Neighing with Fire: A Mystery (Colleen McCabe Series) (22 page)

She drove south on Ocean Trail, her hair whipping freely to help it dry. Sparky watched with curious interest as her hair billowed in the wind. She touched the screen on her cell phone and dialed Bill. He picked up after the second ring.

“Good morning,” she said.

“Morning.” His voice sounded tired but not stressed. “I would have called, but I was letting you sleep.”

“Sounds like you’re the one that needed more sleep,” she said. “Did you get any?”

“A little. And you?”

“Same. Did you hear? Morgan caught the arsonists. Thought I’d call him this morning to see when he wanted to pick up the evidence. By the way, Snelling didn’t happen to say anything to you about his dad buying Denny’s business, did he?”

“No,” Bill said. “But I heard from the ME about Fuentes. He confirmed the proximate cause of death is strangulation, immediate cause asphyxiation.”

“Strangulation is rather personal. You think it’s someone he knew?”

“No way of telling. But I thought I’d question Denny’s crew, see what they might be able to tell me.”

She had wanted to talk to Denny’s men, too. Maybe they’d have some information about the business and whether or not Denny had been planning to sell it. “What time do you want to do that?” There was silence on the other end. “Bill? You still there?”

“Yeah.”

The tone of his response told her that he hadn’t anticipated having her accompany him to speak with Denny’s men. He was doing it again … their pas de deux, as he called it. “I know you don’t like it when I get involved in—”

“It’s not that,” he interrupted. “I don’t know what type of people we’re dealing with. After yesterday with Snelling…”

He didn’t have to finish. She got it. He was worried about her safety. She wouldn’t push it. He was the sheriff after all. “Okay,” she said. “Let me know what you find out.”

“Thank you,” he said, reassured.

“I’m at the station,” she said. “Talk to you later?”

“Later,” Bill said and disconnected.

She pulled up to the firehouse. It would be nice to spend a day with the guys at the station. She parked and headed inside, Sparky trotting at her side. She entered the bay and was surprised to find it empty. Usually there was someone around playing Nerf basketball or cleaning equipment. She opened the door leading to the recreation room. Never could she have imagined the scene before her.

“‘To keep your marriage brimming, with love in the wedding cup, whenever you’re wrong, admit it; whenever you’re right, shut up.’—Ogden Nash,” read one of the guys from a paper, and the entire room erupted in laughter.

“Hey, Chief, you’re just in time,” said Jimmy, waving her over.

“I got one by some guy, Stuart Turner,” Kenny said, standing with a notecard. He read, “‘If you think women are the weaker sex, try pulling the blankets back to your side.’”

“You know that from experience?” one of the guys asked, and Kenny nodded.

She joined Jimmy near the sofa. “What’s going on?”

“The guys are reading Chip their quotes for the wedding.”

“Jimmy, you’re up,” Chip said.

Jimmy rose, removed a paper from his pocket, and cleared his throat. “‘People are weird.’”

“That’s our Chip.”

“Very funny,” Chip said.

“May I continue?” Jimmy asked. “‘People are weird. When we find someone with weirdness that is compatible with ours, we team up and call it love.’”

“You saying we’re weird?” Chip asked.

“If the shoe fits, Chipmunk,” another guy joshed.

“That, my dear friends, was paraphrased from the great philosopher and author of
All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten,
Robert Fulghum,” Jimmy said, and the room erupted into laughter.

The men were having a good time. She could only imagine what the wedding would be like.

“Hey, Chief, what about you?” Bobby asked.

“I’m afraid I haven’t found mine yet,” Colleen said, and received a round of playful boos from the group.

“I’ve found one,” Bobby said, meekly holding his in the air.

“Let’s hear it, Big B,” Chip said.

Bobby took his place before the crowd on the sofa. “This is a quote I found by Josh Billings, whose real name was Henry Wheeler Shaw. It’s actually about marriage but you could substitute being a firefighter and it could still apply … at least I think so.”

She and Jimmy grinned at one another. Bobby was evidently taking the task seriously.

“Get to the quote, Crepe,” Kenny said.

“Right,” Bobby said and straightened his posture. “Here goes … ‘Marrying for love may be a little risky, but it is so honest that God can’t help but smile on it.’”

Everyone fell silent. Bobby peered at the group, uncertain.

“That was lovely,” she said.

Bobby returned the paper to his pocket. Chip held out his fist and bumped Bobby’s. “Thanks for taking my big day seriously,” Chip said. “Unlike some of these bozos.”

The guys jeered and booed. Sparky barked at the noise, and the touching moment was over.

“You got a minute?” she asked Jimmy.

“Sure.”

She left the men to teasing Chip and entered the kitchen for a cup of coffee, Jimmy and Sparky trailing her. She found a mug and poured herself half a cup.

“What’s up?” Jimmy asked.

Sparky whined for a treat. She took one from the stash they had in a jar on the counter and the dog settled to the floor with his treasure.

“I presume you heard that Bill arrested Greg Snelling.”

“It’s all anyone is talking about,” Jimmy said, and leaned against the counter. “That and Chip’s wedding.”

“Yes,” she said with a grin. “Never thought I’d see you guys reading love quotes.”

“Hey,” he said pretending to take offense. “We have hearts. I noticed you still don’t have one. Better get cracking on that. The wedding is Friday.”

“You could give me one of yours.”

“You want to cheat on such an important thing as Chip’s wedding?” He shook his head. “Shame on you.”

“Fine. I’ll find a quote. So can we get back to why I wanted to speak with you?”

“Shoot.”

“Did you ever hear anything about Denny selling his company?”

“Are you kidding? That company was Denny’s baby. No way he’d let anyone take it.”

“That’s what I thought,” she said. “You think it’s possible someone could steal a company or maybe kill its owner to take it over?”

“You think Snelling killed Denny to get his company?”

“No … maybe … I don’t know. Nothing’s making sense.”

He studied her. “What’s bothering you?”

“Fuentes. We still don’t know what exactly happened to him.”

“You have a theory?”

“I’m afraid I don’t. Maybe Fuentes had some enemies,” she offered.

“Wouldn’t Bill have uncovered that by now?”

“The guy’s family is in Mexico and he had no known problems with anyone. So how does he end up like he did?”

He shrugged. “Could be he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. It happens.”

She didn’t think it likely Fuentes had died at a stranger’s hand. Strangulation was too intimate. She exhaled and moved toward the dining room.

“Where are you going?” he asked.

She paused in the doorway. “To find a quote for the wedding.”

He grinned. “Good luck.”

Sparky shadowed her from the kitchen, through the dining and recreation rooms, and up the stairs to her office. With any luck, Google would deliver her an acceptable quote in no time and she’d be done worrying about that.

Chapter 20

Who knew searching
for quotes about love and marriage would be so difficult. Colleen had spent nearly thirty minutes on the computer with no luck. She pushed her chair away from the desk and rolled it to the window. From her vantage point she caught glimpses of the dunes and the beautiful Atlantic Ocean in the distance. Sunlight flickered like jewels on the waves and a lightbulb went off in her head. Of course. Why had she not thought of it before? The shop window next to the jewelry store had that beautiful photograph of the ocean with a quote about love. It would be perfect. She verified on the computer that she had remembered the quote correctly, printed it, and slid the paper into her back pocket. She smiled, delighted with the quote and herself. She wouldn’t be empty-handed at the wedding after all.

She descended the stairs to let Jimmy know she had succeeded in her love quote quest, checked his office, went out back to the area where they did drills, and found Chip planking on the asphalt with Bobby.

She had never heard of the planking exercise until Chip, ever the fitness fanatic, had introduced it to the house. The exercise consisted of lowering oneself onto one’s forearms from a push-up position and holding that position for extended lengths of time. It wasn’t until she had tried it herself that she appreciated the core strength it required to hold the body upright. She could see why Chip had picked it as an exercise for Bobby. Bobby’s core could use a little firming.

Chip counted down, “Four, three, two, one.”

As soon as “one” escaped Chip’s lips, Bobby collapsed to the ground in a heap.

“Way to go, Big B,” Chip said. He popped from the ground and helped Bobby up.

“You’re trying to kill me, right?” Bobby said, but Colleen could tell that he was proud of his accomplishment.

“Hey, Chief. Did you see our guy?” Chip beamed, patting Bobby on the back.

“I did indeed,” she said, amused by the pride Chip was taking in his pupil’s progress.

The back door swung open and Aaron walked out. “Hey, man.” Chip shook hands with the new arrival.

“Sorry I’m late,” Aaron said. “I got held up at the stand with all the customers.”

“No worries,” Chip said.

“Hello, again,” she said, surprised to see him. “What are you doing here?”

“Didn’t I tell you? Aaron’s catering the rehearsal dinner,” Chip said with pride.

“That’s wonderful,” she said. “I’m glad you’re here. I wanted to thank you for helping with our game day. Your food was a big hit.”

“You give me too much credit,” Aaron said, modestly.

“Isn’t his barbecue the best?” Chip asked Bobby.

“I have the middle to prove it,” Bobby joked and rubbed his belly.

“I guess it’s not bad,” Aaron said, knowing full well his food was tasty. “So you ready to chat about tomorrow tonight?”

“Actually,” Colleen said, deciding to seize the opportunity to talk to the young man about his fellow worker Fuentes. “Before you guys get into the barbecue discussion, you mind if I ask you a few questions?”

“Okay,” Aaron said, and gave Chip a puzzled look.

“Don’t ask me,” Chip said. “Bobby, you wanna try some pull-ups while the chief yaks with Aaron?”

“You are trying to kill me,” Bobby said. He mouthed “Help me” to her and then moved several yards away to the bars with Chip.

The firehouse back door swung open again and Jimmy exited. “Oh, hey, Aaron,” he said, joining them.

“Is this about my barbecue stand?” Aaron asked, concerned.

She shook her head. “I was hoping you could tell me about Michael Fuentes.”

“What about him?”

“You both worked for Denny. Did you know him well?”

“We were friends for a while. Michael was a decent guy. Always had your back and was willing to help out if you needed an extra hand on the job.”

“But then?” she asked, sensing from his tone there was more.

“Everything was cool and then he started distancing himself from us. When I asked him what was up he told me, nothing, but I could tell something was weighing on his mind.”

“Did it have anything to do with work?” she asked. “Maybe with your boss Mr. Custis?”

“I got the feeling it was more personal. His mom was pretty sick. He had been trying to bring her to the States to get better treatment, but there were some immigration issues. That’s why I didn’t think much when he didn’t come back to work after Christmas. I figured he’d gone down there to be with her and maybe things weren’t going so well. Turns out…”

“It wasn’t your fault what happened to Michael,” Jimmy said.

“I knew something was wrong. I should have trusted my instincts, you know?” Aaron said, the distress evident in his voice.

She felt for the young man. It was obvious he had cared about his friend. “When you last saw Michael, was he having problems with anyone?” she asked, gently. “Anyone that might have had it in for him?”

Aaron shook his head. “What happened to him…” The muscles in his jaw tightened. “I’m sorry,” he said after taking a breath. “It’s just that after everything Michael had been through serving our country … Whoever did that deserves…”

Aaron exhaled. Jimmy patted his friend on the arm in sympathy.

She thought about the Snelling father and son. They were apparently capable of violence. Was it possible that the son had killed Denny and Fuentes? “Did Michael ever say anything to you about Greg Snelling or his father?”

“The tour company guys?” Aaron shook his head. “We all knew Denny and Snelling were in some kinda battle. Denny got super paranoid at one point. Started saying crazy things.”

She wasn’t surprised that a run-in with Snelling would make Denny angry. Putting those two men together would be like mixing volatile explosives in the same container.

“What kinda crazy things?” Jimmy asked.

“I don’t remember it all; it was so bizarre. But there was this one day when Denny lined us all up, started yelling about smelling a rat, and then he sniffed us. Weird, right?”

Knowing what she did about Denny, she didn’t imagine he would have taken too kindly to disloyalty. Now she wondered if it might have been Denny, not one of the Snellings, who had murdered Fuentes. She looked at Jimmy as if to ask “What do think?” He shook his head.

“What is it?” Aaron asked, noticing the exchange.

“Greg Snelling confessed to burning Salvatore’s house and killing Custis,” Jimmy said.

“Really?” he asked, wide-eyed. “You think Snelling…”

She shrugged. “That’s why I asked if Michael knew them.”

“Look,” Aaron said. “I know sometimes good people can do bad things, make mistakes, but I can’t imagine Michael doing anything to deserve what happened to him.”