Upstate Uproar (30 page)

She and the girls explained how they’d been
looking into things since finding Rebecca’s jawbone. They told him
about Grandpa’s files and that they didn’t think Nicole had
accidentally gotten E. coli poisoning. They also told him about
their suspicions on Brandon, Jeremy and Mike Grimm.

Larson shook his head when they mentioned
Mike’s painting of Mary Beth. “He’s definitely eclectic and he’s
been a smart-ass his whole life. I’m not sure anyone missed him
while he lived in Oregon.” Larson fiddled with his empty cup of
tea, the waitress hadn’t been by in a while. “A killer — ” His
phone emitted three high-pitched beeps. He glanced at the screen
and threw $5 on the table. “Crap, there’s a house fire. I’ve got to
go.”

“Can I go with you?” Vivian asked and flashed
a smile. “I’d love to see you in action.”

Larson leaned over to give her a kiss and
paused. “Sure, but you’ve got to stay in my truck.” He picked up
his $5 and threw down a $20.

Vivian turned to the girls and Pierre. “I’ll
text y’all the address on the way.”

Larson tugged at her elbow and they hustled
out the door. He didn’t waste time with chivalry, just clicked the
locks and had the truck started and in gear before she had even
closed the door. “Buckle up,” he said as the tires squealed and
they took off.

He slowed down at a red light, then blew
through it once he knew it was safe. He gave Vivian the address to
the fire, which she texted to Wendy.

“I don’t know the situation yet, so it is
imperative that you stay in the truck unless I tell you otherwise.”
He took a right and they were in a cute neighborhood. “I don’t want
anyone getting hurt.” He paused. “Though I wouldn’t mind having to
give you a little mouth to mouth.”

He screeched to a stop and threw the truck in
reverse. “Dammit! Missed my turn.” He wrenched the wheel to the
left at the next intersection and put the truck into drive
again.

Vivian rubbed his shoulder. “I’ll
behave.”

Larson turned onto a street lined with cars,
a fire truck, two cop cars and an ambulance. Emergency lights lit
up the night, and the smell of smoke intensified as he drove closer
to the fire.

Finally, Vivian saw it. In addition to the
billowing smoke, the house gave off an orange glow. A large tree in
the front yard was burning, too. Larson pulled to a stop a hundred
yards away, grabbed his gear out of the back seat and got
dressed.

“This looks pretty bad,” he said through the
open door as he pulled on his boots. “We could be here awhile.”

“I can leave with the girls, but I’d like to
watch the action for a bit,” Vivian said, taking in the scene.
Hoses ran from the fire truck to the yard. One fireman stayed at
the truck, and two more held the hose while another sprayed water
at the base of the flames.

“Any idea whose house it is?”

“I’d say whoever is in the back of the
ambulance,” Larson said. He gave her a final warning to stay put
and ran off, helmet in hand.

Vivian watched him run down the street to the
fire truck.
Mmmm, mmmm, good.
As he got out of sight she
turned her attention to the ambulance. Sheriff deputies Stokola and
Young stood at the back, talking with someone in the bay. Stokola
was writing on her notepad. Just then, a navy blue Grand Cherokee
zoomed past her, Kate at the wheel.

Vivian shoved open the door and jumped out,
then ran after them, waving her arms. “Here I am!”

BOOM! An explosion on the side of the house
sent debris sky high. Vivian watched in horror as a burning piece
of something flew onto the street, landing right in front of the
SUV. Kate slammed on the brakes but couldn’t stop in time. She
drove over it, where it caught the undercarriage on fire. Kate
pulled to the curb and stopped, but no one moved to get out.

They don’t know there’s a fire under the
car!

Vivian ran to the Jeep. “Get out! Get
out!”

Wendy rolled down her window. “What’s
wrong?”

“THE CAR IS ON FIRE!” Vivian screamed.

Four doors flew open, and Kate, Wendy, Pierre
and Lucy scrambled out.

The smell of gas reached Vivian’s nose just
as there was a loud pop. “Run! Run!”

WHOOSH!

V
ivian kept running,
knowing their rental was toast. Burnt toast. Lucy passed her, as
did Pierre, and she glanced to her left and saw Kate and Wendy.
They ran all the way to the ambulance, which was on the other side
of the burning house.

Vivian ran up to a fireman. “Our car’s on
fire!” She pointed down the street to the once-blue SUV with flames
shooting from it.

“What the hell?” The fireman grabbed his
shoulder-mounted walkie-talkie and blurted out some orders. Soon
after, several firemen began uncapping a fire hydrant down the
street, closer to the SUV. Before they could get the water going,
flames had spread to the car interior. A loud hiss accompanied the
first cascades of water hitting the flames.

Kate leaned against a tree, her borrowed
cross-body purse drooping in front of her.

Deputy Young checked on her. “I’m fine,” Kate
said, then coughed. “I just need to sit down.”

“Let’s get you out of this smoke,” Young said
and walked her to the passenger door of the ambulance. He yelled
over to one of the EMTs, “Hey, Charlie, this one might need some
help.” He opened the ambulance door and nudged Kate into the cab.
“I’ll be right here if you need me.”

Vivian and Wendy walked over to her.

“I’m okay, really,” Kate said. “I’m going to
call the car rental company and let them know what happened.” She
closed the ambulance door and gave a thumbs up.

Vivian’s curiosity got the best of her and
she walked around to the back of the ambulance where an EMT was
busy inside. She peeked inside the bay for a clear view of who
occupied the stretcher.

A semiconscious April Robinson lay strapped
to a gurney, her face covered in soot. An oxygen mask covered her
nose and mouth, and she groggily moved her head from side to side.
Beside her, Mike Grimm sat in a tight space, holding her hand and
stroking her hair.

He looked up and locked eyes with Vivian just
as the EMT slammed the bay doors and scurried around to the
driver’s door.

Kate got out of the passenger’s seat and the
ambulance took off, sirens blaring and crossing paths with a third
fire truck making its way onto the scene.

“You feeling better?” Pierre asked her.

“I am. I think with the smoke and the
running, I just got winded.”

“Let us know if you need anything, little
mama.”

She nodded.

“What’d the rental car company say?” Lucy
asked.

“Put it this way — it’s a really good thing
we got the additional insurance.”

Deputy Cheri Stokola walked up, a look of
wonder on her face. “What on earth are you guys doing here?”

They explained how they’d been with Larson
when he got the call and that Vivian wanted to watch him in
action.

“You know, with his hose,” Vivian said.

Wendy stepped over a hose that ran to the
front yard and rolled her eyes. “This is a little more action than
any of us bargained for. That was the craziest thing. One second we
were all looking at the house fire and, next thing you know, we
were almost on fire. That’s our second rental, you know.” She gave
Kate a smile. “You might get blacklisted.”

“I don’t think they’ll ever rent to me
again.”

Vivian gave Kate a shoulder hug. “I’m so glad
y’all got out of there in time. Close call.” She turned to look at
their SUV. Though there hadn’t been a huge explosion, the vehicle
was still on fire, and now it was waterlogged. Totaled.

Two firefighters from the second truck
dragged a hose over, setting up on the other side of the house.
They had made progress on the SUV, but the house fire still raged,
even though there were now eight hoses on it.

A large, dark shadow emerged from the front
of the house carrying a hatchet.

I feel like I’m in a movie
, Vivian
thought, admiring the tall figure.

Larson swung the hatchet down by his side and
walked up to Vivian, looking better than ever in his fireman
get-up. He flipped the shield up on his mask. “What’s this I hear
about a car on fire down the street?”

“It’s not yours, don’t worry.” Vivian gave
him a toothy grin.

He raised his eyebrows. “Then what, may I
ask, are you doing out of it?”

“Kate had a wee-bit of an accident in the
rental. A piece of debris flew underneath the car and whammo, the
SUV burst into flames.”

Larson tilted his head back, as if he was
looking for a shooting star. “Keys are in my truck,” he said,
grinning. “Take it back to Turlington Farms, but please, don’t take
it for a plunge or do anything that will catch it on fire. I’ll
have one of the guys drop me by for it. Leave the keys in it, I’ll
be late.”

“Are you sure you want to let us borrow it?”
Vivian asked. “I can’t make any promises. We seem to be dooming
cars left and right.”

“Yes.” A drop of sweat fell from his brow.
“Perhaps you should let Pierre drive. I’ve got to get back to this.
Please be careful.” He winked at her and brushed his gloved finger
under her chin, then lifted the hatchet back onto his shoulder.
“See you later.”

She couldn’t help but smile and wish he was
sweating for carnal reasons. She turned to the group, fanning
herself and feeling a little dazed. “Let’s blow this fireworks
stand.”

They walked to Larson’s truck and squished
in. Pierre climbed in the driver’s seat and Kate rode shotgun. The
other three climbed into the extended cab, and they made their way
out of the neighborhood and back toward Turlington Farms.

“Smells like a barbecue in here,” Kate said.
“I’m getting hungry!”

Everyone cracked up, but they did make a pit
stop at a convenience store to get her a sandwich and bag of
chips.

“Just what I needed,” Kate said, sinking her
teeth into a roast beef sub.

Pierre pulled into the drive and parked
behind the house, leaving the keys as instructed. As they got of
the truck, lightning streaked above the lake, followed by a roll of
thunder.

“I’m going to sleep good tonight,” Wendy
said. “I love the rain.”

“Me, too,” Kate said, then yawned. “I wish I
didn’t need a shower.”

“We smell like a slab of sizzling shish
kebab,” Vivian said. “Now I’m getting hungry.”

Once inside, Kate hit the shower, Vivian the
kitchen, Lucy and Pierre the porch swing, and Wendy the couch.

Vivian found a leftover biscuit and grabbed
the butter and grape jelly. She was punching the buttons on the
microwave when Tracy shuffled in wearing her robe and blue
slippers. “Sorry, did I wake you?” Vivian asked.

“Nah, I needed some water.” Tracy grabbed a
glass from the cupboard, then turned around. “What’s that smell? Do
you smell it?”

Vivian nodded. “Yeah, I smell it. I’m
surrounded by it. It’s me.”

“What? What are you talking about?”

A crack of thunder shook the house and
raindrops, pelted the awning over the back porch.

“We were with Larson when he got a call about
a house fire and went to check it out.”

“I thought that was his truck outside.”

“That’s a whole other story. Our rental
burned to bits when Kate ran over some debris, so he let us borrow
his truck.” Vivian dipped her finger into a drop of spilled jelly
on her plate.

“Oh my gosh, it burned?”

“Yep. It’s toast on wheels. Kate already
called the car rental company.”

“Is everyone all right?”

“Fit as a fiddle. We just smell like
s’mores.”

As Vivian picked at the crumbs of her
biscuit, Tracy started to leave.

“Oh, the fire we went to, it was someone you
know,” Vivian said. “We actually met her today at the Olympic
complex. April Robinson.”

Tracy turned around. “April?”

“Yeah, we told her where we were staying. She
said she might come see you. I’m guessing she didn’t make it
by.”

“No, she didn’t. So it was her house that
burned?”

Vivian nodded. “It’s a pile of rubble by
now.”

“Was she home?”

“I saw her in an ambulance. She
looked…well…like she got lucky.”

“Wow,” Tracy said. “Thanks for letting me
know.” She turned back around. “G’night.”

“ ’Night.”

Vivian rinsed her dish and put it in the
sink. She called around the corner to Wendy, “Hey, whatcha
doing?”

Wendy had tears in her eyes.

Vivian sat down next to her. “What’s
wrong?”

“Oh, you know, just thinking about Jake with
the car fire.”

Vivian could have smacked herself in the
forehead. She hadn’t even thought about Jake and his burned out car
in Las Vegas. “Oh my gosh, I’m sorry.”

They were quiet for a moment.

“But just remember, it wasn’t him. He’s still
out there, we just need to find him.”

Wendy sniffed, then wiped a tear off her
cheek. “Yeah, I know. And I do feel like he’s out there. It’s just
hard, you know.”

Vivian nodded. “You need anything?”

“Nah, I’m about to go up and de-smoke
myself.”

“Me, too.”

Wendy took a deep breath. “You go ahead. I’ll
be up soon.”

“You sure? I don’t mind hanging out.”

“No, no, it’s okay.”

“Okay, g’night.” Vivian went upstairs,
stripped down and took a 20-minute shower, enjoying the hot water
and the thick steam building up in the bathroom. It felt good in
her lungs versus the harsh smoke they had been around earlier.

She dried off, then slipped on a T-shirt and
boxers. She looked around the room, at the files scattered about.
They actually looked a little more organized.
Maybe Tracy came
in and cleaned up.

She picked up the top folder from a pile on
the dresser. Coach Stubbs. She slipped into the sheets and opened
it up. Nothing unusual that she could see, which made her wonder
why there was a file on him at all. She got up and searched around,
looking for dropped pages. Anything that would explain more about
his connection, if there was any, in Mary Beth’s death.