Summer Flash Burn

by Unger, Erin;

  Jillian punched my left arm. “Yeah right.”

  I tried to focus on the reason we were there and not the hot train conductor whose loose jeans and oversized hazard vest didn’t hide his nice physique. The case. It wasn’t fair to hold them up when we should be questioning the locals or gathering information at the courthouse. “Why don’t you two head to town and start work. I’ll get a ride with the tow truck guy and call you when I finish with all this.”

  Ava didn’t hide the concern in her eyes with the smile on her face. “As much as we’d like to abandon you, we’re witnesses. They won't let us go yet.”

  “Ha-ha.”

  As if on command, sirens started as a whisper and grew in intensity.

  I rolled my shoulders and moved my head back and forth. When I opened my eyes, a fire truck and ambulance, followed by a police car, had pulled next to Beast.

  They headed straight for us and began asking questions. How was I going to explain that my over-exuberant celebration about Jillian’s directional skills caused the whole terrible event?

  2

  Shauna

  I wanted to boohoo all the way to town, but I held it in like the soldier I was. Beast bounced and crunched behind the tow truck as we headed down the mountain. Something told me the way I hit the train had totaled Beast. What could be worse than a run-in with a train when you were hours from home?

  “Is there a specific place in town I can drive you? I don’t mind.” The tow truck driver gave me a curt nod and ran his hand through his dirty blond hair. Even though he was an average build, his potbelly extended past his tan coat edges. I’d guess he was in his mid-forties by the lines forming at the corner of his eyes.

  I bounced around in the seat as the truck bumbled over the road. The suspension system created a roller-coaster-ride affect with each dip and bump. “I can get my partners to pick me up from the garage. Are you sure?”

  His straight-toothed grin held a true kindness. “Not at all. Folks have to look out for each other. I don’t mind one bit.”

  “Hmm. How about the courthouse, then?”

  “Will do.” He concentrated on the road. “Sooo…you hit a train, huh?”

  My fingers tapped the door handle. “Yep.” It came out harsher than I intended. “Carelessness.”

  His eyebrow quirked. Great. Here came all the jokes. “Well, bless your heart.” Southern for “what an idiot.” But he didn’t say that. “It’ll all be OK. Luke will fix you up at Pete’s Garage. And I’ll cut you a deal. I can only imagine how hard it is to be far from home and have an accident.”

  How nice. And he didn’t even know me. “Thanks, but I couldn’t. You have to make a living.”

  “I got this. Don’t you worry.”

  As the road curved to the left, the mountainside peaked to the right. I sucked in a breath. “Whoa, baby. Check the view.”

  I scanned the road. Gray stone walls lined the edge of the highway along the national park we traveled through to get to Uppland. Black-charred trees and ground marked the neighboring mountain like a reaper running his deadly scythe across a thousand acres of life and cutting it to nothing. A forest fire that took out fifteen hundred acres a few months back had provided cover for a murder. And it was what had brought Worthington Investigations to the little town of Uppland.

  The zone. Location of body discovery was somewhere on one of the sad edges of lost forestry.

  “Want me to pull over so you can get a look-see?”

  “Sure.”

  When he stopped the wrecker truck, I scaled down the side of it and moved to the low wall. I didn’t expect him to climb out and follow me.

  He pointed out the charred mess. “That was some scary stuff, right there. My house isn’t too far from the burn. The wife wanted to leave when they started evacuating the area, but I said no. You have to protect what’s yours, you know.” He crossed his arms. “And the body?” He whistled between his two front teeth and shook his head. “Don’t know ’bout that in my town. Gary Newen, a rich store owner got done in. He had that souvenir and fruit stand place out on 682 for over twenty years.”

  This was the perfect opportunity to find out what the locals thought about the murder of Gary Newen. “Oh, yeah? What happened?”

  He scratched his head. “Jared tol’ me the guy took some Indian’s property. You ever hear about the Monacan village up the road a ways?”

  Indian wasn’t a politically correct title. I shrugged and kept my mouth shut.

  “Well, it’s a local Native American tribe. They just got their state recognition four, five years ago. Some say the chief had him offed.”

  My eyebrows went up. Christopher had told Ava as much on the phone. The chief was on our radar. But she’d never been charged. She had a shaky alibi. “It’s not a reservation?” I should’ve looked at the info Jillian had researched about the Monacans before we left.

  “No, ma’am. They don’t have official recognition with the federal government, only the state. They turned it into an historical site for visitors and stuff like that.”

  Interesting. Why wouldn’t the government grant something American Indians had a right to? I shook my head. “Hmm. Do you believe the chief did it?”

  “Well, you see,” he paused, “she’s been rallying her people for years. A bunch of them moved back from all parts o’ the country to help with the cause.” His stance went rigid. “I couldn’t say. I wouldn’t be surprised if Gary had some shady dealings, ya know? Coulda been someone he did wrong. But then, I didn’t really know him. Only saw him around town now and then.”

  A land dispute. An unknown subject involved in a bad deal. The usual.

  After another scan of the area, he nodded toward the wrecker. “Better git back on the road. Gotta be ready for another call if need be.”

  I took one last look. The murder and the forest were synonymous. It would take years to restore the town from the devastation of both.

  And for all I knew, I was talking to the murderer in an empty viewing turn-off, nice guy or not.

  3

  Christopher

  I think I got PTSD from watching the train hit Ms. Pratley’s truck today. It wasn’t my first showdown, but it put a quake in my step. Nothing about this day was going right. I looked up to the relentless sun beating down on me then wiped my brow. A few couplers needed to be replaced. My head repairman didn’t make it into work this morning. The damage to the locomotive from the accident was minimal, but we’d have to wait for the engineer to OK its return to the track. And the other regular conductor had been sick for three days along with four other crew members. Some virus was dropping my team like flies, which was the only reason I’d driven the freight train from a local destination back to the train yard.

  The accident was the last thing I needed today. I’d taken the next two weeks off to help the investigators I’d hired, but now it looked as if I might have to stay on at the yard. The guys really needed me right now. Should I reschedule? Investigators weren’t cheap, but they were already here. Why not at least give them the information I’d collected about the murder? I’d have to use my lunch break and be back in an hour.

  Dad’s murder. Two words I never imagined I’d have to put together in the same sentence. Two words that rocked my world into another dimension of nightmares and hidden killers.

  I breathed past the tightness in my chest. Work. That was the key to keeping the nightmare at bay. Stay busy. Busyness blocked thoughts. And it was the best plan right now.

  I needed to recount everything about the accident for my report once I finished my work in the yard. But all I could think of was the fear on the young woman’s face when the train bore down on her. I wouldn’t forget it for a long time. And not because of her down-to-earth beauty. Eyes so wide the whites showed around them. The horror etched there. It stuck every time we hit someone, but her…

  The heavy wrench in my hand clanked against my finger. “Ouch.” I retracted it and winced. It didn’t pay to get distracte
d on this job. A quick look showed no blood, but the nail had a good chance of turning purple. I pressed the switch to the right and called on my radio for another foreman to take over. Better not miss my appointment. I’d have to make up the extra time tonight.

  Shauna Pratley might not be with the investigation team if she took good advice and got checked at the local hospital. Her absence sent a wave of letdown I couldn’t reconcile. I didn’t need a woman in my life. Never had. And her pretty face wasn’t changing that.

  Better stay away from her.

  4

  Shauna

  Remnants of smoke and the earthiness of the clay dirt filled my lungs as I perched on the side of the decimated mountain and thought about murder. I gazed down at my feet in the midst of the black mountain and tried to concentrate on the fire chief’s report and not the stiffness in my neck from the accident or the thought that a body had laid on the spot in front of my toes only months ago.

  Ava and Jillian didn’t seem to have any trouble listening even though they too were surrounded by the death of a forest. Yet grass poked up here and there. Amazing. How it managed to survive to return for the summer, I couldn’t tell. Another miracle from God. He could renew anything.

  My attention pulled back to the man decked-out in a fire department uniform, the sun catching red flecks in his hair.

  Where was Christopher Newen? He should be here to meet us for this briefing.

  I fought to shut out the destruction around me.

  The fire chief motioned to the general area at our right. “It was late March when the fire started. That’s the height of fire season in this area. And over there is where the wildland fire—”

  Wheels squealed to a halt behind us, and we all turned.

  Christopher climbed out and called over the distance, “Sorry I’m late. I got held up at the yard.” He motioned over his shoulder. “Traffic was bad. All three cars got in my way.” He quirked his mouth. “Barry’s always going ten miles under the speed limit.”

  His feet crunched on the ashy ground and sent up another splay of smoke-imbued air. He gave me a wide berth and stopped by Jillian. Great. Now he was avoiding me. I tried not to look at him or show my annoyance, but my mouth tightened into a straight line.

  When the fire chief extended his hand to Christopher, Christopher shook it and nodded at his boss. “Newen.”

  Jillian’s fingers tapped something into her tablet. “Chief, you stated the fire’s original location started miles from here.”

  “Yes, due south.” He pointed. “By the fourth day, the fire had spread to this sector.”

  Christopher couldn’t seem to stand still. His hands dug deep into his jean pockets. A few beads of sweat dripped down his temple as he shifted from foot to foot.

  “To your right, the body of Gary Newen was discovered on day five at six-thirty.”

  Now Christopher was downright in flux.

  It would be way too upsetting for anybody to be so close to the discovery site of a deceased loved one. I wanted to reach out and give him a reassuring pat, but would it be appreciated? Instead I crossed my arms and only glanced at him out of my peripheral vision every few seconds.

  The fire chief hesitated then softened his tone. “The winds shifted, thus keeping the body…umm, Mr. Newen from complete incineration.”

  Christopher gulped, and we all turned to him. “Sorry.” His movements ceased. “You were saying?”

  With a hand held up, Ava looked down at the papers she had. “Coroner’s report confirmed the fire had not killed Mr. Newen.” I blinked heavily in Christopher’s direction, hoping she’d get my hint, and looked back at my papers. I didn’t know if we should continue in front of Christopher.

  He must’ve picked up on our query. “I’m fine. I’ve read everything I can get my hands on.” So why was he so shifty? “But I haven’t been to this spot—since that day.” He looked embarrassed. “Please keep talking. I want to hear if there’s something I missed.”

  It was hard to hold my ground and not go to his side. “You’re sure?”

  He gave a quick nod. “Don’t hold back.”

  And the chief didn’t. “There was a gash in the left side of his chest.”

  “Yes. A knife-like wound according to the coroner,” Ava commented.

  “The body was not identifiable upon discovery.”

  I stopped eyeing Christopher. “The coroner found his wallet still somewhat intact?”

  “Correct. He was laying supine, so the wallet in his back pocket retained minimal amount of damage since it was between him and the ground.” He pointed to the east. “The wind had shifted around three that morning, giving us a good window of time when he was dumped or killed on the site.”

  Tapping the paper, Ava looked up. “Right. Between nine and one in the morning because he was last seen at the local diner just before 9:00 PM.”

  “Yes, and we know the fire was moving due south and had been marked for a fire line by this location at four o’clock. But the shifting winds and rain made it possible for us to work on another section of the mountain instead once we got an updated report from the fire crew. A second crew came at four thirty,” he paused, “and discovered the body.”

  “I found the body.” Now Christopher was dead still.

  We all turned to him.

  The full shock of his words hit me in the chest with the force of an arrow shot from a crossbow. “That wasn’t in the report you gave us.”

  His shrug and downcast stare kept me from saying more. “I don’t know how it’s relevant.”

  Not relevant? He’d been cleared by witnesses he’d worked with all night. So he wasn’t trying to hide anything about the murder. Hmm. No one should have to experience such a thing. And Christopher was clearly trying to pack down his emotions and create a distance between him and what he saw that night if he kept it from us in the initial intake of the case.

  Ava and Jillian couldn’t hide their surprise—not even behind the perfunctory blank stare they usually showed in the face of gruesome or alarming information.

  I hurried to his side and put a hand on his arm. “That’s why we’re here. To get answers and solve this crime against your father.”

  His arm stiffened. Should I put space between us again?

  He wouldn’t look at anyone. “That’s what I need. Closure. Answers.” His curt remarks sent me back to my original spot. It wasn’t so much what he said, but the edge in his voice. “And the sooner you do it, the better.” But then he grimaced and ran a hand through his silky dark hair. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you. That’s uncalled for… Please just help me.”

  Jillian feigned interest in her tablet before looking him straight in the eye again. “We assure you that is our goal.”

  His sudden inability to stand still had me following his every move as he kept glancing at his truck and the parking area. Was he about to walk away and leave us in the middle of the briefing? He must be going through a lot right now. I cleared my throat and studied the piece of eye candy he drove. I’d keep looking at it, too, if I owned that huge morsel of power. After-market exhaust system and shiny taillight covers sculpted into flames. I bet that baby roared better than mine—It would only take a nice truck to get me off topic faster than a Doberman Pinscher after a burglar. I was supposed to be running this investigation. Questions…yeah, get to the point. “Can you give us a lowdown on how operations work when battling a forest fire, Chief Rhoades? And what personnel may’ve been around the site during the time of death.”

  Christopher eased back on his heels as the chief changed to tactical talk.

  He told all of us about the park officials and the National Park and Forest Service. “The Fire Corps set up food services for all the fire fighters and volunteers who worked too. Provided resources.”

  The group effort to control a blaze was impressive.

  A half hour later, the chief donned his hat. “I need to get back to the station. If you have more questions, feel
free to stop by the station and talk. I’m sure Christopher will assist you as well. He’s shown commendable service here and has worked with me for over three years.”

  Christopher’s face reddened.

  When the chief pulled off the side of the road, I pressed my almost non-existent nails into my palm. Knowing and reading into others’ emotions beyond a witness interview wasn’t my forté. And what was the appropriate action when I did figure out what they were feeling? So far, he’d stiffened any time I was near him. I wanted Christopher to trust me. How would that happen if I kept misreading him? And then there was the professionalism angle to consider. But would it come across as cold? How about another strategy? A change of subject. “You had reported to us that the chief of a local tribe may have had involvement in the murder. What can you tell us about the American Indian chief?”

  Jillian’s tablet rested on her arm. She kept her distance, unlike Ava who drew closer to him. Ava watched every step she made over the black stumps and somewhat rocky terrain until she stopped beside him.

  Maybe he’d come across even more information than what we’d just discovered. I tried to look past the flatness of his expression.

  Nope. I got nothing. And why had he left out the body discovery, which may have held some bearing on the case? He might not think it was significant, but we couldn’t afford to have anything overlooked. “Please, Christopher, tell us everything.”

  He raised his hand to his temple and wiped at the sweat. “I know the police called Chief Johns in for questioning. And I know all the locals think she has something to do with it, but the fact is she has an alibi. How solid it is, I’m not sure. Unless witnesses are lying, and with someone in her position liars wouldn’t be too hard to find, then she’s not on the police’s list of suspects.”

  It didn’t take much to see he still had his own doubts. “Is she on your list?”