“Sounds like a lot of technical shit we normal people wouldn’t have a clue about. Will your insurance cover it all?” Jinx asked, concern lacing her words as she placed her other hand on the man’s arm.
Frank patted her shoulder, the gesture one would use for a friend or loved one. “Jinx, you know I’ll be fine. I’m more worried about what you and the others will do while we work through all this before I can start fixing her back up.”
Viking didn’t miss the sheen of tears in Frank’s eyes before he looked away. The man truly did feel bad about his employees losing out on work.
“You don’t have to worry about me, Frank. Carly lives at home and only works part-time. Jamie is the only other waitress who worked forty hours. She should be able to get unemployment benefits. Jordan and the others all have day jobs. Of course, you know your boy will drive you nuts, but that’s not unusual.” Her laughter and ease brought the levity Frank and Fred needed. Both men chuckled.
Fred pushed open his back door and stepped out, standing next to his father. “Come on, Pops. Let’s get through some of the paperwork and start on the mountain of shit so we can begin the rebuilding of this place. It’ll be better than ever, just you wait and see.”
Frank shook his head as Freddy tossed his arm over his shoulder. “You’re like an overgrown puppy, you know that?”
“Yep, that’s why you’re gonna buy me lunch. I’m still a growing boy. See you later, bestie. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” Fred winked back at Jinx. “Or do and share all the deets.”
“Good lord, boy. I swear, we taught you manners. Nice to have met you, Bekkett. Tell your mom and dad I said hello for me. Jinx—I’m damn sorry about this mess. We’ll get Taps fixed up as soon as possible.” Frank turned and walked back toward the ruined bar with Fred next to him.
“They’ll be okay. Frank has been here for a long damn time. Freddy will make sure he doesn’t get in a slump.” Jinx rolled her window up. Her eyes were watching the duo.
Viking reached for her hand. “I’m not worried about Frank or Freddy. Whoever set that fire is the problem. Do you know if anyone had a reason to burn Taps down? Do Frank or Freddy have any enemies? A scorned lover, angry ex-employee, or pissed off customer?” The list of people who would go so far as to burn an establishment should be short in a small town like theirs, but then again, he’d learned long ago, in places like where he grew up, people could be very small-minded.
Hell, his friend Keys was run out of his town as a kid. The shit he’d suffered growing up made horror novels seem tame. Luckily for him, he’d returned to wreak havoc, got the girl and a little boy while burning a considerable part of the town down.
“Frank is literally loved by everyone, and well, Freddy is Freddy. He, as you probably noticed, loves all the men. Women around here would love for him to be heterosexual, or even bi, but he’s strictly dickly. Shasta has what, twelve thousand people? We’re not tiny, but we’re not huge. I don’t know everyone, but I do know my neighbors, basically.” She blew out a breath, frustration evident in her rigid posture.
“While Shasta isn’t huge, it’s only a basin in Siskiyou County, California, and is estimated to be around 12,000 to 13,000 people, though precise figures vary as it encompasses several smaller communities, not a single city. The larger Shasta County, where the valley is located, has over 180,000 people, with Redding as its main city. In contrast, the valley itself is more rural, focused on agriculture.” Viking rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand, staring into her eyes as he spoke.
“Okay, how do you know those figures?” she asked.
He grinned and tapped his temple. “My law degree specializes in land rights. I’ve done some work for my father. He’s acquired some property around here, so I’ve acquainted myself with all sorts of worthless info.”
She waved her hand in the air, dislodging his from her other one. “Be that as it may, how the fuck do you remember it? My mind would be blown with all those figures.”
Viking reached for her hand again, pulling it toward his lips. “I like figures. Especially those belonging to one little bombshell named Jinx.”
“You’re so full of shit. This is a mess.” She looked back at the building, then at her truck with its flat tires. “I need to get my baby fixed.”
“Well, there’s gotta be another tow guy in town. Let’s see if we can find one who can get out of here asap.”
An hour later, he and Jinx were driving back to her place with him following closely behind her. The two tires were expertly replaced, while her two slashed ones sat in the bed of his truck, as she would need to order replacements. Now that they were sure her tires were cut and not flattened, he had a sneaking suspicion whoever set the bar on fire expected her to be inside when the blaze occurred. Which meant she was in danger. Although it wasn’t her fault Taps got burned, it became a casualty thanks to whoever was out to get her.
He hit the call button on his dashboard, waiting for the voice recognition to start. “Call Keys,” he said at the prompt.
“Hey, Viking. How’s it going up in Shasta? See any Yetis?"
Viking laughed. “Not yet. I hate to bother you, but I was wondering if you’d found out anything about the brother?”
The sound of tapping on a keyboard came through as he waited.
“Sorry, man. I haven’t been able to find anything. The brother’s file is sealed tighter than a nun in a convent. Even those, I can usually find a way inside. I’m still working on it, but damn. Whoever the Clemons family paid to handle his situation did a damn good job of making sure he was unsearchable. I found school records up to senior high, which showed a promising football star with decent grades. He had some slips in his file, but they’d been whited out. It’s crazy, brother. You say you’re with his sister, Blair?”
Viking pinched the bridge of his nose. “Yeah. She’s about four years younger than he is. There were two sets of twins in the family. Now, there’s only Blair and Benjamin.”
Keys made a humming sound. “Let me do some more digging and cross-reference using his twin brother’s name. Sometimes, hiding by usingsomething as simple as a deceased twin’s name does the trick.”
“I appreciate you doing this for me. The bar she worked at was burned down after her tires were slashed outside. If I hadn’t picked her up...she might’ve been stuck inside.” His words came out rough as visions of Jinx burning filled his mind.
“Fuck. Are you serious? Do you think this brother made a wild escape and tracked her down up there? That would be some amazing feat, Viking.”
Neither of them said it wasn’t impossible.
