Christmas In Paradise (Tj Jensen Paradise Lake Mysteries Book 4) (26 page)

It turned out that Captain Brown
had sent an e-mail to Deputy Fisher and each of his men a short while before the explosion that ignited the fire. The letter stated that he was directly responsible for Bob King’s death and, while he had no desire to live out his life in prison, he also found that he could no longer live with the guilt, no matter how justified he believed his actions might have been, so he planned to commit suicide. It turned out that the pregnant woman Bob King had killed in the hit-and-run accident was Captain Brown’s sister. The arresting officer had been new and had made an error, so even though Bob was obviously guilty of killing the woman, he had been release after serving only a few short weeks behind bars.

“
Dennis said the e-mail indicated that Captain Brown ran into Bob King when he was in town using the name Rupert Kingston last summer,” Jenna informed Tj. “The captain said Bob acted like he didn’t even remember killing his sister, and he’d been letting his hatred and resentment fester ever since. He must have snapped when he saw him again.”

“I remember
wondering at the time I found out about the fire at the Motor Inn last summer if there was a link between Bob’s reemergence and the fire,” Tj commented. “It didn’t seem likely, but if Captain Brown was the one who talked to Rupert after the fire, he must have known who he was. Rupert wouldn’t have remembered the event, but what if Captain Brown reminded him about what happened? It seems like that might have been a traumatic enough experience to serve as the catalyst for Bob to reemerge and regain control.”

“Your theory makes sense
. It would be pretty awful to find out that you had been a monster during the years you couldn’t remember.”

“There
’s one thing that’s been nagging at me about the whole thing,” Tj added.

“What
’s that?”

“
The fact that the whole thing makes no sense. The story everyone is going with is that Captain Brown got drunk, sent an e-mail to his men that he was guilty of the murder, then committed suicide. Hunter said he actually died as a result of hitting his head, probably while stumbling around the house. Falling and hitting your head isn’t committing suicide.”

“
Maybe he intended to commit suicide but fell and hit his head before he had the opportunity to do so,” Jenna speculated.

“Okay then
, why the fire? It doesn’t seem like Captain Brown would intentionally set a fire. He spent a good part of his life putting out fires, and even with the snow, he had to have known that a house fire always has the potential of spreading to the forest surrounding it.”

“You have a good point,” Jenna admitted. “It does seem that Captain Brown would use some other method besides fire to end his life
, no matter how deeply entrenched in guilt he might be.”

“I didn’t have a chance to really look around
when I was there last night because it was hot and smoky and I just wanted to get the heck out of there, but it did seem like the furnishings had been disturbed. What if someone else was there? Maybe there was a struggle, Captain Brown fell and hit his head, and this other person started the fire to cover things up?”

“You think someone killed Captain Brown and faked the suicide note?” Jenna asked.

“Maybe. Or maybe Captain Brown did send the note with the intention of killing himself, but someone showed up and tried to stop him. There was a struggle and Captain Brown fell and hit his head. The other person panicked and started the fire. We have to go back.”

“Back?”

“To the house. I need to look around. I have the feeling there’s something I can’t quite remember. Something significant.”

“Maybe we should tell Dennis or call Roy,” Jenna suggested.

“No, not until I can look around on my own. Coming?”

“Well
, I’m sure as heck not letting you go alone.” Jenna offered to drive since Tj really wasn’t supposed to be exerting herself in any way.

The house
had been burned badly enough that it would most likely need to be torn down. It seemed obvious that some type of accelerant had been used to make the fire burn hot and fast. Jenna and Tj carefully made their way into the structure, which had been blocked off with yellow caution tape.

“If we aren’t careful we
’re both going to end up in jail,” Jenna complained.

“Don’t worry. We
’ll only be here for a minute.”

“What exactly are you looking for?”

“Honestly, I’m not sure.”

Tj wandered over to the spot where she
’d found the body. It was hard to tell whether the disruption to the furniture and decor was due to a struggle before the fire or if it had been the result of the firefighters trying to extinguish the blaze. Captain Brown’s computer still sat on his desk. It had been damaged by the heat and water but was basically intact. Tj opened the top desk drawer and gasped.

“I think we need to call Roy,” she stated.

“Why? What did you find?” Jenna asked as she walked over to where Tj was looking at a photo.

“Well
, I’ll be. Maybe there
is
more to this story.”

“It was really nice of you to let us all descend on your Christmas Eve dinner.” Kyle walked up behind Tj and put his arms around her later that day.

“I’m thrilled to have you
,” Tj assured him. “Did you bring the doll and computer?”

“I gave them to your dad. He said he’d stash them away until it
’s time for Santa to make his visit.”

“Where is
my father?” Tj asked.

“Playing poker
with your grandfather and the guys. It seems you’ve had quite a day. Everyone is talking about the fact that it was really Arnie who killed Bob King. Care to fill me in?”

Certainly. Let’s get a drink and head out onto the sun porch. We have quite the crowd
, but I don’t think anyone is out there at the moment.”

Kyle followed Tj to the porch
, which was enclosed in glass, offering an excellent view of the lake on a cold winter day.

“So what happened?” Kyle asked after they were both seated.

“Jenna and I were talking earlier and it just didn’t make sense to me that Captain Brown would send a suicide note and then die as a result of an accident. It also didn’t make sense that he would set his own house on fire. We decided to go back to the house and look around. We found a photo of Captain Brown, a woman who turned out to be his sister and was the woman Bob King killed in the hit-and-run accident, and Arnie. It turned out Arnie was Captain Brown’s brother-in-law. It seems the reason Arnie moved to Serenity was because he fell in love with the place when he came to visit Captain Brown. When Arnie saw Bob at the Thanksgiving dinner he freaked. The two men got into a fight, and Arnie ended up hitting Bob with the back of a shovel he’d pulled from the fire truck Captain Brown had brought to the resort. The captain saw the whole thing. He felt bad for Arnie, so the men moved the body away from the truck and left. By the time I stumbled across the body they were long gone.”

“But Captain Brown couldn’t live with the guilt?” Kyle guessed.

“Arnie confessed that Captain Brown wanted to come clean to the cops about what had happened. He could see how the whole thing was tearing Dennis apart. Arnie panicked and the men, both of whom had been drinking heavily, got into a scuffle. Captain Brown fell and hit his head. Once Arnie realized the captain was dead he sent the e-mail from his computer confessing to killing Bob King and then set the house on fire to cover up any evidence as to what had really happened.”

“So Arnie is in jail?”

Tj nodded. “I suppose it will be a long time until he’s able to enjoy Christmas on the outside. It’s really a shame. Bob killed his wife and unborn child and then got off scot-free. It’s understandable that he could become so enraged as to hit him with the shovel. It really does seem like he was a perfectly nice guy who got caught up in circumstances he couldn’t control.”

“I really hate it when the bad guy ends up being a good guy,” Kyle agreed.

“When I realized what must have happened there was a split second when I considered destroying the photo rather than calling Roy.”

“I’m sorry to interrupt
.” Kallie walked out onto the sun porch from the kitchen. “I was wondering how many place settings we needed.”

Tj
did a quick calculation in her head. “Twenty-three, I think. We might need to bring in the card table and chairs.” Tj started to get up.

“You sit
; I’ll get them,” Kyle offered.

Tj and Hunter sat side by side as the horse-drawn sleigh made its way through the silent night. After all the guests had left and the resident kids had been bathed and put to bed, Hunter came back with a bottle of wine, a warm blanket, and an offer to take Tj to a place where the only noise was the sound of their breath in the heavy night air.

“This is so nice
.” Tj rested her head on Hunter’s arm. “I really enjoyed having everyone over, but this is the first time I’ve had any peace and quiet all day.”

“We never did have our date
, so I never had a chance to give you your present,” Hunter commented.

“You got me a present?”

“It’s on the backseat.”

Hunter pulled gently on the reins
, instructing the horses to stop. He turned around and put a gift-wrapped box in Tj’s hand.

“Hunter
, you shouldn’t have. Really.”

“Don’t worry
; I’m not violating the friends-only dictate we seem to be adhering to. It’s just a small gift, not an engagement ring. Open it.”

Tj slowly tore open the meticulously wrapped gift. Her heart skipped a beat when she opened the box. “You kept it all this time?”

Lying within the layers of tissue paper was the elf hat she’d worn the first night she and Hunter had gotten together and become a couple.

“Of course I kept it. I
was supposed to wear it at our wedding. We had a bet,” Hunter reminded her.

Tj laughed as a tear slid down her cheek.

“I’m not giving this to you now because I intend to go back on my commitment to wear the darn thing. When we do eventually marry I plan to wear it proudly. I’m giving it to you because I want you to know that, in spite of everything, I never gave up on us. I was young and stupid and let my mom intimidate me. I can’t change that, but I
can
try to convince you that I love you and have loved you since the night you sat on my knee and gave Santa a kiss.”

Tj looked up at Hunter. She wanted to speak but found she couldn’t.

“I want us to have another chance,” Hunter continued. “I’m not asking for a commitment you might not be ready to make. I just want to take you on a date. A real date, and if that goes well, maybe we can have a second and a third date.”

Tj threw her arms around Hunter
’s neck. She still couldn’t speak, but in that moment words didn’t seem necessary. Hunter had always known how to speak to her heart. A diamond bracelet or an expensive pair of earrings wouldn’t have touched her the way this very meaningful gift had.

“Does that mean yes?” Hunter
asked as he held her.

Tj pulled back slightly
. She lay her hand on Hunter’s cheek before she leaned in slowly and kissed the man who had dominated her dreams since the moment they’d shared that first kiss under the stars on that snowy December day all those years ago.

Come for the murder, stay for the romance.

Buy them on Amazon
today
.

Paradise Lake Series:

Pumpkins in Paradise

Snowmen in Paradise

Bikinis in Paradise

Christmas in Paradise

Puppies in Paradise –
February 2015

Zoe Donovan Mysteries:

Halloween Hijinks

The Trouble With Turkeys

Christmas Crazy

Cupid’s Curse

Big Bunny Bump-off

Beach Blanket Barbie

Maui Madness

Derby Divas

Haunted Hamlet

Halloween Hijinks Anniversary Edition –
September 2014

Turkeys, Tuxes, and Tabbies –
October 2014

Christmas Cozy –
November 2014

Alaskan Alliance –
December 2014

Road to Christmas Romance:

Road to Christmas Past

Kathi Daley
lives with her husband, kids, grandkids, and Bernese mountain dogs in beautiful Lake Tahoe. When she isn’t writing, she likes to read (preferably at the beach or by the fire), cook (preferably something with chocolate or cheese), and garden (planting and planning, not weeding). She also enjoys spending time on the water when she’s not hiking, biking, or snowshoeing the miles of desolate trails surrounding her home.