Page 77 of Inglorious
“Did you call the fire department?” I asked over the noise.
“Yes, and Inglorious… I smelt gasoline,” Danny replied.
My jaw locked. Arson. This was our fuckin’ saboteur again, and he clearly didn’t care about harming animals. Nausea whirled in my stomach as I heard sirens in the distance. Hercules returned with another extinguisher.
“Horses are safe, and Danny has them all corralled in the small field. He’s watching over them and won’t leave them. None were harmed, although one of the two might be anxious. He’s calling the vet to check them over, just in case,” Hercules reported.
“This is arson. Danny smelt gasoline,” I replied.
“Fuck. I can't get a track on who is behind this,” Hercules hissed.
“No, this is a huge problem. He’s escalating from graffiti to arson. Luckily, the stable hands sleep here. The instant the smoke alarms triggered, they proceeded directly to the fire department,” I said.
“What if the asshole called and gave them a false alarm message?” Hercules questioned.
I smiled grimly. “Then they’d be asked for the code to cancel, and failure to provide that would mean the department would roll out.”
“Nice.”
“I might have been a drunk, but I wasn’t a fool,” I stated, and Hercules nodded.
“Guess we need to have a chat sometime.”
“About the past? Yes. You fucked up, Hercules, but this ain’t the time or place for the discussion. Sure, you weren’t the only one, but you and Vortex are the two who returned.”
“There’s still Tracker and Bow out there,” Hercules said.
“Are you in contact with them?”
“No. But ten to one, Nanci knows where they are.”
“Of that, I have no doubt,” I replied and looked up as the fire engine pulled up.
???
Luckily, the damage was minimal, and the horses could be put back in their stables. The vet had checked them over and proclaimed them all well and fit. Danny, Kevin and their girlfriends’ quick actions had saved the animals. I made a mental note to get Danny and Kevin a nice bonus for their quick actions. Drew was on the scene and speaking to the local cops. I was surprised to see him there and realised that Nanci had invited him to come.
“Seems you’ve got a problem,” Drew said, approaching.
“Yeah. Having second thoughts?” I inquired.
“Hell no. I wouldn’t be a good cop if this scared me off.”
“Did the cameras pick anything up?” I asked, not having checked them myself.
“Three figures dressed in black with balaclavas,” Drew replied.
I ground my teeth together. “Our last footage showed two. Now there are three of them?”
“Yeah. And no car in sight either. They must have parked and walked in. At this point of the night, it will be hard to pinpoint anyone’s car as that’s a busy road,” the local cop said, pointing to the road.
I couldn’t disagree. The stable was off a main road, although set a long way back from it. We had our own private drive, and the area was fenced in to stop horses from running onto the road. Fencing in several acres hadn’t been easy, but it had paid off in the long run.
“We’ll check CCTV, but don’t build your hopes up,” the cop said.
We nodded as he walked away.
“What are you thinking?” Drew asked, noting my expression.
