Pushing back, I look up at Mica. “You go do what you need to do. I’m going to call Cray and alert him about the shop burning down. He deserves to know what’s going on with his brother’s property, especially since he’s supposed to be overseeing it.”
He drops a kiss on my forehead. “Yeah, that’s a smart move. Stay close to the front of the building though, okay?”
I nod and pat his chest. “Sure thing. Let’s do what we need to do here and get back home.”
I pull out my phone and call Cray’s number as Mica heads back over to the growing group of men who came to help him in our time of need.
Chapter 14
Nova
The crowd gets bigger and louder, all asking the same question over and over again, about what happened, did anyone save the choppers and whether or not we had insurance. Thankfully, we do. I’m not sure if it will be enough though. I move a little further away and stand with my phone to my ear, waiting for Cray to pick up.
The minute he does, I cover my other ear with my fingers so I can hear him.
“It’s Nova,” I say. “Someone set the chopper shop on fire, just like the trucking company. The fire marshal said someone connected a fifty-gallon drum of gasoline to the fire suppressant system and set it off.”
“That’s fuckin’ clever,” he responds. “Must have been a smart kind of fucker. That eliminates most of the dumbasses around these parts.”
I swallow thickly. “Yeah, I guess you’re right about that.”
“Where the hell are you right now? Does Mica have you covered?”
“Yeah. I’m standing in front of the shop. They’ve finally got the flames mostly put out. Mac’s here, along with Mica’s family. They’re trying to find out everything they can about what happened. Half the damn town is rubbernecking from the sidewalk.”
“That sounds about right. Everybody in this town is too nosy for their own good.”
I lower my voice. “Listen, I need a favor. My house is part of the inheritance. If they’re hitting everything Vulture left me, that might be their next target. Can you send a couple of your guys over there to sit on it until Mica can free up his people?”
“Consider it fuckin’ done,” he says without hesitation.
“Front and back. And tell them not to leave until they hear from me or Mica directly. Nobody else.”
“You got it, girl.” A pause. “Nova. You be careful. Whoever’s doing this ain’t finished.”
“Yeah,” I say. “I know. You’ve always been great, Uncle Cray. You even got me an amazing husband.”
Cray chuckles wryly, “So, you’re warming to that little Rager, are you?”
“Yeah, he’s a keeper. You did good there, Cray.”
“Look, I’m gonna come and meet you. Stay close to Mica and Mac until I get there.”
“Sure thing, Uncle Cray. I’ll be keeping an eye out for you. A couple of your crew just showed up as well.”
Just as I’m about to hang up someone taps me on the shoulder, “Excuse me, ma’am?”
I turn around to find a young cop standing right behind me. He’s wearing a clean uniform and looks like he’s in his early twenties. He’s got a badge on his chest that gleams in the early morning light. This guy can’t be much older than me. He’sprobably been a cop for about five minutes, and it shows in the way he speaks and carries himself.
“Hold on, Cray,” I say into the phone, then lower it slightly. “Can I help you?”
“Are you Nova Jackson? The owner of Vulture’s Custom Choppers?” This man’s voice was strangely high pitched.
“That’s me,” I tell him politely. “I inherited the business from my gramps.”
He introduces himself. “Ma’am, I’m Officer Weaver. I’ve been asked to bring you down to the station for a statement. We have some questions about the origin of the fire. We’ll need you to make a list of all the employees so we can rule them out as suspects. It’s fairly routine stuff, but they’d like to get it on record while everything’s fresh.”
This man is polite, professional, and his request seems reasonable. I can see his cruiser is parked down the block near an alley, which makes sense because the fire trucks have the street blocked and they need easy access to the building. Everything about his request feels normal. I know that Cray said to stay close to Mica and Mac, but I hesitate about refusing to cooperate with the police.
