Brody (Texas Boudreau Brotherhood Book 3)

the one beside him. “Yeah. I’m sorry to hear about her cancer returning.”
“I hate it. It’s a horrible, painful way to live. We’d hoped with the last round of chemo it was gone for good. She was doing really well. Her and Dad were doing things again, going out and having fun. Now, it’s like she’s fallen into a deep, dark hole she can’t climb out of. And the treatments, they’re worse than the disease.”
“I’m sorry. Is there anything they need?” Chance’s voice was filled with compassion.
Greg shook his head again. “Everything that can be done is being done. I know Dad’s been hoping to sell the property, to help offset the costs of the new treatments. Now, with this setback…” His voice trailed off and he leaned back in the chair, and scrubbed his hands across his face.
“We’ll get it figured out as soon as we can, I promise. I’ll talk to Momma, see what we can do about getting the place sold once the case is cleared. Hang in there, Greg.”
“Unless you need me for anything, I’ve gotta head out.” Chance stood and shook Greg’s hand. “Hang in there. Brody will figure out who burned your property, and I’ll be more than happy to prosecute them.”
“I’ve got it covered. Thanks, bro.”
After Chance left, Brody looked at Greg, wishing he really didn’t have to question his friend, but what choice did he have? There weren’t any suspects. Maybe with a little judicious prodding, Greg might be able to come up with some info, some subconscious knowledge that might click with a little poking beneath the surface.
“Go ahead, Brody. Ask me whatever you need to know.”
“Can you think of anybody who’d want to set the fire, intentionally or otherwise?”
“No. I mean, who’d have a reason for setting an abandoned, dilapidated, half-falling-down structure on fire? I have thought about it, wracked my brain, asking that question over and over, and I can’t come up with a single name.”
“Okay. When I asked your dad, he said he hadn’t kept up the insurance payments to cover the home or the barn, thinking it would sell right away. Did you know that?”
“I knew. Brody, I’ve gotta tell you something, and it’s gonna make me look guilty as sin. When Dad told me what he was going to do, let the policies lapse because they didn’t have the money with Mom’s treatments, I couldn’t let it go. The place, barn and house, it’s still insured. I made arrangements with the insurance company, took over the payments on the policy. I didn’t tell him or Mom. You know how he is: his stubborn pride wouldn’t have let me keep making the payments. So I kept it to myself.”
“Neither of your parents know about you keeping up the payments?”
Greg stood, pushing his chair all the way back against the wall, his movements awkward and stiff. “I’ve kept making those payments for the last couple of years, ever since they moved to Florida. We expected the property to sell right away, but when it didn’t, I couldn’t bring myself to stop paying for the insurance. Just because I didn’t want to live there, didn’t mean it wasn’t worth something. It’s a prime piece of real estate, and I’m really surprised it hasn’t sold. Also, I figured if a buyer knew the place was insured, it might be more appealing toward a sale.”
“How much is the place insured for?”
“Whatever amount Dad had on there. I didn’t change it or raise it, I simply continued making the payments.” He stopped pacing, and closed his eyes, concentrating hard. “If I remember right, I think the whole place is covered for about a million and a quarter.”
Brody jotted down the figure, next to his notes about Greg making the payments. This was another angle he’d have to look into, because it put a different spin on motive. He got a little tingle on the back of his neck, the one he got whenever his instincts started kicking it, and figured he might be onto something. Money made people do crazy things.
“Wasn’t it hard to keep up those payments, Greg? Insurance, especially that amount, isn’t cheap.”
Greg ran a hand through his hair, leaving it sticking up on top like a rooster’s coxcomb. “I guess. Never really thought about it. They’d send the bill and I’d pay it all in one lump sum. Took it out of savings and didn’t worry about it until the next year, when it came due.” His body stiffened and he stared at Brody, his face a mask of horror. “You don’t think I did this? Brody, that farm was my home. My father’s place. His father’s before him.”
“I’m not accusing you of anything. Calm down. I have to cover all my bases. Insurance fraud is huge. You’d be surprised how many people think they can get away with burning down their place, covering it with huge insurance policies. But that’s only one angle here, and easily disproven. It won’t take long to rule out money as a motive.”
“Good. I’m still trying to wrap my head around somebody burning down the barn. I know it wasn’t much to look at, but it had been standing for decades. Like the house. It doesn’t make sense. Do you think maybe kids did it? You know, a dare or something?”
“Right now, I’m looking into anything and everything. I won’t stop until I know how it happened and who did it.” Brody’s voice came out harsher than he intended, and he watched the color drain from Greg’s face. He plopped back into the chair he’d vacated earlier, looking like the weight of the world pressed down on him and he was suffocating under the pressure.
“You okay?”
Gregg shook himself, his whole body jerking. “Yeah. We about done here? This has all been a bit much—I guess it affected me more than I thought it would. I need to head home, unless you’ve got more questions?”
“That’ll do for now, Greg. If I need anything else,