Paradise Disguised(11)

Oh, low blow. "This has to do with why I ran away from you last night," Anna said, ignoring his question.

"It's forgotten, Anna, as long as you still want me I can forgive a case of nerves."

"It's not nerves," Anna said, stubbornly. "I think someone is trying to kill me."





Chapter Six





"What?" Dylan asked, stopping dead in his tracks.

"Are you going to let me come with you or not?"

"Get in the truck, and tell me what the hell is going on."

Anna followed behind him and got in the beat up Ford truck that Dylan  drove for work everyday. His image didn't seem to fit the battered  automobile, but there were obviously quirks he harbored she didn't know  about. Like his recent penchant for bossing her around. She'd have to  break him of that habit.

Dylan revved the truck and took off down the long paved driveway in  front of the Hollis Mansion. "Now start talking," Dylan ordered.

"You know, there's no reason for you to talk to me that way. I'm the one  being threatened. You could at least be a little sympathetic. And  polite," she added as an afterthought.

Dylan rolled his eyes and took a right over the bridge that headed  towards the outskirts of town where the Willis' had chosen to build  their dream home. The middle-aged couple was wealthy and had nothing  better to do with their time than be a pain in his ass, but they were  good customers.

"I apologize," Dylan said sarcastically. "Please tell me why you think someone is trying to kill you."

Anna nodded her head at him primly, princess to peasant. He almost  laughed when he thought of how shy he thought she'd been when first  seeing her. She'd obviously only been out of practice.                       
       
           



       

"Well, after that first day we met in your office," Anna began, blushing  furiously and thinking about what they'd been doing ten minutes after  being formally introduced, "I found a note on my windshield that told me  to stay away from you."

Dylan interrupted her. "That's why you ran from me? Because some jealous  woman told you to? I thought you'd have more spine than that."

"Excuse me, Mr. I won't let you finish a damn sentence," Anna shot back,  giving as good as she got. She was getting tired of high and mighty  Dylan Maguire. She might have been shy for the last ten years, but that  didn't mean she was a doormat. "If you'll be so kind as to shut up I'll  finish."

Dylan mumbled something inaudible under his breath, which Anna took as a  sign to keep talking. "As I was saying, I received the note right after  I left your office, but I just chalked it up to a childish prank by one  of your ex-girlfriends. I had fully planned to ignore it and meet you  anyway," Anna said, giving him a pointed look.

Dylan did have the sense to look a little abashed at her confession. "It  was on the way home that I ran into trouble. A black car tailed me  through town and across Paradise Crossing."

Paradise Crossing was a beam bridge that allowed cars to travel over  Hollis Creek and enter the town. There was one way in and one way out of  Paradise. "I noticed the car coming up beside me and thought he was  just trying to pass, but he was trying to edge me to the side. I swerved  to avoid him and barely missed scraping the side of my car against the  railing."

Dylan let out a slow, controlled breath at Anna's story. The two  incidences happening so close together were probably more than just  coincidence. "You said He," Dylan said.

"What?" Anna said confused.

"When you mentioned the driver of the car you said he," Dylan repeated.  "Did you actually see a man behind the wheel of the car?"

"No, now that you mention it, I didn't. I was just using a  generalization," Anna said. "The windows were a really dark tint, and I  couldn't see through them. To tell you the truth, the only thing I was  really paying attention to was staying on the road."

"Shit," Dylan said as the visual of what could have happened to Anna  went through his mind. "I'll check into this, Anna. I'm not on bad terms  with anyone I've dated in the past. I can't think of one single person  that would do something like that."

Anna stewed a little. She really wanted to keep up the hope that  Veronica Fox was the culprit. The woman was just too perfect. Surely she  had some schizophrenic tendencies to take away the flawless edge.

"And I can't imagine that your incidences and the fire at the Willis  place are related," Dylan said. "More than likely it was a couple of  punk kids looking for something to destroy."

Dylan slowly pulled the truck onto the graveled lane that led to the  house and watched the pandemonium taking place around him. The house was  a total loss. He could tell just by looking. They'd have to bulldoze  away the remains and start from scratch. It looked like he was going to  be spending another ten months with the Willis's.

He could see Mitchell talking to Chief Russ Davies, a look of irritation on his face.

"Looks like this is going to be fun," Dylan said. "I don't suppose I can convince you to stay in the truck."

"No, but I appreciate you making the concession so graciously," Anna said, patting his hand and opening the truck door.

The ground was muddy with soot and debris, and she had to watch her step  to avoid nails or other sharp objects from piercing the soles of her  shoes. She followed closely on Dylan's heels as he headed in Mitchell's  direction.

Mitchell looked weary in her opinion. His eyes were drawn and worried  and the tie he usually wore knotted crisply at his throat was shoved in  his front pocket, but he still put on his charmer's smile for her  benefit and kissed her hand.

"Good to see you again, Anna," he said. "No wonder Dylan didn't want to  be interrupted." He gave her a wink and turned his attention to Dylan.

"What's going on Mitchell?" Dylan asked. "Have they found the cause of the fire?"

"Yeah," he said. "It's nothing too complicated. Gasoline and matches. It  works the same way every time. With all the raw insulation lying  around, the place went up like a tinder box."

Anna was watching Chief Davies out of the corner of her eye. The man was  collecting every scrap of information he could find and you could  practically see the wheels turning in his head. She'd known him since  birth and always thought he looked like a comfortable sort of man, if  not overly bright or terribly thorough.                       
       
           



       

His family was considered new to the area-since he and his wife had  moved to Paradise some forty years before when they were still  newlyweds-instead of being third or fourth generation like a good  majority of the town's residents.

She couldn't imagine him rummaging around in the ashes looking for clues  to the fire. It would take far more effort than he was willing to  expend. He was the kind of man that ate jelly donuts behind his desk  while his feet were propped up on a growing stack of files. No, she  didn't think this case was one that was likely to be solved.

Chief Davies cleared his throat and got both men's attention. "I need to  ask you some questions for the investigation, Dylan," he began, wiping  the sweat off his brow with the red handkerchief he always left hanging  out of his back pocket.

"Can you think of anyone that would do something like this?" Chief  Davies asked. "Someone who maybe has a grudge against you? Previous  employers, old friends, old lovers?" The chief looked apologetically at  Anna about mentioning the word lovers in a ladies presence.

"No," Dylan said. "I haven't had any problems with past clients or  friends. There's no one that I can think of that would do something this  juvenile."

"I understand that you've been working on this house for almost a year?"  the chief continued. "Isn't that a little long for building a house?"

"My clients are just a little harder to please than most," Dylan said,  smiling grimly at the thought of the Willis's. It was not going to be  fun starting this project over with them. "They find something new they  like almost every day and want us to add it or rip out what we've  already done and start anew. That's the only reason it's taken so long.  We would have been finished with it in the next six weeks if this hadn't  have happened."

"I understand that this house was pretty heavily insured," Davies said, waiting patiently for Dylan's reaction.

"All of my houses are insured while we're working on them," Dylan said.  "It's how we keep from losing our shirts if something like this  happens."