CHAPTER ONE
2041 Words
CHAPTER ONE
It was arson.
Ashley Hope’s heart sank as she crossed the threshold into the fire-damaged waiting room at her family’s automotive repair shop. The acrid scent of smoke lingered in the air, stinging her throat. Black soot coated the concrete block walls that – just a few years prior – she had helped paint a creamy beige. The bare metal frames of the formerly vinyl-upholstered chairs reminded her of skeletons in a tomb. And the sight of the shattered front windows and glass door – now covered by plywood – chilled her to her core.
Sloshing through puddles of water left behind by the Mettler Ridge Fire Department’s dousing of the flames, she maneuvered her way past the charred remnants of a pair of vending machines toward the pile of ash where the check-in counter had once stood. The location where the fire had begun.
Although the investigation was still ongoing, according to the fire chief’s initial observations, the blaze had erupted inside a trash can filled with oily rags. Her father and Uncle Russ had invested over twenty-five years, building the business from the ground up in their economically-challenged hometown on Tennessee’s Cumberland Plateau. Her family members were well aware of the dangers of storing combustible materials. They would never risk throwing dirty shop rags into a garbage can. Ashley knew the fire wasn’t an accident.
It was set on purpose.
She jumped as the door leading to the garage bays pushed open behind her. Her older brother, Kyle, met her gaze, his expression grim. Although the room felt cool, sweat had plastered his wheat-blonde hair to his scalp like a helmet. Since their father’s retirement – the result of a recent heart attack – her brother had taken over the management of the shop while still maintaining his lead mechanic duties. She could tell the long working hours had taken their toll. And now he had to deal with the fire damage.
“I’m the one who brought this vendetta onto the family, Kyle, and I’m really sorry,” she said, her eyes welling with tears.
Ashley felt certain the fire was payback. Working as a consultant, she’d joined forces with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigations in their pursuit of a serial killer. The man had been a local – a deputy with the Laurel County Sheriff’s department. When he realized he was trapped, Troy Luckadoo had brandished a hunting knife, intending to plunge the blade into the heart of his fourth victim.
After her pleas for the deputy to drop his weapon had failed, Ashley was left with only one choice. She’d shot Troy. And now, she believed the deputy’s backwoods relatives had targeted the auto shop in an act of revenge for the man’s death.
A clandestine eye-for-an-eye type practice the Laurel County locals termed mountain justice.
Kyle shook his head.
“You done what was right,” he told her, sincerity evident in his blue eyes. “You should be proud. You saved Beth’s life. And her daddy’s mighty grateful. Weren’t no way he was gonna let the place burn down.”
The father of Troy’s would-be fourth victim, Beth, held the rank of captain at the fire department. He’d been on duty when the call from Hope Automotive Repair had gone out. Thanks to the man’s quick response, and the fact that the fire department was located only a block away, the blaze had been contained to the waiting area.
Ashley sighed.
“I just wish that Uncle Russ shared your opinion,” she stated.
Although the shop had been closed when the fire had started, her uncle’s two sons had been working on a customer’s car in one of the garage bays. They could have been killed. A point that her uncle had stressed several times since the incident, even stating that Ashley should have refused the request to team up with the TBI – that she should have known that her actions would place her own family in jeopardy. The reality that she had saved a woman’s life seemed irrelevant to him.
“It don’t matter what Uncle Russ thinks,” Kyle said. “You did what you had to. Me, Daddy, and Shane know it. And you didn’t go to the police academy for nothing.”
She felt grateful that her father and younger brother, Shane, understood – had supported her along with Kyle – but Ashley hated being the source of friction between her family members.
The fire had been set two days earlier – the day of her graduation from Highland Rim Law Enforcement Academy. Up until now, Uncle Russ had never voiced an opposition to her chosen career. It seemed he didn’t mind her working as a police officer. He just didn’t want her arresting criminals in her own hometown.
As in the days of prohibition when state agents had invaded the mountains searching for moonshine stills, many Laurel County natives viewed law enforcement officials as the enemy. And Uncle Russ feared being on the receiving end of the locals’ hostility. He’d warned her father that even more retaliation could follow.
Ashley worried her uncle might be right.
She clenched her bottom lip between her teeth, wondering if she should tell Kyle her plans.
“I drove over to Briarwood early this morning and put in an application for an apartment,” she finally said.
For the past few months, Ashley had been staying in an old mobile home on the rear corner of her father’s one-hundred-and-fifty-acre property – passed down through the Hope family for generations. Although she loved living on the same plot of land as her father and brothers, she realized it might be best for all of her relatives if she found a place of her own – outside of Laurel County.
“You ain’t no city girl,” Kyle replied, disappointment clear on his face. “I thought you done figured that out by now.”
Ashley had fled her hometown once before – to attend the University of Tennessee in Chattanooga. Just prior to completing her master’s in criminal justice, she’d moved to Briarwood with her wealthy former fiancé. Although her brief time in the Nashville suburb had proved challenging as she’d struggled to fit in to an affluent neighborhood, she felt she hadn’t given the area a real chance.
This time, she’d strike out on her own. Make new friends. Could possibly meet other people who shared a similar modest background. And if she returned to Briarwood – a two-hour drive away – she wouldn’t be present to pose a threat to her family. She hoped the old adage “out of sight, out of mind” would hold true in regards to the feud with Troy’s relatives.
“If everything goes well with my interview tomorrow and I’m offered an agent position with the TBI, I’ll be working out of Briarwood. It just makes more sense for me to live there,” she said, hoping her brother would believe her reasoning was that simple.
Kyle stared at her. He didn’t seem convinced.
“Don’t be leaving on account of the fire,” he said. “Me and Shane know how to handle Troy’s kin.”
Anxiety flooded Ashley’s chest. Kyle’s words fueled her fear of an all-out war between the opposing families. If her brothers retaliated, the situation would continue to escalate.
She grabbed Kyle’s arm.
“I want you to promise me that you and Shane won’t do anything to Troy’s relatives,” she said. “Just let the authorities handle things.”
Ashley realized the investigators would likely not be able to collect enough evidence to obtain an arrest warrant for the arson, but at this point, that didn’t matter. Her only concern was keeping her family safe. She hoped that if her brothers backed off, if they let the matter drop, the feud would be settled.
Kyle averted his gaze. “Can’t make no promises.”
She fought the urge to shake her brother, to force him to listen.
“Don’t you understand that if you strike back it will only make things worse? One – or maybe even both of you – could get killed.”
He pulled his arm from her grasp, brushing her aside.
“We know how to take care of ourselves,” he replied as though it irritated him that she might think otherwise.
Kyle’s refusal to handle the situation with logic rather than pride cemented her resolution to leave Laurel County. The odds of harm befalling her family increased with every moment she remained. But once she was gone – after Troy’s family learned she’d left town for good – the conflict stood a better chance of being resolved.
Ashley heard the door leading to the garage area swing open again.
Her stomach fluttered as a familiar pair of blue eyes locked with her own. Daniel Lansing, a special agent with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigations, strode toward her, a lightweight overcoat topping his athletic frame. His dark brown hair had been trimmed since she’d seen him last. A slight smile danced across his face as he nodded a greeting and then turned toward her brother.
“It’s good to see you, Kyle,” the agent said, shaking her brother’s hand.
Daniel had led the homicide investigation that had resulted in Troy’s death. In the process of working with Ashley, he’d come to know her father and brothers as well. Her family seemed to respect the dedicated agent almost as much as she did.
“Same here,” Kyle said. “You got any word from the fire investigator?”
On the day of the arson, Daniel had attended Ashley’s graduation ceremony at the police academy in the neighboring county. When her family received the news that the shop had caught fire, the agent had rushed to the scene, contacting the TBI’s fire investigation division along the way.
Daniel shook his head. “No, not yet. But our team has made your case a priority. They’re processing the evidence as fast as they can.”
She had assumed the agent had come to share new information regarding the arson. Since that obviously wasn’t the case, she wondered what the reason was for his visit.
“We sure appreciate it,” Kyle said. He glanced at Ashley with a solemn look in his eyes. “I reckon I best be getting to work, or I won’t be leaving till midnight.”
As she watched her brother plow back through the door leading to the garage bays, Ashley prayed her warning to stay away from Troy’s relatives had sunk into Kyle’s thick skull. Stubbornness ran strong in the Hope family line.
She met Daniel’s gaze.
“You’re not here to tell me that my job interview with the TBI has been canceled, are you?”
The agent had pulled strings with his boss to get Ashley a shot at the position. There was only one job currently open and the competition was fierce. She’d been told that several of the applicants already had years of law enforcement experience under their belt.
He shook his head, his expression bleak.
“No. It’s not that.”
Apprehension swelled in her chest. Whatever he had to say, she could tell it was bad news.
“It must be something really important for you to make the two-hour drive from Briarwood,” she said, bracing herself for his explanation.
“Yeah, it is.”
He stepped back and motioned toward the door.
“Why don’t you come to the diner with me? We can grab an early dinner, and I’ll fill you in.”
Although she could tell he was making an attempt to keep his voice light, his body language let her know that something serious had happened. Her only option was to agree.
A cloud of dread hung over Ashley as she led the agent through the garage area and out into the auto repair shop’s parking lot. He glanced back at her before hopping into his sedan. She remembered the news that Daniel had delivered the last time she’d seen that look in his eyes.
He’d told her there had been a murder.
- Writer
