Yarn Over Murder (A Knitting Mystery) (6 page)

“He offered, but they told him not to. They said the ambulance would be there soon, and it was. Dennis said he only waited ten minutes. Andrea’s place is not far from the mouth of the canyon. Dennis said the ambulance guys practically ordered him to get back to his property in the canyon in case the fire spread. He’d be of more use there. Sure enough, flames crossed over the ridge from Bellevue Canyon a couple of hours later.” She gave a crooked smile. “Turns out that was good advice. There was nothing Dennis or anyone could do for Andrea. So he said he went back to his place and gathered his things so he could stay at Andrea’s ranch and take care of the animals.”

“He’s lucky he took their advice. Otherwise he might not have gotten back into Poudre Canyon. Cops started evacuating people later that night once the fire started down the ridge.”

“That’s right, and they closed the road. Dennis said he left his car parked at his house and took off with a backpack, going in the dark through the trees along the river. It’s a couple of miles down the river from his place to Andrea’s. By the time he got there, he saw the fire crest the south ridge into Poudre Canyon. He dumped his gear in the brush, then rushed back to Poudre Park to help any way he could. Water brigades, whatever. Ran most of the way back, if you can believe.” Jayleen wagged her head then took a sip of tea.

“Good Lord,” Kelly said, amazed by Dennis’s stamina. “He really is a mountain man.”

“Then just before dawn, he disappeared into the brush and hiked back to his place. Laid low outside in the bushes far enough away from the house, so he could watch when cops came to search for people. Once they cleared out and headed down the road, he was able to creep back and let himself into his house. When it turned dark later that night, he hiked over to Andrea’s.”

Kelly leaned her chin on her hand, listening to this adventure story. “How far away was the wildfire? Wasn’t he in danger of it spreading toward Andrea’s place?”

Jayleen shook her head. “No, Dennis said the fire swept over the ridge about a mile west of his place and didn’t get near his place or Andrea’s farther down the river. Thankfully, the flames also stayed on the other side of the road and didn’t cross over. So their side of the canyon was untouched.” Jayleen wagged her head in familiar fashion. “Lord, Lord. Those poor folks who were evacuated told me they were so scared. Forced out of their homes just before midnight Saturday night. Most weren’t even given time to grab more clothes or anything. Police ordered them out to save their lives. Nobody wanted people getting trapped by the fire. So they had to run with nothing, just the clothes on their backs.” Jayleen rose to fetch the pitcher of iced tea, then poured some more into Kelly’s glass and hers.

Kelly took a long drink. “That really does sound like something you’d see in a movie. They must have been scared to death.”

“Oh, they were. They didn’t have any time to save things. I was lucky. All of you folks and other friends showed up to help Curt and me load things from the house. I swear, I think the entire contents of my file cabinet are downstairs in Curt’s basement. But that was when the fire was first starting in Bellevue Canyon. It got out of control fast, so firefighters weren’t taking any chances with people’s lives.”

“What will happen with Andrea? Did she have any family around?”

“No, Andrea had lost both her mom and dad years ago. Dennis will have to make any decisions about a funeral and all that. But anything like that will sit on the back burner because of the wildfire.”

“How’s he contacting you? Cell phone?”

Jayleen shook her head again and took a sip of tea. “No. Andrea’s ranch house has a landline which is reliable. As opposed to all those fancy smartphones.” She grinned.

“Well, that’s true. We’re always losing the signal every time we go up into the canyons.”

At that moment, Kelly’s phone started buzzing with another text message. She dug it out of her cutoff jeans pocket. “Message from Greg. He’s been keeping track of the Soldier Canyon fire from his university office window. Oh, thank goodness. He says that the wildfire that spread over the ridge into Soldier Canyon is out. No more flames. Yay, firemen!” Kelly raised her arms in victory.

“Praise be,” Jayleen said, closing her eyes for a second. “Let’s give those folks a toast.” And she raised her glass of sweet tea high. “To the firefighters!”

“Oh, yeah!” Kelly joined, glass held high. “And keep ’em coming!”

•   •   •

Steve
took a bite of pizza and closed his eyes, clearly enjoying it. After swallowing, he said, “I can’t tell you how relieved I was to see only a little smoke coming up from that Soldier Canyon spot as I drove back into town.” He sank into the lawn chair and took a drink of Fat Tire ale.

Kelly grabbed another slice of pesto pizza from the box on the glass table in the center of Lisa and Greg’s patio. The entire gang plus Cassie had gathered for a quick dinner to compare wildfire stories they’d each heard during the day. Kelly wished she could tell Dennis Holt’s dramatic adventure but she was sworn to secrecy.

“You and me both,” Marty said. “I had to go over to Greeley this afternoon and the fire was still burning as I crossed over I-25. But they’d put it out by the time I drove back. Hallelujah!” He raised his bottle of craft beer. Everyone was toasting whatever small wildfire victories they could.

“A few people on our floor in the IT labs live up the Poudre, and they said firefighters literally woke them up knocking on their doors late Saturday night. They could only grab their laptops and wallets. One girl grabbed her tablet, of course. Oh, and cell phones. Everybody took those.” Greg devoured the slice of pizza in his hand, then reached across the table for another, rustling in the cardboard box.

“Isn’t it amazing how the first thing we think about taking is our computers and devices?” Lisa said

“It’s the world we live in,” Megan said, sipping her ale.

“I agree. My laptop would be the first thing I’d grab. And my wallet. Gotta keep track of clients’ money.” Kelly grinned as she leaned back in her chair.

“Ever the accountant,” Pete said with a smile.

“It’s a dirty job, but—” Kelly started, then everybody chimed in to finish.

“—somebody has to do it.” They all laughed, causing Cassie to look over from where she was lying on the shaded area of grass beside the patio reading a book. The canopy threw a fair amount of shade.

“Why’s accounting a dirty job?” she asked with a smile. “I’ve seen Kelly’s spreadsheets, and they’re all super neat and clean.”

“Out of the mouths of babes,” Kelly said with a smile, saluting Cassie with her glass.

“We love accountants in my business, Cassie,” Marty announced, with his trademark smile. “They know where the money is and keep track of where it’s going. And most people don’t pay attention. That’s why people who decide to steal other people’s money often get away with it. For a while, anyway. Then, someone gets suspicious and calls in the accountants. They’re the bloodhounds who find out what the thieves are up to. And that’s when they’re caught.”

“And that’s when you guys get to earn exorbitant fees to represent those sleazeballs in court,” Greg said.

“Hey, it’s a dirty job, but . . .” Marty paused as everyone groaned.

Cassie giggled. “Are any of those bloodhounds related to the ones in this book?” She turned several pages at the front of the book she was reading. “What are Baskervilles?”

“Beats me,” Steve said with a good-natured grin, taking another sip of ale.

“I think it’s named after someplace in England,” Kelly offered.

“Cassie has discovered Sherlock Holmes,” Jennifer said.

“Ooh, great!” Megan enthused. “So you’re reading
The Hound of the Baskervilles
? Excellent.”

“It’s really good so far. I love Doctor Watson. Holmes is totally weird, though.”

“I think Holmes is supposed to be weird,” Lisa said. “It helps him solve cases.”

“The guy’s a freaking genius,” Greg intoned. “That’s what solves those cases. Just keep reading.”

“Are those your books, Pete?” Marty asked, peering at Cassie, who had already returned to 221B Baker Street.

“She’d really enjoyed some of the other mysteries she was reading, so I thought she might like Sherlock.” He grinned. “She’s had her nose in the book ever since.”

“Are those some of your engraved editions?” Steve asked, clearly incredulous.

Pete gave a genial nod. “Yeah. She’s good with books.”

Kelly and her friends simply laughed quietly in the still bright light of a summer evening, while Cassie disappeared into Victorian England.

Tuesday, June 12

“Look,
Carl. Squirrels are on the run,” Kelly said to her Rottweiler as he dashed across the cottage backyard.

Carl raced to the fence just as Brazen Squirrel, the leader of the bunch, landed and scampered like mad along the top rail. The low-hanging branch of a nearby cottonwood tree beckoned several feet away. For a minute, Kelly thought her dog might actually get to Brazen before Brazen could get to the cottonwood branch. She was wondering how to handle that occurrence, fairly certain Carl would be so surprised that he caught Brazen he’d probably drop the wily creature in shock. More likely, Brazen would sink sharp squirrel teeth into Big Dog’s nose—such a tempting target—and Carl would yelp in pain and, once again, drop Brazen.

Kelly needn’t have worried. Brazen turned on his after-burners and shot down the fence rail in a blazing burst of squirrel speed. Impressive, she thought with a smile, watching Carl resort to his usual behavior when Brazen had escaped his clutches—again. Carl stood on his hind legs, front paws on the fence rail, and barked doggie threats at Brazen, who dangled just out of reach on the cottonwood branch and fussed in chattering squirrel speak to his nemesis.

“He was just too quick for you, Carl. Next time,” Kelly promised as she slid the patio door closed to keep the hot air outside. The heat was starting to build, so she would spend the day inside working in Lambspun’s comfortable temperatures.

Finding her coffee mug, Kelly drained the last drop of morning coffee. Then she loaded her laptop into her shoulder bag, checked to make sure Carl had enough water in his bowls, then grabbed her empty mug and headed out the cottage front door. She could get some client work done before leaving for the softball fields to teach her clinic for young teenagers.

Once outside, Kelly walked across the parking lot and gazed westward across the golf course greens. Like many of the golfers who were out in the early morning already, she couldn’t resist the frequent temptation to gaze at the foothills to make sure she didn’t see where another fire had broken out, whipped by that ever-present wind. Thank goodness, she didn’t see any. But the wind was still gusting every now and then.

Kelly walked toward the outside patio garden of the café wondering when that wind would die down. Firefighters from all over and teams of Hot Shots were pouring into Fort Connor. But if that wind didn’t die down, they would all be fighting a losing battle. As soon as they contained one hot spot, the wind would fling more flames and cinders to a new area and it would ignite. It was almost as if Nature was working against them. The wildfire had grown to forty thousand acres.

She spotted waitress Julie serving breakfast to a foursome at a shaded table outside. Kelly waited until Julie had finished with her customers before calling her name.

“Hey, Julie, I’m glad to see you made it back,” she said, hastening along the flagstone path. “You really had a long journey to get to Fort Connor.”

“You can say that again,” Julie said, rolling her eyes. “It took forever. My friend drove and we had to go all the way from Steamboat on Route 40 to Kremmling then east to Granby. Then we took Route 34 into Estes Park, then back into Fort Connor.” She started clearing dishes off a nearby table, empty of customers.

“How long did it take you?”

“Seemed like forever,” Julie said with a laugh. “We left Steamboat Sunday afternoon and got to Granby late that night. We were exhausted, so we bunked in at a motel, then headed out Monday morning.”

Kelly walked beside her as Julie started toward the café back door. “That must have cost a lot more in gas, too.”

“Ohh, yeah. I had to hit the ATM as soon as we got into town.”

Julie sped up the back steps to the café, and Kelly followed her inside. As soon as she entered, Kelly inhaled the familiar and enticing aromas floating through the air.
Breakfast
. Kelly’s favorite meal. Even though Kelly knew she’d regret it, she followed Julie toward the grill and the kitchen. She saw Eduardo flipping cheesy scrambled eggs over and under, his spatula somehow keeping them creamy rather than turning them into an omelet. How did he manage that? Whenever Kelly tried it, it became an omelet.

Fried eggs popped on the griddle beside round pancakes, which were browning perfectly. And sizzling away on the farther side of the grill was the most tempting item of all. Kelly’s favorite.
Bacon
. She inhaled the wonderfully delicious scent and closed her eyes.
Ahh
. Yummy.

That settled it, she decided. Her light breakfast of fruit and yogurt wasn’t strong enough to fight off a full-frontal assault of bacon and eggs and pancakes. She had to have some. But maybe a smaller portion this time.

“Look out, Eduardo,” Jennifer warned as she approached the counter. “Kelly’s got that lean and hungry look.”

Eduardo grinned, revealing his gold front tooth. “I’ve seen that look before. It doesn’t scare me.”

“What can we get you, Kelly?” Jennifer asked as she loaded two full platters of tempting breakfast food onto her tray.

“How about one slice of bacon and one small pancake and just a little scrambled eggs. I thought I’d practice portion control.”

“Good for you,” Jennifer said. “Join the rest of us. Right, Eduardo?”

“Awwww, you two girls are always talking about your weight. You look fine the way you are,” he said, flipping the pancakes over.

“I bet you’d say that even if we had to waddle away from the table, Eduardo,” Kelly teased.

Eduardo laughed. “Crazy Kelly.” His regular admonition.

“Hand me your mug and I’ll fill it. Meanwhile, you can have a seat over there in the alcove. There’s that smaller table in the corner.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Kelly said obediently, handing over her mug. “Did you guys see the wildfire update this morning?”

“Yeah, it’s gotten to be a morning ritual for all of us, I’m afraid,” Jennifer said, pouring a black stream of coffee into Kelly’s mug.

“It looks like a bunch more firefighters have arrived from all over. That’s good.” Kelly plopped her bag onto a chair at the smaller table. “And lots more Hot Shots. Bless those guys and gals. They really jumped on that Soldier Canyon fire so it wouldn’t spread. But the fire is spreading north now, close to Colorado 14.”

“I know. It’s only 10 percent contained. They’re trying to establish fire lines to the south, so the fire won’t spread to the other side of Poudre Canyon,” Jennifer said, returning Kelly’s mug. “But watching the news this morning and seeing all those firefighters streaming into town made Pete and me feel a whole lot better. Surely we can get ahead of this fire with all those extra hands at work.”

“If only that blasted wind would die down.” Kelly took a drink of Eduardo’s black nectar.
Ahh
.
Caffeine
. She’d need it.

Neither she nor Steve had had a restful night’s sleep, even though the house was air-conditioned and they weren’t subjected to the draining heat. The whole wildfire situation had everybody on edge, it seemed to Kelly. The entire city was on alert. People had one eye on their jobs and one eye on the mountains.

She settled at the table and checked her watch. She had an hour and a half before she needed to gather Cassie and drive to the softball fields at Rolland Moore Park on the west side of the city. It would be smokier there, hopefully not too much.

“Today’s my softball clinic. Is Cassie around? I figured we could head over there about nine thirty.”

“She’s in the workroom helping Mimi organize yarns and stuff. I have to admit, the shelves are looking a lot neater now that Cassie’s started to help Mimi.”

“Well, Mimi and Rosa and Connie have so much to do already with customers, there’s not much time left over for shelf organization. By the way, have you seen Connie? Did she show up for work today?”

“Yeah. Mimi told me Connie came in early today. But I haven’t had time to go over and see her. We’ve been super busy this morning. Thank goodness Julie is back.” Jennifer picked up her coffeepot. “Gotta check the customers.”

“See you later,” Kelly said as Jennifer scurried off. Noticing movement out of the corner of her eye, Kelly saw Burt enter the café.

He burst into a smile. “Hey, Kelly, good to see you. This is getting to be a regular morning occurrence.”

“Hi, Burt. Pull up a chair and catch me up on what’s going on in wildfire central, Landport.”

Burt settled in across from her “Traffic is still a nightmare going through town, for one thing. No surprise with one main road. All the extra firefighters and Hot Shots have set up a tent city at the Armory on West LaPorte Avenue. The big supply store is letting them park some of their vehicles in the back parking lot. But all those big trucks and firefighting equipment really tie up the road. Can’t avoid it, though.” He took a sip from the takeout cup he had with him, which had a familiar logo.

“What about the disaster shelter there? And the one at the Ranch out on the interstate? Do they have enough room?”

“Well, the shelter at Cache La Poudre middle school is full already.” He caught Kelly’s eye. “Apparently only twenty homes were lost in Poudre Canyon so far, thanks entirely to those brave firefighters who faced down the flames in Poudre Park.”

“What have you heard about Bellevue Canyon?”

“Everyone up Whale Rock Road had to evacuate. Word is the fire’s swept through that whole area. No telling if any homes survived. We’ll have to wait and see.”

“Oh, no!” Kelly pictured the great views from that more remote location high atop a ridge in Bellevue Canyon. “All those people may have lost their homes? How awful!”

Burt nodded. “Yes, it is. Many of them had friends or relatives in the area they could go to, but a lot of folks didn’t. They’ll have to go to the shelter at the Ranch.”

“Are you going to help with running supplies like yesterday? Do they have enough people to serve meals and take care of things in the shelter?”

“I hope to, if they need me. They’re going to need a lot more supplies, the way I figure. There are going to be more folks affected. The Poudre Canyon residents in Poudre Park were evacuated late Saturday night, as you know, and they’ve ordered evacuations in Livermore and the Glacier View subdivision north of Colorado 14. Also Pingree Park, west of Poudre Canyon. People have scattered all over town. Some to friends and some to the shelters. Plus some churches have taken in people, too.”

“Sounds like they need all the help they can get. Let me know if we can do anything, Burt, okay?”

He smiled. “Don’t worry, I will.” He sipped from his cup. “So far it looks like they have enough hands on deck. I even saw Jim Carson serving meals at the shelter. At least I think it was him. He had a scruffy beard growing, but it looked like him.”

That surprised her. Kelly recalled Jayleen saying that Dennis Holt had found Andrea lying all alone in the backyard. The house was empty. No sign of Jim Carson. “Did you speak to him? Did he say anything about Andrea?”

“Naw, I was too busy at the time. If I see him again, I’ll speak to him. If it really is Jim. As I said, this guy had a scruffy beard growing.”

Kelly pondered that. “I wonder why he wasn’t there with Andrea. The two of them were acting like a couple on Saturday. Funny, that he’d leave.”

Burt shrugged. “Who knows? Maybe something called him back to town and he had to leave.”

“Yeah, probably. Well, if it is Jim Carson, he must have heard about Andrea. Maybe this is his way of handling it. You know, helping other people.” She shrugged. “Maybe.”

Burt smiled. “You could be right. I’ll make it a point to check the shelter this afternoon at that same time and see if he’s there. Hopefully he may know something about how the accident happened. I mean, I assume it was an accident. It sounds like it was.”

“What will happen now? Will the medical examiner take a look? Police are swamped right now, so they won’t have any manpower to spare.”

“You’re right about that. But I imagine the medical examiner will have a chance to examine her and rule on cause of death. It will all take longer than usual, though.” Burt frowned. “That reminds me. I forgot to ask Jayleen about her alpacas up at Andrea’s ranch. I’m hoping there are some residents who live higher up the canyon who could come down and feed the livestock for her. Did she say anything when you talked to her yesterday?”

Kelly nodded, glad she could answer truthfully. “Yes, she indicated there was a resident up there who was taking care of them for her.”

“Well, that’s good.” Burt checked his watch. “I’d better get in that line of traffic going into Landport and see how I can help.” He rose and started toward the café front door. “Oh, by the way. Connie came in this morning. Make sure you go in and say hi. Mimi talked to her this morning and told her about Andrea. Connie hadn’t heard a thing, naturally. The wildfire has dominated the news. Connie looked dazed and didn’t say a word, just stared out the window. She was acting real subdued when she first came in this morning and didn’t talk much. Now, she’s barely saying a word at all. Just to the customers.”

“She’s probably still trying to adjust to everything that’s happened. Saturday was beyond traumatic. Yelling and accusations. You’re lucky you didn’t have to witness it like we did. And the wildfire on top of everything. Chaos in the midst of chaos.” She rolled her eyes. “I’ll go over now and give her a hug. That’s all I could do on Saturday. Hug her and tell Connie that she had friends there. Meanwhile, keep us updated on wildfire news. You’re closer to the front lines than any of us.”

“Will do,” Burt said, walking away just as Jennifer brought Kelly her breakfast.

•   •   •

Kelly
headed for the hallway leading into the knitting shop, hoping to find a quiet moment with Connie. She turned the corner into what Kelly called the Loom Room because it was dominated by a large loom. Weavers called it the Mother Loom. There they created beautiful scarves, table runners, and all manner of finely woven fiber wonders. Kelly often marveled at the beauty of the woven stitches.

Connie was on the other side of the room replacing several cones of fine fibers and threads that filled the shelves lining two walls. She glanced toward Kelly then looked away, mumbling, “Hi, Kelly.”