“Marcus will get to the bottom of it.”
She sighed.“I know.I wonder if I should call Evelyn or let him do that.”
Lawson held out his hand.“Want to go ask Marcus what he thinks?”
She nodded and took his hand.Outside, they found another officer talking with the chief and the fire investigator.Bella smiled at her.“Hi Dani.How are you feeling now?”
“I’m okay.Have you found anything new?”
Bella shook her head.“There’s no evidence that he did anything else to your garage or property.There are no other incendiary devices anywhere.We’ve checked the buildings and your backyard.”
Panic raced through her.“My bees.The apiaries.Beatrice.I didn’t even think about any of them.I need to check them.”
Marcus frowned.“Is Beatrice someone who lives on your property?”
She choked out a laugh, and Lawson squeezed her hand.“Beatrice is the honey of a truck out in the apiary field.A 1931 Ford.”
Marcus grinned.“Shall we check on her and her bee friends?”
A few of the group stayed behind to guard the property, but most of Lawson’s family followed them to the field.Neither Bibi nor Boomer reacted to any other presence along the way.
At first glance, the field appeared untouched.Beatrice sat where she always did, with wind spinners and wildflowers in place.Bees buzzed around their apiaries.None had been burned or toppled.“It all seems fine.”
Marcus nodded.“I’ll have you all wait here while Bella and I check the field.”
Amber ruffled her dog’s fur.“Do you want Boomer to search?”
Marcus nodded.“Absolutely.Can he search without a scent to check?”
Amber nodded.“Boomer.Search.Go.”
Boomer loped off and moved through the field, with Marcus and Bella trailing behind.
The shepherd sniffed the edges of the clearing, the truck, and the hives, but nothing disturbed him.When he got to the edge of the trees, he looked over at Amber for further instructions.“Good boy, Boomer.Free.”
It didn’t take long for the humans to clear the area as well.
Marcus returned to their side.“I’ll know once I get back to the station, but at the moment, it appears that Beaumont didn’t bother going anywhere other than to the front of your property.”
“What if he wasn’t working alone?”
Marcus nodded.“Might be a good idea to get some solar-powered security cameras and equipment out here.Tansy out at Midnight Lake has been working on new systems for their property.I’m sure she’d love to have another test site.”
With everything taken care of, the group split up with the Malssum extended family returning to the farm.The others returned to her cottage, but that didn’t take long either.
Joe and Lia had boarded up the garage window without disturbing the inside.By the time the rest of the group left, Dani felt as if it had been a week since she’d been working on her apple pieces in the garage.Instead, it had only been hours.
Lawson locked and bolted her cottage door behind them.Bibi yawned and moved to her bed near the couch.
Lawson scooped Dani up, making her laugh.“I can walk; I’m not injured.”
His arms tightened.“I’m so glad you weren’t hurt.I don’t know if I’ve ever been that afraid.”
He settled them into the corner of her couch, and she snuggled in.“Same.It almost seems like a scene from a play when I look back on it.And it seems like days away, not hours.”
He snuggled her close and kissed her hair.“That’s the adrenaline dump.”
She looked up at him.“You too?”
