Chapter 5

"Do you hear something?" John asked sitting up in bed.

"Huh?" Bobby said opening a tired eye.

"I thought I heard something."

"Like what?"

"I don't know … just a noise. There it is again," John exclaimed as they heard a high pitched kind of whine. "That's Beau."

"Beau?" Bobby asked sitting up. "He's usually so quiet."

"Where the hell is he?" John asked as he got up and pulled on the bottoms of his sweats. He looked around the bedroom but there was no sign of Beau who often slept at the foot of their bed. John headed for Patrick's room wondering if something was wrong with his son. There was no sign of the dog there either. Patrick was still sound asleep. John closed the door to Patrick's room and headed for the sun porch, thinking Beau must be in his doghouse that was situated there.

As John entered the sun porch Brian was coming in from his end, having heard the same whines that had woken John.

"Where is that fucking dog?" Brian grumbled.

They both looked to the end of the sun porch and saw Beau standing looking out the window at one side. He whined pathetically.

"What is it, Beau?" John asked as he walked up to the pup.

Beau stared out the window and let out a little woof before turning to look up into John's face. Then he went back to staring out the window.

John followed the direction of Beau's gaze. Through the trees off in the distance he could see the flicker of light. It looked like fire. "Shit!" John gasped. "I think Drew and Emmett's place is on fire."

"What?" Brian exclaimed as he stared in the same direction. The flames weren't too large or obvious, but it was clearly fire.

"Have you got an extinguisher?" John asked. "I'll grab ours. Get some shoes and let's get over there before it gets fully engaged."

Both men knew that the frame of the house had just begun to be assembled. Brian ran back into his side of the house while John headed for his. Beau stayed at the window whining. When the men reappeared with the extinguishers, Beau danced around ready to follow. They dashed out the sun porch door and started running across the lawn and then the field that would take them to the new cottage.

"I should have called 911," Brian said.

"Bobby's awake. I told him to call 911."

"Good," Brian said as he tried to match stride with his older brother. John was a force to be reckoned with at times like these. Beau had already disappeared ahead of them.

As they came through the trees they could see the frame of the house in flames. It was a bare skeleton of the building but it was now pretty well engulfed in fire.

"I don't think we can stop it," Brian said as he came to a halt. The puny extinguisher in his hand wouldn't do much.

"No, but let's make sure the rest of the lumber and supplies don't go up in smoke too," John said as he moved over to the side of the burning building. "Maybe we can turn the water on and hose down the lumber."

John got to work on the connection while Brian put out a little brush fire that had started beside the house. The fire extinguisher worked well enough for that. In the distance he could hear the sound of a fire truck as John got a hose working and started to wet down the stacked lumber near the house.

By the time the fire truck arrived the frame of the house was fully engaged. John and Brian could do little but watch the firemen put the flames out. It didn't take them long, but both John and Brian could see that what had been constructed of the cottage was going to have to be demolished. They would have to start to frame the whole house over again.

"Do you gentlemen own this place?" one of the firemen asked when the flames were finally out.

"I do," Brian said. He did own the land.

"My company is building this cottage," John supplied. "Do you know what happened?"

"From a preliminary look, it appears that someone set this deliberately. There's a barrel in the center of the building and an empty gas can lying near it."

"But, who…?" John started.

"Best guess, kids. It's their idea of a thrill," the fireman said shaking his head.

"Fuck!" Brian reacted. "And I guess we'll never know what kids."

"Probably not," the fireman answered. "It's good you got here so quickly. All of the lumber and supplies could have gone up in flames too. What alerted you?"

"Where's Beau?" John said suddenly remembering his dog. "Beau!" he called.

Beau came out of the trees. He had quickly learned that he didn't like fire. It was hot and he had singed his nose. He approached John warily his tail down.

"It's okay, boy," John said squatting down beside the dog. "You did good warning us about the fire." He patted the dog gently. Beau whimpered and licked at John's face. "You look like you burned your nose, boy. We better see to that."

The fireman smiled at John and Beau. "Wet his nose with water and he should be okay," he said softly. "It doesn't look too bad. I have a dog just like him at home. Good boy!"

Beau's tail started to wag now that he was getting all this attention. John had a can of water that he encouraged Beau to stick his nose in. Beau whimpered.

"It's okay, boy," Brian said as he squatted sown beside the dog too. "You've had a busy night." Brian scratched Beau's neck.

"The fire's out. You guys can head on home. We'll make sure everything's secure here," the fireman said.

"Thanks," John said as he stood up. "Let's head back."

Brian nodded. Justin and Bobby would be worried. He wondered if the kids were still asleep. He hoped so. "Come on, Beau, your night's work is over."

*****

"What's he doing up there?" Bobby asked not really expecting an answer. The family was gathered in the sun porch having breakfast. It was about a week after the fire, John and Gordon had just gotten the go-ahead from the fire department and the police to start up the construction. Brian was up in his office. They could see that he was on the phone, pacing and his free hand gesturing madly. Then of course, there was all the shouting and cursing. At times like this, it was better to let Mount Kinney erupt unabated, stay out of the path of the lava flow, then deal with the aftermath.

John, Bobby, Justin, the kids and Beau cast their eyes upward toward Brian's office and waited.

"Schmidt, you have that info I need? Emailed? Oh, yeah, I see it. Thanks. No, we're fine but the project just got set back a few days. The fire investigator said arson, so we had to wait for the cops to give us the okay to start construction again. John's boys are working double time to make up for it. I swear if I find the bastards who did this, I... Yeah, yeah I know. Fuck, Teddy, okay, yeah, I will. I said I will! Okay, I promise, I swear on Bree and Justin's head that I will leave it up to the professionals. Fuck, what are you, my mother? I'm calm, I'm calm. Are you sure you guys can do without me for a while? No, I'm not gonna stand guard with a shotgun. With my luck I'd shoot myself in the foot. I'm hanging up now, Theodore."

Brian scanned the information Ted had emailed then he made a few phone calls. Within twenty minutes, Brian was coming down the spiral staircase to join the family. As he sat at the table, Justin placed a hot mug of coffee in front of Brian. Bobby passed the sugar and John slid over a plate of dry toast.

Brian took a few sips of coffee and a couple bites of toast. When he felt more human, Brian addressed the family. "I'm sorry I've been a bear lately but the fire really pissed me off." The family nodded with understanding.

"I was considering wiring up Edna's Treasures and Rachael's house with an alarm system but the investigator told me that it probably wasn't necessary." The eyes of the adults in the room grew large for a moment as they mulled over what Brian was saying then they waited for Brian to continue.

"He did suggest that Gordon erect a temporary fence around the construction site. Gordon's in the process of doing that today." Brian was saddened that their oasis from the big city had been violated. "So this is what I have in mind. The security firm that handles Kinnetik is going to send a crew up here. They have a mobile home that they'll park on the lane near the site. The guards will work from there."

Justin wanted to ask if it was really necessary to go to such extremes but knowing Brian, Justin thought it best to stay quiet.

"I also hired a private detective to look into the fires."

"Brian..." Bobby was about to protest.

"You can't talk me out of this, Big Red. The cops and the fire inspector both said that this fire bug has been annoying the shit out of them for almost two years now. So far no one's been hurt but the property damage is mounting with each subsequent fire. If it is kids, and if they catch them now, they might get away with doing time on The Farm rather than in jail. The county doesn't have the money or the resources to put cops on this full time. But I do."

"Okay, Brian, but you shouldn't have to foot the bill for all of it. The people who have been affected by the fire bug are a matter of public record. I can get a list, contact them and see if they'll contribute to the cost of the investigation. At the very least, John and I will go in with you." Bobby would not take no for an answer and neither would John. Justin cleared his throat loudly then glared at his spouse. Brian knew that look.

"Whatever you want to do, Sunshine, I won't argue with you." Brian smiled and shook his head. His family once again proved that he was not alone. Justin's glare softened then disappeared.

"Bri." John who up until now remained quiet was about to make a suggestion. "I'm going to call Bill and Steve on this just in case we are dealing with kids. They have an in with all the schools in the area from here to Harrisburg. They may be able to help." Brian thought that was a very good suggestion.

Beau had also remained quiet as Brian, his other man spoke clearly and with command. Beau recognized John as alpha but instinctively knew that Brian ran a close second. Brian tapped his fingers against his thigh a couple of times. Beau knew that it was his signal that this man wanted him. Beau went to Brian and set his massive head on Brian's thigh. Brian scratched at Beau's ears then closely examined the singed but healing nose.

"You are one hell of a dog," Brian said affectionately to Beau. "Let's go check on the site," Brian said to Beau. Brian finished his coffee, got up from the table, kissed Justin and Bree. He ruffled Patrick's hair then he and Beau went out the sun porch door.

*****

Brian stood outside the new security fence that surrounded the bare bones of Emmett's cottage. The framing that had been burnt had all been removed. There was a pile of charred lumber off to one side. Most of the frame had had to come down. They had been able to save only the back portion of what had been constructed. He shook his head as Beau sat beside him surveying the scene.

"Hey, Brian, what are you doing over here?" Gordon called as he caught sight of John's younger brother.

"Checking that you guys know what you're doing," Brian said with his tongue in cheek.

"It's a good job I like you," Gordon laughed. "Them's fighting words."

"You know I have great respect for what you do," Brian said seriously. "May I ask why you didn't put up a security fence when you first started the project?"

Gordon frowned. "We had fencing around when we were doing the foundation. Didn't want anyone falling in, but once that was done, we don't usually need to protect the site, especially in this neck of the woods. I guess this is an example of how times are changing," Gordon said sadly.

"And not for the better."

"Definitely not for the better. So this is the big guy who sent up the warning flare, is it?" Gordon asked stooping down and giving Beau's ears a good scratching.

Beau's tongue lolled out as he soaked up the affection. "Woof," he said gently.

"Good boy!" Gordon laughed. "If it wasn't for you we would have lost everything on the site, including a lot of our equipment."

"He's a good dog," Brian said running his hand down Beau's back.

"That he is. Your nose looks like it's coming along nicely, boy."

"Almost as good as new," Brian said. "I've hired a private detective to look into this fire. He may be around with some questions for you and your men."

"A private dick?" Brian nodded. "Now I know that times have really changed. What about the police? They were asking questions the other day."

"It's not a big enough crime to merit extra manpower," Brian said sarcastically.

"Shit!" Gordon reacted. "I know this is small town mentality, but there have been other arsons probably by these same kids. You'd think they'd want to stop them."

"If they can't, I will," Brian stated. "The firm that handles security for Kinnetik is going to set up a trailer down the lane. I don't think you'll have any more problems."

Gordon nodded. He thought that was probably overkill, but he knew better than to contradict Brian. "Well, I better get back to work. We're trying to make up for the lost time from tearing down the burnt section and starting over."

"Good luck," Brian said. "Come, Beau." He headed across the field with Beau running and dancing around him.

When Brian neared the house he stopped for a moment, and then headed down the path to the stream. Beau followed right behind him.

"Where do you think you're going, Dog?" Brian asked. "You don't have to protect me from the rushing waters of the fucking stream."

Beau looked up at the man and kept following him anyway. The man seemed disturbed about something, and Beau didn't want to leave him alone.

When Brian reached the edge of the stream, he noted that the water level had receded since that day that Patrick and Bree had been prevented from getting near the stream by Beau. Neither child had tried that since. Maybe Brian would bring them back here later in the week. They liked to watch the water and maybe catch some polliwogs. Brian shuddered thinking of what polliwogs grew to be.

He picked up a handful of pebbles and started skipping them across the water. He smiled to himself as he remembered the day at the farm that Hunter had taught him how to do that. Beau lay down in the grass watching the man. When Brian used up his handful of pebbles he sat down on the big rock and stared into the water. Beau immediately came to his side and laid his muzzle across Brian's thigh.

"You like it here too?" Brian asked as he rubbed the top of Beau's head. "It used to be so peaceful around here, my own little piece of Paradise, and now we have arson and fences and guards. Fuck!"

"Brian," Justin said as he came into the clearing by the stream.

"How did you find me?" Brian asked.

"I could tell you that I always know where you are, but I happened to see you walk by the sun porch."

"I like the first part of that statement better."

"I think it's true too," Justin smiled as Beau moved away letting Justin sit down beside the man. Beau knew he wasn't needed any longer and he headed for the house. "That is one smart dog," Justin chuckled as he watched Beau disappear up the path.

"Innately, and also thanks to John's careful training. My brother sure has a way with dogs."

"This arson really bothers you, doesn't it?" Justin asked as he leaned his shoulder against Brian's.

"I thought we were safe here, that nothing could touch us, none of the ills of the world." Brian shook his head.

"We are. This is our place. We can be ourselves and not have to explain to anyone," Justin said softly.

"I thought so, but now we have guards and private detectives."

"Brian, you're the one who hired them. We don't have to have them if you don't want them here," Justin explained patiently.

"I feel safer with them here. I want Emmett's cottage to get finished."

"And after it's done?"

"I don't know. Maybe I should put a huge fence around all of the property and keep the world out."

"Would that make you happy?"

"Shit no!" Brian said.

"Then don't do it. Once Emmett's cottage is completed we get rid of all the guards and fences and go back to the way things were. Okay?"

"Is that what you want?"

"That's what I want," Justin stated. He leaned in and kissed Brian's lips tenderly.

Brian smiled as the kiss ended. "I guess I got a little carried away, huh?"

"Maybe just a smidge," Justin chuckled. "And it's not a bad idea to protect the construction site when nobody's there overnight."

"But…"

"But I liked it here how it was before the fire. I want that back again."

"So do I," Brian agreed. "I'm just afraid that…"

"Don't say it," Justin said putting his finger on Brian's lips to hush him. "We'll be just fine without guards. Just like we were before."

"And we have Beau to protect us," Brian smiled.

"And we have Beau. Let's go home and do something 'normal' with our daughter."

"Sounds like an excellent idea," Brian said as he put his arm over Justin's shoulder and they started up the path.