Page 22 of Oleander

“I’d be suspicious if you weren’t,” he said calmly. “Ms. Martin was a good woman and it’s obvious she cared about you, but also about all those men and women on the Burton platforms. We’re going to make sure her death wasn’t in vain.”

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Rod carefully folded everything of Dorothy’s and placed it in boxes so that Jill and Sira could send it to the shelter. He even folded her undergarments, no longer embarrassed or shy. These were her things. Things that were precious to her and he would treat them as such.

The large box of what he once believed was costume jewelry was now being inspected by Megan and Sage, the award-winning jewelers who sold their goods at the General Store.

“This is all real, Rod,” said Sage. “All of it. All gold or platinum. Diamonds, rubies, emeralds, sapphires, turquoise. Everything of the highest quality and value. It’s worth a fortune just for the metal alone.”

“Sell it,” he said quietly. “Auction it all off and give the proceeds to one of her designated charities. I have no use for it.”

“What about this,” said Megan holding up a four-carat wedding set. “She might be pleased with you giving this to your someone special in the future.”

Rod stared at it a long time. Megan placed it in his hand and he closed his eyes, wondering if the set brought her happiness or if it was part of her prison she’d been trying to escape for years. In the end, he decided that if it belonged to her, it meant something.

“I’ll keep this,” he said nodding. The two women smiled at him as they took the rest of the items with them.

“We’ll set up an auction site in the next few days and let you know what we raised,” said Sage. He only nodded, sadness creeping into his brain once again.

“Rod? What do you want to do with all of these?” called Luke.

He stepped out of the bedroom and into the living room, staring at the wall of bookcases. He’d always thought it was odd that she had her books pushed spine inward. All you saw were pages.

“I’m not sure,” he said taking one of the books from the shelf. He promptly dropped it as if it were poison. Mike frowned and took a book, then dropped it as well.

“Jesus, that’s porn,” frowned Mike.

“No. No, it’s not,” said Luke clearing his throat. “Those are Charlie’s books. Ace’s wife, AJ’s mother.”

“I cannot look at him ever again knowing that his mother wrote these books with those covers!” screeched Rod.

The other men in the room laughed, shaking their heads at Mike and Rod.

“Listen, the books are much better than you think. They’re not porn. Yes, they have sex in them and yes, they’re pretty descriptive. But they’re actually damn good stories. Believe me, my wife and I have learned a lot from them,” grinned Luke.

“Take them to the station,” grinned Mike. “The guys need a little spice in their life.”

The books were all boxed up and taken to the station where the women firefighters immediately grabbed for them. They knew what the books were and who Charlies was. They were happy to have them in their hands.

Back at the house, with all the unwanted furniture donated, the clothing gone, and only a few things left that belonged to Ms. Martin, the men began painting, fixing cabinets, and refinishing the floors.

“I don’t think it will come as a shock to anyone but some of these floorboards were removed and put back,” said Hex. “There’s nothing beneath them but they damn sure made a good show of replacing it all.”

“I guess that explains some of the soft spots on the walls,” said Roderick. “They damn sure worked fast.”

Two days later, new appliances arrived along with his furniture from his old place. He looked around and smiled.

“It feels like home. It still feels like she’s here but not like I’m intruding on her life,” said Rod.

“She would have liked that,” smiled Luke.

“Hey, Rod? Luke? Y’all come out here,” said Remy. They stepped out onto the porch where the boys were loading the last of the items to be sold or auctioned. “We were loading these paintings and noticed something bulging in the back just inside the frame. Each one had a small drive taped to it. It would have been hard to find unless you were really looking. I’m going to bet Miss Dorothy was saving the evidence on Burton Drilling.”

“Only one way to find out,” said Luke. “Let’s take all this back to the office and get the boys to look at it. We’ll grab some lunch and then you’re going to meet with Shep.”

“Shep? Why?” asked Rod.

“Because if you’re going to help us bring Hollis Burton down, I need for your head to be screwed on straight. I need for every fucking screw up there,” said Luke tapping his forehead, “to be tight and clean. Because if we were to be brought before a court, I don’t want anyone saying we had a rogue firefighter with a vendetta. Understood?”