A Love for all Ages (Crockett County Trilogy Book 1) (32 page)

Stephanie had wanted Marty to be here but she had to work
at the hospital and Johnny was also on duty tonight.
However all
in all the night was filled with laughter and joy.
His Father had
explained the renovations they wanted to do for the baby.
Telling
Stephanie they were going to do two rooms one for the nursery and
the other for a toy room.
Laughing Stephanie had listened to the
excitement around her.

However several times Chase had seen Stephanie with
sadness in her eyes; he knew she was missing her family.
Understanding Stephanie’s sadness was due to their child would
never know her relatives; as Stephanie is the last known
descendant.
Chase had stayed close to her side, bringing her into
the conversations and hopefully easing her pain.
He was aware
this would be an ongoing dilemma for her.
One he would have to
help her deal with at times.
With his help she will grow to
understand his family is also her extended family.
Both his parents
love her and will spoil their child and God willing their children.

After they had eaten their dinner Stephanie and Carrie had
gone to the living room to look at ideals on the internet.
It was
then his Father had brought up the investigation.
As they sat
around the kitchen table Chase and Andy filled CJ in on the latest
evidence and the theory Johnny had.
CJ had sat quietly then had
offered to go speak with Mr. Wilson’s older sister at the nursing
home.
She is in her nineties and still able to remember her early
childhood.
Agreeing this would help, Chase had told him the color
of the car then explained it was a common color during that time
period.

It was then through mutual agreement they had decided to
actually catch the person.
Knowing the danger Chase had
expressed his desire to keep Stephanie away from the house when it
happened.
He refuses to take any chance with her being hurt.
Andy informs them he knows a policewoman that does undercover
work and she could dress up as Stephanie for the trap.
He would
call tomorrow to check in with his Captain and put in a request for
her to contact him.

Archie had also made an announcement; informing them
with pride his ability to actual throw items. Watching Andy he was
surprised when Andy had agreed that was wonderful and would be
a huge asset.
Andy had made a good point that the person may
have heard the house is haunted so Archie moving things could
throw the person off enough to make a mistake.
Archie had
laughed declaring he will work on becoming a scary ghoul.

It had been almost ten thirty when his parents had left.
While Stephanie had straightened up the downstairs area he had
come upstairs to run her bath water.
Once she was in the tub,
Chase had stayed with her discussing the direction of the
investigation.
Stephanie had listened then nodded her head in
agreement.
It was then Chase became aware just how tired she
was, because he knew Stephanie would have insisted she could
handle the situation.
When Stephanie had gotten out of the tub
he had helped dry her and then he had put her to bed.
Knowing
Andy will double check the locks before he comes upstairs and
Archie will begin his patrol of the house; Chase had gotten in bed
beside her.

Bringing his thoughts back to the present Chase places his
hand on Stephanie stomach; feeling protective of both her and their
unborn child, Chase slides Stephanie closer to his body keeping his
hand over the area holding their baby.

Dressed all in black he makes his way to the hay barn.
Moving only in the shadows to hide his whereabouts he crouches
low as the last several yards he will be out in the open.
Studying
the windows facing the barn he doesn’t see any movements.
The
idiots have gone to bed, believing they are safe.
Knowing he needs
to move quickly he rechecks the windows then pushing to his feet
takes off running.
Once he is at the barn door he slides the hook
open slipping inside.

Standing with his back against the door he allows time for his
eyes to adjust to the darkness.
Making sure his ski mask is still in
place, he pulls his hood up over his head.
He realizes he needs to
be covered when the fire starts, he can’t afford to take any chance
of getting burned.
He can’t have any injuries that would be
difficult to explain.
Snorting he pushes away from the door.
Having observed the area during daylight hours he remembers to his
left is a huge pile of hay while on the right is the hay tractor and
equipment.

Having spent the last five days learning their routine he had
been surprised when the bitch had left one morning with the
bastard’s Mother.
After a couple of hours the Sheriff had left and
the two had come back together.
Normally the house is quiet and
bedtime is early, but that night they had company.
Observing their
routine had actually given him time to go over his plan.
Doing a
practice run in his mind, he had determined he would need to give
the fire time to really burn, and then he can sneak to the house.
When they come outside running to the barn, he will be able to
search the attic for the ledger.
Calculating he would have about
thirty minutes to search and be out.
Every minute over the
allotted thirty would heighten his chance of being discovered.

Clicking the light button on his watch he checks the time.
Just past midnight, relieved the time has come; he takes a match
from his pocket striking it.
As the flame grows he tosses it onto
the old hay pile; he quickly steps back when the hay immediately
burst into towering flames.
Standing out of reach of the heat he
gawks as the flames leap to travel up the wall.
Realizing the old
wood and hay is burning quicker than he first anticipated, he turns
to leave.

Pushing the barn door open he stumbles outside breathing in
the fresh air; no longer than he had been inside has his lungs
burning from the smoke.
Hearing voices yelling to hurry, he
crouches behind the shed closes to the barn, hiding just in time as
the woman and the two men burst through the trees, sprinting
towards the barn.
Cursing he watches helplessly as they use fire
extinguishers to quickly get the fire under control even as he hears
the siren from the local fire truck.

Frantically he looks around trying to figure out a way to
escape, he admits tonight is a loss cause.
Soon the yard will be full
of men from the local fire department, he can tell by the sound of
the siren the truck is now on the driveway.
Glancing quickly
around the shed he sees the men go back inside the barn while the
woman waits outside.
Wishing he could take her life now,
however he realizes he will be caught if she screams; he stares at
her while visualizing cutting her throat and her falling to the ground,
even imagining in his mind her blood pooling around her.

Shaking his head to clear his vision he recognizes this is his
only chance to escape; he takes off running trying to stay low to the
ground, hoping to make it to his car nearly two miles away.
After
ten minutes of running he slows to walk.
Sure he isn’t being
followed he becomes furious for the wasted time spend setting the
fire.
As each step brings him closer to his car he plots their
demise.
He will make sure their deaths will be painful.

Archie stands at the window doing his nightly patrol.
This is
his third trip scanning beyond this window.
Concentrating on the
area between the barns he detects movement.
It’s very slight, but
he senses someone is out there. As he stands concentrating on
the shadows he sees the quick movement of a black figure.
Shock
has him staring as the figure goes inside the barn where the hay
used to be stored.
Deciding it’s time to wake the men he fades.

Appearing beside Andy’s bed Archie tells him to wake up.
No sooner than the words are out of his mouth Andy opens his eyes.
As Archie explains what happened, the bedroom door opens, seeing
both Chase and Stephanie standing in the hall, Archie starts over
with the details.
Moving quickly they turn to go downstairs.
Andy calls 911 as he begins following them down the hall.
Chase
stops to look at Stephanie, not wanting her to come with them, he
opens his mouth only to shut it again when he sees the
determination in her eyes.

When they reach the kitchen Chase passes the fire
extinguishers to them, he then turns to Archie.
“You stay here; I
feel this is just a diversion to get us out of the house.
I think our
intruder is planning to come in while we are out fighting the fire.”
Seeing Archie nod in agreement Chase rushes outside following
close behind Stephanie as she hurries towards the burning barn.

Hearing the sirens from the fire truck Stephanie is relieved
help is on the way.
As they reach the barn Stephanie is grateful to
see the fire hasn’t engulfed the whole barn.
Chase yells above the
noise of the flames telling her to stay outside as him and Andy
enters the building with their extinguishers.

Standing by the barn door Stephanie searches the shadows
making sure no one is waiting to sneak up on them.
Turning in a
full circle she jumps as several men burst through the tree line
holding industrial size fire extinguishers.

Chase and Andy exit the barn allowing the fire fighters to do
their job.
Putting his arm around Stephanie’s shoulders he asks,
“You ok?”

Smelling the smoke on him she wiggles her nose as she
wraps her arm around his waist, “I’m fine.
Are you and Andy ok?”
Laying her head on his chest they stand watching as the firemen
come out declaring the fire out.

The Captain stops in front of Chase.
Nodding toward the
charred building he says, “Sheriff, the fire was set.
This isn’t an
accident.
Do you have any idea who would do this?”
Standing
waiting for an answer the Captain glances over at Andy then back to
Chase.

Andy puts his hands in this jean pockets and rocks back on
his heels.
Clearing his throat he waits for the Captain to turn back
towards him, when he has the Captain’s attention he tells him, “I am
the one that called 911.
Not thinking I just said the Cain’s barn is
on fire.”
Shrugging his shoulders he continues, “I don’t know the
actually address, but figured the locals would know where to come.”

Chase adds his part of tonight event, “I got up to get a drink
of water and I saw the smoke from the living room window.
I then
ran upstairs to wake Andy and Stephanie.
We came out with the
fire extinguishers to try to put the fire out.”
Pausing Chase sees
suspicion in the Captain’s eyes staring at him.
Standing up straight
to his full 6’ height Chase continues using his Sheriff Voice, “Jacob, I
have no clue who started this fire, but I will find out.”
Turning to
Andy he asks, “Will you take Stephanie to the house?”
Feeling her
tense beside him Chase kisses the top of her head as Andy nods in
agreement.

Peering up at Chase, Stephanie senses his frustration with
the Captain.
By using the Captain’s given name he has reversed
their roles, making Chase the one in charge.
Understanding he did
this due to the part Archie had in tonight’s account, recognizing the
tension in Chase is caused by him falsifying his statements.
Being
the Sheriff she is aware he hates doing this.
Deciding to leave
Chase to handle the Captain, Stephanie pivots on her heels
following Andy back to the house.

The Captain turns back to Chase after he watches them walk
away. Not liking the way the Sheriff dismissed the two other
witnesses.
He folds his arms across his chest as he stares at Chase.
“I am going to call a fire investigator to come out in the morning to
check out the barn.
He will need to speak with you and the other
two.
Make sure you are all available.”
The anger for the Sheriff
is reflected in both his attitude and voice.

Chase stands looking at Jacob for a few seconds then
declares, “You can call whomever you want.
But this happened
while I was here; I will do my own investigation.
After all, I am the
Sheriff and this property belongs to my fiancée.”
Looking over
Jacob shoulder at the barn, he concludes, “Now Jacob I am going to
the house, I need to check on Stephanie and then I need a shower.
You go ahead and call the Fire Marshall and I will do what I need to
do.”
Not giving Jacob time to respond Chase walks away.

Chase enters through the kitchen door, knowing that
everyone would be there waiting.
He wasn’t surprised when he
sees them all sitting at the kitchen table. Coffee mugs in front of
Andy and Stephanie, noticing at the same time both has already
showered.

Stephanie rises up from her seat and moves to the coffee
pot; she fixes Chase a cup as he takes a seat at the table.
Raking
his hands through his hair he turns to Archie.
“This is a mess; I just
had to lie to Jacob.” Huffing out a breath he asks, “So what exactly
did you see?”
He smiles his thanks when Stephanie sets his coffee
mug down in front of him.

Andy answers before Archie can respond, “Chase we waited
for you, figured Archie could just tell it once instead of going over it
several times.”
Giving Archie a nod to begin Andy lifts his mug
taking a sip of the hot liquid.

Stephanie sits down on her chair as she slides a note book
and pen to Chase.
Knowing he would want to take notes she
remains quiet as everyone waits for Archie to relate the incident.

Looking around the table Archie feels the tension, deciding
to just state the facts he begins, “I was doing my rounds, as I stood
at the window in the living room I saw movement in the shadows.
I stood there watching to make sure it was not just the wind; I
spotted a figure run into the barn.
It was then I went upstairs to
wake up Andy.
You all know the rest of the story.”