He shook his head. “My hunch, no. But I’m not in the job of taking chances with people’s safety. So I need you concerned enough to be alert but not so concerned you’re frightened.”
That was what he said.
What he didn’t add was that if something happened, it would likely happen to him.
Or Cady.
“Oh, Coert, I’m so sorry,” she said, sitting there with a pale face, staring up at him.
“An important part of your job has always been to keep my daughter safe, Linette. I don’t want Janie scared or worried so her mother and I won’t be changing her routine. But I do want the adults around her to be notified and act accordingly.”
“We will. I’ll call a quick staff meeting tonight after the kids are gone and see to it. And you should know I’ll need to share with the other parents.”
“It’s your job to keep them all safe so you do what you have to do. And if you have any questions at all, or they do, tell them to feel free to phone me directly.”
She nodded.
“Thank you, Linette,” Coert ended it, turning toward the door because he had a lot to do and he needed to do it.
“Stay safe, Coert,” she called as he walked through the door.
“Will do,” he returned, not looking back.
He didn’t go see his girl because he rarely popped in to see his baby and it wouldn’t be good to do it now with where his head was at.
And he didn’t have time.
So he got in his truck and drove to his next destination, doing it calling Kim.
“Hey, Coert. What’s up?” she answered.
“I’d like to do this in person but I don’t have time to do it in person right now so I need to do it over the phone.”
“Oh God,” she muttered.
“We talked a long time ago, Kim, about things I’ve had to do in my job and the fact there are people who won’t like it. One of those people got out of prison not long ago and he’s been active since then. I’m going to be calling an alarm company later today to have them install an alarm in your house. If you can’t be off work to be there when they install it, you tell me and I’ll be there. Once it’s in, you keep it active at all times, when you’re in or out of the house, with Janie or not. And I’ll pay the bills. That said, my men will be driving by and sometimes even sitting outside your house when you’re there. Don’t alert Janie to it and don’t concern yourself with it. When the threat is gone, I’ll let you know. It’s important to point out I’m uncertain there is a threat to either of you. But I’m not taking any chances.”
“Shit, Coert, what’s going on?”
“We talked about this, Kim. Just be smart, be aware of your surroundings, and if you think something is fishy, you phone me immediately.”
“Is Janie in danger?” she asked fearfully.
“My gut says no but she’s our daughter, Kim, so like I said, I’m not taking any changes.”
There was a hesitation before, “Are you in danger?”
He gentled his voice when he replied, “There’s always that and you know that too.”
“Okay, I . . . okay, I . . .” She didn’t finish that.
“You got this, Kim. Yeah?”
“I can . . . I can . . . pay for the alarm, Coert.”
“I’m not discussing that now. If we need to chat about it later, we will. But now just let me do what needs to get done. I’ll be around later to give you a picture of the man who got out so you can be aware. Again, I doubt you’ll see him. But if you do, you don’t call me. You call 911 immediately.”
Kim hesitated again before she asked, “Are you gonna handle this?”
“Yes,” he said low. “I am absolutely going to handle this.”
“Okay,” she said.
He heard her relief and he had to admit it felt good he could give her that, not to mention she gave such easy indication she believed he could do what he said.
But he couldn’t focus on that now.
“Gotta go,” he told her.
“Of course,” she replied quickly. “Be safe. Stay safe, Coert. Okay?”
“Right, Kim. Later.”
He cut her off while she was saying goodbye, and he made more phone calls that needed to be made that also had to do with the safety of people in his life but more about bringing that about in a permanent way.
He did this as he drove to the lighthouse.
He ended the call he was on with one of his deputies when he stopped outside the gate.
He got out and punched in the code. He returned to the truck and was driving in when he saw Cady walking up from the direction of the coastal path.
She was wearing a light down jacket with horizontal stitching in a green olive color, jeans, lace-up Storm Chaser boots with a patterned wool hat pulled down over her ears, making her mass of dark red hair bunch out the sides.
She looked like she was born in Maine.
Then again, transplant her to a mountain, she looked born for the Rockies.
She also looked ticked and her gait changed from wandering to irritated when she saw his truck. This meaning she advanced toward it quickly while he drove to the side of the lighthouse.
He parked, got out, and she was almost on him when she called out irately, “I’m really going to have to ask that you—”
“Did you get a dog?” he asked over the whipping wind.
“Really, Coert, it’s not—” she started, still advancing fast.
“Did you get a fucking dog?” he barked and watched her stutter step and stop.
So it was him that took the last four strides to get to her.
“Asked a question, Cady,” he prompted tightly.
“No,” she said softly, staring up at him.
“Get your purse. We’re going to the pound.”
She blinked, her head jolting and she opened her mouth.
He didn’t let her get anything out. He turned his back on her, walked directly to the door and turned the knob.
Fortunately, it was locked.
“I’ve got the key,” she said, still soft.
Using her shoulder to push him out of the way, she unlocked the door and went in.
He went in with her.
She moved to the island where her purse was, nabbed it, but turned around and stayed right where she was.
“Talk to me,” she urged gently.
“In the truck,” he said.
She looked a little panicked before she tried, “Maybe we should—”
“In the goddamned truck, Cady,” he growled.
She took him in with big eyes, nodded and scurried to the door.
He closed it and took the keys out of her hand to lock it mostly because he was too unsettled to stand there doing nothing. He handed them back to her when he was done, and she moved double time to keep up with his long strides as he walked to the passenger side door.
He opened it and closed the door when she was up and in.
He knifed up into the other side, rounded the truck in her huge yard and headed back to the gate.
He hadn’t closed it so he could drive them right through. It was annoying to have to get out and hit the keypad to close it but no way in fuck he was leaving it open.
He got back in and started driving.
She was silent beside him and he could feel her unease.
Finally, she got up the nerve to start, “Coert—”
“Lars got out of prison. Two years ago. He did his whole stint. Since then, fires have been started in Wyoming, Nevada and Minnesota with four more in Colorado. Lots of destruction. No deaths.”
“Okay,” she whispered shakily.
“The deaths occurred from five days to three weeks after the fires were set. The lighting of huge fires with a good deal of damage caused by arson being a focus, the murders of every member of Lars’s crew would not go unnoticed, but they would go unlinked.”
“Oh my God,” she breathed, fear wrapped around each word.
He didn’t like hearing that, he hated being the cause of it, but she had to know it.
And know it all.
“Lars thought you were a snitch. You were with me, and I turned out to be who I was so he thought you were a snitch. Maria knew that you knew dick, but Maria is a whacked-out bitch. As far as I know she did not disabuse him of this notion. They knew Lonnie was stupid, and Lars calling for his hit was about him being stupid, not being stupid in giving all he gave to me, because at the time Lars didn’t know it was very bad for him that anyone gave anything to me. But it wasn’t only Lonnie who spilled shit all over the place. I got close to two of Lars’s other crew, and Lars was a wannabe big man but he was not dumb. When he went down, with the scope of evidence we had against him, he knew his boys were not as smart as him. So he’s out and he’s pissed and he wants vengeance, and knowing that man like I do, he doesn’t care none of them ratted him out. He’s working his way through all of them to make them pay for his dream dying and his ass rotting in jail for fifteen years.”