The Hidden Legacy

me reading them.
Henry rolled his eyes. “Still playing consultant, are we?”
At least the man was predictable. I thought and reminded myself to be polite. “I assure you, Mr. Walker,” I said, “I am not playing.”
Henry’s eyes narrowed as he considered me sitting at my desk with the baby. “I still can’t get a read on you Hannah,” he said.
I glanced up at him, as if shocked. “You can read?”
“You go right ahead with that smart mouth, I’ll figure out what it is that you’re hiding.”
It took everything I had not to react to his words.
Edmund strolled in the front door. “Hey, Maddie’s here!” He grinned from ear to ear. “Give me that baby,” he said, scooping her right out of my arms.
“You running a daycare center on the side, bro?” Henry rolled his eyes at Edmund.
Edmund made an anatomically impossible suggestion to Henry, in the politest tone I’d ever heard, and I gawked as Henry began to laugh.
“You shouldn’t talk like that in front of a baby,” Henry said—taking the words right out of my mouth.
Edmund smiled, but instead of responding to Henry he spoke to me. “Hannah did you get a chance to go over the Oak Hills case?”
“I did.” I gathered up the files and stacked them neatly.
“Impressions?” Edmund asked.
I slanted my eyes from Henry’s suspicious face to Edmund’s back as he gently lay the now snoozing baby in her port-a-crib. “Ah, I do have a few.”
Henry shrugged and went into his office, but left the door open.
Edmund picked up a chair and set it by the corner of my desk. His eyes fell on my computer screen, and what I’d been searching. “Tell me.”
“I don’t think this is bored teens looking for something to do,” I said, checking to make sure Henry was still in his office. “I picked up on the scent of stale beer and smoke.”
“Like from cigarettes?” Edmund asked.
“Not cigarette smoke,” I said, anticipating him, “I mean smoke, smoke. As in from a fire.”
“Your intuition’s telling you, the thieves are about to up their game?”
“Yes,” I said, keeping my voice low. “I think they may try arson next.”
“Shit.” Edmund blew out a breath.
“This is Kayleigh and Curtis’ neighborhood. The last burglary was three houses down from them,” I reminded him.
“They’ve got a security system, right?”
I nodded. “Curtis put one in when the first robberies happened in June.”
“Maybe you should talk to Curtis when he picks up Maddie,” Edmund suggested. “Tell him to be vigilant, and to keep his eyes open.”
“I will,” I said. “I really hope I’m wrong about the smoke...” I trailed off, glancing over at my niece who snoozed on her back.
Edmund squinted at the computer. “I’ve never known you to be wrong before when you put your nose to work on a case.”
“Bloodhounds are us,” I joked.
“I still think we should have named the agency, Fox and Hound Investigations,” Edmund said completely seriously.
“No. Not with my dog allergies.” I laughed at the long standing joke and went back to work.
An hour later and my brother-in-law had picked up Maddie. As he loaded up the baby in her car seat I passed along Edmund’s advice to keep his eyes open. I stood on the sidewalk in front of the agency and waved as he drove off. Scanning the street, I was delighted by the brisk foot traffic.
As a matter of fact, there was a nice crowd in my parent’s shop across the road. While I stood there, I noticed a group of teenagers hanging out on the corner. The three boys laughed too loudly, and took turns insulting each other.
I reached blindly for the front door only to bounce off the chest of Henry Walker.
“Excuse me,” I said automatically.
Henry reached out to steady me, wrapping his hand around my elbow. “What were you staring at?” he asked.
I pointed towards the spice shop. “The kids on the corner, and my parent’s shop. They’re busy today.”
“I’m headed out on a case,” he said and dropped his hand.
“Do you have your cell phone?” I asked automatically.
“Yes ma’am,” he smirked at me. “You sound like my...”
The breeze shifted and I caught the bitter odor of sauerkraut. Dishonesty. I narrowed my eyes, tuned out Henry’s voice, and considered the boys a bit more carefully. The trio had begun walking towards my parent’s shop.
I couldn’t say what had my attention so riveted on the group of teenagers. But when the scent of ozone hit me, I stopped questioning my reaction. My intuition was screaming at me that something was very wrong...and I had never experienced catching the scent of ozone without a damn good reason.
“...are you even listening to me?” Henry asked.
“No, I’m not.” I waved him away. My mother was working alone today, I recalled staring at their store front. My heart began to speed up. She was in danger. “Excuse me, I’m going to go check on something.”
“What are you talking about?”
I ignored him, saw that I had a break in the traffic, lifted the hem of my skirt, and jogged across the road in my practical flats.
I opened the door and stepped around the shoppers who were exiting with their purchases. They filed out, leaving the door wide open to the afternoon sunshine. The teens, I discovered, had spread out across the sales floor. One of the boys was wearing an oversized jacket, and he was loitering very near the racks of cookies and candies. Another boy, wearing a ball cap and baggy shorts, was standing next to the cash register, and the third of the boys was asking my mother all sorts of questions. Keeping her distracted, I knew.
A new smell hit me, and it was a metallic smell, with traces of gunpowder. One of those boys had a gun...I knew intuitively, and my heart leapt to my throat in reaction. To my surprise Henry Walker stepped in, right behind me. He nodded and eased over to the right side of the store.
“Hi Mom!” I said loudly. “Gosh, you sure are busy today!” Smiling