“I have the only set.” Dr. K was growing more skittish by the moment.”But there are no signs of forced entry.”
“Let me determine that.” The cop coughed. “What metal’s missing again?”
“The alkali metals,” Dr. K said. “They’re very dangerous elements. Explosive material. There was a large amount of sodium. They have to be stored in oil because they can react with water. The chemistry faculty likes to use it to demonstrate exothermic reactions.”
“Soda?”
“Sodium. With an M.”
“Show me the room where the theft took place.”
“This way.”
While they were in the storeroom, I read the paper. The fire victim was a woman named Consuela Vega, confirmed by AFIS records. Her daughter had been recently deported, and she had no other family in the area.
The dots were connecting. The victim was Mexican, and she was elderly. Unable to escape, too weak to yell for help.
I scanned the rest of the front page. Beneath the article about Mrs. Vega was a photo of my mom, standing in front of the row of open graves, her arms folded, staring down the photographer with a look I only saw when she was trying to take away my keys.
The headline read:
LOCAL VET FILES INJUNCTION.
(Galax, NC) Local veterinarian, Mary Harriet Rivenbark, has filed an injunction against Landis Land Holding, LLC, to prevent the relocation of a small family cemetery in a remote area of Allegheny County. “This is an atrocity,” Mrs. Rivenbark says. “The county planning commission is nothing but a puppet for developers, and it’s time for the citizens of Allegheny County to stand against them.” Rivenbark has organized a protest to (see A4)
So Mom had really done it. She was fighting Trey Landis.
Wow.
“When you said sodium,” the cop told Dr. K, “I was thinking some kind of salt, not a pile of stuff that could be used as a bomb! I need to call Sheriff Hoyt pronto.”
“Well, I did say it was explosive.” Dr. K wrung her hands. She looked small, frail, and vulnerable. “The other metals are in smaller quantities, but they can be even more dangerous. There were several vials of cesium. I should have discarded it years ago, but disposal companies charge so much, and the dean said we didn’t have the money in our budget.”
“Uh-huh,” the cop said. “I’ll put that in my report.” She picked up her coffee and tucked the newspaper under her arm. “Did you hear about that Mexican lady? They’re treating the case like an arson now. They’ve got a suspect, too.”
“Who?” I said.
“Some vagrant named Stumpy Meeks.”
Dr. K gasped and sat down hard at the table.
The cop saluted us with the newspaper, a faraway look in her eyes.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“Huh? Oh, yes. Fine.” She sniffled and managed a weak smile. “I’m fine, dear. If you will excuse me, I need to make a phone call.”
Cedar passed Dr. K on the way out.
“Is Dr. K all right?" Cedar asked. "She’s acting kind of weird.”
“You would be, too,” I said. “If you suddenly realized that someone was using your lab supplies to make a bomb.”
SUNDAY
1
After Sunday service, I decided to skip the usual after church lunch and give Cedar a call instead.
“Hey,” I said. “The sun’s shining, and the weather’s warm. How about a day at the lake?”
“Weren’t you supposed to be mucking out stalls or something?”
“A day at the lake with you sounds much better.”
“I should hope so!’ She laughed. “Sounds like fun, and I can use a break from my project.”
“Really?” I asked, the wind ripping through the open windows of the truck. “Thought you’d say no.”
“I’m not always inflexible,” she said. “Sometimes, I’m quite spontaneous.”
I swung by Cedar’s house to pick her up. I wasn’t surprised when she came out in a white cover-up and a large shore bag.
What did surprise me was the bright pink bikini that shown through the cover-up.
“Do you have swim trunks?” she asked as she climbed into the front seat.
“There’s a pair of cutoffs in the back.” I pointed my thumb at storage box in the truck bed. “Old habit. I used to water ski a lot, so I keep stuff on hand.”
With traffic and a stop for lunch and drinks, it took the better part of an hour to reach the lake .The good news was that the families were beginning to leave in droves, having taken in too much sun for one day.
I bought Cedar a chocolate cone from a lakeside store, where I changed into the cutoffs. When we reached the lake, Cedar ditched the cover-up and put it in her shore bag. With her tanned skin, the pink looked amazing on her. She had just the figure for it.
She took a lick of her cone. “So that’s your secret for staying so buff? Drinking water while I eat ice cream?”
“This buff thing is all new,” I said. “When I joined the Navy, my arms were so skinny, I couldn’t do five push-ups, much less the fifty my RDC made us do every time there was an infraction. A couple hundred every day for eight weeks, and you’d be buff, too. Not that you aren’t.”
“Hey!” Cedar gave me a playful slap. “Did you just ogle my butt?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“And?”
“Nice.”
“Nice? Just nice?” She slapped me again. “You can’t think of a more descriptive word?”
‘Sure.” I grinned. “Luscious. Firm. Cute. Bodacious. Inviting.”
“Inviting?” She shook a finger. “Don’t press your luck, mister.”
“You’re the one who asked.”
“Don’t flash those dimples at me, either. It’s not going to work.”
“I think it already has.”
“Time to cool off, mister.” She pushed me into the lake, soaking me to the waist. “So tell me about the case. That’ll get your mind off my lusciousness. Stumpy Meeks? Is he really a suspect?”
“I doubt it, but let’s forget the case like we’re forgetting your research.” I put an arm around her. “I’ve got more important things on hand right now.” I bent down and kissed her. “Want to come over and hang out tonight?”
“That’s so inviting,” she said, pretending to be genuinely disappointed. “But I can’t. My project still isn’t ready.”
“Too bad,” I said. “I was about to invite you to help muck out stalls.”
“Just my luck. You know how much I adore shoveling horse poo.”
For the next hour, we walked down the shore and then back. With sun setting behind the island, we climbed into an empty lifeguard stand. Technically, the lakeshore closed at dark, and we weren’t supposed to be there. I had spent most of my life on this shore, and I knew as long as you didn’t do something stupid like start a bonfire, no one would bother you.
As the last light of day slipped away, the empty shore dark except for the glow from the lighthouse. We sat on the ground watching the waves come in. Cedar snuggled up close, shivering now that it was turning colder. I tried to warm her up by rubbing her arms and legs, which did nothing to get rid of the goose pimples.
“You’re freezing,” I said. “I’ve got a blanket in my truck.”
She shivered. “A warm blanket would be nice.”
“Sit tight,” I said and jumped down from the stand.
I jogged back to the parking lot and grabbed the blanket.
“Here we go.” I spread the blanket over her. “That should warm you up.”
“Not quite.” Cedar snuggled to my chest, head resting on my shoulder. “Much better."
We kissed until the sun went down, and I was tempted to ask her what was next for us. But I didn’t want to ruin the moment, so I kept my mouth shut and sat there with this beautiful woman in my arms, watching the stars appear in the sky, and enjoying every second of it.