A Sweet Pepper Fire Brigade 03 - In Hot Water (20 page)

“It doesn’t hurt that it comes right after what happened last night,” JC said. “Heck, my grandma called from
Knoxville
because she saw me on TV.”

Everyone agreed with him. It sounded as though most of the volunteers would find a way to be at Beau’s.

David wouldn’t be present. He had to go out of town for work. Kimmie would be there with Sylvia. It was agreed that Stella would bring Hero to Beau’s too.

“Okay then.” Stella smiled at her volunteers. “You guys did a great job last night, but you always do a great job. Keep that in mind for the times that we aren’t so successful. I’ll see all of you tomorrow. Don’t forget, I need your reports if you were on the scene last night.”

There was further back-slapping and self-congratulation ringing through the firehouse as the fire brigade members changed clothes and got ready to go. Stella smiled as she heard them while she worked on her report in her office.

Walt knocked at her door. “You got a minute for me?”

“Sure. What is it?”

“I’ve heard a few rumors about what happened out at Barney Falk’s place.” He closed the door and sat in a chair. “Just wondering how true they are.”

Stella sat back in her chair. She knew Walt always had his ear to the ground. As the former Sweet Pepper police chief, he knew everyone and liked to keep up with things.

“What have you heard?” she asked.

He grinned. “We’re gonna play it that way, huh? You don’t tell me anything unless I already know about it.”

“I’m in the middle of this, Walt. My life, and the lives of others, have been threatened. I don’t want anything going out of here that might make it worse.”

“Stella, are you saying I’m a gossip?”

“Not exactly. I’m saying that I’m not sure who to trust. That means I’m not sure who
you
can trust either.”

He nodded. “All right. I have a good source who tells me that Barney crossed the wrong people. It has nothing to do with drugs. That’s only the cover-up. There are people who don’t want to see Barney’s son at the statehouse.”

“W
ho are these people?” Stella asked him.

“I think it’s probably best if you and I don’t know exactly who they are.”

“Walt—”

“Here you are telling me you don’t know if you should say what you know about this whole mess. Why do you think
I
should say?”

“What is he talking about?” Eric perched on the edge of her desk.

“Eric wants to know what’s going on too.” Stella smiled at Walt. “Did I mention he can leave the cabin now?”

“No way!” Walt looked around the room as he always did, hoping he could see his old friend. “That’s amazing, and good news too, since Bob still wants to tear it down. This way Eric can live anywhere.”

“We may have good news on that front too.” Stella showed him Eric’s will. “The town can’t sell the property to Bob. It says the whole tract of land—with the cabin and the firehouse—has to remain Sweet Pepper’s property.”

Walt took a quick peek at the will. “That’s great too. I’m glad he can’t kick you out, buddy. I sure wish I could see you. From what I hear, you saved Stella from whatever those men had in mind for her. I guess that explains the whole magic of her moving those electric lines too. That video is beating the devil out of a lot of people right now.”

“Eric is happy about it too.”

“I didn’t say I was happy about it,” Eric argued.

“But you are,” she told him.

“If I have a choice when I die, I’d rather live at the police station.” Walt winked at Stella. “My old cabin can get pretty boring sometimes. How’d you figure out how to get Eric out of there?”

Stella explained about Eric’s badge. “I guess that was why he couldn’t go to the firehouse after they’d moved his body. He could only go to the firehouse because the badge was there. When they gave me the badge, it meant he could go anywhere the badge goes.”

Walt frowned and shook his head. “That’s good news for sure.” He looked at Stella. “I think you should keep your fingers out of this pie the powers that be are making of Barney’s family. I wouldn’t want to see them get cut off. I don’t know if Eric can handle this situation. Don’t press your luck.”

“Just tell me one thing—is it someone local behind this?”

“Nah. It goes further up. Nobody around here would do this kind of thing to old Barney.”

“Is that all you can give me?”

“I’m afraid so.”

Stella toyed with the idea of letting Walt take a look at the detonator Gail had given her. If he was right, knowing about it could be a bad thing for him. Or he’d tell the wrong person and that would be it.

“He’s bluffing,” Eric said. “I’ve played poker with him too much not to know. He doesn’t have anything else. He wants to know what you’ve got.”

“I have to get back to work. Thanks for stopping by, Walt.”

He put on his old hunting hat and glanced around again. “Good talking with you, buddy. See you later, Stella. Watch yourself. Don’t take any chances.”

When he was gone Stella started again on her report for last night’s incident.

“I think you should give someone else this detonator,” Eric told her. “Walt could be right about you staying out of it.”

“I’m going to give it to Chief Rogers later. As soon as I finish this report we’re going to my grandfather’s house to tell him about your will. I’d like to get that obstacle out of the way.”

Eric agreed. “Would you mind if I stay in the car? I don’t want to go in there. I managed to avoid it while I was alive. I’d like to continue that tradition.”

She shrugged. “That’s fine with me.”

When Stella called Ben, he told her he was at town hall.

“You should be here too,” he said. “Steven and I are meeting with Hugh Morton, Bob Floyd, and Mayor Wando. Steven thinks he has something that will make a difference about that old cabin.”

Stella agreed that she should be there, even though technically she wasn’t really part of the debate. She wanted Eric to be present too and told her grandfather she wouldn’t miss it.

“Do you think your grandfather’s lawyer found the same clause?” Eric asked as they went out to the Cherokee.

“I hope so. That would make it easier.”

Stella drove quickly through light traffic into Sweet Pepper. She had to park a block away from town hall but walked quickly back to the old building.

“They’re in the big conference room,” Sandy Selvy told her without raising her head. “Go on in.”

As soon as Stella walked into the room, Bob raised an objection, holding his broken arm in the air. “This is
town
business. There’s no way Chief Griffin figures into this.”

“Since the chief is living in the cabin
and
runs the fire brigade I believe her presence should be allowed.” Steven Morrow, her grandfather’s attorney, was very smooth and professional.

Hugh Morton, the town’s attorney, whispered something to Bob that made him sit down. “We don’t have a problem with Chief Griffin being present,” Mr. Morton said.

“That’s good.” Eric stood behind Bob’s chair. “I could probably pick him up and throw him out the window.”

“It wouldn’t help,” Stella muttered. She hoped Eric wouldn’t do anything that would validate Bob’s claims. She even felt sorry for the man as he still bore the bruises and cuts from being beaten.

“Chief Griffin?” Hugh Morton asked. “Do you have something to say?”

“Not right now.”

Steven Morrow began the presentation. Stella didn’t see a copy of Eric’s will on the table. She had to assume the attorney had gone in another direction.

“We believe the town agreed to allow Chief Griffin to maintain a residence in the cabin on Firehouse Road—as they agreed to allow the fire brigade to work out of the firehouse on the same piece of property.”

Mayor Wando cleared his throat. “That is accurate. But we never stipulated how
long
Chief Griffin would be allowed to live there.”

“That land has been up for sale for the last twenty years. Now that I want to buy it, it suddenly has to remain Chief Griffin’s home,” Bob argued. “She doesn’t pay rent. There are other properties where she could live close to the firehouse. I already have a loan for the property. I think I should be able to do what we’ve wanted to do forever—get rid of that haunted cabin.”

Hugh Morton took a sip of water and leafed through his papers.

Steven Morrow continued. “Because Chief Griffin was not informed that the cabin and land were for sale we maintain she must be given time to find another suitable location to live.”

“That’s fine.” Bob grinned, as though sensing victory. “She can take all the time she wants—as long as she’s out of there in the next thirty days.”

Ben wasn’t happy with that. “I think we should talk about Bob’s mental state that made him try to bulldoze the cabin without letting my granddaughter know what was going on, even though he was ordered by a Sweet Pepper police officer to stand aside.”

“I had the right to do what I wanted to my property.” Bob defended his actions.

“You mean to get rid of the ghost of Eric Gamlyn.” Steven picked up on where Ben was leading. “You truly believed a man you disliked, who has been dead for forty years, is inside that cabin? You believed you could get rid of him by tearing down the cabin. Is that
right
?”

“Yes, that’s right.” Bob got painfully to his feet again, a cane in one hand. “We all know it’s haunted. How many people, besides Chief Griffin, have been able to stay there more than one night? That’s why the town put the property up for sale in the first place. If it was bringing in money it would be a different story.”

Mayor Wando dropped his pen on the wood floor and spent the next few minutes searching for it. Bob sat down again with a smirk on his face that reminded Stella of the Grinch.

Steven conferred quietly with Ben and then offered, “Suppose Chief Griffin were paying rent on the cabin?”

“What? Where did that come from?” Eric asked.

Before Hugh Morton could answer, Stella intervened. “I think I have another answer. Have any of you checked Eric Gamlyn’s will?”

“I’m afraid his will was lost a years ago.” Mayor Wando answered her query as he finally managed to retrieve his pen. “It was the
only
copy, as far as we know.”

Stella took the will out of her bag. “You might want to have Sandy make a few copies of it this time.”

“Where did you find that?” Hugh Morton asked. “How do we know it’s legal?”

“Well first,” she explained, “you can see the old notary stamp. I found it with some of Chief Gamlyn’s personal effects in the cabin—the cabin Bob wanted to get rid of right away. Maybe he remembered that the chief only
willed
the property to the town. It could never be sold. He stipulated that it was always to be used for the fire chief and the fire brigade.”

Steven assessed the old will and then passed it to Hugh.

“It looks valid to me.” Ben had read the clause while his lawyer studied it. “I’d say Stella gets to stay in the cabin as long as she’s the fire chief.”

Bob snatched the document from the town attorney. “This can’t be right. I’ve never laid eyes on Gamlyn’s will before. I think we should have this carbon-dated. She could’ve made this notary seal on it herself. She’d do
anything
to keep his ghost up there.”

Hugh Morton called Sandy into the conference room. “I recognize this seal,” Sandy said. “Bonita Wando was this town’s first clerk and notary. I’m sure you recognize her name don’t you, Mr. Mayor?”

Mayor Wando took a peek at the faded blue seal. “That’s my aunt. You remember, Bob? She clerked for the town before we could even pay someone to do it.”

Bob threw the document on the floor. His face was dark red with rage and frustration. His coloring made his facial bruises stand out even more prominently. “I don’t
care
who put their seal on this paper. I bought the land. It belongs to me. The cabin is coming down.”

Sandy had already joined them in the conference room. She leaned down and retrieved the document. “I’ll make a few copies, Mr. Morton.”

Hugh Morton turned back to Mayor Wando. “You’d better get him some help or I’ll start a petition to have him removed from the council. Good day, Mr. Carson. Steven.”

Stella nodded back to the town attorney before he left the room. Bob was actually crying in one of the chairs. Mayor Wando seemed embarrassed, but he didn’t leave his friend’s side.

Ben hugged his granddaughter. “You have to let me buy you lunch to celebrate even though I’d rather buy you a new house so you wouldn’t have to live in that tiny old thing.”

Stella agreed to lunch. “I’ll have to meet you somewhere. I need to have a conversation with Chief Rogers before I leave.”

“Not a problem.” Ben glanced at his watch. “I’ll meet you at the café in thirty minutes.”

Steven Morrow shook hands with Ben and then with Stella. He seemed a little befuddled by what had happened. Maybe he wasn’t as sharp as she’d thought.

“That’s done at least,” Eric said. “Are you sure you want to stay there? We could move somewhere else. I know the cabin is small.”

Stella smiled at Sandy and stepped into the ladies’ room. “I don’t care if the cabin is small. It’s got plenty of room and it’s cozy. Besides, it has great views and it’s only two minutes to the firehouse. And where else could I live that Hero could run up and down the road without getting into trouble?”

“Thanks.” Eric grinned. “I could hug you.”

He proceeded to do just that. Stella’s feet were a few inches off the floor when a woman in a purple suit emerged from one of the bathroom stalls. Eric hurriedly put her down.

“Oh my!” The woman adjusted her glasses and glanced at Stella again. “You won’t believe what I thought I just saw. I’ve been putting off the appointment with my eye doctor for too long.”

Stella washed her hands and left the bathroom. “Next time make sure we’re alone before you try something like that.”

“Are you suggesting I should check to see if there are women in the stalls?”

“Never mind. Let’s get this over with.”

Chief Rogers was in his office as Stella walked by. She knocked on the open door.

He motioned for her to come in. “I believe you know Agent Whitman.”

Brad Whitman nodded to Stella and got to his feet. “Stella.”

“We were just talking about the analysis of the cocaine you found in Barney’s house.” Chief Rogers gave nothing away. Stella kept her mouth shut, unsure if it was a good idea to speak freely about the investigation.

“What I don’t understand,” Brad said, “is why the state arson investigator is denying all knowledge of finding cocaine during her investigation of the site.”

Stella glanced at Chief Rogers. No matter what, she wasn’t giving Gail away. “I’m more familiar with drugs being found in fire investigations. We had special training for that in Chicago. Gail Hubbard is very good at what she does. I took it on myself to have the powder tested by Chief Rogers.”

Brad smiled at both of them. “I don’t understand why you didn’t simply point out the powder to Mrs. Hubbard and allow the investigation to proceed through
her
office.”

Chief Rogers nodded. “I think I can help with that. I asked Chief Griffin to keep a look out for anything unusual that had bearing on us here in Sweet Pepper. She was only respecting my wishes. I’m sure you understand that we don’t want to be known as the Tennessee capital for drug dealers, don’t you, Agent Whitman?”

Stella thought it was plausible, though no such conversation took place between her and Don Rogers. They had never worked together in that manner.

“Smooth,” Eric said. “See? I told you. You have to give the good guys a chance to be good.”

Brad rubbed the back of his neck. “I thought Chief Griffin and I had a similar understanding at the start of this investigation. You should’ve come to me with this. The TBI will take it from here.”

Chief Rogers shrugged. “That’s fine as long as I don’t meet up with some drug dealer on the streets of Sweet Pepper. This is our town, Agent Whitman. It’s up to me, and Chief Griffin, to keep our citizens safe.”

Eric laughed. “Okay. Don’t faint, Stella. I think he’s
really
on your side now.”