Page 32 of Colton’s Inferno

“I’m at the Five Steers Ranch right now. It won’t take me long to get to you.”

“I’ll be fine,” she said. “It’s sweet of you to want to help. But right now, I want you to take care of yourself.”

Typically, Aiden would insist that he was fine. But really, he wasn’t. His over the counter pain meds were starting to wear off, and he could definitely use a nap. “I’ll call you tomorrow morning and find a time to come out.”

“I’ll see you then,” she said, before ending the call. He still had to call the fire chief and fill him in on what had been found. But he could do that during the drive.

Aiden leaned forward, looking both to the left and the right. The road was empty. He eased onto the pavement and headed for home.

Chapter 9

Ted Barrett watched Aiden’s car until he disappeared over the hill. Then, he got into his own vehicle. As he started the engine, he had to admit that he’d come all this way for nothing. But really, Ted had to get in front of the story.

Pulling a phone from his pocket, he placed a call. It went through the car, and the sound of ringing surrounded him. He put the gearshift into Drive.

A hoarse voice came through the speakers. “Hello?”

As the mayor, several people worked for Ted. Most of them were Red Grove employees. But there were other people, like the one on the phone, who were strictly off-the-books.

“Did I wake you?” he asked, pressing his foot onto the accelerator.

“Yeah. What time is it?”

He glanced at the clock on the radio. “It’s a little after seven thirty. We need to talk about what happened last night.”

“The fire, you mean?”

The county route stretched out in front of him. Pressing his foot onto the brake, he came to a stop. “My foster brother Aiden is with the fire department.”

“Of course, I know Aiden.”

That was the thing, everyone knew Aiden. He was the human equivalent to a golden retriever. Always happy. Full of energy. Everyone’s best buddy. “He found evidence that an accelerant was used to start the fire.”

“That’s bad,” said the other person.

“Real bad,” Ted agreed. “But it gets worse. A padlock, used to trap Lucy Harris in the back room, was found as well.” He pulled onto the county route. “People will want someone to blame. The office will get lots of calls on Tuesday. I need to get ahead of this story.”

“Will they be able to figure out who’s involved?”

“All the evidence is headed to a crime lab in Bismarck.” The weight of what happened pressed him into his seat. “I’ll let you know if anything else turns up. But I need you to do something for me.”

“Sure, boss. Anything.”

“Keep an eye on social media. Let me know what people are saying. Stop any rumors before they get going.”

“I can take care of that.”

“Keep me posted,” he said, ending the call.

As he drove toward Red Grove, he had to admit that the trip wasn’t a complete waste of time. True, he didn’t get to talk to the people who managed the Bryant Bros. Carnival, but he did get a clear picture of the investigation.

The thing is, he had to take care of the incident quickly, otherwise the voters would get angry. Being mayor meant he answered to the people. It wasn’t like Aiden, who worked for the city but had job security. One wrong move and Ted would get voted out of office.

The Coltons had been kind to Ted his entire life. Even before his grandmother passed and they brought him into their home. But sometimes it didn’t seem fair that everything came to them so easily.

Ranch life meant chores. Lucy didn’t mind all the work. It kept her hands busy and her mind occupied. But today, her grandfather insisted that she take it easy. He was going to do all the hard labor, and she could do odd jobs around the house. It was barely past noon. Already she’d organized the hall closet, cleaned the windows. She spent hours looking over the business accounts and trying to find a way to pay all the bills.

There was still more for her to do, but honestly, she couldn’t stop thinking about the fire. The scent of smoke still clung to her skin and filled her nose. In her periphery, she could see flames that weren’t there. She sat on the sofa with her phone, scrolling through her little-used social media accounts. At twenty-six years old, she noticed there were two kinds of posts. There were the ones that announced wedding engagements. The others showed people running in their first marathons.