Page 98 of The Aster Valley Collection, Vol. 1

She grinned. “I didn’t either, until about ten hours ago. Yasmin needed some help because of a family emergency, and since I usually pick up part-time hours with Truman, I’m free at the moment. What can I get you?”

The three of us ordered and took a seat at a small table off to the side of the pickup counter.

Gail pulled out a notebook, while Dirk craned his neck to get another look at Chaya.

She was tall and beautiful with a mane of dark, curly hair.

The woman would attract attention even without saying a word, but she had such an effervescent personality, her personal greetings and periodic laughter lit up the room around her.

Someone had a crush.

“What can I help you with?” I asked to get this conversation going. I didn’t want to spend more time in town than I needed to. There was too much work to be done helping Truman organize the cleanup, not to mention the work at the lodge I’d specifically come to town to do for Tiller and Mikey.

Dirk hopped up to grab our drinks when Chaya set them on the counter and returned to our table after she left him to greet the next customer.

I took a sip and almost groaned in pleasure. God, I’d needed that. It had already been a hell of a day.

“Where were you at midnight the night of the fire?”

It took concentration to stay relaxed, but I did my best. “I believe I’ve already told you this. I returned from Truman’s farm to Rockley Lodge where I’m staying with friends.”

Gail nodded and scribbled in her notebook.

Dirk tried asking it a different way. “Describe the route you took from one place to the other.”

I described the simple drive from Truman’s down through town and up the other side of the valley to the lodge.

“So you drove past the Honeyed Lemon,” Dirk suggested.

I nodded. “As I have previously mentioned, yes.”

“And why were you seen in front of the Honeyed Lemon that night?”

“Didn’t I just answer that?” I asked, unsure of what he was asking. “I was on my way back to the lodge.”

Dirk clarified the question. “On foot. Why were you on foot at the shop?”

He asked it so casually, I almost second-guessed myself. “I… wasn’t? After I got the call from Truman about the fire, I couldn’t get within a block of the place. I pulled to the side of the road in front of the newspaper office, I think.”

Gail didn’t raise her eyes from her notes. “He means before the fire.”

I knew what they were asking, but I still gave it serious thought in order to be precise. “I didn’t go anywhere near the Honeyed Lemon on foot that day,” I said carefully. “In fact, the only time I’ve ever even entered the premises at all was when I first met you after the fire.”

Dirk’s eyes widened in surprise. “You expect me to believe that you’ve never been to your boyfriend’s own place of business?”

I let out a soft chuckle. “While I appreciate being thought of as Truman’s boyfriend, we actually only met a few days ago.

I came into town to help my friends with some construction work and came across Truman in the process.

We hit it off quickly, but I assure you, I haven’t been around long enough to have any kind of motivation to burn down his place of business. ”

Dirk sat back and crossed his arms in front of his chest. “You have an assault record in Texas.”

My stomach dropped. “I do.”

“So far, you’re the only person associated with this arson who has a criminal record,” he added.

I chose not to respond since he hadn’t asked a question. Suddenly, I wondered whether I should even continue this conversation without an attorney present.

Gail read from her notes. “There is also a report of you holding Mr. Sweet against his will earlier this week. A scene in town in which the local sheriff’s office responded.”

That was just plain ridiculous. “There were no charges filed, and you’re welcome to ask Mr. Sweet whether I was, in fact, holding him against his will.

” I took a breath and decided to extend a small amount of trust to the investigators.

“Listen, the assault charge was several years ago. My little sister was underage and drunk at a fraternity party. Her best friend called me to come get her. When I arrived, I found my sister being taken by a group of men into a back room. A fight ensued. That has absolutely nothing to do with arson or any other kind of willful property destruction. You’re wasting time if you’re looking at me for this. ”

Dirk sighed. “I understand your frustration here, but it’s our job to question everyone.”

“Did you question the Stanners? Ask if maybe any of their associates got a little too close to the Honeyed Lemon that night with a blowtorch?”

My patience was nearing its end.

Gail said primly, “We’re not at liberty to share information gathered in the course of our investigation.”

But Dirk leaned forward and spoke calmly. “We are interviewing everyone remotely concerned with this case. I assure you we’re doing everything we can to find the person or people responsible, and we will not jump to conclusions because of your record.”

I appreciated his ability to remain professional, but that was about it.

I didn’t feel confident in their ability to find a ghost, and if the Stanners weren’t responsible, then it would be practically impossible to discover who was.

Unless… were there other Aster Vallians upset enough by the closing of the ski resort to harass Truman this many years later?

If so, what would have changed to make them suddenly want revenge after all this time?

After a few more questions, in which I emphasized they were more than welcome to corroborate my whereabouts and character with Michael Vining and Tiller Raine, they thanked me for meeting them.

I stood and thought of one more thing. “Was there really no video from a nearby business? I’ve heard several Aster Valley business owners complain about vandalism. I would have thought some of them might have put up simple surveillance cameras afterward.”

Gail surprised me by answering with specifics. “The janitorial company across the alley in the back of the shop has video from that night. There is no sign of anyone entering the shop through the back door.”

That information stopped me in my tracks. “The arsonist entered through the front door? In full view of Main Street?”

Dirk and Gail both nodded. Gail continued. “But it’s a very small town without much nightlife.”

“Still,” I thought out loud. “It was a Saturday night. Midnight isn’t that late on a Saturday night in spring. Sunset is later, and the weather isn’t as cold. Surely, someone saw something.”

“Well,” Dirk said with a nod. “One would think. We’re working with local law enforcement to canvass the locals. It takes time. Meanwhile, we need to be patient.”

I waved and called out a goodbye to Chaya, inviting her to come up to Rockley Lodge for breakfast in the morning if she was free.

Mikey had planned another gathering of the Aster Valley business owners whether or not there was new information to share since there was now a plan in place to talk to a state law enforcement entity.

Chaya grinned wide and said she’d be there with bells on.

As frustrating as it was not to know who set the fire, there was nothing I could do to create information where none existed. But the conversation about surveillance video reminded me I’d wanted to put in some simple video cameras by Truman’s gate and front door at the farm.

I stopped by the big home store on the edge of town and picked up a surveillance camera kit I’d used on a jobsite several times before. It was easy to install, affordable, and practically indestructible. Instead of heading to the farm, I headed back to the lodge to pick up Truman.

I called to let him know I was on the way.

“Hey,” he answered breathlessly. “How’d it go?”

“Fine. They said whoever set the fire didn’t enter through the back of the shop. The business behind yours has cameras. That was the only thing I was able to learn. How’d it go with finding someone at the state level to get help with the hit-and-run?”

His voice lowered until it was a soft whisper. “I didn’t tell Mikey and Tiller yet about what happened back in December.”

My heart nearly broke hearing the nerves in his voice because I knew he was terrified Mikey and Tiller were going to be upset with him. He didn’t know them well enough to realize they’d understand.

“It’s okay. You’ll tell them when you’re ready.”

“But Doran is putting out a call to a contact he has with state law enforcement from when he had a security issue at one of Gent’s concerts.”

“Good. Listen, I’m almost to the lodge, and I wondered if you wanted to go over to the farm. You can take some time to think about how you want to approach it, and I can work on a few repairs I wanted to tinker with.”

Truman let out a breath. “Yeah. That sounds good. See you soon.”

When I got to the lodge, I noticed several cars out front. I loved knowing Mikey and Tiller already had a community here despite living in Aster Valley such a short time.

I walked into the kitchen and spotted Truman immediately through the window. He was standing outside on the deck close to his handsome friend Winter, and they were both belly-laughing about something.

Sitting next to Gentry at the kitchen island was an older man with thick white hair.

Gentry spoke up. “I don’t think you’ve met my uncle Doran yet.”

After greeting the man with a handshake and a few pleasantries, I asked where our hosts were.

“Uncle Doran decided to share a particularly racy porn clip on his phone, and suddenly the two of them claimed they needed to fix some kind of gate,” Gentry said. “I think that’s some kind of weird Texan euphemism.”

Doran muttered, “I offered to help hold someone’s pole, but they didn’t seem to want a third in their gate efforts. Shame.”

I barked out a laugh and felt my face heat. Gentry shushed his uncle through his own laughter.