A flicker of understanding crossed his face. “All right. Curtis Marchand got himself arrested Saturday night. Apple Pie Creek PD clocked him for speeding on the Lake Road, headed toward Cobbler Cove. When they tried to pull him over, he fled in the van.”
‘They radioed us, and we set up a road block. At any rate, evading arrest gave Apple Pie Creek PD probable cause to search his van. They found a bag with a high-end lock picking gun, a jug of lighter fluid, a roll of hemp wick coated in beeswax, and a can of spray paint. There was also a full five-gallon container of gasoline in the back of the van.”
He planned to burn down . . . what? The bakery? Her house? Her shoulders hunched up around her ears in horror at what could’ve happened had the police not been watching him, and had he not gotten picked up for speeding.
Cooper said evenly, “He’s in custody in Apple Pie Creek, charged with intent to commit arson.”
Reno spoke for the first time. “A) Are the police planning to question him about whether his mother put him up to committing arson? And b) if he admits his mother did put him up to it. are the police prepared to upgrade the charge against him to conspiracy? And c) Are they will to arrest a woman of her wealth and social prominence as well?”
Cooper answered without hesitation. “I can’t speak for their department, but I will say their police chief is very sharp and a stand-up guy. Believes passionately that the law applies to everyone equally, no matter who anyone is. He won’t care one bit how rich or prominent Curtis’s mother is. If Curtis implicates Tara Marchand, he’ll arrest her and charge her so fast her head will spin.”
Reno leaned back, looking satisfied.
Cooper’s gaze returned to her and he said, “Curtis isn’t getting out of jail before his arraignment, and after the arraignment, he’s not getting anywhere near you.”
“Indeed, he’s not,” Reno said icily. “I’ll be filing a restraining order this afternoon to keep him far, far away from Grace, Lily, the bakery, and Cobbler Cove entirely if the judge will let me.”
Grace felt her shoulders come down a little.
“As for Mary’s sister, she came in voluntarily on Saturday and gave us the original of her notebook and turned over her cell phone to us. She didn’t want to answer any questions about Tara Marchand until she spoke with a lawyer, and we arranged for a pro bono lawyer to meet with her yesterday. Eileen and her lawyer are coming to the station this afternoon, and my read is the lawyer has advised Eileen to negotiate a plea deal. In return for immunity from prosecution from us, she’ll tell us Tara Marchand organized the harassment and stalking campaign against Grace.”
Grace’s shoulders came down a little more.
Cooper smiled tightly. “Reno, your lawsuits against her are about to become a great deal more interesting, particularly if a federal conspiracy to commit arson charge joins the pile of lawsuits against her. And Grace, I think it’s fair to say Tara Marchand is about to be extremely busy covering her own tail and not worrying about harassing you. Not to mention, with so much police attention about to turn her way, she won’t dare to sneeze in your direction. The harassment is over, Grace. You can have your life back, now.”
She nodded as her shoulders came the rest of the way down.
She did clock that she didn’t feel the relief yet. It was sitting somewhere outside her like a coat she’d set down and would put on later when she had the use of her arms again. But she knew it was there. She filed it under things to feel later, which was a drawer that had gotten very full over the past five years. Recently, though, she’d been emptying it a little at a time.
Cooper stood and looked at her for a moment with respect. “You handled all of this news well. Better than most folks.”
“I’ve had practice with bad news,” she replied dryly.
He nodded and Reno walked him out while she stayed on the porch.
Through it all, Reno had been a quiet, solid presence beside her, which was exactly what she’d needed and exactly what he’d known to be. And now that Cooper was gone, he came back sat down beside her again, not touching her but close by.
“Tessa’s got Lily, all night, and Mary’s closing the bakery today. You don’t have anywhere to be. I’ll need a half-hour to draft a request for a restraining order and email it over to Lincoln, but beyond that, I’m at your disposal. If you want to be alone, I’m fine with that. I’ll make food and have it available for you in the kitchen, and I’ll stay out of your way.”
It was the thing she’d told him she would need. If I find out my husband was murdered, I’m going to need to sit on this porch for a while. I may need somebody to look after Lily for that while.
She hadn’t known, when she said it, that he would remember it. But he had. He’d already arranged it for her, in fact.
“You remembered,” she said quietly.
“Of course I did. I’m good at taking instructions from the people I lo—” He stopped. Reset. “From you.”
She heard the word he’d stopped in the middle of, and she let it sit there between them unspoken, because today was not the day, and they both knew it. And she was grateful he knew it.
She said aloud, “Even if Liam had known that fire was intentional, he still would have run in. He still would’ve searched for anyone who might be trapped, and he would’ve tried to save the horses. It doesn’t change that he was a hero. It almost makes what he did—” She couldn’t find the right words. “—bigger and worse at the same time. He didn’t die because accidents happen. He died because somebody did something terrible on purpose, and he tried to fix it anyway.”
Reno said, “From everything you’ve told me about him and everything other people in town have told me about him, he was, indeed, that kind of man.”
Her eyes finally started to burn, the tears rising slow and hot. She didn’t fight them. She’d learned not to fight them; fighting them just made them hurt worse.
She said hoarsely, “I have to tell the others. Tessa, and Charlotte, and all of them. Right now they’re going through their normal day and they don’t know yet. And I’m going to have to be the one—” Her voice cracked clean through. “We carried it being an accident together for five years. I don’t know how to hand them arson.”
Reno’s voice was very low and very sure. “Cooper will hold a meeting for all the families, properly, when he’s ready. You don’t have to be the one who breaks it to them. I’ll be there beside you as you share their pain. And when they need somebody to sit with them on a porch afterward, you’ll know how, because you’re doing it right now.” He paused. “You’re the bravest person I’ve ever met, Grace. I’ve told you that before, and I’ll keep telling you until you believe me.”
