Tin City Tinder (A Boone Childress Mystery) (22 page)

The Atamasco VFW was number three in line for the parade, while the Allegheny house was near the end, number one hundred seventy three. As we ran with Chigger to catch up with the Atamasco firefighters, we passed several vollies from my own firehouse.

“Time to get into position,” I told Cedar. “You and Chigger stay here. Wait for Luigi’s order.”

“Yes sir!” She saluted as Chigger pulled on the leash. He wanted to keep running. “Behave!”

“He’ll do great!”

“I meant you, not the dog!”

Turning the corner of Third and Palmetto, the Atamasco VFW, came into view. There were nineteen firefighters in brown and yellow turnouts lead by the fire captain’s yellow truck. The parade led them down the rivulet of Third Street to the wide channels of downtown.

The parade turned the corner onto Palmetto Street. The tanker truck sounded its siren. On the corner of Second Street, we passed the public library building and neared the green.

“Luigi,” I said into my mic, “tell Cedar to cross the street.”

Through the ear bud Luigi had given us, I heard him give the order.
 

Cedar acknowledged it.

I blew my nose into my handkerchief.
 

It was the signal.

“Let’s go, Chigger,” Cedar said, her voice coming into my ear bud.

Minutes later, Eugene Loach’s company marched past the public library. Loach was turned waving to the crowd when Cedar crashed into his hip, knocking him flat on the pavement.

Cedar dropped knees-first on top of Eugene, pinning him to the ground.

“Get off me!” Eugene bellowed. “You crazy bitch!”

“Sorry,” Cedar said, “trying to catch my dog. Chigger!”

“Lucky you’re a girl,” he said. “Or there’d be some ass kicking right here.”

“Sorry,” Cedar said again.

The other Atamasco firefighters stopped short, and Chigger raced between their legs until he found Cedar. He leaped into her arms, and she held him still long enough to get a good, long sniff of Eugene Loach’s body odor.

Chigger barked and growled, signaling the presence of sodium.

I pumped my fist. Yes! Loach was the perpetrator.

“Get that mutt away from me!” Eugene yelled.

“Sorry officer.” Cedar backed up to the curb. “He gets a little wacky in crowds.”

“I ain’t no cop,” Eugene growled. “I’m a goddamn firefighter.”
 

Loach was a lot of other things, too. One of them was arsonist.

The other was cold blooded killer.

9

A few minutes later, I met Cedar on the front steps of the public library.

“Yes!” I leaned down to rub Chigger’s ears. “Good boy, you caught the bad man. Yes, you did.”

“No, he didn’t,” Cedar said.

I laughed, thinking she was teasing. “But he snarled at Eugene. You said he got aggressive when he detected a smell.”

“No,” she said. “He
sits
when he detects bomb materials. He
snarls
when someone’s threatening me.”

“You mean—“

“Eugene Loach isn’t your bomber.”

10

“You look bummed.” Cedar set her iced tea on the metal table and pulled up a chair to join me and Luigi at Red Fox Java’s patio.

 
The parade inch past us. With almost two hundred groups marching, it would take over an hour to finish, and we were stuck downtown until it was over. With Loach off the list of prime suspects, the case had reached a dead end.

“I’m disappointed,” I said. “I thought the crime was solved.”

“You sound like Nancy Drew,” Cedar said.

“Ahem.”

“The Hardy Boys then.”

“That’s not much better.”

Luigi looked at them with a curious expression. “Is this an obscure American cultural reference?”

“
Quaint
is a better word.” Cedar scratched Chigger’s ears. The dog was sunning himself on the patio, defying Mercer’s ban on animals. “The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew were books about young detectives.”

“Ah,” Luigi said. “Why is this relevant?”

“Boone has read them all,” she said. “He always wanted to be a sleuth.”

“A fact that has nothing to do with this situation.” I took a long sip of iced tea. How could I explain that I felt personally responsible for Mrs. Vega’s death? Finding the arsonist was the only way to wipe the slate clean. “It’s something I have to do.”

“So what’s the plan now?” Cedar said.

“I have no idea.” I saw Eugene Loach and his boys approaching. “Here comes trouble.”

“Look what we got here, boys,” Eugene said. “A flaming liberal and his foreigner butt buddy.”

Luigi watched as Eugene passed the table. His eyes narrowed, and for the first time, I saw a certain look on his face, a mixture of disgust and anger. “There is a word in Japan for men like you. We call them
baka yaro
.”

“Means evil white man, right?” Loach said.

“No,” Luigi said. “It means stupid bastard.”

Cedar laughed.

“Think that’s funny, huh?” Loach reached over the iron banister and grabbed Chigger by the scruff. “You ain’t so tough now, are you, pooch. Huh? Huh?”

Chigger growled and showed his teeth. Cedar threw back her chair and locked onto Eugene’s arm.

“Let go of my dog, you stupid, fucking, inbred redneck asshole!” She grabbed the glass of iced tea and threw it into the Loach’s face. “Now!”

Eugene blocked the glass with his left and threw Chigger with his right.

I moved without thinking.
 

Leapt like a wide receiver going for an overthrown pass, fingertips extended.
 

Chigger fell into my hands, still snarling, as the dive carried me over the banister. My elbows hit the asphalt, and the pavement ripped my skin wide open.

Chigger jumped free.
 

Just as a horn sounded.

Fire truck!
 

Bearing down on me.
 

Twenty feet away.

The tires are bald, I thought and pulled my legs off the banister. I felt another rip as I fell back against the railing.

The firetruck’s brakes filled the air with metallic smoke. It jerked to a stop, inches from where my head had been.

Before I could thank my lucky stars, I heard Chigger growl.

“Luigi!” Cedar screamed. “Asshole! Let him go!”

Ronnie had Luigi in a headlock, and Donnie was trying to pull down his pants. Luigi kicked like a pissed off mule, yelling in Japanese and pounding Ronnie with his fists while Cedar hammered his back.

Eugene was laughing.

“You think that’s funny?” I grabbed a chair and was deciding which moron to lay out first when I heard Lamar yell.

“What the Hell is going on here?” Lamar hopped off the Allegheny tanker truck. He had my hooligan tool, and he carried it like a club. “Loach! Tell your boys to lay off before I tear them a new asshole!”

 
“Lamar, stand down!” I said, “I can handle these guys! Ronnie! Donnie! Back off!”

Surprised by the command, Lamar complied. So did Ronnie and Donnie, without any word from Eugene. They put Luigi on the ground.
 

“We was just having a little fun," Ronnie said.

“Go have it elsewhere,” I said, and they stepped back, holding up their hands.

That left only Eugene.

“You ain’t my daddy,” Eugene grabbed Cedar and growled at me. “You ain’t my boss. You ain’t the law. Where you get off telling me what to do?”

I took the hooligan from Lamar. Held the tool lightly in my hands, ready for anything. “Get your filthy hands off my girlfriend, Loach.”

“You want her?” Eugene pushed Cedar toward me. “You can have her.”

I caught her in one arm. “You okay?” I asked Cedar.

“I’m okay,” she said.

“You got your little girlfriend,” Eugene said. “We’re done here.”

“Not even close,” I said. “You let a human being die in a fire.”

“Like hell. That Mexican women was dead meat the minute the house blew.”
 

“You knew the house blew,” I said, “which means you got there in time, but you didn’t try a rescue. Admit it.”

“Yeah, so what? I’m tired of working my ass off to pay taxes so the government can spend it all on foreigners.” Eugene spat chewing tobacco between his teeth. “You expect me to risk the lives of three white men for one old wet back?”

I swung the blunt end of the tool up in an arc, connecting with the tip of Loach’s chin. The force of the blow traveled to the edge of the mandible, striking the cerebral nerve. He was out cold before his carcass fell backward onto a metal table, rolled, and landed on the concrete sidewalk.

Then I whirled, bringing the lance tip of the hooligan to bear, and pointed it at Ronnie, who looked like he had swallowed a cow patty. “It’s a different ballgame when your victim can't fight back, isn’t it?”

“Now don’t do something you’ll regret,” Donnie said.

 
“I won’t regret it!”

“Yes, son, you will.” Lamar grabbed the hooligan. His hand was strong and his voice steady.
 

My hands began to shake, and I let him take the hooligan away.
 

“Ronnie and Donnie,” he said. “Get the hell out of here.”
 

He didn’t have to say it twice. They left Eugene were he lay and high-tailed it across the green.

Lamar radioed Julia to send the EMTs over. “We’ve got a Caucasian male, late twenties, possible head injuries.”

As Lamar checked on Eugene, I hugged Cedar, who was holding Chigger in her lap, scratching his ears. The dog had given up chewing on Eugene’s pants, but he had the proud look of a David who had just taken down Goliath.

A flock of customers surrounded us, patting Cedar’s hand, offering her free drinks, which she gladly accepted.
 

Through the mass of bodies, I caught her eye.
You were awesome
! I mouthed.

Thanks
, she answered as someone put the straw of a chai latte to her lips. “This is amazing! What flavor is it?”

Lamar stayed at Eugene’s side until the EMTs arrived. They got there two minutes before Sheriff Hoyt and Deputy Mercer pulled up in their prowlers.

Mercer was first on the scene, siren blasting, all lights on the car blinking and flashing. He parked in the street inches from the patio and bolted from his car, leaving the door open, hand on his firearm.

Hoyt parked on the opposite side of the street. He spotted Lamar in the crowd. “Who called this in?”

“I did.” Lamar gave him a quick and factual account of the situation. “The EMTs think he’s fine. They’re taking me to the emergency room for head X-rays. Don’t think they’ll find anything.”

Hoyt laughed and slapped Lamar’s back. “I expect you’re right. This sounds like a mess of paperwork, and I’ve got the job of crowning Little Miss Allegheny this year, so I’m going to hand this off to Deputy Mercer.”

I groaned.
 

Not him.
 

Anyone but him.

Luigi calmly sat at the table, checking his watch. “The Olympiad begins any minute.”

“We’ll take care of y’all.” Hoyt pointed at Mercer, who had reappeared with his little book in hand, “Pete, just get names and addresses. Don’t bother with statements. They can come by the office tomorrow. Meet me over at the bandstand when you’re through here.”

“What about the victim?” Mercer said, pointing out the gurney rolling Eugene away.

“I don’t know that victim is the right word,” Hoyt said, “but if you’re set on getting a statement, feel free to head over to the hospital once they’ve taken pictures. Enjoy the rest of the festival folks. Y’all take care.”

With a wave, he was back to the prowler. He made a three point turn, stuck a hand out the window and waved goodbye.

“Don’t anyone try to leave,” Mercer told the crowd, raising his high voice as loud as it would go. “I need information from every witness. Let’s start with the girl and the dog.”

I checked my watch. “We have to be present for Olympiad judging,” I said quietly to Lamar. “This could take forever.”

Lamar took a business card from his wallet and scribbled on the back. “Excuse me, deputy,” he said when Mercer was finished with Cedar. “We’ve got to go. Here’s my card with all my contact info. I wrote my number on the back.”

Mercer took the card. “You can’t leave until I give you permission.”

“Actually, I can. And I’m going to. Cedar and Luigi have got to get to the Olympiad, and it’s almost time for the Allegheny VFD’s turn to march in the parade.”

“I’m marching, too?” I asked.

Lamar gave my shoulder a shake. “Of course you are. You’re one of us.”

I pumped my fist. “Come on, Cedar. Luigi, you, too.”

“Hold on,” Mercer stopped Luigi. “I don’t have your info, and unless you’ve got a business card, have a seat.”

“Da-Ta!” Luigi pulled out a business card. “My pleasure.”

“This is Japanese writing.” Mercer said. “Are you trying to make a fool of me, boy?”

“The other side—“ I turned the card over. “—is in English.”

We headed out before Mercer could think of another reason to delay us, but Chigger, who usually stuck to Cedar like pine sap, plopped his butt on the patio and would not budge.

“Come on, pup.” I picked him up without a second thought. “We’re going to miss our ride.”

11

After the parade ended, I followed Cedar and Luigi to the Olympiad ceremony. Dr. K stood on a temporary stage in the small courtyard adjacent to the public library. It was an outdoor reading room, but today, the chairs were replaced by long tables, and the tables were filled with dozens of research projects.

Dr. K looked frazzled. There were dark circles under her eyes that makeup couldn’t completely mask, and her fingernails were gnawed to the quick.

She’s been chewing them, I thought. She was either nervous or very worried about something.

Luigi, Cedar, and I stood near the last row of tables, as far away from the stage was we could get so that Cedar could keep an eye on Chigger, who wasn’t allowed in the fair. So he was tied up to a maple sapling on the lawn with a chew toy and a full water bowl I had fashioned out of duct tape using Luigi’s head as a mold.

“Next,” Dr. K said into her wireless mic, “we move to the senior division of Science Olympiad, which includes undergraduate research project with a ten thousand dollar scholarship for the winner. Before we announce the awards, however, I would like to commend all of the students in this year’s competition. I must say that the quality of the work is nothing short of astonishing. Our judges were impressed, as well. It is a tad cliché, but truly, you are all winners today.”