For the Sake of their Baby. Alice Sharpe

      Chapter Four

      Thanks to the phone call, Dave was outside waiting when Alex pulled up in front of Ocean Bluff’s only fire station.

      “I don’t think you’d better come in right now,” his friend said as he met Alex a few steps from the truck. He accepted the bag filled with his brother’s clothes and tucked it under one arm. Dave himself was a wiry man who barely came up to Alex’s chin.

      “Battalion Chief Montgomery heard about the new trial but he still thinks you’re guilty as hell,” Dave added.

      “Great,” Alex said, looking longingly at the station house, the doors all open. He could see the three red engines parked in the bay, all as shiny as the day they came out of production. He knew the big cardboard box inside to the left was used to collect toys for disadvantaged kids. This place had been his second home for three years; it might never be his to enter again and that thought created still another layer of ache in his heart.

      “It’s politics,” Dave said, glancing over his shoulder. He seemed nervous, which wasn’t his normal state by a long shot. Any man who could share the responsibilities of raising three little kids under the age of four, let alone maneuver seventy feet of hook and ladder through the narrow roads of Ocean Bluff, had to have nerves of steel.

      “Most of the guys think you got railroaded,” Dave added, lowering his voice a notch or two. “The rest think the old man pissed you off to the point where you were justified in stabbing him. Some of them think you should have received a medal or something. But Battalion Chief Montgomery, well, you know how he is.”

      Cautiously, Alex said, “He’s the logical choice for Fire Chief when Purvis steps down next year. He’s also as honest as the day is long.”

      “Plus he and Sheriff Kapp are suddenly buddies.”

      Alex stared at Dave. “What do you mean?”

      “Kapp was here earlier today.”

      “What did he want?”

      “I don’t know. Montgomery doesn’t exactly confide in me.” He looked over his shoulder again. His behavior made Alex jumpy and he found his gaze straying to the towering brick building, too.

      “Listen,” Dave said, his voice barely more than a whisper. “I’ll ask around. Meanwhile, this is a lousy spot to hold a serious conversation. I’m off tomorrow. Why don’t you come by the house? Ginny is taking the kids Christmas shopping so we’ll have a little privacy.”

      “Sounds good,” Alex said. “There are a few things I’d like to explain to you.”

      Dave nodded tersely and backed up a few steps, effectively cutting short Alex’s inclination to clap him on the back or shake his hand.

      Alex drove off wondering what was going on. Dave had said Chief Montgomery and Kapp were buddies. Did it matter? Alex couldn’t see a connection or that even if there was one it pertained to him, but it was bothersome, nevertheless.

      Well, no matter what Dave dug up, telling him the truth about the night Devon Hiller died would feel great. Even talking to Ron had been a relief. Emily—well, Emily was another matter.

      Just how much sway did that fiercely protective woman have over his wife? he wondered. Hopefully, not too much because she was going to be one tough nut to crack. Would he try for Liz’s sake? Absolutely.

      What wouldn’t he do for Liz’s sake? After high school, after years apart, they’d been lucky enough to find one another again. He’d known immediately he still loved her. The miracle occurred when he discovered she still loved him.

      Would she really leave him when and if this was ever resolved? Once before, he’d felt it all slip away from him. Those weeks of sitting in his cell had been a nightmare. Then the trial, the divorce papers, the hopelessness—

      When Liz had told him last night that she hadn’t killed her uncle, he’d felt a surge of hope he was not going to relinquish. Liz loved him, he knew she did. She was just feeling the shock of having her husband back, looking out for her. He understood how hard-won this new independence of hers was. She would have to learn how to balance being self-reliant and protected by the man who loved her because he wasn’t going to go away.

      He pulled up beside Liz’s car. The rain had stopped and the sun was struggling to get through the high, wispy gray clouds. He spent a second looking at the grove of towering redwood trees that dwarfed the single story white house and felt the sense of peace he always felt when he knew he would see Liz within moments.

      As soon as he got out of the truck he heard himself hailed by Harry Idle, an apt name for a man who seemed to do very little except watch satellite television and keep track of his only neighbor’s comings and goings. Alex wasn’t too fond of Idle, but he walked out toward the fence to meet him as the older man sauntered across the country road.

      “I heard on the television that they let you go,” Idle said as he came to a halt. The balding sixty-year-old had put on a few pounds since the last time Alex had seen him and after that bit of mild exertion, was breathing heavily. His weight was probably pushing three hundred and he smoked like a burning building.

      Alex said, “For the time being.”

      “I figure you did the community a favor by killing Devon Hiller.”

      Should he protest or get away? That one was a no-brainer. “Well, see you around, Harry.”

      But Harry was just getting wound up. Leaning against the mailbox post, he added, “That man ruined half this town when he put in that shopping mall. I had a nice little shoe store until Devon Hiller came along. Couldn’t afford to relocate at his fancy-schmancy mall so it went down the tubes. I haven’t had a decent job since. That’s when the Mrs. left me, too. And now, all these years later, my little girl is in a drug rehab program for the third time, all because our family got busted up by that tyrant. Downtown used to bustle. Now it’s dead. That’s all because of Devon Hiller. I’m just sorry someone didn’t put an end to that geezer twenty years ago.”