by R A Wallace
He heard the back door open and Ethan’s soft voice as he wiped Cooper’s paws on the mat. A moment later, the border collie came trotting into the kitchen. He headed straight for his bowls without giving Casey a second glance. That, too, was a good sign. As far as Cooper was concerned, Casey belonged here. On that, they agreed.
Ethan smiled a greeting when he entered a moment later. “Chores are done.”
“So is your cake,” Marcy said as she carried the plate of bacon to the table.
Casey looked over at the loaf of bread near the toaster. He figured he could make himself useful and went over to tackle the task. He put two slices into the toaster and pushed the lever down. The bread popped back up immediately. He tried again. Same thing. He looked over at Ethan.
“There’s a trick to it. You have to hold the lever down for a second before releasing.” Ethan reached for a slice of bacon.
Casey tried again. This time it worked.
“Just make sure you watch it. When you think the toast is done, you have to pull the plug out so it pops up.” Ethan took the platter of fried eggs from Marcy and slid several onto his plate.
Casey raised his eyebrows at Marcy.
She shrugged. “I keep meaning to get another one, but…”
Casey mentally added it to his list of things to do. “What’s on the menu for the party today? Please tell me it doesn’t involve a lot of toast.”
Ethan laughed. “It’s my birthday. Everyone has to eat my favorite foods.”
Marcy watched the two of them joking with each other as Casey dropped two perfectly toasted slices onto Ethan’s plate and realized that she hadn’t seen Ethan this happy since… she couldn’t remember when. Maybe never. It occurred to her that instead of focusing on her feelings and her fear of commitment, she should be worried about what was best for her son. She had always known that was Casey.
“Grandpa and Caro should be here later in the afternoon,” she told Ethan. It would be a small group, just the five of them. Ethan had argued that he was too old for birthday parties now that he was fifteen. Her boy was growing up. He’d be driving soon enough.
“Have they heard anything about the break-in?” Ethan hadn’t heard anything, but he figured his mom might be trying to keep it from him.
“No, but they might be waiting until they get here to tell us about it.” Marcy still couldn’t believe the two incidents were random but, for the life of her, she couldn’t figure out why anyone would want to steal something from both places. They had to be pretty desperate to think there was anything of value at the farm.
“I hope Caro isn’t scared about it.” Ethan pushed his empty plate away.
Marcy smiled at him but didn’t answer. As far as she was concerned, she was scared enough for all of them.
***
Caro watched the scenery go by as Tom drove, her mind on something that couldn’t be seen.
Tom glanced over at her for about the millionth time. “You okay?”
Caro’s thoughts were interrupted. “Sure. I was just trying to remember my fifteenth birthday.”
He hadn’t expected that. Ever since the break-in, he kept expecting Caro to burst into tears. That hadn’t happened. Instead, she’d cleaned up the mess and continued on as though nothing had happened.
“Fifteen? I can’t even remember back that far.”
Caro laughed. “It would have been, what? The seventies?”
“Nineteen seventy. I remember it well. The good parts, anyway. I caught my largest fish ever that summer. Not sure I want to remember the rest.”
“Now that you mention it, there were a lot of bad things in the news back then.”
“Always are,” Tom agreed as he pulled into the drive at the farm.
“I think I’m getting to the age where I’d prefer to hear just the fish story, not the rest of it.”
Tom didn’t disagree. He held Caro’s arm until they made it safely into the house. Caro immediately went to the kitchen to offer her help to Marcy. Tom excused himself with the explanation that he needed to get some things from his bedroom. He wasn’t surprised when Casey joined him a moment later.
“Any news?” Casey leaned against the door frame.
Tom pulled some clothes from a drawer. “No. I’ll get these things out of your way to give you more room.”
“I figured you’d need help with the closet,” Casey offered.
“Saw that, did you? I’m going to need a better hiding place. Course, the next present will probably be my truck. It wouldn’t fit in there anyway.” Tom nodded to the closet.
“Want me to get it out?”
“Yeah, hand it out. We’ll need to put it together when we figure out where he wants it.” Tom took the first section and set it aside.
“Where did you get this?”
“An estate auction. Caro and I went last weekend. It was a good find. He’s been talking about the eclipses a lot lately.”
“He’s going to love this.” Casey stepped from the closet holding the largest section.
“Why don’t you just take it down now. No need to keep hiding it. I’ll follow with these smaller pieces.”
Ethan watched Casey enter the living room with interest. Cooper got up and came over to inspect. Casey turned when Tom arrived.
“Some help here,” Casey said to Ethan.
Within minutes, they had the telescope together.
Ethan stepped back. “That is awesome. Thanks, Grandpa.”
“I wasn’t sure where you might want it for now.”
Ethan looked over at his grandfather. “What do you think about the extra room upstairs.” He knew it used to be his grandmother’s sewing room because it had a lot of light. It was a very small room and they didn’t really use it anymore.
“It has that balcony,” Casey pointed out. “He could bring it out through the French doors up there if he wanted to.”
Tom didn’t hesitate. He remembered the many hours his wife had spent in the room. It was time that someone used it again.
“That’s a great idea. I should have thought of that. Casey wouldn’t have had to carry it twice, we could have just set it up in there.” Tom laughed then turned to Caro when she entered the room.
“We need a hand in the kitchen,” Caro said.
Tom waved at the others. “You two handle the telescope. I’ll help the women.”
Casey and Ethan dismantled the telescope and moved it upstairs into the old sewing room.
“Want to see how it works?” Casey asked. “We could pull the curtains back on the doors to the balcony and look through it.”
Ethan definitely wanted to do that. They made the necessary adjustments and Ethan eagerly leaned forward to take his first look through the telescope. He saw absolutely nothing. Confused, he pulled back and looked at Casey.
“Did we forget to do something?”
Casey leaned forward and looked into the telescope. He was just as confused. They tried changing some of the settings but nothing worked. No matter what they did, they still couldn’t see anything.
“Don’t tell Grandpa. I’ll look up some stuff on the Internet and see if I can figure out what we’re doing wrong.”
Casey nodded his agreement. Tom was so excited about the present he and Caro had bought for Ethan. Best not to say anything until they knew what was wrong. Maybe whatever the issue was, it could be fixed and Tom would never have to know.
Chapter Twelve
On Monday, Megan placed half of the hummingbird cake carefully into a container and snapped the lid down on it to keep it moist. After grabbing the other things she needed to go into town, she carried everything to her truck and climbed in. When she reached her first stop, she left the cake in the truck but carried a bag with her to the front door.
“Megan, we wondered if you would stop by today.” Bev waited until Megan hung her coat and led her back to Lauren’s work kitchen. Lauren was working on wedding cookies. Megan knew that she often baked some in advance of an event a
nd froze them.
“Hey, what brings you by?” Lauren picked up a roller and began rolling a mound of dough.
“I made another blanket for Grace,” Megan held up a bag then set it on a counter.
“What’s this we’re hearing about Caro?” Lauren glanced up at her cousin.
“I guess she’s okay now. I haven’t heard anything else but I also haven’t heard that they’ve caught anyone.”
“That had to be frightening,” Bev said as she brought her hand up to her neck.
Megan had no idea how she would have dealt with it before she’d married Dan. She’d lived alone for years and it was something she had often thought of.
“What I don’t understand is what they were looking for,” Megan said.
“What do you mean?” Lauren began slicing the dough.
“They tossed the whole house but didn’t take anything,” she pointed out.
Lauren paused in her work. “Yeah, that is odd. Maybe they just got interrupted though?”
Megan had wondered the same thing at first. “That doesn’t explain Ethan, though.” She accepted the mug of decaf tea that Bev handed her.
“What about Ethan?” Bev asked.
Megan explained about the situation with him. Both women looked horrified.
“And the police have no clues at all?” Bev asked.
Megan cradled her mug in front of her. “Not that I know of, but maybe I just haven’t heard.”
“You should get an alarm system for your house, Megan.” Lauren began spreading the filling on each slice of dough.
“Sounds like a good idea.” Now that there would be a baby to protect, Megan was all in. “I’ll ask Dan about it. On a happier note, he’s planning on putting an addition on in the spring.”
“I wondered what you were going to do,” Bev said.
“I was afraid to ask,” Lauren confessed. “I figured you might have to give up your bed and breakfast.”
“I was worried about the same thing. Turns out, I should have just said something. Dan already had it all figured out.”
Bev set her tea mug down when she heard Grace through the baby monitor. “Be right back.”
“How are things going with your pregnancy so far?” Lauren asked when Bev left the room.
Megan shrugged. “I have good days and bad days but, so far, everything seems to be normal. Except.”
“Except what?”
“I don’t know. I was really upset about what to do with the bed and breakfast and worried that I’d have to give it up.”
Lauren grinned at her cousin. “Hormones. You haven’t seen anything yet. Wait till you start crying for no apparent reason.”
“Maybe I’ll get to skip that.”
Lauren laughed as she began rolling the filled dough into crescents. Bev appeared carrying Grace a moment later. Megan set her mug down and stretched out her arms to take the baby. She felt Grace’s warm body as she snuggled her close. As she tilted her head down to kiss Grace’s tiny forehead, she felt her throat tighten with emotion. She was so not going to enjoy being this emotional.
***
Erica tossed the report onto her desk in frustration and stood staring at the murder board. So far, they had nothing. Not one thing. Pressing her palms into her eyes, she counted to ten before taking a deep breath and dropping her hands to her sides.
“Okay, one more time. As far as we know, the last people to see Jimmy alive at the estate were Henry Henderson and his sister, Portia Henderson Ingram.” Aside from the killer, of course. Erica walked closer to the murder board. “They left the house around eight in the evening.”
“Based on what Jimmy’s son, Richard told us, we’re guessing that Jimmy probably fell asleep after that. He would have been exhausted.” Jerry stood next to Erica.
“Most likely, on the recliner. He might have wanted to put his feet up after a long day.”
Jerry nodded. “But he didn’t want to go to bed that early.”
“So, he sleeps for a couple hours or so.”
“Something wakes him up,” Jerry pointed at the time on the board. “Some time after eleven, he opens the front door of the house and steps out.”
“Why?” It was a question they had asked themselves many times.
Jerry ran through some of the possible options. “He heard a noise. He didn’t hear a noise he just wanted to check outside before he went to bed for real. He wanted to see the eclipse.”
“Yeah, but Richard said it was unlikely that Jimmy would have known about the eclipse. He said it wasn’t something Jimmy paid any attention to.”
Jerry considered it. “Someone at the sale may have said something about it.”
That worked for Erica. “Yeah, that’s true.”
“I just wish the auctioneer company would have kept a list of the people that showed up for the sale.” Jerry went over to his desk to pick up another report.
“At least we have a list of the people who bought something with a card or a check.” It wasn’t enough, but at least it was something.
“Yeah, but not the ones who paid with cash or didn’t buy anything at all.” Jerry looked down at the list in his hand.
“And, no one on that list claims to know anything about Jimmy or his death.” Erica sighed in frustration again.
“Forensics won’t help. There were so many people in the house that day, we’ll both be retired before they get anything useful from it.”
Erica thought of the man who had retired from the department and lost his life. She was still trying to deal with what she had learned about her former partner. But, for right now, she needed to find his killer. No matter what kind of man he had been during his life, he still deserved that in his death.
“Have you heard how Rhys and Ian are doing with the break-ins?” Erica asked.
“About as well as we’re doing with our case, from what I can tell.”
Erica turned away from the murder board. “Which means they have nothing either.”
“They aren’t even certain if the two attempts are tied together,” Jerry said. “Or if there is someone out there just randomly hitting all the homes in Teaberry and those just happened to be the first two they started with.”
“It would be too much of a coincidence if they weren’t connected.” Erica pulled her coat off the back of her chair. “Okay. We’ll let them worry about their cases. We need to get on ours. Let’s try talking with the people on the list of buyers again.”
***
Caitlyn carried the container of hummingbird cake into her house at the end of her day. She had been surprised when she found Doug’s car already in the drive. She hung her coat in the closet by the front door then dropped the container off in the kitchen. She found Doug in the living room.
“Hey.” Caitlyn reached up for a kiss. “I thought you’d still be at the restaurant for a while.”
“Yeah, I had planned to be.”
“But?” Caitlyn wasn’t sure why he looked so pensive.
“Everyone that came in today has been talking about the break-ins.”
Caitlyn felt warm all over. “Were you worried about me?”
“Maybe we should have an alarm system installed in your house?” Doug held her at arm’s length and waited for her response. He’d been practicing rebuttals all day to argue his case.
“Okay.”
“I just think it would be the wisest… wait. What?”
Caitlyn smiled. He looked so adorable when he was confused like that. “I said, okay.”
Doug nodded once, slowly. “Okay. That’s what we’ll do then. I’ll call one of the guys from the fire station. He does security. We used him to put the security in at the restaurant.”
“Sounds good. Since you’re here early, are you interested in dinner?”
Doug was so relieved that she’d agreed to his plan, he would have agreed to anything in return. “Sure.”
“Great. Megan stopped to see me today and gave me half of a hummingbird cake. We can h
ave it for desert.”
“I’ve never heard of that, but it sounds great.” Doug followed her to the kitchen.
“She makes me one at least once a year. She says I always remind her of a hummingbird.”
Doug smiled at the imagery.
“She also suggested that I get a security system in my house.” Caitlyn grinned at him before opening the fridge.
He’d have to remember to thank Megan the next time he saw her.
Chapter Thirteen
Ethan called to Cooper using the words they had been practicing with. Cooper executed the maneuver perfectly then crouched down and waited for the next command.
“You two are really getting good at this.” Casey leaned against the fence on the other side and watched as boy and dog worked together.
Ethan called Cooper to him and praised him. Casey opened the gate so the two could pass through and join him on the other side of the fence. Ethan pulled a tennis ball from his pocket and held it up. Cooper went on alert, his muscles bunching as he anticipated the throw that came next. Casey watched the dog fly across the barnyard and catch the ball before it hit the ground.
“He’s fast, that one.” Casey reached up and patted Ethan on the back. “How was school today?”
“Not bad. It’s been a lot better since you and Rhys were there.” He took the ball from Cooper and held it high as the dog waited in anticipation.
That was a relief. Casey hoped it lasted. “Good to hear.”
“You all done working for the day?” Ethan knew that Casey sometimes had call outs in the evenings.
“Yeah. Speaking of which, your mom isn’t home yet. Should we get started on dinner?” Casey watched as Ethan lobbed the ball for Cooper.
“You can cook?” Ethan sounded dubious.
“What, you can’t?”
Ethan shrugged. “I know how to make toast.” He shot Casey a look.
Casey caught it. “Funny. It’s not my fault that toaster had a mind of its own.” The thing had gone up in a plume of smoke when he’d tried making toast for them this morning. “I picked up another one to replace it.”