Sleeping With The Fishes

Chapter 2

Chief Gary joined us about three minutes later.

“What’s happening, Officer Shaw?” he asked, and Taylor motioned to the two of us.

“I found these two having an argument in the middle of the street. Angela insists that she caught Matt after he set her vet clinic on fire, and Matt insists that he was going to get help, and that Angela just attacked him.”

Chief Gary’s eyes widened as Taylor told the story. “Your clinic’s on fire?” he asked me, and I shook my head.

“Not anymore. I managed to put the fire out with the extinguisher. I was in the back room doing inventory when I smelled the smoke.”

“How bad is the damage?”

I shrugged. “I’m not sure yet. As soon as I put the fire out I saw Matt running from the clinic, so I went out and caught up to him.”

“You mean she outran you?” Taylor said with a small smile on his face, and Matt glared at him. Matt hadn’t exactly endeared himself to the citizens of Willow Bay since he’d moved into town.

Chief Gary shot Taylor a warning glance–no matter what his personal opinion, Chief Gary was always completely neutral when it came to dealing with the people of Willow Bay. It was one of the reasons I respected him a lot as police chief, and it was one of the reasons why he was incredibly popular here in town.

“I didn’t set the fire. I was just walking past the place when I saw some flames. I ran down the street to go to the fire department to get help.”

“Except the fire department is in the complete opposite direction from my clinic,” I replied coldly.

“Uh, I just panicked, I guess,” Matt replied, and I glared at him. Chief Gary looked from one of us to the other.

“Plus, he smells like gasoline,” I told Chief Gary.

“I already told Angela that I was working on my car all day. That’s why I smell like gas.”

Chief Gary shook his head.

“Angela, I’m sorry. None of this is enough to hold him. I’m going to let you go young man,” he told Matt. “But, I’m going to warn you: stay away from Angela’s vet clinic.”

“Will do, although if I hadn’t been there no one would have been around to raise the alarm,” Matt replied.

I shook my head in amazement at Matt’s brazenness as he walked off, giving me another smug smile as he left.

“He threatened me, too,” I told Chief Gary, who looked at me seriously.

“Did he now? That’s serious.”

“Yes, he told me killing animals might not have been what the arsonist had in mind. Obviously since he did it that way he can say he was just talking. But I know he was the one who torched the clinic, and he definitely threatened me.”

“I don’t like that man one bit,” Chief Gary said, his face darkening. “Unfortunately, you’re right. All the same, I’d like you to go to the county courthouse tomorrow and get a restraining order out against him. I might not be able to arrest him, but what you’ve told me will probably get you an R.O.”

“Ok, will do,” I nodded. I shivered despite the warmth of the night and the warm light pooling over me from the Italian restaurant a few feet away.

“Now, let’s go to the clinic, I want to look at what happened there.”

As Chief Gary and I walked back down Main Street, I took out my phone and texted my best friend Sophie about what happened, and also Jason, my boyfriend and the reporter for the local paper here in town. I got replies from both instantly telling me they were going to be right there.

When we got back to the vet clinic, I finally had a chance to see the damage. Luckily, it could have been a lot worse. A large patch of the linoleum floor was charred black, the edges peeling back, and there were shards of glass everywhere. The whole thing was covered in a thin white coating of leftover fire extinguisher fluid.

Sadness engulfed me all the same. I was so glad I had been here alone, but this place was still my baby, my pride and joy. Chief Gary made his way inside and told me not to touch anything as he looked around. I decided to stay outside; I didn’t want to look at the damage any more than I had to. A minute later, a car pulled up, and Sophie, Jason and my sister Charlotte all came pouring out, surrounding me and taking me into what ended up being one giant hug.

“Are you ok?”

“Are you hurt?”

“Do you know who did it?”

“Of course she knows who did it, it was Matt Smith.”

“You don’t know that for sure.”

“Who else would it have been?”

“Stop bickering, I want to know if Angie’s ok.”

I had to admit, I laughed as I pulled away from the group of my favorite people in the world.

“I’m fine, guys, don’t worry,” I told them. “Just a little bit shaken up more than anything. And pretty upset about the vet clinic,” I continued, glancing toward the doors. Chief Gary was carefully placing some of the glass shards in a clear plastic bag. Tears threatened to sting my eyes, but I forced them back. This wasn’t the time for crying.

“I’m sure Chief Gary will catch whoever did it,” Charlotte said.

I shook my head. “I know who did it. It was Matt Smith. I saw him out of the corner of my eye running off after I put the fire out, so I chased him down. He all but admitted it was him, but because he didn’t actually admit it, there’s nothing Chief Gary can do, unless he finds some proof in there.

I showed the others the road rash on my arm, and saw Jason’s fists clench while Charlotte and Sophie fussed over me.

“You need to get this disinfected,” Charlotte told me. “I’m taking you home right now and wrapping this up for you.”

Charlotte was currently attending medical school in Portland. She was absolutely, hands down way smarter than the rest of us. I waved her off.

“It’ll be fine. I want to know what Chief Gary says, first.”

As if right on cue, Chief Gary chose that moment to come out of the vet clinic. He didn’t look happy.

“Well, as you said, it’s obviously arson,” Chief Gary said. “I’m going to need you to come by the station sometime and make an official statement. I’ve opened up a case file on this. Whoever did it used an empty wine bottle filled with accelerant.”

“Did you find any evidence that Matt Smith was responsible?” Sophie asked, but Chief Gary shook his head.

“No,” he replied. “I dusted a few of the shards of glass for fingerprints, but either they were burned away or whoever did it wore gloves.”

My heart sunk. There was going to be no way to prove what I knew to be a fact: Matt Smith had tried to torch my vet clinic.

“And of course, because this is Willow Bay, none of the businesses on Main Street have security cameras,” Jason muttered. Being a recent transplant to the town from New York City, I knew some of the small-town features that I loved so much about this place drove him absolutely nuts. Like the fact that none of the businesses on Main Street felt the need to have any security beyond a locked front door.

At this exact moment, however, I agreed with him. I made a mental note to start looking into better security systems in the future.

“I’m sorry,” Chief Gary said, the sympathy on his lined face evident. “I wish I had better news for you. I’ve taken all the glass into evidence and I’ll send it to the lab in Portland to check for prints just in case, but I recommend not getting your hopes up.”

I nodded sadly. “Thanks, Chief,” I told him. “I’ll come by the station tomorrow to give a statement.”

“Take care of yourself,” Chief Gary told me. “I’ll make sure to send a car by your place a couple times tonight.”

“I’ll be spending the night there as well,” Jason said, wrapping his arm around my shoulder. I leaned into him; Jason always made me feel safe.

“Good,” Chief Gary said, nodding, before heading back into the night.

As soon as he was gone, I let myself shiver just a little bit.

“Are you sure you’re all right?” Jason asked. “Come on, let’s go home.”

“I’m fine,” I said. “I just wish there was some evidence against Matt Smith. I don’t like that he’s going to get away with this.”

“I’m going to go pay him a visit tomorrow,” Jason growled. “He needs to be reminded that I’m not going to let him hurt you, no matter what.”

“No,” I insisted, placing a hand on Jason’s arm as we all piled into the car to go home. “I don’t want you to get in trouble over this. And I guarantee you that if you try anything, he will press charges against you.”

“He won’t be able to press charges against anyone after I’m done with him,” Jason muttered.

“I appreciate the thought, but I really don’t want you getting in trouble for me,” I insisted. “You’re no use to me if you’re in jail.”

“And I don’t want to have to visit you in the hospital in Portland next time he decides he hates you,” Jason replied. “But, if you really don’t want me to do anything, I won’t.”

“I don’t want you to do anything,” I said.

“Fine. But first thing tomorrow I’m installing some better security at your vet clinic,” Jason said. “And if you’re working late, I’ll bring you dinner and act as security. And for goodness sake, lock the front door! I swear, Willow Bay is like a completely different planet.”

I laughed. “Deal, on all of those. Especially the dinner part.”

Jason stuck his tongue out at me and I leaned in for a kiss. “Thanks for caring. I do appreciate it. I appreciate all of you.”

“Awwww, look, she’s getting all sappy on us,” Sophie teased, and I kneed the back of the driver’s seat she was sitting in.

“Moment ruiner,” I replied. I had meant what I’d said. My heart was full knowing that I had such an amazing boyfriend, and such an incredible best friend and sister. Despite everything that had happened tonight, I felt incredibly lucky to have that kind of support around me.