Falling Awake

appetite is returning.”
    She picked up one of the sandwiches and took a large bite. “The mustard was a stroke of genius. Where did you learn how to make these?”
    Shadows moved in his eyes. “My mother used to make them when I was a kid. I helped her sometimes. It’s as close to serious cooking as I ever get.”
    She tore off a bite to feed to Sphinx. “You can make them for me and Sphinx anytime.”
    Ellis watched her eat the sandwich. The darkness receded from his expression.
    “It’s a deal,” he said.
    t he phone rang just as they finished the last of the sandwiches. Ellis took the call. Isabel listened closely and understood that he was not happy with the news he was getting.
    He finished speaking and ended the connection.
    “That was Detective Conrad of the Roxanna Beach PD, the person assigned to investigate the fire.”
    “I gathered that much.” She brushed crumbs from her fingers.
    “The name of the guy they arrested at the scene is Albert Gibbs. His lawyer got him out on bail about fifteen minutes afterthey booked him. An hour ago he was found dead in his trailer. Overdose.”
    Her mouth went dry. “Oh, my God.”
    “He lived in a park about fifty miles from here.” Ellis rested his forearms on his thighs. “Apparently he was so happy about getting out of jail that he went straight home and shot himself full of some extra strong junk.”
    She watched his face. “You’re thinking that is rather a convenient conclusion, aren’t you?”
    “I’m thinking it sounds like Vincent Scargill from start to finish. He finds real losers, manipulates them into doing his dirty work and then he gets rid of them.”
    “What’s Detective Conrad’s theory?”
    “He’s looking for the neatest solution, naturally. Turns out Gibbs had a history of arson-for-hire. Did time for it about three years ago. The detective thinks he was hired to set the fire today but that your locker probably wasn’t the intended target.”
    “So who does he think hired Gibbs?”
    Ellis shrugged. “Presumably one of the other renters who probably wanted to get rid of some incriminating evidence stashed in one of the units. But between you and Tom, the plan fell apart. Tom noticed the missing lock and called you. One thing led to another. Gibbs panicked, knocked Tom unconscious and shoved him into your locker. Before he could get out of the yard, you were there, demanding to know what was going on. So he tried to get rid of you, too.”

    “Why does the detective think Gibbs just happened to pick my locker?”
    “He’s not sure but at the moment he’s assuming that your locker just happened to be located near the one that Gibbs was hired to destroy. Gibbs probably figured that if the fire started in your space, it would look more like an accident and less like it had been set to damage evidence.”
    “Got it.” She propped her ankles on the coffee table and went back to what had become her favorite hobby lately, petting Sphinx. “So much for Conrad’s theories. Let’s return to our own paranoid, sadly deluded view of this case. Why would Scargill tell Gibbs to target my furniture?”
    “Damned if I know.” Ellis frowned and got to his feet. He went to stand looking out the window. “But I think it’s clear that it was your furniture, not you. The only reason you were there at all was because Tom called you. Maybe it was a message to me.”
    “Scargill’s way of letting you know that he might go after me if you don’t back off?”
    “Maybe.”
    “Hmm.” She studied her toes. “Why not just kill me? Or you, for that matter?”
    “Two words: Jack Lawson.”
    “Ah, yes. He is the eight-hundred-pound government Bigfoot in this thing, isn’t he?”
    “He’s that, all right. As it stands now, Lawson thinks I’ve got some serious psychological issues. He believes that I’m crackingup slowly but surely because of what happened a few months ago and the way it affected my dreaming. At the moment, he’s still convinced that Scargill is dead.”
    “But if he decides otherwise . . . ?”
    Ellis closed the drapes and turned to look at her. “If you or I get killed in the course of this investigation, it’s a sure bet that Lawson will decide that maybe I was right all along. He won’t quit until he gets answers, and he’s got the resources to rip Scargill’s cover, whatever it is, to shreds.”
    “I see.” She swallowed. “Presumably Scargill knows this?”
    “He does.” Ellis turned back to the