Hours later and smelling of smoke, Mercy joined Eddie in her boss’s office. She glanced at the time, feeling her exhaustion down to the marrow in her bones, and considered calling Kaylie to cancel the late dinner for Mercy to officially meet Cade. Mercy knew it was important to all three of them that they get their relationships back on the right track. She needed to see how Cade acted around her niece instead of standing on a remote ranch with a couple of belligerent construction workers. And it would be a good time to question him about activities at that ranch.
Mercy wished she’d grabbed a cup of the horrible office coffee before sitting in front of Jeff’s desk. Their primary concern was that no one could locate Jack Howell.
“How many times did you call the Realtor?” Jeff asked her.
“I don’t know. A half dozen? I was annoyed that he hadn’t called back when he said he would. But I left only two messages,” she pointed out.
“So the rest of the calls were just harassment?” Jeff tapped his pen on his desk, his mouth in a grim line, avoiding her gaze.
“I thought of them as polite reminders to return my call. Maybe he has short-term memory problems.”
Jeff finally looked at her, and she raised her eyebrows in an innocent expression.
“I requested his phone records. Hopefully we can trace who he called or his location before the fire.” Eddie broke the tension. “When I went to his home to notify him of the fire, no one was there and his car was missing. I’ve requested an APB on the vehicle. A dog barked like crazy when I knocked, and when I peeked in the window by the door, I saw the dog had wet on the floor. I have to think that Jack planned to come back and let the dog out. I left a patrol car in front of his house to wait to see if he returns.”
“Married?” asked Jeff.
“Divorced. I contacted the ex-wife. She hadn’t heard from him in a few weeks.”
“Are we sure he wasn’t killed in the burning building?” Jeff frowned.
“We aren’t sure,” said Mercy. “But Jack’s car wasn’t at the office, and the owner of the vape shop said Jack always parks in a particular spot. The fire marshal says he won’t know if there’s a body inside until the building cools down enough for him to go through the debris.”
“Does he believe it’s arson?” asked Jeff.
“Bill Trek wouldn’t give me a definitive answer on that because he hadn’t done the inspection yet, but he pointed out the gasoline odor. It was overwhelming even with the smell of the smoke.”
“Do you think Jack burned down his own office and left town?” Jeff asked.
“Who’d leave their dog locked in the house?” Eddie pointed out.
“A person who is scared,” said Mercy. “Someone who’s not thinking straight.”
“Just what did you say to him?” Jeff leaned forward. “Did he burn it because we asked him some questions?”
“All I asked about was his purchase offer for Tilda Brass’s property. I didn’t threaten him at all.”
“Then what did he hide by burning the office?” Eddie shrugged his shoulders. “Did we open a can of worms that we simply aren’t aware of yet? Was Jack running something illegal through his office and was paranoid that we knew about it?”
“Keep digging into him,” ordered Jeff. “Something made him cut and run. I want to know what it was.”
“I called Tilda a little bit ago and asked if she had any idea who the mystery buyer could be. I wanted to know if there was someone she’d refuse to sell to for whatever reason,” said Mercy. “She couldn’t come up with any person who would stay anonymous to buy her land. She stated again she doesn’t have any enemies and would sell to anyone who offered her a decent price.” Mercy paused. “Unless they were followers of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. She was very adamant that she wouldn’t sell to anyone associated with him.”
The office was silent.
“Who?” asked Eddie.
“Didn’t he die thirty years ago?” asked Jeff in a stunned voice.
“Something like that,” said Mercy. She smiled at Eddie’s confusion. “He was an Indian guru whose followers took over a small town not far from here in the nineteen-eighties. It got ugly. I think Tilda feels it happened a lot more recently than that.”
“I think I read about it,” admitted Eddie. “Rolls-Royces and red pajamas?”
“That was him,” said Mercy.
“I think we’re pretty safe that the buyer isn’t associated with them,” suggested Jeff.
“I agree,” Mercy said. “While I was talking to Tilda, I wondered if the anonymous buyer burned down the real estate office. Maybe he didn’t like that Jack told him the FBI wanted to know his identity.”
Eddie stared at her as the theory sank in. “That would be one very nervous buyer,” he said slowly. “That sounds a bit extreme, don’t you think?”
“Maybe Jack knows more about the buyer than he should. Or maybe the buyer panicked when Jack said the FBI was asking questions.” The theory was growing on Mercy. The more she thought about it, the more she liked it. “Someone set Tilda’s barn on fire. It seems logical they’d revert to fire again to take care of another problem.” She paused, her brain rapidly processing. “It’s all connected somehow . . . I can’t see it yet. But the fires are a common denominator.”
“I agree,” said Jeff. “But whether Jack set this latest fire or not, we still need to locate him.”
“Is there any connection between Jack Howell and Landon Hecht?” Mercy wondered out loud. “Could our presence at the Hecht home this morning have set something in motion?”
“Ask Hecht and his mother if they know Howell,” ordered Jeff. “You’re right. We’re missing some pieces here. Anything else I need to know?”
Mercy and Eddie looked at each other and then shook their heads.
“Get back to work.” Jeff waved them out of his office.
“I thought you were coming over this evening,” Kaylie said into her cell phone as she lay on her bed, staring at her ceiling. Frustration shot through her. Cade didn’t sound like himself.
“I am. I need to run out to the ranch for a bit first,” Cade answered in a consoling voice.
Kaylie wasn’t consoled and wondered if he was avoiding dinner at her house. Uncertainty shot through her nerves. “It’s your day off. Why would you go out there on a day you don’t work?”
“I won’t do any work.” Cade hesitated, and she felt his discomfort through the phone.
“What’s going on?” Is there someone else? What isn’t he telling me?
“It’s nothing. Just something I need to check out.”
“Then do it tomorrow when they’re paying you to be there,” she argued. “I don’t understand why you’re cutting into our time like this.”
Cade was silent.
“Cade?” Her voice caught. “Is there someone else?”
“Oh God. No! Don’t think like that, Kaylie!”