by C J Baty
“Damien!”
”What about Damien?” Robert asked with a frown.
“He’s not on the guest registry. He could have been missed,” Marcus stated.
“If he were out here, I think we’d have known about it.”
“Shit, even he couldn’t sleep through all this,” Robert said spreading his hands out at the scene around them.
“He might,” Justin spoke up.
He felt the eyes of Marcus, Peter, and Robert boring into him like he had lost his mind.
“He’s been so distraught recently. In the past when he had trouble sleeping, he would take something. He could have done that this time,” Justin explained.
“Well damn!” Robert shouted.
Justin watched as Robert turned and ran back toward the front entrance of the hotel. He and Marcus followed close behind. They watched as Robert pushed his way past firemen and policemen, not stopping when they shouted at him to get back and not to go any farther.
Justin and Marcus, though, were stopped by two police officers before they could follow Robert into the hotel. Chief Peterson ran across the yard to where they were standing.
“What the hell is that idiot doing?” he shouted at Justin over the drone of other voices and equipment.
“We had someone staying on the fourth floor in my old suite. He wasn’t on the register and no one’s seen him. Robert—”
A sudden crash from inside the building drew everyone’s attention. The roof over the restaurant collapsed and fell in on itself as the crowd gasped, almost in unison.
“Oh God!” Justin shouted.
The firemen who had been poised to go in after Robert backed up from the structure and looked to the fire chief for direction.
“Damn it,” Peterson muttered.
“Justin, the lobby is gone as well. I’m not even sure the stairs to the upper floors are still useable. I’m going to move a ladder truck around the south side to your old room. Hopefully, Robert has made it up there. If he has, we can get them down with the lift off the balcony.”
The Chief motioned to part of his crewmen and they started moving one of the large fire trucks. The ladder was partially extended on it already. It moved slowly and disappeared around the side of building. Justin, Marcus, and a crowd of onlookers followed the truck. They stayed back to wait for the truck to get into position. As soon as it stopped, one man climbed the ladder and straddled the bucket suspended from the end. The crew in the truck moved the bucket closer to the balcony of Justin’s previous suite.
Robert had been gone for twenty minutes. The crowd grew quiet, everyone holding their breath to see what would happen next. Just as the crewman in the bucket started to climb over the balcony ledge, Robert burst through the French doors sending shards of glass raining down. Damien hung limp over his shoulder. Smoke billowed out of the open window behind them.
The crowd cheered wildly. Justin let out a deep breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. Marcus wrapped his arms around Justin’s shoulders and held him tightly.
“He’s got him, Justin. They’re both going to be all right.”
Robert refused to let go of Damien as the bucket made its slow decent to the ground. Paramedics waited on the ground for them. Suddenly the voice of Damien could be heard shouting obscenities.
“What the hell is the meaning of this? Put me down you asshole. Let me go!”
Robert dropped Damien to his feet as the bucket hit the ground. As the paramedics descended on them, Robert jumped from the bucket to the ground landing on his feet. He spotted Justin and Marcus and walked over to them. Except for being covered in soot and sporting a large bruise on his right cheek, he looked fine, physically. The look on his face was something entirely different. Justin had never seen another human being look that scared. Petrified would have been a better word, and he looked shattered.
Robert stopped briefly in front of Justin. “I couldn’t let someone else die.”
And then he kept on walking, right around the hotel until he was out of sight. Tiny and another paramedic wanted to go after him, but Justin told them to let him be. He’d come back when he was ready.
“Do you know what he meant by that?” Marcus asked.
“I have no idea,” Justin answered as they went to see how Damien was doing.
“What the hell did he think he was doing? I mean really was that some—”
Justin cut Damien off with a glare. “Shut up! He just saved your life!”
“What are you . . .” Damien didn’t finish.
Damien began to look around him at the chaos surrounding the hotel. Justin realized he must have slept through the whole thing. Damien sucked in a breath and stumbled slightly as he took in the sights. For once, he didn’t have anything to say.
Justin walked slightly ahead of Marcus and Damien—who’d been checked over by the paramedics—as they made their way back to the front of the building. He was half listening to the conversation going on between the two men. Marcus was explaining what they knew so far, which wasn’t much. He felt numb. Everything was beginning to crash in on him. The knowledge that so many lives could have been lost was gut-wrenching for Justin.
When they reached the crowd at the front of the building, Justin overheard Damien ask Marcus something that stopped him in his tracks. Rage washed over him as he turned to face Damien.
“What did you say?”
Damien took a step back and looked toward Marcus.
Tension rolled off Justin in waves. He stood, rigid fists clenched, waiting for an answer.
“Well?”
“He’s only saying out loud what I had already been thinking, Justin.” Marcus reached out and tried to take one of Justin’s hands.
He pulled away from Marcus’s touch. “You think someone deliberately did this?”
Justin didn’t want to admit that the same thought had crossed his mind earlier. Why? Why would someone do that? Take the chance of killing innocent people for some sort of revenge on him? It made no sense.
“I can’t believe someone would do this on purpose. It has to be some kind of awful accident.” Suddenly, his strength gone, Justin leaned heavily against Marcus.
“Someone not in his right mind,” Damien offered.
“Someone inhuman,” Marcus uttered under his breath.
Justin shuddered at the words both men said. The sound of an all-too-familiar voice caused all three men to turn and stare.
“Hope your insurance is paid up to date on this place.” Moses Lee laughed as he spoke.
That’s when Justin lunged for him.
18
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“J USTIN, NO!” MARCUS yelled and grabbed Justin by both arms. Justin struggled for a moment then let himself be pulled back, but not before Moses bellowed in laughter.
“I’d never have thought you had it in you,” he said to Justin. Then to Marcus, he added, “That’s right, boy, keep him under control or he can cool off in the jailhouse for a while.”
Fire Chief Peterson approached the group and got in Moses’s face. Marcus could see that he wasn’t afraid of the police chief or his threats.
“Moses. Lay the fuck off him. He’s just lost his family’s business and he’s the kind of man who cares about the people who could have been injured or killed here tonight. What the hell do you want anyway?”
Moses scowled at the fire chief, but he never moved from where he had planted his feet.
“How long before you know what happened?” Moses growled.
Marcus watched the exchange between the two men who clearly hated each other. It was a power play between them. A thought occurred to Marcus, why was he just now seeing Chief Lee. They had already been there an hour, and he hadn’t seen the man once. It wasn’t like him to not be in the middle of whatever was going on. And the Warfield being destroyed was clearly a big thing for the town of Beaufort.
“We can’t get into the basement where we believe the explosion happened until the
rubble can be removed safely. I’m not sending my men down there until the area is stable. The fires have all been put out, so probably twenty-four to forty-eight hours and we can get to where we think everything started.”
Chief Peterson studied Moses carefully before he spoke again. Marcus had a feeling that he was suspicious of Lee for some reason.
“Why? What do you know that we don’t?”
Marcus waited for Moses to answer, and when he didn’t, it caused his own curiosity to spike.
“Something wrong, Chief Lee?” Marcus asked, keeping a hand on Justin’s elbow.
Justin’s body stiffened under his hand. “Moses, do you have reason to believe this was not an accident?”
For the very first time since he had first met Chief Moses Lee, Marcus saw a crack in the ice-cold exterior of Moses Lee. He was hiding something.
Something, he didn’t want anyone else to know, at least, not at this moment.
Moses Lee straightened his shoulders and cracked his neck, and the stern unfeeling man resurfaced.
“I’ll be the one asking the questions,” Moses snarled. “After the last six months, and everything that has happened around here, where the Warfield and its owners are concerned, I’m always suspicious.”
Marcus gripped Justin’s arm tighter. He knew Lee’s words touched a raw nerve for him. He could feel it in the way the other man’s body went taut.
Marcus touched Justin’s hand and rubbed his palm softly with the pad of his thumb. Justin sighed and tightened his grip.
“I can accept that someone would direct their anger at me . . . as an individual. But why take the chance of hurting, possibly killing, innocent bystanders. That just doesn’t make sense to me, Moses.” Justin seemed calmer, but his words came out filled with anguish.
“I’ve seen this so many times, Justin. To physically harm you or even kill you is too easy. The victim doesn’t suffer enough that way.” Damien’s face hardened as he spoke directly. He turned is entire attention on Moses, then said, “It’s far better, more satisfying to a warped mind to slowly destroy the things you love and watch you crumble.”
The stare down between Damien and Moses was fascinating to Marcus. He wondered who would be the first to break. He should have known what the eventual outcome would be. A sneer slowly spread across Moses Lee’s face before he spoke.
“I would think you of all people would understand how a warped twisted mind works. Having had personal experience with a man like that, I mean.”
Damien paled and stepped back.
Moses didn’t wait for an answer. He just turned his back to them all and spoke directly to Chief Peterson.
“Let me know what you find when your crew gets in there.” Moses strutted away.
Marcus stood with the others and continued to watch the fire crews coming and going inside the building for another half an hour. The sun had risen over the ocean, leaving the sky a blaze of yellow, red, and orange. Everyone was exhausted, but no one seemed ready to leave. Peter joined the others on their watch, having finally been released from Tiny’s care. Marcus let go of Justin so the two brothers could stand arm in arm and watch as their lives were forever changed.
Peter told us the last of the guests had been transported down the beach to the Marriott. We had seen one busload pulling out when we first arrived.
Robert had organized everything. The manager there had enough openings to get everyone a room. Of course, the Warfield would pick up the tab and replace the clothing and personal items that the guests had to leave behind.
Thankfully there had been no serious injuries, and everyone was fine when they left on the shuttle buses for the hotel. He had also sent the staff home so they could rest up.
“Chief Peterson!” A young firefighter ran from the front doors of the Warfield shouting for the fire chief.
Marcus saw Ralph Peterson walk away from another group of firemen and meet the shouting man in the front parking lot. Justin and Peter moved closer to hear their conversation so Marcus and Damien followed as well.
“What is it, Mitch?”
“We followed your hunch and went in through the basement door. The dust had settled and there were no hot spots as we moved down. The door was blocked with debris but once we cleared that we could see the stairs were gone. We decided the best way would be to lower Collins and Smyth down by ropes. There’s still a lot of debris from where the floor of the dining room collapsed into the basement. Lots of broken tables and chairs. But that’s not the important part. They found a . . .” he hesitated, looked at the crowd that had gathered. Then he said, “A body. There’s a body under several cross beams and the collapsed flooring.”
“Shit!” Ralph Peterson muttered. “I’d better call the coroner.”
“Chief, there’s something else,” Mitch lifted his left hand and showed the group a red leather journal covered in dirt. “He was clutching this in his hand. That’s how Collins spotted the body. The red cover stood out in the dirt and rubble.”
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MARCUS WAITED with Justin as the crew worked to bring the body up. The coroner arrived with an ambulance. Moses Lee also returned and confiscated Bradley Warfield’s journal from Chief Peterson when he showed it to him. He was stationed by his cruiser and flipping through the journal while he too waited on the body to be brought up.
Robert had also reappeared, looking calmer and more in control. He went with Peter to the Marriott to check on the guests that had been relocated there. Damien had cornered a couple of the firefighters demanding to know when he or someone else could get into his room. He needed his laptop. He was explaining that all his work was on that computer and he had to have it back.
The one thing Marcus couldn’t shake was the feeling that Moses Lee knew a lot more than he was sharing with the rest of them. Everyone’s attention shifted to a group of men in fire gear carrying a gurney toward the ambulance. Chief Lee made a dramatic gesture of stopping the men and removing the sheet covering the body.
“Well, well. Looks like my suspicions were correct after all,” Moses said proudly.
Justin stepped around Moses to look at the body for himself. He staggered just a little before Marcus could reach him. When he turned his face to Marcus, confusion and shock clouded his eyes.
“Why?” Justin asked Marcus. “I don’t understand why he would do this.”
Justin crumbled into Marcus’s arm and released a deep sob. He didn’t make another sound, but Marcus felt every silent tear the man cried. There really was no way to console the kind of grief Justin was feeling. Marcus wanted to, but he knew Justin needed time to come to grip with everything that had taken place.
“I knew there was something funny about Joe Thompson. Things just didn’t add up with him and the kid,” Moses stated for everyone to hear.
Chief Peterson patted Justin’s back to get his attention. Justin dried his face and turned to see what the fire chief had to say.
“I’m going back down with the crew. We should have some answers in about twenty-four hours. I’ll call when I can give you more facts. I suggest calling your insurance agent as quickly as possible. They’ll want to get an adjuster out here as soon as they can, and they may possibly want to send an investigator of their own.”
He shook Justin’s hand and then Marcus’s. The smile he gave was meant to be reassuring, but Marcus could see the situation had been a strain on this man too. Ralph’s body stiffened, a look of pure hate on his face as he turned to face Moses. The words he spoke were gritty and raw.
“Whatever happened down there, I will get to the truth.” Then, he turned on his heel and walked away.
“I’m sure you will, Ralph. I’m sure you will,” Moses shouted almost gleefully at the fire chief’s retreating form.
Moses held up Bradley’s Warfield’s journal, opened it, and shoved the open book toward Justin and Marcus.
“To answer your question of why, the answer is right here in this diary of your daddy’
s.” Moses couldn’t contain the grimace in his voice as he spoke.
“Alexander Thompson is actually the bastard son of Richard Brooks and my sister, Daisy. Your father arranged for the adoption with Joe and his wife.
Brought them to Beaufort and gave the man a job. Seems to me that would be enough of a reason for a man to lose sight of reality. Joe Thompson thought you were going to take his son away from him, so he set out to destroy you.”
“You can’t possibly know that, Chief Lee, from reading something in Bradley Warfield’s journal,” Marcus argued.
“Can’t know what, Mr. Drummond? That Bradley Warfield was a bastard who lived to control other people’s lives? Or that someone like Joe Thompson, who had nothing left but a kid that wasn’t really his, could or would do anything to keep him? Well, considering both of those men are dead now, you are probably right. We can’t exactly ask them. But I believe in evidence, and I think the evidence is pointing a finger at Joe Thompson and saying he did it.”
Justin had remained silent during the confrontation between Marcus and Moses. Marcus knew he was too quiet. Moses seemed to be waiting for some kind of huge reaction out of Justin but it wasn’t coming. Marcus watched as the color drained from Justin’s face, and he turned and walked away. He hadn’t said a word. The cold hollow sound of silence screamed at Marcus above the ongoing commotion around what used to be the Warfield Hotel.
19
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JUSTIN COULDN’T SIT down. If he did, he’d pass out and who knew how long it would be before he woke up. It had been forty-eight hours since his world came crashing down around him. Two days of phone calls and meetings and questions and decisions he didn’t want to make.
Some things worked out better than others. Daisy Lee had ended up moving in with Richard Brooks. Marcus had met with them the morning following the explosion to explain about Joe and Alexander. The kid was still missing.
This news seemed to snap Daisy out of the grief she had fallen into with the death of her mother. She and Richard were making lists of places Alexander could be hiding in the area and were going to start looking for him themselves.