by K. C. Crowne
“The collateral is gone. The building where you housed the rescue was already destroyed, and now the house too. As per our agreement, if something were to happen to the collateral before the loan is paid off, I am fully within my rights to foreclose on the property, and I’ve already started the process.”
“What? No!” Danielle started toward the desk. I went with her.
“I would have reached out to you, but your friend here made it very clear that I was not to come near you, so I’m handling this through the legal channels. You should be getting the notice in the mail any day now.”
My blood pressure had already been through the roof, but that put me over the edge. I walked to the desk, closing the distance, and slammed my fists down on it.
“You can’t do this. It’s not legal.”
“Watch me,” Jim said, his lips pulling back in a smirk that I wanted to slap right off his smug face. “Unless you want to lose everything in a court battle that I will surely win, I would sign over the papers and move on with your life. Good news is, you can keep the insurance check to settle elsewhere, Ms. Baker.”
“You’re not going to get away with this.”
“Oh no? Do you think you and your brothers are any match for the people who work for me? Because I wouldn’t poke the bear if I were you.”
“You son of a—” I was on my way around the desk, hands clenched into fists when Danelle placed a hand on my arm. She centered me, pulled me back to reality.
“Mason, don’t.”
I stopped.
“This isn’t legal. No court of law will allow him to take the property,” she said, somehow remaining calm. “The last thing we need is for you to go to jail for assault. You know everything that’s at stake.”
I thought about punching Greg and how I was so worried it could impact Danielle’s custody of Skyler. If I was deemed violent, she could have to choose between me and her daughter.
I backed away and Danielle took my hand again.
“Let’s go,” I growled as we exited the office.
We had reached the end of the hallway, almost to the entrance, when the little boy from before ran by. He stopped at the stairs leading to the second floor and looked at us from behind a mask.
My blood ran cold, and I froze.
Danielle glanced at the kid, then looked at me. “What?”
“That mask…” I whispered.
Frank appeared and said, “Matthew, go to bed, now.” He ushered the boy up the stairs but stood where he could see us. “I believe you can see yourselves out,” he said coldly.
“Yes, we can,” Danielle said, tugging my arm for us to keep moving.
I looked back at the stairs, hoping to see Matthew again, but he had disappeared.
Once Danielle and I got outside, we hurried to the truck.
“What about that mask?” she asked me as soon as we were safely inside.
“It’s the same one the arsonist wore at your place.”
“Are you sure? I’m sure there are other masks like it.”
“I’ve never seen one like it before, but sure. Maybe. It was just like that though,” I said.
Danielle and I looked at each other, and she asked, “Do you think…” She didn’t even have to finish her question.
“Yes, I’m thinking Jim was responsible for the fire,” I said.
Ooo000ooo
Danielle fell asleep pretty quickly after we got home. It had been a long day, and she was feeling all kinds of emotions. I stayed with her until her breathing was even and calm. I checked on Skyler, who was also curled up in her bed, content and safe, before heading downstairs where my brothers were waiting.
“Sam’s going to stay here,” Graham said. “To keep an eye on Danielle and Skyler.”
I nodded. “I can do this alone, guys.”
“No, you can’t,” Eli said, putting a hand on my shoulder. “We’re going with you. This isn’t a one-person job by any stretch of the imagination.”
“I just hate dragging you guys into this mess,” I said.
“You were there when we had to save Emmy,” Graham reminded me.
“And when Penelope was working at the clinic, you always watched out for her,” Sam added.
“And I’m sure one day, you’ll help save someone I love too, at this rate,” Eli laughed, and the rest of us joined in. It relieved the tension greatly. “Even if you don’t, we’re brothers, and we’ll always have each other’s back. I’m sure Jack would join us too, if we gave him a call.”
“No, don’t do that. He cleaned up his life; we don’t need him getting caught trespassing.”
“But I know he appreciates all that you’ve done to help him too,” Graham said. “We all do. We’ve pulled you into our shit, so now it’s our turn to help you.”
I nodded apprehensively. “Thanks, guys.”
“Ready to head out?” Graham asked.
“Yeah, let’s do this.”
Eli and Graham went over the plan as I drove. We knew the place likely had security cameras everywhere, but Eli would handle it. He was our tech guru and thought he could hack into the camera’s system and turn them off, briefly, while we explored the property, looking for anything that might act as proof of Jim’s involvement. We’d already scoped out the land via property records and maps and discovered there was a shed not too far behind the house that belonged to Jim.
We parked several blocks away from Jim’s property, out on a busy street with a lot of vehicles parked along it. It was late, around one in the morning, but the moonlight bounced off snow around us and lit up the street and surrounding areas, making it easier to see where we were going.
The wind whipped against my face, cold and brutal, like a warning, telling me I should go back inside where it was safer. I pulled my coat tighter around me and stuffed my hands in my pockets. Nothing was going to stop me.
We trudged through the snow in silence until we found ourselves outside of the massive, gaudy McMansion.
“Alright, let me turn off these cameras and double check for alarms on the fence,” Eli said, pulling out a tablet and getting to work.
I waited in the cold. It felt like an eternity as Eli tapped the screen. Finally, he said, “Done. For a guy this rich, his security system is pretty shitty.”
I was already several feet away before my brothers joined me walking toward the back gate. We needed to find something, anything, that would prove Jim was responsible for the fire.
The fence was six feet tall, but rather than work at the locks, I climbed over the top. Being tall often came in handy for moments like this. My brothers easily scaled the fence as well.
I landed on my feet in the soft snow and was thankful for the bright moonlight. The shed was a few yards away, tucked behind some trees. The windows from Jim’s office peered out over the backyard and the trees, and even though it was late, I double checked that the lights were off.
We made it to the shed and found it unlocked. I stepped into the shed, eager to find anything. We didn’t find a light, so we used the flashlights on our phones to light the way. The shed was filled with random stuff sheds are usually filled with. Some rakes. Other gardening tools. Nothing of interest at first.
“Dammit,” I muttered to myself.
“What’s this?” Eli asked, opening a cabinet tucked away in the back. “Oh shit.”
“What’s what?” I asked.
“Looks like we have some accelerant,” Eli said.
“That’s not enough evidence,” Graham said, speaking my mind.
“I know, but it’s a start,” he argued.
“He could just say it’s for burning leaves, especially since it’s with his gardening tools. A lot of people burn their leaves.”
“But do they have this much of the stuff?”
Eli shined the light on the cabinet, which was full of accelerant, more than most people would need in a lifetime. Graham and I stared in silence for a few seconds.
“Sadly, I don’t think t
his is enough proof,” Graham said eventually.
“Yeah, you’re right,” Eli muttered, shaking his head. “Though I don’t know what else we can find that would help our case.”
“Not much, I’m sure, but at least we know we’re looking in the right direction.”
Bullshit. I was tired of sitting around and waiting. We needed more proof than this, and we weren’t going to find it here. I walked out of the shed with Graham on my heels.
“Where are you going?” he asked.
“I’m going to get into his office and find something substantial,” I said, my voice low.
“You can’t just break into his house.”
“Watch me.”
Eli was also beside us, but he kept quiet.
“What if he’s got alarms? You know a rich guy like him has alarms all over his house.”
I looked at Eli, lifting a brow, and he admitted with a shrug, “I could probably disarm them.”
“No, we can’t do this. We can’t break into this man’s house.”
I was already headed for the house, leaving Graham behind. I was tired of sitting back and letting these rich assholes win. I was tired of Danielle’s life being in limbo, and her living in fear. Jim King had burned down her house to try and take it from her, because he was a greedy asshole or maybe because he was in cahoots with Greg. I wasn’t sure, but nothing about the situation sat right with me.
Eli was by my side, and I turned to him when we reached the window leading to King’s office. “Think you can do it?”
“It’s already done.”
“Thanks, man,” I said, patting him on the shoulder.
All that I had to do now was to get through the window. I was just about to break the glass with my fist when Graham grabbed my arm and held it back. I glared at my older brother.
“Stay out of this.”
“If you’re going to do this, at least be smart about it, Mason,” he said. “You can’t leave broken windows and evidence lying around.”
“But then how—”
“The back door has a touch pad with a code instead of a key,” Eli said, fiddling with the lock attached to his tablet. “One second and I think…yes, there we go. It should open right up for you now.”
“You’re good, Eli. Not sure how I never recognized that before, but you’re scarily good at this stuff.”
Eli gave me a cockeyed grin before I headed for the back door. I didn’t even realize that Eli was following me until he pulled open the door, careful to use his sleeve to leave no fingerprints. Graham stayed back. I couldn’t blame him. I didn’t want to get him involved with breaking and entering, not when he had a wife and a baby to worry about.
The back door led into a giant kitchen, and we were careful not to make any noise as we walked through it and into a dining area. We found a hall that led to the main entryway, and from there, the hall to the office.
The entire house was silent. Had we tripped any secret alarms, I knew from experience they were likely silent. We’d only find out when the cops came knocking on the door. But I trusted Eli. If he said the alarms were disabled, I believed him.
We reached the office, and I expected the door to be locked. But as I turned the knob, it twisted easily. Amateur, I thought to myself. It was clear to me that even though Jim talked big about having dangerous people at his back, he didn’t have the first clue about running a criminal enterprise. He was simply a man who thought he knew what he was doing, and who had screwed over the wrong person this time.
Entering the office, my heart was racing as I headed to his computer. I moved the mouse and the screen lit up, prompting me to enter a password.
Shit. What would a man like King use as a password?
“Needs a password.”
Eli had programs to guess passwords. “Scoot over,” he whispered, getting in front of the computer. “See if you can find anything on his desk. Guys like him aren’t too tech savvy usually.”
Some files sat on one side. A picture of him with his son, no sign of the mother. A cell phone. A pile of post-its caught my eye, and I picked it up off the desk. A series of random letters and numbers were written on the top.
“Try this,” I said, handing him the post-it.
Eli typed it into the password box, and just like that, the computer came to life. I was right - he really was a fucking amateur, and he made this almost too easy. I took Eli’s place at the computer and pulled up Outlook.
King didn’t even sign out of his e-mail. He liked to act all big and professional and shit, but we’d worked with real pros before and he definitely wasn't one of them. I was grateful to him for making our job easier.
I scrolled through his e-mail and moved to his sent folder. That’s where I found the real gold. An e-mail from Greg. The door of the office opened, and for a second, my heart skipped a beat until I saw who it was.
“Shit, Graham,” I grumbled, listening to his quiet laugh.
“Find anything?” he whispered as he stepped closer.
“Yep, look at this.”
I pointed to a string of e-mails between Greg and Jim. Greg had asked about the debt with Danielle, and he told him that it was his hope that Jim would get the property because if Danielle were homeless, he could seek full custody. Jim wanted the property to develop it for commercial purposes. It would be a win-win for them if Danielle failed to make her payments. The two men talked about ways to get Greg custody of his daughter and to get Danielle out of the picture, though no mention of a fire or anything illegal.
We heard a sound above us. Someone was moving around upstairs. We all held our breath.
“We need to go,” Graham mouthed.
Though he was right, we had nothing really. Nothing except for a motive. No proof that either one did anything illegal to get Danielle out of the house.
My eyes fell on Jim’s cell phone on the desk.
“Let’s go, now,” Eli ordered.
I closed out of everything on the computer, and as my brothers headed for the door to make sure the coast was clear, I grabbed the cell phone off the desk and stuffed it into my pocket. I quickly wiped down everything to get rid of our fingerprints as Graham motioned for me to hurry up.
We slipped into the hall, quietly as possible except our hearts thundering in our chests. The sound of a toilet flushing above us caused us to freeze, then we heard more footsteps. Hopefully, whoever it was went back to bed.
Graham looked around the corner and the coast was clear. Eli pointed toward the front door, and in one quick movement, the three of us rushed toward it. Graham opened it quietly and we slipped out the front, closing it behind us. We made a beeline for the street and then to our truck. We didn’t stop running until we were locked tightly in the vehicle.
“Doors are locked, alarms back in place. Cameras operating as usual,” Eli announced.
“Can you see inside, by chance?”
“Hold on, one second… I might be able to hack into the cameras.”
Eli tapped away at the screen, and sure enough, he got in. He handed the tablet to me. Every room was dark and quiet. No movement whatsoever. Whoever had been moving around upstairs had likely gone back to bed, no wiser to the fact that we’d been inside the house. I let out a relieved breath as I started the truck.
“I’m sorry we didn’t find much,” Graham said quietly from the passenger’s seat. “But at least it’s a start. We know Greg and Jim are talking, and they both have the same goal in mind - to get Danielle off that property.”
The cell phone was burning a hole in my pocket. I knew I couldn’t keep it a secret for long. I’d need Eli’s tech expertise to hack into it.
“We may find something on this.” I handed the phone to Eli.
Graham stared at me. “What is that?”
“It’s King’s phone. I grabbed it off his desk when we left.”
“Shit, man. Don’t you think he’s gonna miss his damned phone?”
I shrugged. “He’ll have no proof anyon
e has been in the house. We’re good.”
Eli and Graham shared a look, but I kept my eyes on the road.
“Can you hack into it, Eli?”
“It’s a Samsung,” he mumbled, looking at it. “I believe I have everything we need at home.”
“Good, thank you,” I said. “Hopefully we find something on it before the bastard realizes it’s missing.”
As soon as we reached the rental, Eli went to work. He managed to hack into the phone easily, as it simply required a password - which was actually the last four digits of the password on Jim’s computer.
“He makes our job way too easy,” Eli said, almost sounding disappointed.
He returned the phone to me, and I went straight for the text messages. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end as I opened one from a number not saved into Jim’s phone.
It simply said, It’s done. The text included a photo of Danielle’s house up in flames.
Jim texted back, Was she there?
My blood ran cold as I wondered if she was supposed to be there.
The other person responded, I don’t know.
“Call Teddy,” I muttered. “I think we’ve got all the proof we need.”
Ooo000ooo
Teddy frowned as he looked over the messages. “And how did you get this?”
“We found it,” Graham answered, shooting me a look. He’d told me it would be difficult to explain this and that Teddy might not be able to do much with it since it was stolen.
Teddy shook his head, and my heart dropped. I feared the worst.
“I don’t know how I’m going to explain this in court. We need more,” he said. “But it’s a start. I’ll do what I can to find something we can use.”
“Thanks, Teddy,” I said.
Teddy sighed and slipped the phone into his pocket. Because the evidence was obtained illegally, regardless of the lie I’d told, the evidence wouldn’t hold up. But I also knew that Teddy was a man who believed in what he did - he wanted the guilty to pay, and while he would always follow the law himself, he wouldn’t overlook clear proof of arson just because the evidence came about in a questionable manner.
I trusted Teddy would find some way to spin this, to get more evidence now that he had the proof staring at him.