A Sweet Pepper Fire Brigade 03 - In Hot Water (16 page)

“C
an they do that?” Stella wasn’t sure what committee was responsible for things that the town council did.

“It’s preliminary,” Sandy explained. “Nay will get the committee’s okay to take it to a vote at the next council meeting. They won’t hear from anyone else at that point. With Bob and the mayor behind him, it’s kind of a done deal. Willy thought you should know.”

Stella didn’t even bother asking how they knew she was in the café. “I’m on my way.”

“What’s the problem?” Phil overheard their conversation as he’d finished paying their bill for lunch. “I thought a fireboat was a good idea.”

“Not this fireboat. I had planned to ask the council to buy a boat from Rufus Palcomb. He’s got a good boat at a fair price, and he’s a member of the fire brigade. I have to go.”

“Let me go with you. Maybe I can help.”

Stella dialed Rufus’s cell phone number as she and Phil hurried to town hall. She couldn’t believe Nay would stoop so low to get a few thousand dollars from the town.

Rufus didn’t answer. She was going to have to deal with the problem using her limited boat knowledge and hope the finance committee would see things her way.

The Sweet Pepper finance committee normally met once a month in council chambers. Bob Floyd and Nay Albert were members, representing the council. Baker Lockwood, who owned the town pharmacy, was also on the committee, along with Tommy Potter, who ran the hardware store. Myra Strickland, whose family had started the Sweet Pepper Festival, was also a member.

Stella and Phil burst in through the closed doors of the chamber to unappreciative stares from the committee members. The group had already started the meeting. Stella wasn’t sure if they’d had time to vote on the fireboat issue yet.

“I don’t see your name on the agenda to speak, Chief Griffin.” Nay glanced at the paper on the clipboard.

“This is an emergency.” Stella was going to have to make up what she wanted to say as she went along. Sandy Selvy relieved her assistant town clerk to take notes of the meeting, giving Stella a few precious seconds to organize her thoughts.

“And Mr. Roth.” Nay inclined his head toward the developer. “Always a pleasure to see you here at town hall, sir. Did you need to address the finance committee?”

Phil glanced at Stella. “Yes. I think I do need to address the committee. That’s why I brought Chief Griffin with me.”

Stella thanked him with a nod of her head. “We’re both here to address the issue of the town purchasing a fireboat.”

“We aren’t to that matter yet, Chief Griffin,” Myra Strickland said. “You’re welcome to sign up to speak when we come to that measure. Good day, Mr. Roth. How are you?”

There was a decided warmth in the way the committee members spoke to Phil. Stella supposed it was greased by the money he’d put into infrastructure and other town necessities since he’d come to Sweet Pepper.

The committee droned through several requests for funding from the town. There were road improvements and sewer pumps that needed to be replaced.

Stella glanced at her watch hoping Rufus might still make the meeting. She wasn’t sure what Phil’s knowledge of boats was—she hoped it was better than hers.

There was a back-and-forth between Baker Lockwood and Bob Floyd about the particulars of replacing incandescent lights in the town’s decorative streetlights with bulbs powered by small solar panels. Stella found herself nodding off while they spoke of the savings to the town versus the cost of installing the new panels.

“Hey!” Eric’s voice penetrated her sleepy subconscious. “You’re up next.”

Stella was startled. She sat up straight and peered around herself.

“I think we’re next,” Phil said.

Eric was sitting next to her in the chair on the other side.

“Were you trying to ditch me?” Eric demanded. “If so—you should’ve left the badge at the café.”

She couldn’t answer him. The conversation had turned to the fireboat purchase. Nay was speaking about his boat.

Stella waited politely for him to finish his presentation, which included pictures of his boat as it was and drawings of what it would be like set up as the town’s fireboat.

When he was finished, Myra nodded to Phil and Stella. “I believe you have something you want to say about this matter, Chief Griffin.”

She got to her feet with Phil and cleared her throat, not sure what she was going to say that would be as impressive as Nay’s presentation.

Rufus burst into the meeting room with large poster boards under his arm. His red hair was standing on end. He hadn’t shaved and appeared as though he’d spent the night in his clothes.

“I’m sorry. I got the message late, but I’m here.” He bowed to the finance committee as though they were royalty. “I hope there’s still time.”

“There’s plenty of time,” Stella muttered to him as she helped with his visual aids.

Rufus was even better prepared than Nay. He actually had videos of fireboats, including the one Stella remembered from Chicago. He had a PowerPoint presentation and renderings on the poster boards that were before-and-after representations of what the boat would look like.

“Mr. Albert’s boat is
capable
of doing the job,” Rufus addressed the committee. “It’s small for what’s needed, and in my opinion, that will make it difficult to mount the hoses and other equipment the fire brigade will need if they want to save the houses at Sunset Beach.”

“That’s very impressive.” Tommy Potter ventured an opinion. “Do you have figures to back up your plans?”

“I certainly do, Your Honor.” Rufus passed out his documents.

Tommy Potter chuckled as he took the paperwork. “We’re not judges. You can call us by our names.”

“Oh, sorry.” Rufus looked embarrassed but finished passing out the paperwork. “As you can see, because of the extensive work that would have to be done to Mr. Albert’s boat, the estimates for my boat are much lower. My boat is ready right now and has years of my family’s boat-building knowledge backing it. It only needs the modifications you see on the list.”

While they were reading Rufus’s figures, Stella added, “I should also point out that Rufus has joined the fire brigade and has offered, at no cost to the town, to work with the fireboat and help us get it set up.”

Baker Lockwood glanced up and nodded at her.

“I would also like to put a few good words in about Chief Griffin’s recommendation to accept this bid on creating the fireboat for my community.” Phil had a practiced speaker’s voice. All the committee members looked up.

“Yes, Mr. Roth?” Myra smiled invitingly at him.

“I believe Chief Griffin has given a great deal of thought to this project. I think she’s our best resource for making this decision.”

“This wouldn’t have anything to do with you two having lunch together, would it?” Nay demanded in a sour voice. “We don’t want to make a hasty decision that will affect the town based on some
flirtation
between our fire chief and Mr. Roth.”

“Jerk,” Eric said.

Stella was shocked that Nay would say that.

She was even more surprised when Bob Floyd agreed with him. “I suspect our best effort right now might be to table this decision until later this year.”

Stella was furious. “Are you going to let a decision as important as protecting the Sunset Beach community stay on the table so Bob and Nay can make a few extra bucks? If you like you can take anything extra for Rufus’s boat out of my salary.”

“You can’t accuse me of wanting to make extra money,” Nay argued. “I’m practically
giving
my boat to the town.”

Phil took him up on it. “In that case why not be a Good Samaritan and
donate
the boat to the town. Chief Griffin is willing to give up part of her salary. Surely you must be as dedicated to the project as she is.”

Myra looked at her fellow members of the committee. “Well, I’ve heard enough. I think we should take a vote on this.”

Nay and Bob tried again to stall, but Baker Lockwood and Tommy Potter were ready to vote too.

“All in favor,” Myra began, “say aye. All opposed, you know the drill. Although I can’t imagine for one minute why anyone would vote against our fire chief, Mr. Roth, and the Palcomb family, who has been building boats right here in Sweet Pepper for a hundred years.”

There were three ayes to two nos—Bob’s and Nay’s.

“That settles it. Chief Griffin, we’ll make the recommendation to the council that they fund this project for you. Thank you all for being here today.” Myra brought down her gavel to end the conversation.

There was still more to be discussed by the committee. Stella was glad she didn’t have to sit through it. She, Rufus, and Phil left the meeting room with Eric trailing behind them.

“Yes!” Rufus high-fived Stella. “I’ll get started on everything right away. Thanks for giving me a shot at this, Chief.”

“Thanks for putting all of it together. I thought Nay’s presentation was impressive—until you walked in like you’d been thinking about it for weeks. Good job, Rufus. I’m looking forward to working with you.”

Phil shook hands with Rufus. “Thank you. If you need anything from me, let me know. Nothing is more important than the safety of my community.”

Stella and Phil helped Rufus take all his presentation materials to his pickup.

Rufus waved as he pulled away from the curb. “Are we still on for dinner Friday night?”

“Yes. I’ll see you then if not before.”

After Rufus was gone, Phil turned to Stella. “Is that a date type of dinner? Are you two a thing? I don’t want to step on anyone’s toes.”

“We aren’t a thing. He invited me to dinner because I told him I hate to cook. I just met Rufus when we started thinking about the boat project.”

“That’s good to know.” Phil smiled at her. “Would it be all right if I asked you out to dinner too? Not on Friday night, but some other time.”

“Oh brother.” Eric was perched on the hood of Phil’s Jeep.

“That would be nice.” Stella ignored her ghostly roommate. “Give me a call.”

“Good. I’ll talk to you later.”

Stella was flushed with her victory—and knowing that she had two excellent dinners coming up with two attractive, interesting men. She got in the Cherokee and started the engine.

“You’re supposed to take part of your cocaine sample to Chief Rogers,” Eric reminded her. “Unless you’re too busy gathering boyfriends to find out who killed Barney Falk.”

She turned off the engine. “I know. You probably don’t realize this, but I can’t give him a sample. I’d have to give him the whole thing without breaking the seal I put on it. It’s part of the chain of evidence.”

“Whatever.”

“That means if he throws it away all I have is photos. Are you seriously advocating that I trust him that much?”

“Yes. If he throws it away we’ll find another way around the problem. You’ll know for sure that you can’t trust him. If he does his job, he’s an ally.”

She opened the driver’s side door. “An irritating, misogynistic ally.”

“Obviously.”

“Okay.” She took a deep breath. “Let’s go.”

Stella went back into town hall. She asked Sandy if she could speak to Chief Rogers.

“He’s in with someone right now. It shouldn’t be long.”

“That’s fine. I can wait a few minutes.”

“Congrats on your win,” Sandy said. “I thought Nay was going to
pop
. He’s still in there arguing with Myra even though the meeting’s over. I’m sure that won’t be the last of it.”

“I’m sure you’re right.”

A moment later, John and Chief Rogers came out of Rogers’s office. They were still conversing in low tones that didn’t sound particularly friendly. When the two men saw Stella they stopped in their tracks.

“We were just talking about you, Ms. Griffin,” Chief Rogers said. “Is there something I can do for you?”

“As a matter of fact, I think there’s something you can do for both of us.” Stella held out the container she’d filled with what she thought was cocaine.

“All right then.” Chief Rogers stepped to the side. “Come on in.”

S
tella wished John were going into the office with them. Instead he gave her an inquisitive look, put on his uniform hat, and headed out the front door.

She knew Eric was right about finding out the truth about Chief Rogers. She hoped this was the right time to do it. Giving him her only evidence of possibly finding cocaine at the Falk house was a risky move. If John had been there, at least he would’ve been a witness to what had transpired.

She sat in one of the chairs facing Chief Rogers’s desk. He lounged back in his chair behind it. He waited patiently, but with no encouragement. It was hard to find a way to tell him.

Eric gave her a nudge that felt like a strong electric shock.

“I collected this evidence yesterday when I was working on Barney Falk’s house,” she blurted out, a little angry at the shock Eric had given her. “I’m not sure what it is. It looks like cocaine. I have corroborating photos of where and when I found it.”

She handed the sealed container to Chief Rogers. He looked at it against the background of the lamp on his cluttered desk.

“What makes you think it’s cocaine?”

“I’ve seen cocaine before. It was sprinkled everywhere, possibly blown out of a package by the blast that caused the fire.”

“Blast?” His gaze moved from the cocaine to her. “I saw the report on the fire. I didn’t read a thing about a blast—or cocaine.”

“I know. I saw it too. Like I told you this morning, those men that picked me up last night wanted me to keep my mouth shut about what we’d found. It seems to me that someone bigger than them took care of the problem. Gail Hubbard signed off on the case. The evidence we gathered has been lost. This is all that’s left.”

“And you’re giving it to
me
?”

“You’re the law in Sweet Pepper. No matter what the state says about the fire, you can still investigate to find out if this is cocaine, and if there is a connection to the drugs found with the college kids on the trail.”

He nodded and swiveled in his chair. “You and me have never hit it off, Ms. Griffin. I don’t trust you. I’m sure the feeling is mutual. Why are you doing this?”

Stella leaned forward. “Because this is
my
home too now. Because you uphold the law here. I try to keep people safe from fires. We should be working together. At least that’s what a friend of mine told me.”

He laughed. “Walt, right?”

She glanced at Eric. “Not exactly.”

Chief Rogers considered her words as he contemplated the container she’d given him. “I was just discussing this very thing with John. I don’t want my town to get a reputation as being a good place to get or hide drugs. I think you’re right. I think something is going down here. I don’t like it.”

Something inside her relaxed and she took a deep breath. “I’m glad. I don’t like it either. Can you have that sample checked?”

“I can, and I will. Send me those photos. I may need you to testify to back this up if we find something.”

“All right. Whatever I can do to help.”

He got to his feet and held out his hand to her. “
Chief
Griffin. Welcome to Sweet Pepper.”

Stella shook his hand. She hoped they’d come to a new place in their relationship. She wanted to believe he’d pursue the problem.

Words are easy
, she reminded herself as she left his office.
Will he follow up?

“So?” Eric asked as Stella waved goodbye to Sandy, who was on two phone lines.

“I don’t know. We’ll see.”

“You’re a hard woman to convince of anything, Stella Griffin. You held on longer in the cabin than anyone else ever had. Your father was right. You’re plain stubborn.”

“You mean that in a good way, right?” She started out of town hall but veered away from the Cherokee.

“I don’t know,” he teased. “We’ll see. Where are you going?”

“I’m glad you stopped me before I went back to the cabin. I need to get my dress for the pepper queen’s coronation dance tonight. I’ll walk up to Molly Whitehouse’s place and get it.”

“The coronation of the pepper queen and her court?”

“I know. I can hardly express how excited and thrilled I am.”

“You don’t want to see the queen and her court crowned?” Eric couldn’t believe it. “I never missed it when I was fire chief. It’s actually the beginning of next year’s Sweet Pepper Festival. The queen reigns for a whole year. Who’s in the running for queen this year?”

She shrugged. “I have no idea. I’ll ask Molly if you want me to.”

“You mean you’re on the planning committee for the festival and you don’t know?”

“Don’t push me, Eric. And what was with that electric nudge inside? Don’t do that again. And if you
can
monitor my pulse rate, don’t do that either. The idea of it creeps me out.”

Eric’s voice deepened as he whispered, “Stella, you don’t know
all
the things I can do.”

A small flurry of leaves danced in a circle to an unseen breeze around her feet even though the rest of the street was quiet.

“And I don’t want to know. Let’s keep that your little secret, okay?” But she
shivered
and walked faster on the sidewalk.

Molly Whitehouse’s dress shop was busy, as always. With the event that night, everyone was coming in for last-minute alterations and add-ons. Stella waited for her turn, thinking of all the other things she could be doing—like taking a nap in front of the fireplace.

“Chief Griffin,” Molly greeted her at last. “Your dress turned out beautifully. Do you want to try it on one last time before you take it home?”

“No. I’m sure it’s fine. I have practice in a few minutes. If I could pick it up now that would be great. Thanks, Molly.”

“All right. I hope it’s okay.” Molly handed her what seemed to be a very large brown dress swathed in plastic.

“It looks wonderful already.” Stella smiled. “Who’s running for festival queen this year?”

Molly giggled. “Foster Waxman is running for her last court. She’s a senior, you know. We’ll miss her when she goes off to college next year. She’s the favorite, of course. But she
has
been queen before.”

Molly went on to describe all three girls who might be crowned as queen that night. She launched into the seven girls who might be picked for the queen’s court too.

Stella waited for her to finish with a patient smile on her face. “Thanks. I’ll see you tonight.”

“Yes. And if you have any problems with the dress give me a call.” Molly patted her arm. “I hear we’re having a barbecue at Beau’s to benefit the fire brigade on Saturday. I’m looking forward to it. What kind of tricks are the firefighters going to do?”

“Tricks?”
Stella perked up when she heard that. She’d known about the barbecue in a sketchy kind of way. This was the first time she’d heard a date mentioned. Or tricks.

“I read it on the poster. I think I have one over here. You know we’re very proud of our volunteers.”

Stella glanced at the bright red and orange poster that offered food, music, and entertainment by the fire brigade on Saturday at noon. She had no idea what that was supposed to mean. There was also supposed to be an official look at the new fireboat. Who’d printed these things?

Eric was excited about the coronation dance and the fund-raiser at Beau’s. He talked nonstop about the old days, when he’d been putting the fire brigade together.

She got her answer about the posters when she stopped by the firehouse on the way home. The posters were all over the building. Tagger and Allen were viewing them with pride as they drank their coffee.

“I guess you know where they came from.” Eric peered down at a poster on the top of a stack.

“Did you two print these?” Stella asked.

“Hi, Chief!” Tagger beamed. His toothy smile was more pronounced than usual. “I did it with help from Willy and Walt. Having the fire brigade go through some of their routines was Walt’s idea. He’s hoping the Sweet Pepper Festival will want to add firefighter routines to their program. Neat, huh?”

“Not really all that neat,” Stella told Tagger. “I wish you’d said something to me about this first.”

Tagger did his best to ignore his former chief who was standing beside Stella. He stared at him but didn’t speak.

Allen laughed. “I had the same look on my face, Chief, when Tagger showed me the posters.”

Walt and Bert pulled into the parking lot. Bert could hardly hold back his excitement. Walt’s hands were full of posters.

“It’s great, huh, Chief?” Bert asked. “We’ve been putting them up all over town. Just imagine getting to show off our skills. It doesn’t get better than that—and barbecue too.”

Walt took one look at Stella’s expression and slapped the rest of his posters on the table. “Why do I get the feeling you aren’t excited about this, Chief?”

“I don’t know where to start with that one.” She took a deep breath and tried to figure out what to say. Obviously this had gone far beyond the planning stages. She didn’t want to condemn everyone’s hard work and initiative.

“You don’t like them, Chief?” Bert could hardly believe it.

“She really does,” Tagger assured them. “She’s amazed that we got so much done while she was investigating the fire.”

It was as good an excuse as any. What could it hurt showing off a little, like Bert said? The volunteers had worked hard to learn their skills. People didn’t get to appreciate what they did unless they were the recipients of their services.

“It’s a good idea.” She gave it her blessing. When the applause and screeches died down she added, “It might help us find a few new volunteers and raise some money for the fireboat too.”

David and Kimmie walked in on the celebration. Sylvia and Hero ran barking and jumping through the firehouse.

“Hero got his third certification today!” David announced with tears in his eyes, his voice trembling. “Sylvia is still behind him, but she aced her second certification.”

There were calls for more celebration, and the possibility of going to Beau’s for beer. David and Kimmie didn’t drink. Bert was too young. Allen and Tagger were on duty.

“I guess that leaves me and you, Stella.” Walt grinned at her. “Don’t say no. You need one after going through what you did last night. How’s that head doing?”

That meant going back through the story of the botched kidnapping one more time. Everyone listened intently as though they hadn’t heard it a dozen times already today. Stella ended it by telling them the good news about the fireboat.

“I can’t go for that beer, Walt. I have to get ready for the festival queen’s dance this evening.”

“That’s not until six.” Walt looked at his watch. “What are you gonna do till then?”

“That’s none of your business.” She grinned. “I’m headed home. Keep it down out here. We don’t want people calling the police and complaining.”

Hero barked and started running up Firehouse Road. Stella noticed that Eric was gone. David and Kimmie were disappointed. They’d hoped to take both dogs out for a treat to celebrate their certifications.

“Do you think it’s safe to let Hero run up the road by himself that way?” Kimmie asked Stella.

“I’m sure it is. It’s a private road. Not many people go up that way.”

“Of course not.” Walt snickered. “They all know Eric is up at the cabin. You should’ve seen the way he stopped that dozer. I thought Bob Floyd would lose his teeth.”

They all believed what Walt was saying. Stella didn’t have to confirm his words. Kimmie still looked a little doubtful—she wasn’t from Sweet Pepper and wasn’t sure she believed in ghosts.

Stella went out to the Cherokee, with a stop to check on her Harley. She’d be glad when the weather was nice enough to ride again. The Cherokee was nice, but it would never beat the Harley.

A new white pickup pulled in to the back of the firehouse as Stella was about to leave. She didn’t recognize the vehicle but waited in case it was someone she needed to talk to.

To her surprise, Gail got out of the pickup, scanning the area carefully as she finally saw Stella with the Cherokee. “Thank God you’re here.”

Stella wasn’t feeling exceptionally friendly toward Gail. She felt like she’d been betrayed by the other woman. She tried to remember what Eric had said about Gail backing down from the same people who’d kidnapped her.

Gail was wearing a pair of large, dark sunglasses, the kind you get from the eye doctor after you’ve been for a visit. She removed them when she got close to Stella. Her cheek was bruised and she had a black eye.

“Are you okay?” Instantly Stella felt terrible that she’d been less than charitable toward Gail. Obviously her experience had been much worse. She didn’t have a friendly ghost to help her out of a jam.

“I’m fine. I know I look bad.” Gail’s eyes welled with tears. She bit hard on her lip to keep from shedding them. “I heard you went through the same thing. I’m sorry I had to let you down. I didn’t know what else to do.”

“Come back with me to the cabin.” Stella saw her jump when Petey drove into the parking lot. “We can talk privately there.”

They left Gail’s pickup at the firehouse. She put on her dark glasses again when she got in the Cherokee.

“I’ve never been so scared in my life. I was sure they were going to kill me.”

“I know what you mean,” Stella commiserated. “What do you think tipped them off?”

“I don’t know. It may have been the samples I sent to the lab. I had to sneak in there and wipe them off the computer where they’d been logged. Thank goodness no one had time to examine them yet. I don’t want to think what would’ve happened then.”

They reached the cabin where Hero was running in the woods.

“How did you get away? What did you do? You must have had much better training than I had not to fall apart like a wet cupcake.”

The door was open to the cabin as Stella got out of the Cherokee. There was no way to explain. “I lived in Chicago all my life. I guess I grew up scrapping with my friends. Come on. I’ll make you some coffee. I think I have some food, if you’re hungry.”

Eric had already put on a pot of coffee. The cabin smelled strongly of it. There were also a few packages of cinnamon rolls that he’d thrown into the cart at the store. They were displayed on a plate in the middle of the table.