Page 54 of Justice for Aleta

“Yes. That was about the same time he cut the power to your house. And with the incendiary fuel on the house, he detonated the charges at the posts so there wasn’t time to react between their detonation and his next task. As the units reacted to the IED attack, he employed a flare gun. As soon as the flare from that gun hit the gasoline, it went up instantly. Based on the shot he pulled off on McIntosh’s rental car, he was an excellent marksman. There was no doubt in his mind that he would hit that gasoline and set your house on fire, thereby flushing you and Mrs.Culp out. This was very well-thought out and well-orchestrated on his part. It was quite the plan, and it worked.”

Aleta’s voice caused everyone in the room to turn. “Why didn’t he just shoot us with a high-powered rifle or something?”

“Because we ignored the most important component of this whole thing. This was a game to him. He wanted to show off, be smart and creative, dumbfound all of us. He never counted on a woman who wasn’t ready to give up.” He tossed the legal pad onto the table and sighed as his eyes found Jack’s. “On a sad note, I’m sorry, but your house is gone. With the units incapacitated, and because your power was off, there was no way to alert them and get firefighters to the scene in a timely fashion. It’s a total loss.”

Jack wanted to cry. That house… It was all he’d had of his and Heather’s life together, and it was gone. So was the portrait. He thought back to all the hours he and Amos had spent working on that house, and it was overwhelming to think he’d have to do it all over again. He was about to say something when Cruz interrupted his thoughts. “By the way, that little lady there… She’s quite a shot. Who taught you to shoot, ma’am?”

Aleta smiled. “Jack did.”

“You should ask the department to give you a training position, Kentucky!” Cruz said, and everyone in the room chuckled. The tension was broken, and for that, Jack was thankful. “But that move, the one where you dropped and she shot? Where did that come from?”

Aleta giggled, but Jack laughed out loud and slapped the tabletop before he said, “If I tell you, you won’t believe me!”

Chapter 10

Aleta’slittle apartment wasn’t very big, but it was somewhere to hang his hat, and Jack was thankful when she asked if he just wanted to move in there. He didn’t have much to move. Everything he had was gone.

Time and time again, his parents had told him he had the house over-insured, but he was glad. In a couple of weeks, there was a crew at his place, clearing the land and preparing the lot for new construction. To his delight, Amos still had the plans they’d used for the house, so building another one just like it was on the table.

But Jack thought maybe he shouldn’t. They could do something similar, but with Aleta, he needed something fresh, something different. They pored over plans in books from the home improvement store and things they found online until they found something that looked perfect.

It was back to his old routine for Jack. Two agents had managed to slip his cruiser into neutral and push it away from the house, so it was unscathed. The radio equipment had been lost in the fire, but that wasn’t hard to replace. In a few days, his shop was back in order, and he couldn’t have been happier. It was a relief to show up every morning, listen to the assignments, and then slip behind the wheel of the cruiser and go back to business as usual.

But he didn’t think it would ever again be business as usual. That morning on that foggy highway had changed his life forever. From time to time he still saw Jorie in his memory, his tiny body lying motionless on the rocks, and he remembered how Aleta looked as he saw her sitting there, covered in blood and crying. Those visions would never leave him, he knew, and he worked to make peace with them when they came up. He was lucky to have a department-provided counselor to walk him through that process, and he could say the sessions really were helping.

Aleta had insisted on going back to the pancake house, but he noted when he was there that she was getting a lot more respect than she had previously from the other employees. They actually laughed and joked with her, and he managed to get a smile from the surly manager. That was a real feat, he could tell, so he felt special in a weird kind of way.

He picked up dinner on his way home that Tuesday evening and carried it into the apartment. “Hey, babe!”

Aleta rounded the bedroom doorway and smiled. “Hey! What did you bring?”

“I’ve got spaghetti and meatballs, plus some of those awesome breadsticks they have. Oh, and a little salad. You know, something healthy,” he said with a wink.

“Good! Let’s eat.”

Dinner finished and cleaned up, they sat on the sofa, her legs across his lap, and watched some silly show on TV. He told her about a crazy man with a tin foil hat he’d picked up earlier in the day, and she told him about the guy who came in and tried to sell all of them timeshares. They laughed and talked until bedtime.

Ah, bedtime. That was Jack’s favorite time of the day. Aleta was always ready for a good roll in the hay, and he wasn’t one to deny her. It was a rare night that they didn’t spend at least an hour making love, maybe two. Feeling her skin against his was the highlight of his day, and he hoped the smile she always wore as they held each other meant it was hers too.

He’d stopped to get a cup of coffee when his phone rang the next morning. “Fletcher.”

“Kentucky!”

“Dax! How’s it goin’?”

“Good. Hey, I wanted to know if you have some kind of area around there that would be a fun vacation location.”

“Sure. Down in the western end of the state. There are three resorts on the lakes and they’re all really nice. Thinking of coming to the Bluegrass State?”

“Yeah. I think I’ll bring Mack. She said she’s never been there and she’d like to go. Might take a trip from there to Nashville. You know, country music,” Dax said with a chuckle.

“Maybe we could meet you in Nashville for an afternoon or overnight,” Jack offered.

“That would be great! Can you shoot me some info on the places you’re talking about and let me see what I can arrange? And I’ll let you know.”

“Will do! And hey, Dax,” Jack said, his voice soft, “thanks for everything.”

“You’re welcome. I’m just glad I picked up on the connection. Otherwise… Well, let’s not think about otherwise. It’s over. Live your life.”

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