Without Warning

by Lynette Eason

  This time she gave in to the eye roll. “Ugh. Really?”

  “No. Not really.” He kissed her forehead. “I just don’t want to see you get hurt.”

  “I know. See you later.”

  “Later, gator.”

  “I’m not saying it.”

  “Yes you are. Later, gator.”

  “Bye.”

  “After ’while, crocodile.”

  “Stop, I’m not five.” She put her hands over her ears and turned to leave when she spotted Katie standing in the hangar doorway. “He’s being obnoxious.”

  “I see that.” A smile played around her lips. “Lizzie’s going to hang out with you today.”

  Riley dropped her hands from her ears. “That’s cool. I like her.”

  Katie smiled. “She likes you too. And she has a fascination with archaeology, so you’re like her dream assignment.”

  Riley laughed. “Glad I could help her out there.” She looked back at Daniel. “Could we do something after I get home from the dig and eat pizza with Steve?”

  “What’s that?”

  “I want to go to the restaurant site and look for Mom’s box.”

  Daniel hesitated. “I tell you what, I’ll go out there today while you’re at school and see if I can find it. Okay?”

  Riley nodded. “Sure. I don’t care who finds it, I just want it found.”

  Daniel looked at Katie. “Do you think you can go?”

  Katie drew in a deep breath. Then nodded. “Yes.”

  “Thanks.” Riley walked out of the hangar and found Lizzie standing near her car. “Ready?”

  “I’m ready.”

  Riley looked back over her shoulder and saw Daniel smiling down at Katie. And Katie was smiling right back. Yes, Daniel liked her. And Katie liked him. Riley sucked in a deep breath, then let it out slowly.

  “Lord, just let them live long enough for all that like to turn into something a little more permanent. Please?” she muttered.

  “Sorry,” Lizzie said, “I didn’t catch that.”

  Riley shook her head. “Nothing.” The only ears she needed to hear her words already had.

  Back in the house, Katie listened absently as Daniel discussed options with the insurance company. The claims adjuster had already been out to look over the damage. She knew Daniel had received three estimates on what it would cost to rebuild the North Lake restaurant. He’d already decided to go with the middle estimate. He’d said it was pretty close to what he’d calculated. He figured the lower bid was just an attempt to undercut the competition and in the end they’d wind up going over budget.

  She thought he was probably right. Her phone rang and she glanced at the screen. Bree. She stepped into the den area so she wouldn’t disturb Daniel. “Hello?”

  “Hi, Katie, how’s it going?”

  “It’s going. How’s your sister?”

  “On her way to rehab. Finally.”

  “Ouch. I’m sorry.”

  “It’s time.” Bree cleared her throat. “I’ve got some information for you.”

  “About?”

  “A couple of things. The first is Tim Shepherd, the real estate developer.”

  “Anything make your radar blip?”

  “Quite possibly.”

  Katie took a seat on the couch and got comfortable. This sounded interesting. “Tell me about him.”

  “He’s in his midfifties and a millionaire several times over. He’s shrewd and can sniff out a deal almost before it’s been thought of.”

  “But?” Katie glanced into the kitchen to see Daniel pacing back and forth in front of the bar. He looked agitated.

  “There was one incident about two years ago,” Bree said. “Shepherd was after a small business owner named Joseph Bryant to sell and the man refused. Said it had been his father-in-law’s restaurant and he wasn’t selling it. A month later, the business burned to the ground.”

  “Let me guess. Arson?”

  “Yes.”

  “Any charges brought against Shepherd?” Katie said.

  “No, nothing could be proven and he didn’t wind up with the property. The insurance paid out and Bryant ended up selling the land to someone else. Said he suspected Shepherd was behind it and there was no way he was letting him have the property, he didn’t care how much Shepherd offered.”

  “Oh boy. I’m sure that went over well,” Katie murmured.

  “According to employees, Shepherd was furious. Apparently, he’s quite well-known for his temper and had a full-on tantrum right there in his office for everyone to hear.”

  Katie stood and walked over to the mantel to study the two pictures Daniel had there. One was of a handsome couple she assumed were his brother and sister-in-law. The other was of Riley about three years ago, holding a huge fish in front of a sailboat. Daniel was helping her hold it. The big grins on both of their faces touched her. “What was the cause of the fire? How did the arsonist set it?”

  “Gasoline and a match.”

  “So he didn’t even try to hide it, cover it up and make it look like an accident,” Katie said.

  “Nope. Found the gas cans on site. No prints meant the arsonist used gloves. There were no working security cameras within the vicinity, so . . .” A sigh filtered through the line. “The investigation never led to a viable suspect. Although one of the detectives I talked to who worked the case said he really thought that the owner did it.”

  “Any reason why?”

  “A search of Bryant’s financial records showed a possible motive, but it wasn’t strong. He wasn’t desperate, hadn’t missed any payments on anything, but he didn’t have any savings and they were living paycheck to paycheck. But again, nothing was ever proven.”

  “But if that were the case,” Katie said, “why not just sell to Shepherd? Why go to the trouble of doing something illegal when he could have just sold and probably made more money to begin with?”

  “Exactly.”

  “No wonder Shepherd was ticked. Did he try to get the other person to sell out?”

  Katie paced to the window and looked out. “No, he finally left it alone and moved on. The thing that really supported Bryant’s version was the documentation he had on Shepherd’s phone calls. The man or someone from his business called every day for two months to try and talk Bryant into selling.”

  “Harassment.”

  “At the very least.”

  “Did anyone ever say anything threatening?”

  “No, nothing that was proven. So Shepherd moved on and bought up that building downtown where the children’s store used to be. He put a sandwich shop in there and rakes in the big bucks.”

  “But it does kind of make you wonder, doesn’t it? If he decided he wanted Daniel’s property, why not try arson again? After all, it almost worked last time. True, he didn’t get the property he wanted, but he didn’t get caught either.”

  “I know,” Bree said. “Good point.”

  “What was the second thing?”

  “I went by the businesses near Martin Sheehan’s house and asked about their cameras. Out of the three, one wasn’t working, the other two had inside and outside footage. I’ve watched them both and never saw anyone other than the guy fitting your description of Martin going into his house.”

  “No one.”

  “Nope.”

  “Okay then.” Katie sighed. “Thanks.”

  “Do you want to tell me what you’re looking for?”

  “Just . . . I don’t know. Someone lurking on the street, sneaking in through the window, something.”

  “Did something happen?”

  “Yes, but he didn’t want to report it to the police for various reasons that sort of made sense. In a weird way.”

  “Ooookay.”

  Katie laughed. “I’ll keep you updated. You keep an eye on Shepherd.”

  “We’re going to.”

  “Good,” Katie said. She saw Daniel hang up and rake a hand through his hair. “Because I’ve got my eyes on someone
else.”

  Bree snickered. “It wouldn’t be that good-looking restaurant owner, would it?”

  “Hmm . . . I’ll never tell.” She hung up on Bree’s laughter.

  Daniel walked into the den and sat opposite her. “Everything all right?”

  She filled him in on what Bree said about the real estate developer and Daniel let out a low whistle.

  “So Shepherd could actually be behind this.”

  “It’s possible. Bree and a couple of other detectives are digging even deeper, checking him out.”

  Daniel rubbed his eyes. “It doesn’t really make sense, though. If Shepherd’s after the land, why kill someone at the other place?”

  “Could be simple coincidence. Perhaps Shepherd had planned all along to burn the restaurant down and that was his focus. It just so happened that same night, someone else was trying to break into the restaurant where you were, possibly with the intent of robbing it, stumbled across Armstrong, and killed him.”

  Daniel narrowed his eyes. “And was desperate to cover up the murder so they tried to make it look like a suicide. Then ran when I came down the stairs. It’s a plausible explanation.”

  “I thought so.”

  “But you don’t believe that.”

  “No, not really. Although I really can’t tell you why I don’t believe it.” She tapped her lip. “Probably because of the security footage that shows the killer being so careful about not exposing his face to the camera.”

  He nodded. “And the fact that someone came back and used the old code to try to get in.”

  “Yes, that too. It just doesn’t add up to be some random coincidence thing. I still say there’s some connection between the two events.” She stood and walked to the mantel, picked up the picture of his brother and sister-in-law. “They’re a beautiful couple.”

  “Yes.”

  “I know you miss them.”

  “Desperately.”

  She placed the photo back in its spot. “And I need to tell you something else.”

  “What?” Wariness entered his eyes.

  “Bree was also able to get ahold of some video footage of Martin’s house at the time he said someone broke in. There’s no indication there was a burglary.”

  He pursed his lips and sat back. “So what are you saying?”

  “I’m saying I’m not sure the coin was stolen by anyone.”

  “So you think Martin lost it and is trying to shift the blame by saying someone stole it?” He frowned. “That doesn’t even make sense. I mean, if the coin were insured, then maybe that might be a little more plausible, but it wasn’t.”

  “How do you know?” Daniel stared at her and Katie sighed. “I know he’s your friend, Daniel, and I’m not saying that’s what he’s doing. I’m just trying to look at all the facts and the evidence and come to a logical conclusion.”

  He nodded. “I don’t think he’d do something like that. And besides, you saw his house, it was a mess.”

  “I know.” She frowned. “A mess he could have created himself looking for the coin.”

  “No. No way.”

  “I hope you’ll at least consider it a possibility.”

  He ran a hand over his hair. “After all the crazy stuff that’s gone on lately—” he shook his head—“I guess we have to.”

  She drew in a deep breath. “I’m going back out to the site of the North Lake restaurant,” she said. “Charlie said he’d come hang out with you for a while, keep an eye on things.”

  “What? Why?”

  “Because you need someone to watch your back and I won’t be here.”

  “Not that. Why are you going back to the restaurant site?”

  “I need to.”

  “Ah.”

  She didn’t bother to pretend she didn’t understand what that “Ah” meant. “You sound like Haley, but yeah.”

  “Going back and facing your fears?”

  “Something like that. I’ll look for the box while I’m there.”

  “I’ll come with you.”

  “No. This is something I need to do alone. I don’t want . . . can’t have . . . an audience.”

  He frowned. “I know exactly how you feel, but you don’t need to be alone. Shouldn’t be alone. You need support.”

  “I want to be alone. Seriously, I’ll be fine.”

  He crossed his arms. “I’ll sit in the car.”

  She sighed. “No you won’t.”

  “Yes I will.”

  She studied him. “Promise?”

  “Maybe.”

  She gave an exasperated huff. “Daniel . . .”

  “Fine, fine. I will. I promise.”

  “Even if I look like I’m . . . in distress?”

  “I can’t promise that.”

  Another sigh slipped from her. “Then you can’t come.”

  “Try and stop me.”

  [21]

  Katie pulled to a stop at the edge of the restaurant’s parking lot. The yellow tape had been cleaned up, but the restaurant still stood, an empty, charred shell of its former glory. What a waste. “It’s a mess, isn’t it?”

  “Yes.”

  She heard the anger beneath that one word. A shadow to her right caught her attention, but when she focused on the area, she saw nothing that alarmed her. “All right, I’m going to get suited up. You stay here. I know we weren’t followed, but buzz me if anything seems . . . off.”

  He captured her hand before she could exit the vehicle. “Get me the headgear from the other suit.”

  “Why?”

  “So I’ll be able to hear you.”

  She swallowed and nodded. “Thanks.”

  She climbed from the Jeep and pulled the suits from the back. She handed Daniel the headgear and he slipped it over his head. Once she was ready, she walked toward the remains. Her blood rushed a little faster, her heart pounded a bit harder. She ignored the adrenaline surge and continued to put one foot in front of the other. Normally she’d never leave a client alone, and frankly, she didn’t like doing it now, but he’d insisted and she wasn’t his keeper. A bodyguard, yes. She could recommend the best thing for him to do—such as stay home—but if he ignored her, then there wasn’t much she could do about it. The fact that he was trained to defend himself helped her feel a bit better, but not much. She drew in a deep breath. The memories crowded her mind, each one fighting for the dominant position. She let them come.

  Paul.

  How she missed him. By shoving away all thoughts of him, including the gut-wrenching pain of losing him, she’d locked away the good memories too. She wanted to remember him. And she didn’t want to. She was such a mess.

  But for now, she breathed deep and let him slide into the forefront of her mind. They’d shared a passion for law enforcement. He’d been so proud of her in spite of his reticence. When her pulse slowed, she moved closer. She made it to the front door and then into what had been the lobby area. Sweat broke out on her forehead.

  “Help meeeee!”

  “It’s not real,” she whispered. “It’s not real.”

  “That’s right,” Daniel said in her ear. “It’s not real.”

  Her pulse slowed.

  Another step. And another. A shiver swept through her, but she hadn’t thrown up yet. Progress? Maybe.

  She walked into the front entrance. Dark and dank. She held her breath, then let it out slowly. Paul’s image came to life in her mind’s eye as she just stood there, letting the smells, sounds, the feel of the place wash over her.

  And she remembered Paul. The way he looked that last day, confident and strong, his adrenaline buzzing. She thought about how he loved solving the mysteries of the fires. They presented him with a challenge that he couldn’t resist. And he’d been good. He’d taught her, helped train her, and she’d been good too. Until she’d been unable to go back into an arson scene after his death.

  A shadow to her left jerked her from her thoughts. She spun but saw nothing. “Daniel?”

  “Wha
t?”

  “Are you inside?”

  “No. Why?”

  This time the rush of adrenaline had nothing to do with the arson scene. And everything to do with going into protection mode. “Daniel? I’m taking the headgear off for a second.” She pulled it off, then stripped off the suit. She slid her weapon from the holster and gripped it tight. Listened. Still nothing. Had she imagined the movement? “Who’s there?”

  No answer.

  She stepped toward the shadow, her focus now on finding out if someone was in the building. What was left of it anyway. A scrape, a scuffle. A grunt. Just ahead.

  Moving as quickly as she could, she did her best not to step on anything that might give way beneath her weight. Katie pulled her phone out of the clip on her belt and dialed Daniel’s number with one hand while keeping her eyes on the area the noise had come from. The weight of her weapon against her palm offered comfort. She heard the footsteps clearly now and hurried to catch up. Three steps forward and blinding pain shot up from her ankle. She lost her balance and her knees hit the floor. Pain raced up from her previously injured knee and she couldn’t stop the gasp that escaped. Clamping her lips together, she stayed still in case the person decided to turn around and come investigate.

  “Katie? Are you there? What’s going on? Why did you take your headgear off?”

  Belatedly she realized she’d dialed Daniel’s number but had never spoken to him. She lifted the phone to her ear. “Shh . . . someone’s in here,” she whispered.

  “I’m on the way.”

  “No, go around back. See if he heads out the door.” She pulled herself to her feet, using the column to keep her balance. The large column wobbled and charred debris rained down. She pulled her hand away and hurried—limped—after the fleeing figure. The footsteps stopped. Katie drew to a halt as well. She wanted to find out where Daniel was but didn’t dare speak a word. She lightly tapped the phone with her nail. An answering tap came back to her. He was there. Waiting. Staying silent.

  She hovered behind another column, hoping it would offer some form of protection in case the person decided to start flinging bullets.

  More footsteps.

  “I’m coming out the back, don’t shoot me,” she murmured.

  “I’m actually inside. Didn’t see anyone come out.”