Jason Deas - Benny James 03 - Brushed Away (23 page)

On the way back to town, Ned confessed.

“The fire’s my fault,” he began. “Big E somehow knew I could hack websites and databases. He wanted me to change some numbers for him dealing with boats. He beat me up and said if I didn’t do what he asked he would kill me. And I believe him. I almost changed the numbers for him, but Red changed my mind.”

“Ned not a bad man. He a good man.”

“And Red reminded me that I wouldn’t be able to have a mushroom garden in prison.”

“That would be a travesty,” Benny said. “ So, what’d you do?”

“This be the bestest part,” Red offered.

“Oh, no. What did you do?”

“Since he tortured me in a way I thought I would give him a taste of karma and torture him back.” Ned rubbed his hands together. “I composed an email that I addressed to the head of the United States Coast Guard, and the FBI, revealing all the numbers of the stolen boats and where to find them. I wrote a simple program on my computer that is counting down to zero, and when it gets there, it will automatically send the email.”

“Like a bomb,” Benny commented.

“Yes indeed,” Ned said. “I sent Big E a video message earlier so he could see it.”

“That’s evil, Ned. I like it.”

“Thanks. I figure he’s trying to cover his tracks, and then he’ll be coming for me.”

“The night just got a little more interesting,” Benny said.

The tiny Tilley Police station was a madhouse. Dark smoke drifted across the parking lot. Townspeople and media milled about clamoring for information. Both parties assumed the smoke had something to do with the murders and all wanted some clarity and comfort.

Benny asked Red to turn on the police car’s blue lights as they entered the lot. The sea of people parted allowing them to enter and park. A throng of anticipating faces waited for them to get out of the car.

When Benny stepped out, the owner of the marina, Donny asked, “Now what in the blue blazes are you doing back here so fast?”

“What do you mean?”

“I just came from the marina and I saw your houseboat motoring away. I figured you were heading to check out the fire.”

“I’ll be damned,” Benny said, realizing his boat had just been stolen by Angel.

Angel steered the boat away from the marina into the darkness. She watched the lights from shore as she tried to gauge how far she would be able to swim back. Angel killed the motor when she reached the point she decided was her limit.

Down below in the living quarters, Angel picked up a metal sculpture off Benny’s coffee table and threw it into the sliding glass door. The first toss bounced off the glass leaving deep fractures that splintered like a spider web throughout the door. The second attempt sent the sculpture crashing through the glass to the other side. Glass rained down.

She yanked curtains and blinds violently from the windows slowly working herself into a rage. The screws holding the hardware for the window treatments came out as well, pulling chunks of the wall with them, which fell to the floor.

Angel dialed Benny’s cell.

“Hello,” he answered.

“You missing something, yet?”

“If you wanted me to take you for a ride you just had to ask.”

Angel walked into the kitchen and opened the first cabinet she came to. Glasses filled the shelves along with a few expensive flutes. She picked one up and smashed it against the wall.

“I think you dropped something.”

“Come on down to the marina, I have something I want you to see.”

Benny motioned to Vernon and held his hand over the receiver.

“Angel’s on the phone,” he whispered. “Drive me to the marina.” Taking his hand from the phone he said, “I’m on my way.”

“I’m putting you on speaker,” Angel said. She flung the rest of the cabinets open and started emptying the shelves. She swiped her arm across a line of coffee cups and pulled stacks of plates to the floor.

“Stop!” Benny yelled into the phone. A flash of rare anger hit him and he pounded his fist against the dashboard as Vernon drove.

“Do you remember when you told me that living on this boat was your slice of heaven?” Angel opened the fridge and tossed salad dressing bottles and other condiments onto the floor.

“I do remember saying that,” Benny said squeezing his fist tight, trying to slow his breathing and calm down.

“Mine was going to be the Oglethorpe house rebuilt.”

“Is that worth killing for?”

“Do you have any idea how humiliating it was to grow up in that house?”

“No, I don’t, but I can imagine.”

“No you can’t,” she said, throwing a potted plant onto the couch.

Across the lake, Big E paced in front of his office window. He knew burning the boats was a knee-jerk reaction, and in his panic he’d made a bad decision. He turned the television to an all-night news channel to see if the media was still covering the fire. They weren’t covering the fire, but they were live, covering the frenzy at the Tilley police station. On the television screen he saw a lanky reporter bent over interviewing a frightened woman. Behind the reporter, in the background, he spotted Ned.

Without thinking what he would do when he reached him, Big E ran for his boat. He wanted his hands around Ned’s neck. The quickest way to the Tilley police station was to drive straight across the lake.

He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and dialed Paul. He hoped Paul was at his girlfriend’s house. She lived near the Sleepy Cove Marina.

“Hello,” Paul answered.

“You asleep?”

“Yeah. You told me to act normal. I had a few drinks at my girl’s house and fell asleep.”

“Perfect. Pick me up at the Sleepy Cove Marina in five minutes. I found Ned.”

“OK, boss.”

Big E untied his fastest boat and cranked the engine. It purred with a deep power. Turned around and pointed in the correct direction Big E unleashed the power as he pushed the throttle forward as far as it would go. The bow of the boat sped forward, parting the glassy calm of the dark water.

“Are you at the marina yet?” Angel asked.

“Almost,” Benny answered. “Will I be able to see you from there?”

“You better believe it,” Angel said.

She began pouring liquid onto the floor and Benny could hear the splashing and gurgling of the container.

“What’s that noise?” Benny asked.

“Oh, just five gallons of gasoline.”

Benny didn’t say anything. He didn’t want to but accepted the fact that the houseboat he loved was a goner.

“I have three more of these containers. Lucky for me somebody had filled four of them and left them on the side of the office.”

“You’re going to kill yourself,” Benny said. “I hope you didn’t turn on the propane grill.”

Angel spied the grill through the shattered glass door and quickly wheeled it into the boat. She pulled it into Benny’s bedroom, turned on the gas, and shut the door. Back in the main room she emptied the remaining gas containers. She poured gas on the furniture, the tables, the crumpled pile of curtains, and anything else that crossed her path.

With a little less than half a container of gas remaining, she drew a trail to the outside deck. The plan was to light a cigarette, toss it onto the gas trail, and dive. Once in the water she planned to swim as deep and far away from the boat as she could with one breath.

“I’m here,” Benny said into his phone. “I don’t see you.”

“Give it a minute. I just turned off all the lights. I’m hanging up now. Enjoy the show.”

At the back of the boat, Angel put a cigarette in her mouth. She didn’t smoke so the tobacco tasted foreign on her lips. She flicked the lighter, held it to the end of the cigarette and inhaled. The end of the cigarette lit up a fiery red. Angel blew the smoke out as her ears perked. She heard something.

Big E saw the lights of the Sleepy Cove Marina in the distance. The boat hummed at top speed and glided across the water almost as if it was flying. He put his hand on the throttle to slow down, but it was too late when he saw the strange cherry red light and the dark object in his way.

The speed boat collided with the center of the houseboat. The noise was deafening. The sight was spectacular. A scream of crumpled metal was followed instantly by a brilliant explosion of reds dancing with orange in a hellish twist that spun into the night sky. Fiery pieces shot across the water in every direction. Debris landed with the sound of waterfalls. Fire reflected off the waves made from the crash. The water shimmered and swayed. Almost as soon as it started the chaos was over. Slowly the sound died to nothing except the soothing roar of fire.

On the end of the dock, Benny and Vernon stood motionless watching it all. After a moment, Vernon looked at Benny who was biting his lip.

“You gonna to be OK?” Vernon asked.

Benny breathed out heavily. “Yeah.” He put his hand on Vernon’s shoulder. “My favorite ball cap was in there,” he said.

“I’ll get you a new one.”

“Thanks.”

Both men continued to stare out at the fire.

“Now what do you suppose just happened?” Vernon asked.

“I have a feeling we may have just wrapped up two cases without doing a thing.”

Chapter 30

Two weeks later, bits and pieces of the bodies had been identified and the paperwork was almost complete. It hadn’t taken long once the sun came up to figure out what had happened. The two funerals were over, and life in Tilley, Georgia returned to normal as the last of the national media vans drove out of town.

Benny and Rachael sat on the front porch of the house across the street from Red. The ‘For Sale’ sign in the yard now had a ‘Sold’ sticker across it.

Vernon arrived first for the housewarming party.

“I came straight from work,” he said, handing Benny and Rachael a gift. “Connie and the kids will be along in a little while. Go ahead, open it,” he said, pointing to the gift.

Rachael unwrapped the present and pulled out an Atlanta Falcon’s ball cap.

“How did you know?” she teased. Rachael handed the hat to Benny who put it on his head.

“They say home is where you hang your hat and you didn’t have one.”

“It’s perfect,” Benny said. “Very thoughtful.”

“Connie will probably bring something boring like a candle for you guys,” Vernon said, winking at Rachael.

“Go on in and get a beer,” Benny said. “Ned’s already inside setting up a keg of his famous home brew. You won’t hardly recognize him; his face isn’t blue anymore.”

Chief Neighbors arrived next with two dates.

“I couldn’t decide who to bring so I asked them both,” he said, laughing. He sent the girls inside to get him a drink. Whispering, although nobody was there to hear he said, “I told Vernon this morning that I’m not running for sheriff again and I gave him my blessing.”

Rachael popped up out of her chair, wrapped her arms around him and gave him a huge kiss on the cheek.

“I would have done that years ago if I knew that’s all it took to get a kiss from you.” Chief Neighbors stumbled starry eyed into the house.

Uncle Karl showed up on a riding lawn mower.

“I brought you a present,” he said, handing Benny a large black trash bag. “Open it.”

Benny ripped the sides of the plastic bag open and pulled out the cowboy hat he had worn a couple times in Uncle Karl’s studio.

“Oh, wow. I’ve gone from zero to two hats in five minutes.”

“I know you love it—you almost didn’t get it.”

“I appreciate it, Uncle Karl. This really means a lot to me.”

“Nina said to tell you she wouldn’t be coming. She said she’s going to be sad for a long time.”

“Of course she is. I understand.”

“She said to tell you thanks for the money.”

Rachael looked at Benny. He shrugged his shoulders.

“The boat was insured. It was the least I could do.”

As Uncle Karl disappeared inside, Red appeared.

“This is the bestest day of Red whole life, Bendy.”

“It’s a happy day.”

“Red bring you some of he yummy tomato. You can go shopping in Red garden anytime you need.”

“Thanks, buddy.”

“Will you be Red neighbor forever?”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Benny said, getting up and putting his arm around Red.

“Then Bendy and Red can stay here forever?”

“It sounds like a perfect plan to me. Let’s stay right here forever.”