Page 26 of Frankie (Big Northwest #5)

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

JD

J D walked into the office at the B&B where Kenneth had his surveillance system all set up. The man might have retired, but he certainly hadn’t left his old ways behind.

But it wasn’t just Kenneth waiting for him. Both Craig and Phillip Foster also turned to greet him.

“Didn’t know there was a party going on in here.” JD scanned the screens displaying the various camera feeds monitoring Shadow Pine. “Something going on I should know about?”

“Not that we can find.” Kenneth leaned back in the office chair he occupied, rubbing his eyes with both hands. “I almost think for once there’s actually nothing going on.”

“There’s always something going on.” Foster steepled his fingers, studying JD over them from where he sat across the desk from Kenneth. “It’s whether or not it’s dangerous, that's the question.”

“Well if that’s not dangerous, I don’t know what is.”

They all turned to look at the monitor Craig was watching. JD stepped closer as four of the Karlson sisters climbed into a side-by-side and took off. The cameras revealed their path as they blinked from one screen to the next, their trek across town playing out in real time.

Foster leaned forward. “Where are they heading?”

JD had the answer to that. “Frankie’s warehouse.” He pulled up a chair and sat down. “I dropped her off there a few minutes ago.”

He figured the sisters would discover Frankie’s location eventually, but wasn’t expecting it to happen so soon. Hopefully she was ready, because if they upset her?—

“I’d say Danny’s going there to look at the rhino that was delivered yesterday, but I can’t imagine why everyone else would be with her.” Craig frowned at the screen. “Something must be up.”

Something was most definitely up, but it was Frankie’s story to share. “You know how the sisters can be.” He met Craig’s eyes. “You should only be worried if you’ve done something to piss one of them off.”

Craig shook his head. “Not me.” His gaze drifted to Foster. “But so far they haven’t loved everything Phillip’s had to say.”

JD smirked. He didn’t hate Foster quite as much as he had the night they met, but still wasn’t the private investigator’s biggest fan, so imagining the sisters ganging up on him brought no small amount of amusement. “Might want to watch your back. They could be coming for you next.”

“They’ll have to hurry.” Foster stretched one arm to check his watch. “I’m heading out in about an hour. Since we can’t find anything suspicious about Frankie’s fire, I figure my skills are better put to use elsewhere.”

“I won’t argue that.” JD looked over Foster’s pristine suit and perfectly combed hair. He knew the man wasn’t a threat to him. Frankie didn’t want the PI. In fact, there was a very good chance she would try to harm him bodily at some point.

But still.

He turned his attention to where Kenneth sat. “I take it that means you heard back from the fire marshal.”

Kenneth blew out a breath with a shrug. “He said it was an electrical issue. Looked like one of her outlets went haywire and the fire spread from there. Since no one was home, it had the time to grow unchecked until it was big enough to take the whole place over.”

“Huh.” He’d replaced a fair number of outlets over the years, and while he knew the things could be a problem, it was usually due to age or being overloaded. “How much did she have plugged into it?”

“Not a thing.” Kenneth shrugged. “Fire marshal thought it was probably a faulty outlet.” He clicked his tongue. “Said it might not have even caused a problem if it hadn’t been so close to the curtains in her bedroom.”

“That’s pretty fucking unlucky.” Of all the outlets in Frankie’s house, it sucked the one that went bad would be in a place to do so much damage.

“Is it?” Foster smirked at him. “Because from where I’m sitting it looks like it worked out real well for you.”

He couldn’t argue that. Frankie’s house burning down essentially dropped her right into his bed every night. And he planned to make full use of the development. But…

“It still sucks.” He stared Foster down, needing to make sure the man listened. He was about to go try to find James, and there were some things he likely still didn’t fully understand. “Those girls grew up with nothing. They’ve worked their asses off for everything they own. Having it taken from them, even by accident, is fucking bullshit.”

Frankie seemed okay, but that didn’t matter. She’d still lost nearly everything. Her clothes. Her furniture. The fuzzy blankets she loved so much and the room she’d decorated for her beloved dogs.

It might take him a little while, but he’d make sure she got every bit of it back. Hell, he’d even do whatever it took to get the house rebuilt if that’s what she wanted.

He’d also do whatever it took to keep her living in his, but that wasn’t the point.

“Here they come again.” Kenneth shook his head, watching as the side-by-side carrying the sisters came zooming back into town. It cut across the screens, following their path as they made a beeline straight for the B&B. Likely to bring Frankie back to town and maybe give him a little hell for hogging her attention.

They’d have to get over it. He had a decade to make up for. Ten years’ worth of her focus to reclaim.

JD scooted the chair he was in closer to where Kenneth sat. “I’m sure you’ve checked, but you didn’t see anything weird the night Frankie’s house burned down, did you?”

He understood the fire marshal didn’t find anything suspicious, but something about it still didn’t sit right. There were too many things to discount them all. The fire alone might not have roused his suspicions, but this wasn’t just a fire.

This was a falling tree that had been cleaned up. People lurking in the woods behind Frankie’s house—maybe outside his own house. And a fire.

A fucking trifecta of strange happenings. All aimed Frankie’s way.

Kenneth shook his head as he grabbed the computer mouse and started sifting through the screens. “Not a damn thing.” He pulled up the feed from that night. “But you can go through it. See if you can find anything I missed.” The older man sighed. “I want to believe there’s nothing going on…”

“But you don’t.” JD took the mouse and started the recording, squinting at the slightly blurred night vision scene displayed across the screen.

Kenneth was quiet for a second, before finally admitting, “I’ve been around long enough to know there’s no such thing as coincidence.”

The sisters’ voices carried through the B&B as they entered, filtering through the main space and into the hall leading back to the office. He’d been around them long enough to know they were about to hit like a fucking tornado, so he braced for the whirlwind. After pausing the feed, he turned, expecting to see Frankie with the rest of the group, but only Sam, Danny, Charlie, and Alex hovered in the doorway.

And each of them was glaring at him.

Part of him thought he’d get to skip this step. That the hazing the sisters dished out to any man brave—or dumb—enough to infiltrate their ranks would pass right by him.

Wrong.

He turned his chair to fully face them, holding his hand out at his side. “Let’s have it.”

Silence. Not a single sister said a word. They just stared at him with scowls on their faces.

“Fine. I’ll get back to it then.” He turned away, clicking the feed on, watching at double speed as nothing happened.

The fine hairs on the back of his neck lifted and the urge to shift in his seat became nearly unbearable. Peeking over one shoulder, he nearly shit his pants to discover the sisters were all looming mere inches behind him, their expressions filled with malice.

“Fuck.” Surprise at their proximity had him jumping out of his skin and to his feet.

But before he could get his boots under him, the chair he was still partially reliant on for support started rolling across the floor, moving faster and faster thanks to the hands gripping it tight, until it slammed into the wall, giving him one hell of a jolt.

Sam’s glowing blue eyes moved over his face. “He looks shocked.”

“Awe.” Alex reached out with a single finger to tap the end of his nose. “Did you think you were special enough we’d let you be with our sister without threatening your life?”

“I thought we knew each other well enough that the threat was common knowledge.” He understood how the sisters worked. Probably better than anyone. “Didn’t realize you’d think you needed to remind me.”

“Seriously?” Charlie’s brows pinched. “You probably need to be reminded more than anyone.”

That had his head tipping back a little. “Me? Why?”

“Because you have the power to hurt her right out of the gate way more than anyone else could have hurt us.” Danny leaned closer, resting both hands on the arm of the office chair. “If there’s any doubt she’s what you want, now’s the time to walk away.”

“I’m not fucking walking away from her.” His declaration was loud and forceful as it raced free. “Not again.” He met Danny’s assessing gaze. “I’ll take care of her better than anyone else in this world and you fucking know it.”

Alex snorted. “You’ll sure as shit take better care of her than she does.”

“Speaking of taking care of her.” Kenneth started up the video feed again. “How about you finish watching this so you can get her back home to rest.”

The sisters gave JD one more long look before disbanding and giving him space to scoot back in front of the monitor. Danny crossed both arms over her chest, her blue eyes drifting to the screen. “What are we watching?”

“The recording of the night Frankie’s house caught on fire.” JD noted the time displayed in the corner. “Kenneth said there’s nothing notable on it, but I want to see it with my own eyes.”

He trusted Kenneth, but it would take more than the older man’s reassurance to shake the feeling that something was wrong, and he didn’t want that shadow hovering over his time with Frankie. He’d waited too long for it to let it be tainted.

“There’s Frankie coming back from the woods. Probably out checking for any sign of who she heard that night.” Kenneth’s pointing finger followed the small, shadowy form as it walked from the field to the back of Frankie’s house, disappearing from view.

JD straightened, his eyes glued to the screen. “Go back. ”

He didn’t wait for Kenneth to comply. Grabbing the mouse away, he rewound the recording, dread digging into his gut at the hooded figure walking purposefully to Frankie’s house. The gait was just as wrong as the proportions. Frankie had a slight limp right now because she was favoring her left hip. And her frame was more solid than the one on the screen. She was strong and muscular from years of manual labor. The person in front of him wasn’t out of shape, but they hadn’t been hauling around logs or climbing trees.

They had, however, been running wires and installing panels.

Along with doctoring an electrical outlet or two.

“That’s not Frankie.” JD was on his feet in an instant.

“What?” Kenneth jumped up along with him. “Who is it?”

He didn’t want to admit it. Couldn’t stomach thinking Craig was right. That he was the one who brought this to her doorstep.

But it was the truth. Because he recognized the hoodie the woman going into Frankie’s house wore. He’d seen her in it on one of their dates.

It took everything he had to meet the sisters’ eyes as he explained, “It’s Lena.” Just saying her name rolled his stomach. “The woman I brought to Lily’s birthday party.”

They’d only been out a few times. Were possibly on their way to something that might have been serious, but hadn’t done much more than a little heavy petting. Certainly nothing that would make her this pissed over losing him.

Regardless, she was an electrician and was there the night Frankie’s house burned down because of a faulty outlet. There was zero reason for her to have been on that camera feed.

“I’m going to get Frankie.” He shoved past Craig and Foster, boots hitting the floor faster and faster as he ran through the B&B and out the door, going straight to his truck.

He was inside with the engine started before he realized the cab was packed with four Karlson girls.

“Don’t fucking look at us like that.” From where she sat in the front seat, Sam motioned for him to hurry. “No way are we sitting here and waiting to make sure she’s okay.” She grabbed the ‘oh shit’ handle as he floored the gas. “I know she doesn’t like us all up in her business, but she’s gonna have to get over it this time.”