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Jethro

Page 20

by Mary Kennedy

“Three dumpsters on fire in three days, even more over the past few weeks, but this was the first one that caught to a building,” said Ham staring at everyone. Kai, Jethro, and Sonny looked exhausted but would have the chance to rest once the meeting was done.

“Victims?” asked Cowboy.

“Five,” said Jethro. “Five unidentified, as yet, victims. Have no clue if they are male, female, young, or old. There wasn’t enough left to identify.”

Every man and woman in the room was quiet. They understood what a burned body looked like. How difficult seeing that must have been for all the firefighters.

“It makes no sense,” said Gator. “That building has been empty for at least twenty years. There was no business to ruin.”

“Why was the building not torn down?” asked Kai. “It was already hanging by a thread. Who owned it? I mean, why not fix it up and sell it or tear it down and sell the land?”

“It’s a good question,” said Ham. “We’ll figure it out. You guys okay?” He stared a Jethro, Kai, and Sonny in the front row. Their hair was still wet from the third shower they’d taken to get the smell of gasoline and soot out of their skin and hair.

“We will be,” nodded Jethro. “I won’t lie. It was a shitty scene.”

“How did Aurora do?” asked Ham.

“She was a champion,” said Mike. “I put her in charge for a reason. She’s very good at compartmentalizing things. That’s good and bad, by the way.”

“Where is she now?” asked Gator.

“She’s in an appointment with Shep,” said Mike. He turned to look at Jethro and the big man nodded.

“I’m glad to hear that.”

“Jethro, you know the history of the men at Belle Fleur,” said Christopher. “Meeting ‘the one’ seems inevitable for everyone here. Do you care for her?”

“Yes,” he said quickly.

“More than care?” he asked.

“I think so. I don’t want to scare her and I know she has a lot to work through, but yes. I feel as though she’s the one for me.” The men all gave small grins and even smaller nods, knowing exactly what he was feeling. But they also knew it would be a long road to recovery for her.

“I hate to interrupt this confession of love,” said Hiro from his laptop station.

“Fuck. What now?” growled Kev.

“The building was owned by Carter and Missy Langley.” Jethro frowned at him.

“Aurora’s parents?” he asked.

“Yep. His family owned the cannery that was there at one time. It closed about twenty-two years ago. Her mother’s family actually owned it originally and then they inherited it. Langley almost immediately closed it down saying it wasn’t profitable.”

“I think we need to speak to Mr. Langley,” said Jethro.

“You need rest first,” said Ham.

“No, he needs to come with me to the clinic first,” said Ashley standing in the doorway.

“What’s wrong?” asked Jethro leaping from his seat.

“It’s Aurora. You need to come.”

Jethro ran out the door so quickly no one could stop him. He was half-way down the road to the clinic when Ham and the others pulled up in the ATV’s.

“Get in, you idiot. You don’t have to run.” He jumped onto the back of one of them as they sped toward the clinic. The men entered on the property side, through the backdoor and raced to the hallway where clinic services were housed. Jethro could hear the sobbing before he even opened the door.

His hand hovered about the handle, shaking, uncertain of whether to open it or knock.