Page 60 of Fire Harbor

She patted his chest and moved in to press a kiss to his lips. “You go do your thing. Don’t worry about the back door. I’ll take care of it.”

Chapter Sixteen

“After a succession of explosions, it’s a miracle we didn’t have more casualties,” Brent fumed as he paced the conference room in front of his team. “Because the county fire chief already suspects arson through the use of incendiary devices placed on all four fishing trawlers, I’ve asked for assistance from the ATF and the FBI. They’ll be here in three hours. But they’ve already shared with me that a similar incident like this occurred three months ago at a Lake Havasu marina. In that case, they think a killer was trying to cover his tracks.”

“The only unsolved murder cases we have right now are the ones that occurred near the bridge south of town,” Eastlyn said. “Those cases belong to Santa Cruz County. I don’t see the connection to what happened this morning at Smuggler’s Bay.”

“Don’t you?” Theo prodded. “We surmised there were two killers based on where we found one pair of victims versus the others hidden away. Maybe we’ve got it wrong. The guy who put those eight victims in a sundial pattern could just as easily have started killing again. Recently taking two more lives. One was Gabby Moreland, who was one of our own. That’s what keeps us in this fight—finding her killer.”

Brent nodded. “Okay. You take over Gabby’s case and don’t let the county detectives push you around or try leaving you out of updates. See if you can piece together her last known movements using cell phone data. I’ll try calling in a few favors at the lab to get them to share what they know so far. And see if you can find any information on the other victims, specifically where they were headed the night they went missing. I want a list by this evening.”

He turned to the others. “In the meantime, the rest of us still have a huge question hanging over us—who the hell planted those devices on the boats, and why?”

“As a distraction?” Colt tendered. “But from what?”

It would be hours before anyone figured out the answer to that question.

While law enforcement considered more possibilities, Lake took care of things at the library. She phoned Troy Dayton and explained the door situation. He volunteered to go over, take measurements, install a new one, and have it fixed by that night.

She called Annette Canfield to tell her about the break-in and discovered Annette had a wide-open schedule and could have the mess straightened up by the time Linus finished his shift at the hospital.

Lake and Glynnis worked through lunch, helping to set up a fund for Dave O’Malley and the other fishermen who had lost their livelihoods. After losing his son, Dave especially needed extra financial and emotional support. She called Seth at the church to remind the pastor that Dave would need help arranging Matt’s funeral but talked to Ophelia instead.

“Make sure Seth visits Dave while he’s in the hospital,” Lake suggested.

“I already have a list of the injured,” Ophelia said. “The phone’s been ringing off the hook.”

“Sorry about that. But I made a list of things that needed doing and I’m checking them off as I go,” Lake explained.

“No problem. I’m writing my own to-do list for the congregation, trying to keep a positive attitude. But it’s difficult. We have people who just lost the only way they know to make a living. How we respond in the next twenty-four hours is critical.”

Lake mentioned the fund they’d started. “Linus reminded me that we help each other. Now’s the time to put up or shut up, right?”

“Right. Maybe we can somehow find them a boat to rent or borrow one until their insurance kicks in.”

“If they had insurance. Some don’t. Let’s revisit this in the next twenty-four hours and come up with a plan.”

“Sure thing. Talk to you soon.”

After hanging up on the call, Lake looked up to see Nikki Augustine hurrying to the front desk. “Alice Barrett isn’t in school today.”

“Oh, is she ill?” Lake asked, absently.

“No. I’m pretty sure she isn’t sick. I saw her last night and she was fine. We were supposed to eat lunch together today in the cafeteria, but I just found out from her teacher that she isn’t at school. No one has seen her at all today.”

Lake’s heart sank at Nikki’s words. A rush of concern flooded through her as she considered the implications. But she studied Nikki’s face for any sign of malice or mischief. “This isn’t some prank you two have cooked up, is it? Because if I find out you’re making this up to post on social media, I’ll be very upset at the both of you.”

“No. I’m really worried. I wouldn’t make this up. The two of us just started hanging out again, and now, no one seems to know where she is. If you don’t do something, no one will.”

Lake chewed the inside of her jaw, considering the situation. If Alice Barrett had gone missing, could it be connected to everything else that had been happening that morning? Given the recent dangerous events in town, she wasn’t about to ignore a teen’s sudden disappearance.

Despite the mounting tasks on her plate, Lake felt a surge of responsibility to find the young girl and make sure she was safe. Her mind splintered with options. She grabbed the phone directory she kept under the counter and looked up Julianne Dickinson’s number. “Hi, Julianne. It’s me, Lake. Do you know why Alice Barrett isn’t in school today?”

The voice on the other line sounded perplexed. “What do you mean she isn’t in school? She was here during our evacuation of the building after the explosions occurred at the harbor.”

“Are you sure about that? I have Nikki Augustine here in the library and Nikki says that Alice didn’t show up for her morning classes.”

“The teachers had just started taking roll call when the first explosion went off. That’s when I made the decision to evacuate the children from this building and take them across the street to the elementary school, which is where we stayed until about an hour ago. I brought the kids back for lunch. This is the first I’ve heard that Alice didn’t make it to class. Let me check with Karen Barrett and see if she kept Alice home today. I’ll call you right back.”

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