THANKSGIVING IN PARADISE Read online

  “So Harriet called this last minute on Tuesday, and during that meeting, a bomb went off killing the two people closest to the bomb including Harriet. If the meeting was called on the fly, how did the bomber even know that the council was going to be in the building when it exploded?” Doc wondered.

  “Good question,” I said.

  “I suppose that the bomber might have been the individual behind the emergency meeting,” Kyle suggested.

  “So you think the bomber might have created a situation where an emergency meeting would be called, and then planted the bomb to go off once everyone arrived?” I asked. “It seems unlikely. If you stop to think about it, the likelihood of the person who planted the bomb being able to anticipate the timing of the council members arriving would be close to impossible.”

  Kyle shrugged. “It does seem unlikely, although I suppose it could have happened that way. At this point, there is no way to know for sure one way or the other.”

  Grandpa leaned forward onto his forearms. His expression grew thoughtful. “If the last-minute meeting hadn’t been called, would the building have been empty when the bomb went off?”

  Kyle nodded. “The town offices close at five. The bomb went off around six.”

  “What if the bomber didn’t intend for there to be human casualties?” Grandpa asked.

  Doc furrowed his brows in an expression that seemed to convey confusion. “Why would anyone blow up an empty building?”

  “Maybe someone wanted to destroy something within the building, such as contracts, minutes of past town council meetings, copies of notes or other documents,” Grandpa replied.

  “Isn’t everything in the cloud these days?” I asked.

  “Everything current is, but not everything from the past has been entered,” Kyle answered. “In fact, getting the archives uploaded into the cloud is one of the projects I’ve been meaning to get to but somehow never found the time to deal with.”

  “So the target could have been any of the six people who would be expected to attend the meeting, the town council as a whole, or the building and its contents,” Roy concluded. “It’s going to be hard to know which to focus on. I guess all we can do is systematically look at every possible angle and eliminate scenarios that don’t fit the evidence.”

  “Where do we even start?” I groaned, as the fatigue of the past two days sucked the last of the energy from my body. At this point, the task in front of us looked to be insurmountable.

  Roy looked at Kyle. “What had the group gathered to discuss on the night of the bombing?”

  Kyle narrowed his gaze and slowly shook his head. “I don’t really know. The text I received was vague and only said that my presence was required at the town hall. The text didn’t explain why the meeting had been called, but we’ve had a number of emergency meetings lately, so I wasn’t all that surprised by the request.” Kyle furrowed his brow as if trying to remember. “I hadn’t been part of the discussion prior to the building coming down since I was late to the meeting. I suppose Jeff might know.”

  “I’ll ask him. In the meantime, what would you say are the hot topics the council has been dealing with as of late?”

  Kyle leaned back in his chair. He momentarily closed his eyes and lifted his arms over his head in a move that made it appear as if he was trying to both stretch out his sore muscles and center his jumbled thoughts. I felt so bad for him. Not only was he physically injured, but I knew that the enormity of trying to put the town back together had fallen on his shoulders. I really wasn’t sure how one person was supposed to deal with such a huge task, but I knew that if anyone could, it would be Kyle.

  “I suppose the number one hot topic in the past few months has been finding a full-time mayor,” Kyle eventually answered Roy’s question. “Bookman agreed to fill in temporarily after Mayor Harper died, but he made it clear since day one that he has no desire to take on the job permanently, and he has been very vocal about the fact that his willingness to assume the role is approaching an end.”

  “So what’s the holdup with appointing someone?” Roy asked.

  “The bylaws state that the mayor will be appointed by the town council and that a minimum of five of the six town council members must agree on the individual appointed. At this point, we only have five town council members, but there has been a general agreement that if four of the five agree, we can move forward.”

  “And you can’t find a candidate that four of the five can agree on?” Roy asked.

  Kyle shook his head. “This is new territory for everyone involved. Mayor Wallaby was the acting mayor for more than two decades, so the need to appoint a new mayor never really came up. After he resigned, there was a bit of discussion, but Judge Harper seemed like an obvious choice, so there was actually very little debate about the matter. Now, however, there doesn’t seem to be a clear option. If Bookman wanted to do it long term, I think everyone would have gotten behind him, which would mean that the council would only be tasked with finding an additional council member to replace him, but he has made it clear that he is much too busy to take on the full-time position. None of the other town council members are interested in the job, which means that we are looking for an appointment from outside the group. In a way, I think it could be a good thing to bring in some fresh blood and a new perspective, but it seems as if everyone has their own idea as to who should be considered for the job and so far, we as a group, have been unable to reach a consensus. In fact, we are so completely divided that I am beginning to wonder if we’ll ever find a candidate the group as a whole approves of.”

  “What about changing things up so that rather than the town council appointing the mayor, an election is held and the residents are given a voice?” Doc queried.

  “That has been suggested as well, but in order to change the bylaws to allow for the mayor to be elected rather than appointed, the council would have to vote to do so, and, at this point, there hasn’t been consensus on that either.”

  I knew that Kyle had been feeling some pressure to take on the position, but he’d made it clear that while he was happy to serve on the town council, running the town was not how he wanted to spend the majority of his day.

  “Okay, moving on from the appointment of a new mayor, what other sorts of items has the council been dealing with that might be considered to be hot topic items?” Roy asked.

  “James Kingston has been creating a lot of grief for the council,” Kyle answered after considering the question for a moment.

  James was a real estate developer and one of the richest men in the area.

  “James has bought up so much property in the past two decades that I suspect he collects it the same way my mom used to collect Franklin Mint Collectible plates,” Roy added. “I seem to recall he turned most of that property into vacation rentals.”

  “He has. Unfortunately for the council, one of the main things on Bookman’s agenda during his brief tenure as mayor has been to pass a bill which would outlaw the use of single-family homes as vacation rentals within the town limits. The debate has always been a volatile one. On one side of the argument are the men and women who bought up single-family homes and then turned around and made a lot of money renting them to both families and groups who wanted an alternative to commercial lodging properties. On the other side of the argument are the residents who don’t want to deal with the noise often associated with a vacation property, as well as the owners of the existing lodging properties who see the vacation rentals as a new source of competition. James Kingston has made a lot of money from his rental properties, so it was not surprising that he would clash with the interim mayor, who firmly believes that vacation rentals and the noise and the increase in the crime rate that come with them should not be allowed in neighborhoods where families who work and raise their children live.”

  “Do you think that James would blow up the entire town council o
ver this issue?” Roy asked Kyle.

  “Honestly, no, but there is a lot of money on the table so I suppose the issue, in general, could have caused someone involved to go over the edge.”

  Roy jotted down James’s name. “Anyone else?”

  Kyle dug his forefingers into his temple. I suspected that the headache he’d been dealing with since the explosion was back. Hunter had given Kyle pain medication for those times when the pain was at its worst, but as far as I could tell, Kyle had declined to take it.

  “I don’t know who else might have a motive,” Kyle eventually answered. “If I stop to really think about it, I’m sure I can come up with a short list. It’s so hard to know what will set someone off. As angry as James seemed to be when he realized that the acting mayor wanted to change a law which would end up costing him millions of dollars over time, I think that Elsa Winter was even angrier over the issue relating to her dog.”

  “Dog?” Doc asked.

  “Elsa Winter’s dog keeps getting out of her yard in spite of the fact that she has gone to quite a lot of trouble to keep him inside,” Kyle explained. “The dog is not only clever and determined, but he is also aggressive and unruly and is basically terrorizing the neighborhood. The neighbors living closest to Elsa got together and signed a petition which would require Elsa to either get rid of the dog or move. When the petition was presented to the council, their approach to the situation was divided, which seemed to anger everyone. Bookman told me later that one of the more vocal neighbors threatened to kill the dog if it wasn’t dealt with.”

  “That seems overly drastic,” I pointed out.

  “I don’t disagree,” Kyle said. “I’m just using the situation to make the point that, as far as I could tell, Elsa was just as angry about her dog, as James was about the money he would lose if the law was changed. When gauging who might funnel their anger into an act of violence and who might not, I’m not sure you can measure the potential for violence based on the dollar value of what is perceived to be lost.”

  I shrugged. “That makes sense. I’m sure Elsa values her dog even more than James values his money.”

  Roy groaned and put his little notepad in his pocket. “I can see this isn’t going to be easy. Let’s just all make a list of whoever comes to mind and then take it from there.”

  After Roy, Doc, and Grandpa left, I wandered into the kitchen to dig up some dinner for Kyle and me. My dad and his fiancée, town veterinarian, Rosalie Tyler, had agreed to keep an eye on my sisters, Ashley and Gracie, for a few days so that I could stay with Kyle and help him out should he require any help as his ribs healed and his strength returned.

  “I think we might need to order a pizza,” I said to Kyle after taking an inventory of his meager supplies.

  “Pizza is fine. In fact, after eating hospital food for two days, pizza sounds pretty darn good. I could use some fresh air. Let’s just head over to Rob’s and eat there.”

  “Sounds good to me.” Rob’s Pizza was a comfy joint with vinyl booths, red-checkered tablecloths, team pictures on the walls, video games, and the best pizza west of the Rockies. I loved coming to Rob’s. Besides the fact that he made the best pizza around, Rob provided a cozy atmosphere, with a lived-in, hometown feel.

  “I think this is just what I need,” Kyle said as we slid into a booth in the back.

  I looked around the room which had been decorated in anticipation of the upcoming holiday. “It looks like Rob has already traded out his Halloween decorations for garland and white lights.”

  “I guess it is November.”

  “I can’t believe it will be Thanksgiving in a few weeks. I guess that even under normal circumstances, once Halloween arrives, it seems like it is a mad dash toward Christmas.”

  “Speaking of Thanksgiving,” Kyle said, “I wanted to ask what you think about throwing a big dinner at my place? It will be our first major holiday as a couple, and I want it to be special.”

  I hesitated before I answered. “While I do love that idea, the resort is closed over the Thanksgiving holiday, so we usually have a huge dinner out at Maggie’s Hideaway. I don’t think Dad would mind passing off hosting duties if you really want to do it, but we usually invite a good thirty people. Sometimes more. Everyone pitches in buffet style, which makes it doable.”

  “If we move the furniture, we’d be able to seat thirty at my place,” Kyle pointed out.

  “That’s true. If you want to host, I’ll talk to my dad about it. Will your mom be joining us this year or will she be heading to your uncle’s like she did last year?”

  “She’ll be in town. She usually tries to trade off to keep everyone happy.”

  I took a sip of the wine the waitress had just dropped off. “It would be fun to have the holiday at the house I still associate with Zachary. You know he actually tried to make a turkey for the two of us one year. He planned to serve it for lunch the day before Thanksgiving, but he ended up burning it, so we had canned chili. He was really upset that his plans didn’t work out, but as far as I’m concerned, it was still a very memorable lunch. He set the table and even used a tablecloth, which I’d never seen him use prior to that lunch or at any point after. The meal itself might not have worked out the way he hoped, but it meant a lot to me that he tried.” I smiled at the memory. “Did I mention that I spoke to Zachary on the night of the explosion?”

  Kyle raised a brow. “Spoke to him?”

  “He was there in my head when I was unconscious. We played a game of chess and had a good chat.”

  Kyle put his hand over mine. “I guess that isn’t surprising. The two of you had a special relationship. It makes sense that your subconscious might seek him out during such a traumatic event.”

  I smiled. “I really do miss him. Sometimes I find myself daydreaming about playing chess with him with that handmade set he had in the basement. The one with the little drawer and the chip in the corner. Do you still have it?”

  “When I remodeled the house, I cleared out the basement, but I seem to remember the chess set ended up in the attic. We can look for it when we get back. Are you are staying over tonight?”

  I nodded. “Dad and Rosalie are going to keep an eye on Ashley and Gracie for a few days so I can be available to nurse you back to health. I would like to stop by the resort to pick up Echo and Trooper on the way back to your place.” Echo was my dog, and Trooper was Kyle’s.

  “I like that plan. And I want to thank your dad for picking Trooper up and bringing him out to the resort on Tuesday. The poor guy would have freaked out if no one had shown up to let him out.”

  “Dad was happy to help out. Trooper is part of the family.” The conversation paused as the pizza was delivered to our table. Talk about cheesy perfection. While the food was to die for I, couldn’t get the explosion and the subsequent loss of life out of my mind. “I’ve been thinking about the fact that Lloyd was the town council member closest to the bomb. If the bomb had been placed to eliminate one of the individuals in the room, it seems likely in my mind that the bomb was intended for him. He’s a controversial guy who not only wields a lot of power but has as many enemies as supporters.”

  Kyle took a bite of his pizza then set it down and took a sip of his water. “It is true that of all the council members, his appointment was the most controversial.” Kyle drummed his fingers on the table. “As a developer, he has angered a lot of folks who want Serenity to keep its small-town feel. Yet he does have supporters amongst those who have benefited from the jobs his developments have created. I’m sure we could come up with a long list of people who hold a grudge against the guy, but I suppose the real question is: would any of those with a grudge actually kill him in such a violent manner?”

  I had to agree with Kyle that if any of the town council members had been the target, then the method of elimination had been drastically over the top. “Maybe the bomb wasn’t about a single person
. Maybe someone simply wanted to make a statement and wasn’t worried about collateral damage. As crazy as it seems, there are people out there who are simply after the rush.”

  “If that is true, it is going to be next to impossible to figure out who did this.”

  “Yeah,” I groaned. “A random act of violence would most definitely complicate things.”

  Chapter 4

  Friday, November 3

  “You’re up early,” Kyle said when he joined me in the kitchen the next morning.

  I glanced out the window to see that the rain showers of yesterday had given way to snow showers today. “I had a weird dream and couldn’t get back to sleep, so I got up.”

  Kyle poured himself a cup of coffee and sat down at the table with me. “Do you want to talk about your dream?”

  I turned slightly. “I dreamt about Zachary. He’s been on my mind more than usual since he is the one I imagined when I was unconscious, and then we talked about him last night. His appearance in my dream is most likely the result of remembering things I haven’t thought about in years, but it felt so real; not at all like a dream.”

  “Do you remember the content of the dream?”

  I sat back and tried to pull the dream into my consciousness. “It’s pretty fuzzy, but I do remember that Zachary and I were playing chess just like we had when I was unconscious.”

  “So do you think that your subconscious mind is using these dreams to tell you something?”

  I shrugged. “I’m not really sure. I suppose these visions of Zachary could just be my mind trying to make sense of everything that has happened. I know Zachary is dead and that he isn’t actually speaking to me, but I can’t seem to get him out of my mind. Maybe I just miss him. Maybe playing chess with him represents a simpler time. Maybe deep down, I know something that might be relevant to the case. Maybe Zachary’s presence is simply my subconscious trying to remind me of what it is I need to remember.”