There Will Be Fire

by Mark Von Kyling

  Parminter listened, waiting for the hammer to drop.

  Ramos continued. “I’ve been watching your little group now for a while and I think you’re the only nice guy here. I mean, you’re not really that nice, but you get what I mean, right?”

  Parminter nodded.

  Ramos continued. “The only reason I started investigating you to begin with was because you don’t really fit. It just doesn’t make sense for someone like you to even be associated with people like this.”

  “It’s only because I knew some of them in high school.”

  “I know. That’s what you said. High school is like that. It brings together some really different kinds of individuals.”

  “That’s true.”

  “I just want you to know that you’re dealing with some dangerous people, Mr. Parminter. I just thought you ought to know.”

  “But won’t this jeopardize your investigation?”

  “No, it’s already been taken care of. I’m going back to New Jersey tonight. Besides, I haven’t really told you anything. I’m just telling you how to find out what I know.”

  “But won’t there be a big police operation involved?”

  Ramos laughed. “You have a lot to learn. The police won’t get involved until after everything has been cleared with the insurance company’s lawyers. At this level, there can be no mistakes. Otherwise, everyone will walk.”

  At that Ramos got up, shook Parminter’s hand and left. As he turned to leave, he said. “By the way, your friend Howie’s a lowlife but he’s not crazy. Morris Fox is trying to screw him.”

  With that, he walked over to the Mercedes and drove off.

  Parminter looked at the number on the business card and debated on what he was going to do with it. He remembered that Ramos had said that it would only benefit him to call it. At that realization, he got up from the table and walked back towards his house.

  39

  At first Parminter was a little skeptical about calling the number. He hated calling people up like that out of the blue. If he was calling them about business or something, it was okay, but just to chat? And about what? What was he going to tell the person he was trying to find out? It was a very awkward situation. Besides, he wasn’t really sure that he wanted to find out anything groundbreaking. It wasn’t like he was trying to solve a mystery or anything. The only thing he had really been curious about was who was in the Mercedes that kept popping up. Now, he had actually talked to the guy so that was settled. He knew what he was doing and why he had kept seeing him. Case closed. He just really wasn’t sure he wanted to know anything else. He just wanted his life to be less complicated. That was it. And he knew that when he called the number, this would no longer be possible. He had come to the conclusion a long time before that sometimes it was just easier to stay ignorant about certain things.

  It took a couple of rings before anyone answered. He told her briefly who he was and without prodding, the person told him how to get to her house. He realized that she had been expecting him to call. Her name was Anne. She lived about three hours away so he decided to see her the next day. He figured that something this big needed to be discussed in person.

  Well, that was easy, he thought. He decided to make himself another drink. After all, what would one more hurt? Sure, he wasn’t really supposed to because of his head, but he had been feeling much better lately. He thought about calling Robin but decided against it. He would fill her in later.

  He had just sat down on his couch when the phone rang. It was Nicole.

  “I did it. I got the restraining order rescinded.”

  “Thanks,” Parminter said.

  “It’ll be completely through in a few days. Then we can see each other,” she said happily.

  “I appreciate it.”

  “I’m so sorry about this, John. I can’t believe Morris did it.”

  “I know. He’s a real prick.”

  “He’s just protective. He thought he was doing what was right.”

  “Have you spoken to him about it?” Parminter asked.

  “No, that’s my next phone call. I’m going to give him a piece of my mind and tell him that he had better not do it again.”

  “Good.”

  “John, I’ve got to go to a meeting. I’ll talk to you later, okay. I’m so sorry about this. You have no idea.”

  “I know. I’ll talk to you later.”

  They hung up and Parminter picked up his drink.

  * * * * *

  Parminter got up early, had breakfast, checked the foreign markets and made a few trades. He was antsy to get started and eventually when mid-morning hit, he got into his car and started driving. Anne lived quite a way north of Nashville and he was supposed to be there in the afternoon. The area she lived in was past Nashville and near the Kentucky state line. The weather was good and he made excellent time and arrived early. She lived in a place he had never even heard of and he had heard of almost everywhere.

  He decided to drive around the town before he went to her house just to see what kind of place this was. As he drove around he was struck just how plain and drab the town was. It had one red light and a convenience store. All the rest of the buildings on the town square were either closed or so dilapidated that they did not encourage any sort of business other than the sort which locals are obliged to give it because they have no choice not to. There was probably a lot of history here, he thought. But that was about it. It was definitely not a place for people who wanted to make something more of themselves.

  After he had driven around for a bit, he looked at his watch and decided that it was time to go visit Anne. He set his GPS for her address and it directed him to a place that was just outside of town in the country. He was there in a few minutes. The house was a stark contrast to the dreariness of the town. It was a very nice older bungalow type structure that apparently had been restored sometime recently. He parked his car and got out. Anne was at the door to greet him immediately.

  “I was waiting on you,” she said.

  They went through the usual greetings and Anne brought him some coffee. While she was in the kitchen, Parminter couldn’t help but notice the cheeriness of the house. It was filled with pictures. Apparently, Anne had two tween-aged children and a husband who appeared to be some sort of professional.

  “I love your house,” he said when she had returned with the coffee.

  “Thanks. I grew up in it. We just remodeled it last year,” she said.

  “It looks great.”

  He took a sip of the coffee and was unsure about how to start. She decided to make it easy on him.

  “I know why you’re here. Mr. Ramos said that you would probably call. I know there’s probably a lot of stuff that you’re curious about.”

  “Yes, you could say that.”

  “Didn’t you go to college with her?” she asked.

  “Yes, I did. But I didn’t really know her that well.”

  “Oh,” Anne said. “I went there too. But I was a little older than her. I had transferred to Peay before she started.”

  “Really,” he said. They sat in uncomfortable silence for a second. “You know, Nicole never even told me she had a sister.”

  Anne smiled. “I’m not surprised.”

  40

  It was just getting dark when Parminter drove back down the interstate towards home. He really didn’t know what to think. Sure, the things that Anne had told him had both perplexed him, but he really wasn’t sure what to expect. He understood why Ramos had wanted him to talk about her, but in a way, he thought it could have been just one man trying to sabotage another man’s relationship. Everything she had told him was either completely unrelated or irrelevant to what was going on now. He planned on speaking to Nicole directly about it as soon as soon as possible. After speaking with Anne, he understood exactly why Nicole hadn’t told him about her. While on the surface, she was apple pie and sweetness, but talking to her about Nicole had revealed a much darker side. He al
most had a feeling that Anne had a major axe to grind with her sister and he was reluctant to be drawn into any family drama that had apparently started brewing years earlier.

  But then he recognized that Nicole would probably be upset that he had even spoken to her sister. She might intrepret it that he had gone behind her back. Oh well, he thought, his actions could easily be explained. After all, he had been clobbered in the head and had a restraining order put on him.

  He had just gone into Eastern Standard Time when his phone rang. It was Nicole. Maybe the rescinsion of the restraining order was now in place. Well, no better time than the present, he thought to tell her about his visit.

  “John! John!” she whispered excitedly, but not in a good way. “Where are you?”

  He was a little taken aback. She was literally freaking out. Now would not be the time to tell her about his visit. He told her where he was. “I can barely hear you. Can you speak up?”

  “No. I have to keep my voice down. You have to come quick! It’s Howie!”

  He then noticed that she was whispering.

  “What’s happened to him?” Parminter asked.

  “Nothing! He’s here! He said that he’s going to kill me!”

  Parminter’s heart leaped. Howie had made good on his promise after all.

  “I’m on the terrace. He can’t hear me,” she whispered. “He’s in the living room drinking. He said that he wanted to come up and apologize so I let him up. He’s got a knife, John!”

  “Why are you on the balcony?” Parminter said.

  “He let me come out. He doesn’t know I had my phone in my pocket. He’s drunk. He said that if I wanted to jump, go ahead and save him the trouble.”

  “Call the police.”

  “You know I can’t do that. Besides, I don’t think he’s serious.”

  “I see. Well, let me call them.”

  “No! I don’t want this all over the news. Especially if he’s not really going to do anything. He’s so drunk, I think I can handle him until you get here. If I can’t, I’ll call them,” she said.

  “I’ll be there as fast as I can then,” Parminter said, stepping on the gas.

  “Hurry!”

  After he put down his phone, he realized that unless Nicole had told the doorman that the restraining order had been rescinded, he wouldn’t be able to get into the building. After thinking for a second, he picked up the phone and made another call.

  * * * * *

  Parminter made it back into town in record time. He blew past two state troopers who, fortunately for him, were too busy shooting the breeze to notice him. Besides, traffic was so heavy and their shift was probably about to end, he probably just wasn’t worth it to them. He got off the interstate and made it to Nicole’s building. He parked on the street, figuring that he would just deal with the ticket later. For such an intense situation, he was strangely focused and calm. He had already assessed everything in his mind and prepared himself to take each step methodically.

  After parking, he ran into the lobby. He hadn’t seen any cop cars outside so he figured that everything was probably okay. Maybe Howie had passed out on the couch and situation had resolved itself. He could only hope.

  Once inside, he prepared himself to meet the doorman who may or may not keep him from getting into the elevator. He walked by him casually as if he was supposed to be there and the doorman didn’t do anything. He just nodded and let him go up.

  Parminter breathed a sigh of relief as he got on the elevator but then became conscious of the fact that the more difficult objective was coming up. What was he going to do about Howie? He realized that in his haste to get there he had forgotten to get anything that he could use as a weapon. He had been so concentrated on the logistics of getting to and into the building that he had completely forgotten about the primary problem. He wasn’t very perterbed about this though. He would just have to improvise. Anything could be used as a weapon, he assured himself. If it was used in the right way.

  Parminter steeled himself as he took the elevator up to the penthouse. He had no idea what would be awaiting him. The elevator ride seemed to take forever and the tension was getting so heavy that he was just ready to get it over with. He had been playing over the various scenarios of what might happen over and over again in his mind after Nicole had first called him. Sure, Nicole had said that Howie had a knife, but what if he also had a gun? What if she was already dead? He would just have to play it by ear.

  But then the elevator dinged and he took a deep breath. It was time. The doors opened and he braced himself. He stepped into the short hallway/alcove and stood in front of her door. He tried it. It was open. He walked and quickly looked around. There was no one there. All the lights in the apartment were off but he could still see everything due to the lights of the city coming in through the large windows. He tried his best to see movement, however he couldn’t see anything. However, an overwhelming odor of gasoline was in the air. Then he saw that he was standing in liquid. He looked down. The floor of the condo was covered in the stuff.

  Howie was going to burn the condo!

  He had to get himself and Nicole out of there before this happened. He couldn’t waste time playing cat and mouse.

  He went over to the light switch and was about to reflexively turn it on but then pulled his hand back. He was unsure of whether the light current could ignite the fumes and didn’t want to find out the hard way. Besides, he would see fairly easily from the combination of moonlight and city lights shining through the large windows.

  He took another look around and realized that there was someone in the room after all. In the dimness, he could see the legs of someone sticking out from behind the sofa. He walked over carefully. It was Morris Fox and he wasn’t moving. Parminter cautiously felt his wrist. It was cold. He then looked more closely at him. He had been bludgeoned to death. What had Howie done?

  He looked around to see if Nicole was anywhere around, but then suddenly he saw movement on the terrace. It was her. He took a quick look around to see if Howie was anywhere near. She motioned him out.

  “I had to come out here, John. The fumes are overwhelming in there.”

  “Where’s Howie? We’ve got to get out of here!”

  She turned and looked at him. “How should I know?”

  He was taken aback. “But I thought...”

  She shook her head. “No, he’s not here. I just said that so you would come over.”

  “But what about Morris Fox?”

  She shrugged.

  Parminter was taken aback, but then he noticed that Nicole was acting differently. She was very calm and very confident. She had a completely different demeanor than she had had before when she was with him. He then understood that this was a trap. He had been set up.

  “You know I talked to your sister today.”

  Her face showed that she was visibly angry for a minute, but then it subsided. “So?”

  “She reminded me of that fire that happened back in college.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Your roommate was killed in it. You barely survived. She said it wasn’t a coincidence that the same thing could happen to the same person twice.”

  Nicole looked at him like he was stupid. “Well, of course. That’s because I set it.”

  “That’s what she was saying, but I didn’t believe her.”

  “I really didn’t intend to kill my roommate. I just wanted to humble her. She was such a stuck up, condescending bitch. God! She was annoying! Did you know she said that eating chicken on the bone was for poor people? Can you believe that?”

  Parminter just stared at her.

  “What really used to drive me crazy was that she would always drink all my diet cokes. She wouldn’t even ask. She thought she was too good to eat chicken on the bone but she was too cheap to buy her own damned diet cokes! Once she was dead though, I felt such a sense of relief that I wouldn’t have to deal with her anymore that I knew that I had done the right thing.”


  Even though her sister had speculated about this, he was still a little stunned to hear Nicole actually admit to it.

  “You see, she was always burning scented candles. Oh, how those things stunk up the place! My clothes were always smelling like Wicks ‘N’ Sticks. All it took was moving one a couple of inches to the left. And poof! The dorm was on fire. Of course, I made sure that I did this on a night when she had been out drinking so she was so passed out that I doubt that she even knew that she was burning to death.”

  “She said that your father was a fireman and you knew all about how fires worked and you were always fascinated with them. That was how she knew that you had set it.”

  “My father always said that unless a person is a complete amateur, you can never really tell if a fire was intentional or not.”

  “I just can’t believe it.”

  “He said that you could always tell how it started, but the intention was the hardest thing to prove.”

  “I still can’t believe it.”

  “That fire back in college obviously wasn’t that big of a deal to you, John, because you had completely forgotten about it.”

  “So you did the same thing to Raoul?”

  “Of course. It was the only way. Raoul was a creep. I had to get out with something. The ship is going down, John. Raoul was going to be investigated soon. He was scamming people left and right. He got by for years because he preyed on people who were rich but didn’t really know anything about money except how to spend it. He screwed up with Clement Boatman. Before he killed himself, he put the feds on him.”

  “So that’s why you didn’t really care about him killing himself?”

  “Exactly. He was an asshole. The only bad thing about it was that Trixie got run over. I loved that dog.”

  “But what about Fox? Did you kill him, too?” Parminter knew the answer to this as well, but he couldn’t help but ask the question.

  “Yes. He’s a loose end. He knew everything that going on with Raoul. Once he rolled, I would have been left with nothing. You would have seen the press taking pictures of me using coupons and taking the bus. Oh, how people would have laughed. I wasn’t going there. I had to let him finish locking Howie out then bye-bye, Morris Fox.”