay longer?” Angie slipped a silver crimp bead along the jewelry wire.

  “He wants to rent the apartment for at least another month.” Ellie yawned. “I’m exhausted from last night.” The girls were up for hours settling the guests and talking things over after the police had finished inspecting the house and removing the firebomb. None of them had been able to return to sleep after the nighttime disturbance.

  “I’ll help you get the apartment ready.” Angie held up the necklace she’d been working on for her sister’s approval.

  “Looks great,” Jenna said. After some minor adjustments on Ellie’s piece, she tried the clasp. “It’s fine now.” Jenna held it up to her neck. “This would look pretty with my new shirt.”

  “Hand it over, you.” Ellie held out her hand. “Maybe I’ll let you borrow it someday.”

  Jenna dropped the necklace into her sister’s hand and Ellie attached it around her neck. The white stone seemed to shimmer. Angie admired the gem and the way the fire reflected off of it. Suddenly she sat up straight. “Can I see the necklace?”