Swamp Team 3 (6 page)

Ally stared at me for a couple of seconds, then laughed. “Oh my God. You’re serious, aren’t you?”

“Of course. Did you really think I was going to take a backseat when someone is out to get you? Even if you didn’t bake the best muffins in the world, you’re my friend. And I’ll be darned if someone is going to hurt one of my friends on my watch.”

Ally smiled. “I love that you feel that way, but what can you do about it? I know you’ve gotten to the bottom of some things recently, but you’re a librarian. You could have been hurt or worse. I don’t want that on my conscience.”

“I have no intention of putting myself in danger,” I said, and that wasn’t a lie. It usually wasn’t my intent that got me in a pickle—it was Ida Belle and Gertie’s.

“But you already have,” Ally pointed out. “You invited me to stay here. If someone is out to get me, that means you’re in danger simply by doing a good deed.”

She sucked in a breath and her eyes widened. “Oh my God! What if the creeper was the guy who tried to burn down my house? That has to be it, right? He could have killed you last night.”

“The way he screamed when I rounded the corner and darn near ran into him, I doubt killing someone was on his mind. I think I scared him more than he scared me.”

“That’s only because he didn’t expect anyone to be out there. The point still is, I’ve already put you in danger.”

“I don’t think so. He took off running. What kind of killer runs away from his prey?”

 
“But why was he here in the first place? You didn’t have any trouble before last night. So it has to be because of me.”

“Okay, let’s just say that’s true. What are your options? Staying with Celia would put her in danger, and regardless of my profession, I think I’m better equipped to handle a potential threat than her. There’s no hotel in town. Your job is here. Your house is uninhabitable.”

“It’s not inhabitable right now.” Ally rose from the table. “I’m going to call my insurance adjuster and see if they can put a rush on things. As soon as the house is livable, I’m moving back in.”

“No way—”

She held up her hand. “Tell me you wouldn’t do the same thing if the situation were reversed.”

I let out a huff. The truth was, I would have stayed in the house, breathing smoke and ash, and with a sniper rifle trained on the backyard, just waiting for the guy to come back and finish the job.
 

“That’s what I thought,” she said and headed out of the kitchen.
 

I slumped back in my chair. That had not gone as planned. If Ally went back to her house, I couldn’t protect her the way I could if we were under the same roof. And I couldn’t exactly tell her that I was an assassin and not a librarian, although that would instantly fix all my problems—with this situation anyway. It would open Pandora’s box for others.

I didn’t doubt for a moment that Carter would do everything within his power to find out who was responsible. He was an honorable man and it was clear to me that he cared about the people he protected. What Carter wouldn’t do is things
not
within his power, and I’d already decided that the legal system was quite restrictive when it came to tracking down the guilty.

Which left only one option—Swamp Team Three.

Chapter Five

Gertie plopped down on my couch, clutching a pair of tennis shoes, and looked over at me. “You’re sure Ally won’t be back for a while?”

I nodded. “I called you guys as soon as Celia hauled her out of here. She’s taking Ally to the Catholic church for some sort of prayer vigil and lunch thing.”

“Good,” Ida Belle said. “Someone should make a note. This might be the first time Celia has done anything useful.”

“For us, maybe,” I said. “Ally might have a differing opinion.”

“No doubt she does,” Gertie said, as she bent over to remove her loafers and pull on tennis shoes. “So explain to me again why we’re going to sneak over to Ally’s house?”

“To find clues,” Ida Belle said. “Someone tried to burn down Ally’s house. Then was creeping around Fortune’s. We need to find out who it is. Have you been paying attention at all?”

Gertie gave Ida Belle a dirty look. “I’m not senile. I’m just wondering why we’re going to go slipping around the back side of the neighborhood, then tromping through the swamp, when all the information we need is at the sheriff’s department.”

Ida Belle threw her hands in the air. “What are we thinking? We should have Gertie walk down there and get Carter to make us a copy.”

“Sarcasm is not a good look for you,” Gertie said.

“Now she tells me.” Ida Belle grunted as she tied her shoe.

“I’m not suggesting,” Gertie said, “that we stroll down to the sheriff’s department and ask Carter to hand over his files. I was merely pointing out that we have managed to get confidential information out of the building.”

“Oh no,” I said. “I’m not breaking into the sheriff’s department again. Heck, I’m not even going to walk past it on the sidewalk.”

Ida Belle stared. “What’s eating you?”

I grabbed the toilet invoice from my coffee table and passed it to Ida Belle. She scanned the document, then started laughing.
 

“He asked you on a date,” Ida Belle said, “but he’s billing you for breaking the toilet? He needs some serious work on his romancing skills.”

Gertie snatched the invoice from Ida Belle. “Well, this doesn’t make any sense at all. Why in the world would he bring this up now?”

“To dissuade me from any thoughts of getting involved in his investigation of Ally’s house fire,” I said. “And given that I had a creeper and he got a cat thrown on him, he’s going to be watching me closer than ever. I want to protect Ally as much as you guys, but I can’t keep taking the kind of risks I have been.”

“She’s right,” Ida Belle said. “And since Carter’s interested in Fortune on a personal level, he’s going to pay even closer attention to everything she does.”

Gertie stared at us, a confused expression on her face. “But we’re about to sneak into Ally’s backyard, which has been roped off as a crime scene. Isn’t that a risk?”

“Yes,” I said, “but it doesn’t count unless we get caught.”

Ida Belle nodded. “Breaking into the sheriff’s department is a far bigger risk, especially since Carter’s convinced we’ve done it before.”

“We
have
done it before,” Gertie said.

“Of course we’ve done it before.” Ida Belle’s exasperation started to show. “But we’re not going to
admit
to it! And Fortune’s right—all the happenings here lately have put her under a spotlight. We need to do everything we can to get that light off of her.”

“Who said she had to go?” Gertie asked.

I looked over at Ida Belle, who frowned. “Well, hmmm, no one, I guess.”

The possibilities of what could happen if Ida Belle and Gertie set out to break into the sheriff’s department by themselves flashed through my mind like a
Three Stooges
episode on fast-forward.
 

“Can we go with this option first?” I asked. “Bail for trespassing is going to be a lot lower than bail for breaking and entering.”

“Good point,” Ida Belle said and rose from her chair. “Hurry up, Gertie. You’re always lagging.”

Gertie grunted as she bent over to tie her last tennis shoe. “You never let up—‘you should exercise more,’ ‘get new glasses’—now I guess you’re going to try to push that newfangled yoga crap on me just because I don’t think touching my head to my knees represents a skill set I need or a good time.”

I shook my head. “You disarmed that killer in your house with an incredible kick. Totally Bruce Lee stuff, and that was only a few weeks ago. How can you be in such bad shape now?”

Gertie rose from the chair. “I limped for two days after that kick, and had to use ice and a heating pad for a week. My body hasn’t forgotten my martial arts training, and can pull off a move or two in a pinch, but I always pay for it later.”

Ida Belle frowned. “Then I’m surprised you’re not in traction from all the falling off fences and out of trees that you’ve done lately.”

“I didn’t fall,” Gertie argued. “I miscalculated the distance in the dark.”

“It wasn’t dark when you fell out of the tree at the funeral,” I pointed out.

Gertie glared at both of us for a second, then stalked out the front door.

Ida Belle stared after her, shaking her head. “You know—”

“If she got new glasses it would solve everything,” I finished. “Her depth perception is off because of her vision. She squints a lot and lately, her head is usually cocked slightly to the right. Likely, she’s got eye strain from trying to focus and it’s giving her a headache and potentially an earache, which in turn is affecting her balance.”

“Nice.” Ida Belle gave me an approving nod. “You don’t miss much, do you?”

“In my line of work, the smallest flaw can create a big advantage. I’ve gotten lax since I’ve been in Sinful. I’m trying to get back to basics.”

I hopped up from my chair and Ida Belle and I joined Gertie on the sidewalk outside.

“We should head to the park,” Ida Belle said. “Ally’s house is a short hop through the swamp, just behind the picnic area.”

I nodded. “I hope no one is picnicking. The fewer witnesses, the better.”

Gertie wiped sweat from her brow. “It was ninety-two degrees when I left my house, and a hundred percent humidity given that a storm is brewing. No one in their right mind would be picnicking right now.”

Sure, I thought, but how many Sinful residents were in their right mind?

I fell in step next to Ida Belle, who set off at a brisk pace for the park. Gertie huffed behind us, and I wondered if she’d make it to the park, much less through the swamp. But then I had no room to talk. I’d finally jumped on a scale this morning and had almost screamed at the horror.

Five pounds!

I’d gained five pounds since I’d arrived in Sinful. If this is what happened when one converted to civilian life, I may have to skip retirement. If I didn’t do something soon, I wouldn’t pass the physical for a mission, and I’d have to shop for new clothes. It was the shopping for new clothes part that scared me the most.
 

As I felt my hamstrings tighten, I made a deal with myself—from now on, only one bad food item a day, and I had to run at least five miles every morning to counteract the bad food. Marge had some free weights in her bedroom closet. I probably needed to haul those out as well.
 

“We can cut across here,” Ida Belle said and stepped off the sidewalk and into the park.

We cut diagonally across the park and through the picnic area, which was empty, as predicted.
 

“Hold up for a second,” Gertie said as we stepped into the edge of the swamp. “I’ve been thinking about things.”

Ida Belle raised an eyebrow. “What things?”

“Things like the fire not being set by a professional.”

“Well, we already knew that before Carter said anything,” Ida Belle said.

“Really?” I asked. “How?”

Ida Belle shrugged. “Because it was only dusk. A professional would have waited until dark to avoid being seen.”

I nodded. “And that’s a logical thought except for one thing.”

“What?”

“Assuming the arsonist is a Sinful resident, no one would think anything of seeing them walking or driving down the street, or walking through the swamp.”

Gertie’s eyes widened. “She’s right. We keep going into these things with some shadowy image of the bad guy, but we keep forgetting that it’s probably someone we already know.”

“Okay, I’ll give you that,” Ida Belle said, “but people
would
notice a man walking down the sidewalk with a gas can. Anyone who saw him would assume he ran out of gas and stop to offer a ride.”

I shrugged. “So he went through the swamp, hid the can beforehand, and then returned later to set the fire.”

“Before dark.” Ida Belle shook her head. “One indicates clever. The other plain stupid.”

“Creeping around my house wearing a makeshift mask is plain stupid, too,” I said, “but somebody did it. Who else has a reason to besides our arsonist?”

 
“Okay,” Ida Belle said. “I’ll play along. Let’s say the arsonist took the same path that we are to Ally’s house to avoid being seen by any residents who were out and about. Why hide the can? If he’s ballsy or stupid enough to torch the house before dark, then why come back later? Why not just do it while he was there?”

“Because Ally was cooking,” I said, “and the kitchen is on the back of the house.”

Gertie nodded. “He couldn’t have entered the backyard without Ally seeing him.”

“So either he got there and waited until she went upstairs or he left the can and came back later. Either way, he might have left a clue—footprints, a cigarette—and that’s what we’re going to look for. I can’t see that this needs any more thinking.”

“What if he lived next door?” Gertie asked.

Ida Belle and I both stared.