ambulance.
One of the paramedics was inflating some sort of air cast around Laila’s ankle. “You’ll have to get out, sir,” she said.
Laila tried to prop herself up on her elbows, despite the paramedics’ orders to stay still. “He’ll stay right where he is. Work around him.”
“What happened?” Matt asked.
“Twisted it hard.” She winced as she tried to settle more comfortably on the stretcher. “I had stepped outside for a second to use my phone when I saw the fire. I called 911, but the fencing around the Dumpster was already burning. I tried to run a hose from the loading dock door. The hose ran me, instead, I guess. Broke my phone when I went down, too.”
“Don’t worry about the phone. I’ll get you another one,” Matt said. “Let’s work on getting you fixed, okay?”
Laila had been with him since the day he’d started serving food. Yeah, she could be a little bossy, but he’d learned more from her than he could have from any number of highly paid consultants. She was family, plain and simple. And he felt sick that she had been hurt trying to help him.
“We’re ready to roll,” the larger of the paramedics said.
Matt touched Laila gently on her shoulder. “Can I do anything for you?”
“Get ahold of my son, Joe. Tell him where I am and that someone’s going to need to come get my car.”
“No problem. And I’ll be over to the emergency room in just a while. Sa woin1D;
“Don’t you dare. You’ve got enough to deal with right here. Clete already shut you down for the night.”
At that news, Matt bit back on a couple of his favorite curse words.
“The Dumpster was too far from the building for a spark to fly. And even if one did, the roof’s metal,” he said.
“I know,” Laila replied. “But you know Clete. And Steve went to look for Jerry to argue the closing, but Jerry was nowhere to be found.”
“Don’t worry,” Matt said. “Just focus on getting yourself better and let me deal with the rest of this, okay?”
“I will.”
He gave her hand a squeeze, which was about all the affection Laila would accept
“Hang in there,” he said before climbing out.
Kate still stood watching the firefighters spray down the smoking Dumpster and fence.
“Arson is a definite buzzkill,” she said without looking his way.
She’d voiced what Matt had been thinking since they’d pulled into the parking lot. If not for all the other incidents, Matt would have attributed it to Steve sneaking a cigarette by the trash. Matt had snagged him doing that countless times.
“It is. And I know I’m lucky it wasn’t worse. Laila’s fall was bad enough.”
“She’ll be okay, though, right?”
“I don’t know if her ankle is sprained or broken, but she’ll recover.” He paused. “And probably demand to come back to work long before she’s ready, too.”
“Speaking of which… Besides Laila, who was on staff tonight?”
“The usual. Amber and Steve were in the dining room. Ruby was busing dishes. Pat, Renaldo, and Manny were in the kitchen. And Jerry was supposed to be here, not that he is.” He paused a second. “Before I left for the hall, Nan and Floyd were in the brewery working on one of Bart’s new beer recipes. I don’t know if they’re still around. So what it comes down to is any one of my own employees could have done this to me.”
“Or maybe just a random firebug. I’m betting Keene’s Harbor has a pyro or two,” she said. “What’s frustrating is that I’d like to say everyone at the fund-raiser can be dropped from the suspect list but it’s too easy to make it here from the hall to say that for sure.”
Matt understood frustration. He was frustrated that his night’s business was literally going up in smoke. He was angry that someone had made jerking him around their new hobby. And he was furious with himself for permitting them to mess with his ability to coolly sort through the facts.
Kate briefly settled her hand against his arm. “Hey, this isn’t going to go on forever. It’s going to be okay.”
“Now would be a good time for it to end.”
“Agreed,” she said. “Should we talk to the fire chief?”
“That’s up next.”
“Mind if I come along?”
“Not at all. A set of objective ears is good. But you should know that Norm’s more about putting the fire out than any kind of investigating. That’s one of the quirks of having a volunteer fire department.”
“Still, if you tell him about all the other things that have happened, he’ll have to see a pattern.”
“You and I might, but unless you’ve been living through it, it’s a tough pattern to see.” He led her to the back of the fire truck, where Chief Norm stood talking to Clete Erikson.
“Sorry about this, Matt,” Norm said as they neared.
The fire chief had been of average size in his active days as a charter fishing boat captain. Retirement had caught up with him, though. Now he was shaped like his favorite bowling ball. Still, he remained surprisingly agile.
“Thanks for getting the fire put out,” Matt said.
Norm nodded. “A few of us are going to stick around awhile in case any hot spots flare up.”
“Great. Will you start your arson investigation tonight or wait for first light?”
Norm looked surprised. “It’s a Dumpster fire, Matt. What makes you think it’s arson?”
“The fence was burning. You can’t believe that the entire enclosure sparked and went up without an accelerant.”
“Son, what does a Dumpster hold but trash?” Clete asked, but gave no time for an answer. “The ember from one cigarette butt could have set it off. I’ll interview your employees, but I don’t see any point in rattling the whole town with talk of arson.”
“The town will be talking anyway,” Kate said.
The police chief turned his head. “What did you say?”
“I said that the town will be talking anyway. That’s what Keene’s Harbor does, especially when the topic is as high-profile as Matt and Depot Brewing. They bring more money to this town than any other five businesses combined. Failure to investigate won’t make the talk go away. It will just get worse.”
Clete moved a step closer to her. “Well now, little lady, I’m not sure what business any of this is of yours.”
She looked up at Matt. “Little lady? Did he just call me
Yeah, that had been a critical error on Clete’s part, Matt thought. And Matt was happy to urge her on. If anyone could help him quickly shake loose an investigation, it was Kate. “I believe he did,” Matt said.
She turned back to Clete. “I might be little and I might also be a lady, but I am
Clete was more puzzled than annoyed. “Didn’t anyone ever tell you that you can catch more flies with honey than you can with vinegar?”
“She’s right, Clete,” Matt said. “If you don’t step up, I’m going to have to call the county sheriff’s office and bring them in. You don’t want that.”
There wasn’t enough light to catch the look in Clete’s eyes, but Matt was betting it wasn’t a happy one. Somehow Kate had hit his hot button without even knowing it. Or maybe she’d sensed it. Keene’s Harbor wasn’t flush with money. Clete lived in fear of the town cutting back on its police coverage and using county services.
Clete stood taller, probably trying to make up for the fact that he was in civilian clothes. “Norm, if you’re going to be staying, could you put crime scene tape around the Dumpster area once it’s cooled down?” He turned to Matt. “Could you tell your employees to stay in the restaurant until I can interview them? Site photos and talking more to Laila will have to wait until the light of day.”
“Thanks, Clete,” Matt said.
