Evan and Elle - By Rhys Bowen Page 0,7

voice drowned out every other sound.

Evan went over to the boy who was wearing a red anorak over his pajamas. “Come on, Terry. Your mum’s been looking for you.”

Terry looked up at Evan and wiped a sooty hand across his face. “I’m in for it now, aren’t I, Constable Evans?” He grinned. “But it was worth it. Did you see the way the water came out of that hose? It was brilliant. And those flames—they must have gone hundreds of feet up into the air! I want to be a fireman some day and put out fires like that.”

“Terry Jenkins, you’ll be the death of me.” His mother stepped forward and yanked him by the arm. “What do you mean by sneaking out into the night like that? You might have been burned alive!”

“Aw, Mum.” Terry looked embarrassed. “I had to go and take a look at the fire and I knew you wouldn’t let me. You should have seen it—the roof fell in and the flames went whoosh! It was spectacular!”

“I don’t know what I’m going to do with you,” Mrs. Jenkins went on. “If only your daddy was here . . .”

“Yes, well he’s not, is he?” Terry said angrily. “He doesn’t care what I do.”

Then he broke free and ran ahead of her down the track. Evan watched her go, feeling sympathy for the woman. Terry was just getting to that difficult age and he wasn’t an easy child to begin with. Evan had caught him a few weeks previously trying to extract chocolate bars from the machine at Roberts-the-Pump’s petrol station. He hadn’t seemed to think he was doing anything wrong—and that type made the worst kind of criminal.

Evan made sure the last of the stragglers came down with him from the mountain. He was on his way to the police station to call in his report when he saw Bronwen running down the village street, her long red cape flying out behind her like wings.

“Evan, are you all right?” she called. “I’ve just heard there was a fire.”

“I’m fine,” he said, smiling at her as she came up to him. “Old Rhodri’s cottage went up in flames. Nobody was hurt. The fire brigade’s just finishing up right now.”

“I don’t know about you,” she said, standing so close that she was looking up into his face. “I can’t leave you for one day without some great drama happening behind my back.”

“Then you’d better not go away again, had you?” Evan teased. He reached out and stroked her cheek, even though he was aware that this action would undoubtedly be all around the village by morning. “You worry too much. And I’ve told you often enough that a policeman’s job isn’t all beer and skittles, haven’t I?”

Bronwen nodded. “You’re right. I’m a born worrier. I’m glad nobody was hurt. Do they know what started it?”

Evan shook his head. “The English people had gone hours before and the place was all locked up. We’ll have to take a look in daylight.”

Bronwen wrapped her arms around her as she stared up at the headlights of the fire engine on the mountainside. “I don’t like it, Evan.”

“Don’t like what?”

“That it was that cottage which burned—the one recently bought by outsiders. I hope that kind of thing’s not starting here.”

Chapter 5

“So you’re at it again,” Sergeant Watkins called as he got out of his police car the next morning. “You’re a bloody nuisance, you know that, don’t you?”

“Hello, Sarge.” Evan smiled as he shook the sergeant’s extended hand. “The fire brigade told me that they regarded the fire as suspicious, so I had to report it. I’m sorry you were the one who got dragged up here.”

“So you should be,” Watkins said, but he was half smiling. “I had a lovely relaxing weekend with the family. I get to work, raring to go on Monday morning and what does D.I. Hughes tell me? He says, ‘Watkins, you’re off the case.’ ”

“What case is that?” Evan asked.

“Only the juiciest thing to happen around here in a long while. You remember hearing about the yacht that was found off Abersoch with a bloody great hole in her side? Well, her ownership has been traced and it appears that she was one of a fleet used to import drugs from the continent, via Ireland. They’d been mainly coming in through Holyhead before, but the Anglesey division had put extra surveillance on there. So now it appears they’re trying the mainland instead.”

“Abersoch?” Evan mused. “That