Black Creek Burning (The Black Creek Series, Book 1) (23 page)

She folded her arms across her chest. "I'm tired, Reed. Show me where you are putting
me."

* * *

Brie woke to the smell of fresh coffee and the sound of an air compressor. Dogs barked
out back. Reluctantly, she lifted the arm with her watch and looked at the time with
one eye. Holy crap. She hadn't slept this late in years.

Yesterday's clothes would have to do. She buttoned her jeans while walking toward
the glorious smell. Her head did a double take when she passed the room Nathan designated
as his temporary work-out room. Stopping in the doorway, she stared at the side wall.

Hanging was a fair-sized piece of cork board with note cards stuck to it using white
push pins. One name was written on each card, the cards were lined in columns. In
the first, there seemed to be what looked like a short list of suspects that included
Sandy Finley and Brian McKinney. The long list must be the middle column. It contained
Susie Phillips, Elizabeth Whittier, Isabel Seward, Mr. and Mrs. Moreley, and Mr. and
Mrs. Novick.

Brie slowly made her way to the board before she sensed she wasn't alone. After reading
the final column, which included Clifford and Amanda Piper, Lucy and Molly Melbourne,
and Tim and Liz Brownley, she turned to face Nathan.

"What's this?" He looked tired.

"I'm making a case board." He stepped next to her, looking at the names. "Good morning."

"No, I mean this last list of people. Good morning back." She tapped the column of
names that included her sister's.

"People to talk to. I've already spoken with Lucy Melbourne a few times. Dave seems
to have Amanda covered."

"When did you speak to Lucy? How did you get her to let you in her house? No, to open
her
door
for you? She doesn't like you, you know."

"That's not true. She loves me." He reached around and gave her a quick kiss on the
mouth. "I invited Dave and Amanda over tonight. I guess I should've asked you. Will
you stay?"

"For the evening, yes. For the night, I'd better not. I'll stay with Liz."

"I figured. Tell me what you think." He nodded toward the board.

She turned her head to the side, keeping her eyes on the names. "I think Sandy is
in the right spot. I would have never believed it, but as I look back, she's perfect.
I didn't meet Brian until after the fire. Or during the fire, I should say."

"He could have known you. I've looked over your notes. The timing is too perfect.
Recent incidents started right after you starting seeing each other seriously, worse
when you broke it off."

"He broke it off. Nathan, he's a... softie."

"He put his hands on you at your party. Has he tried to contact you?"

She took a deep breath. "He drank too much at my party and... has driven by a couple
of times. I spoke with him briefly. We don't have to talk about this if it makes you
uncomfortable."

"I'm not uncomfortable, especially about anyone my girl calls a softie."

"Susie Phillips is too sweet. Elizabeth Whittier is too old. I could shoot you for
even having Isabel Seward on your list. Moreleys, again too old, and the Novicks were
on their cruise the day I found the dead rabbit. Remember? I was putting up their
lights."

She walked over and pulled the pin out of the Novicks note card and moved it over
to the third column. "My bet is on Sandy. Have the police questioned her yet? She
was there when I started working at Bloom. I moved up too quickly, worked with the
assistant superintendent, offered higher positions. That's what Liz says.

"She was always trying to make things difficult for me and wouldn't support me if
I had an unreasonable parent or a student that needed accommodations. She was sent
home long before me the day of the lockdown, would have had plenty of time to set
out poison for Macey. And she was there both mornings my windows were shot out. Huh.
It makes even more sense when I say it out loud like that."

She walked over and looked through the window, noticing the crew had already arrived
to start cutting down the dead trees. "I overslept. I need to get out there."

His long arms wrapped around her waist making her eyelids drop. He kissed her on her
bare neck, sending chills down to her feet.

"Dun-can!" Andy yelled from the doorway. "Dad is kissing Miss Chapman."

"Shit." Nathan left his hands on Brie's waist and turned to squint at Andy.

"Gross," Duncan yelled back from his room.

Andy stood and grinned from ear to ear.

* * *

Nathan was determined to finish the base cabinets for the kitchen. It was the last
thing to do before he could start finishing the floors. They'd been without furniture
in the house long enough. The high from being so close kept him moving. After drilling
the first cabinet in the corner of the kitchen, he stopped for a short water break.

The bottle he'd half-emptied dangled between his thumb and forefinger as he rested
his arm up on the window frame. Eventually, a double-deep kitchen sink would be centered
beneath the window. He imagined standing at the sink, looking out at the breathtaking
view of the lake morning after morning. The lake was calm, then, and looked like an
enormous mirror framed in green. The reflections of the homes lay in the water and
looked like an underwater city. The wild flowers that bloomed along the floodplain
were an acre's wide patchwork quilt.

He spotted Brie with her large yellow notepad. She looked efficient in ugly boots
and sexy golden thighs. He couldn't believe how much she'd gotten done in the past
few days, or how different the yard looked.

She must have gotten too warm because she'd taken off her sweatshirt, exposing the
tank underneath. It was damp with sweat and clung to her slightly. He could see the
outline of muscles in her back that were long and sexy. He remembered the feel of
her firm legs when they'd wrapped around him in her kitchen.

The bright color of the wildflowers created a backdrop for her female shape, and he
imagined how she would look lying underneath him in all that color. Her mass of hair
tossed around her oval face, over her shoulders, over her naked body. He could nearly
feel his hands trail across her smooth skin and up her golden thighs as he lifted
them, moving into her until they lost each other in the heat.

"Nathan?"

"Son of a bitch!" His arm slipped from the window, and he dropped his water. "Ma,"
he said, slowly closing his eyes.

"Watch your language around... " Realization filled her face and she stopped. "Oh,
good grief, Nathan. This is like walking into your high school bedroom. Is she out
back?" His mother walked casually to the fridge and set down her wicker basket as
she opened the door.

He rubbed both hands over his face and picked up his half-empty water bottle. "Ma."

"That's it. Your father and I are taking Duncan and Andy for the night." She unloaded
small plastic containers of mostaccioli bake.

"Ma." This was not happening. "It's not... she's not... we're not like that."

She reached in her basket and pulled out a bag of garlic bread. "Obviously."

"I'm not having this conversation with my mother." He turned toward the door to the
garage pulling his headphones over his ears. "I'll be in my spray room."

* * *

"Thank you for seeing me, Mrs. Melbourne." Nathan walked in as Lucy opened her door.

"Please call me Lucy. Come in and sit down. I heard about Brianna."

They walked back to the kitchen.

He followed and propped one leg on a stool. "You look lovely today."

She wore turquoise slacks and a matching blazer with her hair up high.

"How well did you know Brie's parents?"

Lucy hesitated. She stood at her coffee pot and sighed. "We were very close. My husband
and I moved in a few years before we had MollyAnne. We raised them together, you know.
MollyAnne, Elizabeth and Brianna were like triplets."

She sat on her stool, gazing at a china dish filled with potpourri. "I remember when
the boys would run after the girls with frogs they'd pulled from the creek. MollyAnne
and Elizabeth ran away squealing, and Brie snatched them from the boys and put them
back into the water. What is being done, Nathan? That girl has been through enough
if you ask me," she said gruffly.

"The police are keeping an eye on her place. Do you remember the night of the fire?"

"Of course I remember the night of the fire." She stood. "Why would you ask me something
like that? Do they think all this has something to do with the night of the fire?"
Lucy clutched a fisted hand to her chest.

He took her free hand in his and patted it softly. "Amanda's friend. The police officer?
He's looking at everything. He may want to talk to you. And to Molly. Tell me what
you remember. Please, Lucy."

She sat again with empty cups and a full pot of coffee. "I was sleeping. It was late.
June. A hot night for June. I heard the explosion. No, felt the explosion. I remember
what time it was, because my clock was the first thing I saw when my eyes flew open.
It was eleven-forty. I was too scared to do anything except pick up the phone and
call the police.

"It seemed like a long time before they arrived, but they told me it was just under
ten minutes. My husband had passed away a few years before. I'm just now becoming
accustomed to being alone. I rocked on the edge of my bed until I heard the wail of
the sirens and collected the courage to walk down the hall to look out a window.

"The whole other side of their house was engulfed in flames. Two fire trucks were
pulling up, and I could see the lights from police cars coming around the back way
from over by the old farm... by your house. There was a loud knock on my door. I stood
in my housecoat in the heat while they asked me the same questions over and over again.
Everyone moved so fast. It looked like chaos to me, but they pulled Brianna out quickly.
They didn't bring out her parents. They were too... " She stopped and moved her closed
fist to her lips. "Please keep her safe. She's like a daughter to me."

"Do you know how I can get a hold of Molly? I know Brie would like to see her." He
put his hand on her shoulder.

Lucy nodded. "She told me she's on a buying trip out of the country. It's what she
does. Buys clothes from shows and brings them to stores around the state. She has
a condo downtown. I'll write down her number for you."

They sat together, sharing coffee and cranberry-orange scones. Nathan took his time
asking her about childhood stories and bringing her back from her painful memory.

"I'm glad she's staying with Elizabeth for now, but you'll send her back when this
is over?"

"The police hope to wrap this up as soon as possible."

* * *

Nathan returned to find Brie in his backyard wearing snug blue jeans and old sneakers.
She was speaking loudly to two men he hadn't met over the roar of several, extremely
noisy machines.

She motioned for him to follow her back to the front. "We'll never hear each other
with the chainsaws and mulcher running at the same time."

He followed, thinking about the different hats she wore, each with its own personality,
yet all very Brie. Mostly, each would serve as an effective distraction of the night
before. This hat was an intriguing mixture of tomboy and site boss. "What are you
doing to my trees?" he asked.

"Dead trees. You have six of them back here. Arnie there owes me a favor. Well, a
lot of favors. We may be even after this. He's almost done." Reaching the front, she
turned and put her hands on her hips, thumbs facing forward.

"How do you know they're dead?" He was more interested in hearing her boss voice than
he was about the trees.

"No bend to the branches. No green on the inside. And I live behind you, remember?
I've watched them die. Four died when Dutch elm disease came through. Two are poplar,
which is a blessing if you ask me. You work with wood and you don't know trees?"

"I know them when they're cut and dried."

"Listen, if I'm going to be off work for a while, I'd like to use the time to get
this done." She looked around at his property. "Can you hold off your outside guys
for a few days? Maybe a week? Or two? I was hoping to have sod delivered the day after
tomorrow. It can't be walked on for a while after that."

* * *

Brie handed her sister another suitcase and her pillow. "I appreciate this."

Liz maneuvered them down Brie's stairs. "I still don't know why you don't just bring
Macey with you. Tim wouldn't mind."

"She'll be happier with Nathan's dog."

"I hope the pictures of him and me don't seal the suspension." She stood with her
eyes closed rechecking her mental list of everything she would need.

They made their way to the garage to hook up the trailer she used for hauling her
landscaping equipment. After getting the mail and her newspaper, she stopped in front
of Liz, who stood in the garage. "Why aren't you saying very much?"

"Because you're an idiot." Liz dropped to the step that led into the mudroom. "Who
cares about your job? Who cares about where you're sleeping and what pillow you have?
You are in danger." Tears fell down her stony face. "Someone's been watching you."