World on Fire: Cady and Blue Mystery, #2

By Susan James

Teenagers in trouble. Secrets everywhere. Can Cady and Blue get to the truth when it seems like the world is burning?

 

Cady Colette has settled into some ease in her life as a librarian in the smallest library in upstate New York.

 

Coming to terms with the disappearance of her husband six years previously has meant a new normal is finally accessible to her, and she feels she is getting closer.

 

But when one of her book-club teenagers goes missing, Cady is forced to explore the seedy underbelly of the seemingly tranquil Finger Lakes region.

 

Can she negotiate family dysfunction, generational failures, and the kinds of illegal activities that have never been part of her world, all while navigating her unsettled relationship with Blue, the investigator who put his life on the line for her?

 

Can any of these ordinary people doing their best in extraordinary circumstances survive the journey unscathed?

 

Or will the town's secrets explode outward, laying a path of destruction through the community and her relationship?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Daily Pages Press, LLC
• Release date: Sep 12, 2022
• ISBN: 9798986500232

Book preview

World on Fire

A CADY AND BLUE MYSTERY

BOOK TWO

Also By Susan James

Lock It Down: A Cady and Blue Mystery, Book One

World on Fire

A CADY AND BLUE MYSTERY

BOOK TWO

Susan James

Daily Pages Press / Waterloo, NY

World on Fire: A Cady and Blue Mystery, Book Two

Copyright © 2022 by Susan James

All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Daily Pages Press books may be purchased for educational, business, or sales promotional use.

For information, contact:

Daily Pages Press, LLC

PO Box 89

Waterloo, NY 14165

DailyPagesPress.com

First Daily Pages Press Trade Paperback published 2022.

Book Layout © 2022 TheBookMakers.com

World on Fire: A Cady and Blue Mystery, Book Two. / Susan James. – 1st ed.

Paperback ISBN 979-8-9865002-2-5

eBook ISBN 979-8-9865002-3-2

Audiobook ISBN 979-8-9865002-5-6

This is a story written in honor of those who made it out and of those who didn’t.

I see you. Your struggle is not forgotten.

Chapter 1

The day was coming to a quiet close in the smallest public library in all of New York State. Standing in the stacks and stroking the silky, muted-gray striped back of Hero, the library’s resident cat and Cady Colette’s love, Cady absently read the book she was supposed to be shelving. She had only meant to read the opening line. That was an indulgence of hers, reading opening lines or opening paragraphs. When there was time, she would read the opening line of every book she reshelved.

She was in the main corridor outside the Reference Room. Hero luxuriated in Cady’s touch, lying in a circle on the pull-out shelf with his front and back paws gathered together.

Cady had been captured by the opening chapter of The Poisonwood Bible and followed Kingsolver out of Waterloo, out of New York, and into the Congo, floating on words, transported by story, able to call her energy into present time while simultaneously being dispatched to distant lands and wonder of character that was the magic of reading. This connection to books was the reason she’d become a librarian in the first place.

Cady! Bre wrenched open the outer library doors and stormed in. The stained-glass windows in the foyer shook as she slammed in through the double doors. The three large panes were mottled with a delicate water drop pattern, and the shaking almost looked like rain. Hero jumped down off the shelf and skittered into the Reference Room across from Cady. He sat hunched inside the room, against the molding in the doorway.

Cady snapped the book shut at Hero’s bolting and the sound of the door slamming. She pivoted toward the front door as Bre Fuller propelled down the corridor toward her.

She was framed by the three large rectangular stained-glass windows, each with a kelly-green striped edging. They started above the knee wall that lined the outer edge of the foyer. As Bre approached, the middle dark violet circle on top of the windows framed her head like a halo, illuminated by the walkway lights outside the library.

If you know where she is, tell me. Right now.

Kiery? Cady was shaken by the upset at the end of a quiet day at work. She had no idea what Bre was talking about. Since Kiery was her only child and the only person in her circle that Cady knew, she assumed she’d deduced the correct she.

Yes, Kiery. Sarcasm dripped, sticky like hot caramel.

Bre, why don’t you come sit down in my office and tell me what’s going on. What’s the problem with Kiery?

It’s Brea, Bree-uh, for the millionth time, and I don’t have time to sit and chat. Just tell me where she is. Brea paused, breathing like a readied bull. She calmed almost imperceptibly. Is she here?

Brea, Cady said, pronouncing her name as corrected. She knew her full name to be Breandra but hadn’t known her to go by Brea before. Come in and sit down.

I do not have time to sit down! She practically screamed into the echoing stillness of the empty library. Small as it was, its ceilings were high and even the cushion of books on every wall did not absorb Brea’s screech.

You’re worrying me. Is Kiery all right? Cady immediately feared the worst and imagined Kiery dead. Panic started to gather in her belly.

She didn’t go to school today. I just got off the line at work. I got home and there was a message from the school. The great and powerful husband apparently wasn’t available to take the school’s call this morning. Not that he ever is. I need to find her before he finds out she wasn’t in school. I can’t have a cell phone at the factory so the school doesn’t even have my cell number. She’s been out there all day and I have no idea where.

Okay. She skipped school. Cady said. Has she ever done that before? Is this something to be this amped about? The roiling in her gut eased.

Brea jutted her jaw out at Cady. She’s not perfect. I know you all think she is, but she’s not little Miss Perfect.

No child is, Cady said, trying to calm her uncharitable reaction to Brea and focus on what was happening with, or to, Kiery. Please. Just move that jack-o’-lantern and sit down. Here, let me get it. Cady walked the three paces into the Reference Room and moved the carved pumpkin from the chair to the table next to the Halloween display.

I swear, if you ask me to sit down one more time . . . Brea turned away. She’s not here. Fine. You haven’t seen her. Fine.

Cady shifted from thinking she was about to be assaulted to sensing a genuine worry in Brea that softened her. She had been ripped out of the lull of the last quiet minutes before she closed up for the night. She was having trouble getting her bearings with this woman attacking her as though she were harboring a criminal behind the stacks.

I haven’t seen Kiery in weeks. Is there any reason to be worried, other than that she skipped school?

That’s not enough? Brea was firing up again.

Bristling at the tone but still trying to diffuse Brea, Cady said, I confess I don’t know if it’s something to worry about, so I’ll take your lead on that.

All parents worry if their kids aren’t where they are supposed to be, Brea said.

Of course. I didn’t mean . . . Do you think she may be hurt?

She could be dead for all I know. Brea entered the Reference Room and sat down. She seemed to be moving from rage to despair.

Cady knew quite well the swing of emotions that comes with your family turning up missing. When her husband disappeared six years ago, she felt the same panic, adrenaline, crash. Cady felt a rush of compassion.

That boy who just died? Brea said after she was seated, her voice rising on the last syllable. Jeremy Foster. They think it was murder. Now Kiery’s missing and I feel like I’m coming unglued. The softening came in stages. Cady could see Brea’s initial explosion was settling into a dull dread. Cady was joining her in that dread.

Let me get you a cup of tea. Let’s talk through what happened the last time you saw her. As much to calm herself as to calm Brea, Cady went to her office to pour bottled water into her electric kettle. As she stepped behind the door, she saw Natalie, Kiery’s friend and Cady’s part-time library assistant, standing at the far end of the office with wide, round eyes and her finger up to her lips. Cady was already behind the door when she saw Natalie, so Brea could not see her jump. Natalie shook her head vigorously. Natalie held up a notepad on which she’d written, I don’t know where Kiery is. Cady nodded and they spoke through their eyes as Cady waited for the kettle to boil and dropped a tulsi honey chamomile tea bag into a cup.

Natalie and Kiery had become friends through the book club for teens that Cady hosted at the library once a month. They’d become especially close a few months ago when their teacher had been murdered. Rosalind had been one of Cady’s best friends. The book club kids, almost all of them, banded together to help both Cady and Kiery get through it. Cady did not want Natalie involved in the conversation with Brea so she allowed her to lurk in her office.

With her tea in hand, Brea told Cady that she’d seen Kiery that morning, before school. School starts at 7:40. I don’t have to be on shift until 9:00, so sometimes she’s gone for school before I even get up. She’s been doing that for years now. I’ve trained her to be self-sufficient. She’s as independent as a roommate. Cady thought of Natalie, hiding in her office, who lived a similar existence with her mother.

Back up a minute, Cady said, sitting down in a chair facing Brea. Who is it that’s died? I hadn’t heard anything about this. I haven’t been reading the newspaper for a while.

Brea’s eyes warmed toward Cady at the acknowledgment of one of Cady’s best friends who’d been murdered the previous summer, reported for weeks in the papers. They went cold again as she told Cady that a young man died earlier that week of a drug overdose. Heroin, but it was laced with fentanyl so they are suspecting murder, or something intentional anyway. He was only 22. They even tried Narcan but it didn’t help, Brea said.

Narcan? Cady asked.

They spray it in your nose if you overdose on heroin. They say it’s really effective. It must have been too late for him. Kiery said she didn’t know him. The papers said he’d finished college last spring. He was home looking for a job. Brea sounded like she had fallen into a trance as she recited the details of his life and his death.

To pull her back, Cady offered a question. Do you suspect these two things are related?

No, Brea said, indignant. I have every right to know where my daughter is, don’t I?

Of course, Cady responded soothingly. Maybe she had an appointment today that she forgot to tell you about. Or maybe she took a shift at Wegmans to help out a friend. Have you called the grocery store?

They wouldn’t allow her to work during school hours, said Brea. Her long, thin face and deep-set eyes were tensed; her temples almost visibly throbbed. She’s only a junior and they don’t extend those privileges until you reach eighteen, no matter what your year. She turned seventeen last week. So, no. I didn’t call her work.

Where is Jay? Might she be with him?

She’s not with her dad. She’s never with her dad. If we don’t tell him, he won’t know. Her hand began to tremble. I’ve been calling everyone looking for her. Brea sipped her tea and, as if to steady her hand, put it down in the middle of the Casper and the Friendly Ghosts Town display.

Is there any chance she’s with Taylor? Taylor had been Kiery’s best friend since they were little. She was also in Cady’s book club. Cady was running out of connections to Kiery that she knew about.

Obviously, I called her first to see if Kiery was there, said Brea. Casual like. She’s always with Taylor. But if she’s there now, Taylor’s lying for her. I don’t think she’d do that. I don’t know why she’d do that. Kiery’s not grounded or anything. She doesn’t even know I know she skipped school. She doesn’t even know she’s in trouble. No reason to duck me. She started to breathe rapidly again. I don’t know what’s going on here and I don’t know where my daughter is.

Cady’s cell phone trilled. She reached in her pocket to silence the ringer and when she saw who was calling said, I’m sorry. I have to take this. I won’t be long. Promise.

When Brea exhaled with contempt and made a move to stand up and leave, Cady laid her hand on Brea’s knee and pleaded with her eyes as she stood up to take the call. One second. Please.

Clint, this isn’t a good time. Can I call you back later? Cady asked.

I’ll be quick. We need to get together to discuss the details of buying you out of the winery.

I know we do, Cady said. Can I come to the villa tomorrow? How about on my lunch hour? Cady had recently been able to settle her husband’s estate after years of waiting. Her brother-in-law had been patient about the fate of his family’s winery, a part of which Cady now owned, so she couldn’t fault him now that he was pushing.

Are you sure you’d be comfortable coming here? Clint asked. I could come to you.

No, I’ll be fine. I have an update for you on Victor’s estate, too, so it will be good to sit down and talk things over. I’ll text you when I’m on my way.

They said their goodbyes and Cady sat back down in front of Brea, who was sitting with one leg crossed over the other, jiggling her foot in the air. Brea was bundled up against the cold with a coat and scarf. Waterloo’s last spell of warm, quiet, hazy weather had left them several weeks ago and now they were in full autumn mode. Shorts and sandals were relegated to the back of the closet and boots and sweaters occupied the valuable front-closet real estate. She had taken off her gloves while Cady was on the phone. As Cady sat down in front of Brea, she could see a yellowing bruise peeking out of her coat sleeve and extending to the back of her left hand nearly to her knuckles. It might have been an age spot but for its size.

Brea. Look at me. Cady was trying to stop looking at Brea’s hand and focus them both back onto Kiery. It’s all going to be okay. If you’re truly worried about Kiery, why don’t we call Detective Emerson and ask for his help.

Blue? Jesus. Brea stood up and started at Cady. Cady stood and backed instinctively against the circulation desk. Have you lost all sense? He accused Kiery of killing Rosalind not three months ago. She was in Cady’s face, wild-eyed. So help me God, if you call him, or any police, you will live to regret it. I honestly have no idea why I came here. Brea nearly tripped over Hero, who was hunched with a low growl in the doorway to the hall. As she left the library, she slammed the front door harder than when she came in.

Cady sat again, stunned. She was shaking. Natalie rushed out of the office and knelt next to Cady. Hero low-walked to crouch on all fours under Cady’s chair.

What just happened? Cady asked to the air as much as to Natalie.

Are you okay? Natalie asked. She tucked her straight, bright blond hair behind her ears as she leaned forward toward Cady.

Cady shook off the surprise at Brea’s near assault and focused right into Natalie’s eyes. What just happened? she asked with exacting precision.

She came in here at full-bitch volume. Natalie was almost as charged as Brea had been.

Natalie. She stared flatly into Natalie’s eyes.

What? I wouldn’t have let her hurt you. Natalie was starting to tear up. I’m sure it’s nothing. Kiery’s parents don’t care one whit about her until there’s something for them to be dramatic about. It’s kind of typical.

Okay. Let’s both calm down. They were in a huddle, the three of them, in the Reference Room. I don’t think she had any intention of hurting me. But she was really scared. Dramatic? Maybe, but that wasn’t your standard ‘my kid skipped school today’ worry. What’s going on?

I have no idea. Natalie’s face went deliberately blank. Her tell was like Vegas strip lights. You could see it from space.

I don’t have time for a cover-up, Nat. Tell me what you know. Kiery might be in real trouble.

Natalie stood up and leaned back against the high circulation desk. She bit the edge of her ring finger cuticle. You’re not going to like it.

Hero lifted himself, front paws then back, into Cady’s lap. Cady took a full breath. She hadn’t laid eyes on Kiery in weeks. She hadn’t been at either the August or September after-school book club meetings. Kiery had attended one painting workshop after Rosalind’s death. Cady had canceled her Friday evening painting group for a few weeks after her best friend, Rosalind, had been murdered by the man Cady had been dating. And when that same man was killed in Cady’s apartment, she needed to clear the air before she could resume anything resembling normal activities. She’d even considered moving, but since her apartment was in the second story of the library she ran, she also would have needed to find a new job to make a clean break. Instead, with much effort, she had reclaimed her space. When she gathered the courage to begin the Friday painting workshop for community members again, Kiery came. She painted. She painted poppies, deep red poppies on a purple background. A bona fide talent ran through her.

Rosalind had believed in Kiery. Rosalind was Kiery’s teacher and fellow painter in the workshop. She had entered one of Kiery’s paintings anonymously in a silent auction at the annual Convention Days Festival and it had sold for a couple of thousand dollars. It was beyond Kiery’s wildest imaginings. But Rosalind had been killed at that festival before they could celebrate together. Cady thought it had just been too hard for Kiery to come back into Cady’s studio, where she’d picked up her first paintbrush. Cady didn’t push. Kiery knew where the studio was when she was ready to return.

Tell me what you know. Cady braced for whatever was coming.

Kiery skips school a lot, Natalie said.

What do you mean, a lot? Doesn’t the school call home every time a student is absent?

I mean, she’s not there most days anymore. We have Health together. It’s a junior/senior split class. We went to a five-day-a-week schedule this year so we have every class every day. I can’t remember the last time I saw her in that class. We also have lunch together. At the beginning of the school year, she would sit with me at lunch. Taylor too. All that stuff that happened with Ms. M’Clintock last summer . . . Natalie broke off. They sometimes talked about Rosalind’s death, but it was a difficult subject even when they meant to be talking about it. The experience had bonded Natalie and Taylor and Kiery together, at first. They didn’t sit with me last year because they weren’t so hot on Chris. She moved on quickly. But as soon as he and I broke up, they sort of gravitated toward me. That was cool for me because I sort of didn’t have any friends in my year anymore. I’d been dating Chris so long that all my friends just sort of faded away.

Natalie.

Sorry. Taylor and I still eat lunch together every day. But Kiery is almost never there. I used to ask Taylor sometimes if she knew where Kiery was, and she said she was working or maybe she was home sick. They’ve been friends since kindergarten so I didn’t have any reason to think she was lying about it.

How did Bre not know? I don’t understand how Kiery could be that under the radar.

Brea, Natalie corrected. Kiery’s mom just started adding the ‘-uh’ to her name. It’s a thing she’s going through. Don’t ask. Nobody knows. Anyway, all Kiery has to do is get to the home phone before her parents and delete the message. We haven’t had our ten-week report card yet. Kiery could have picked up the five-week interim report card from the mailbox. If Brea got home before Kiery had a chance to erase the phone message, then that means Kiery wasn’t home to take the call pretending to be Brea or erase the message.

This is Kiery we’re talking about. All that espionage just doesn’t fit on her.

Something’s happened, Natalie said. She’s changed.

Do you think it was being questioned by Blue that did it? Cady picked Hero up and set him in the chair as she stood up.

I couldn’t say. She doesn’t tell me her secrets.

But she tells Taylor? Cady asked.

I don’t think she does anymore. That’s one of the reasons Taylor and I hang out. I think Kiery sort of left her, Natalie said.

Maybe she has a boyfriend, Cady said, trying to figure out Kiery’s current life from afar.

Maybe. Seems like that’s something she’d be all too happy to tell us about. Natalie chewed on her cuticle again. I’ll tell you one thing I know for sure.

Anything. I’d be so grateful for something sure right now, Cady said.

The last time I saw her, her pupils were the size of saucers.

Chapter 2

Cady sank into the chair next to the pumpkin. She felt her breath leave her.

I’d say ‘Tell me you’re joking,’ but I know you better than that, Cady said. Natalie had worked for Cady as a library assistant for a little over a year. Natalie’s mom, Sara, was Cady’s best friend. She had been one of two best friends, but with Rosalind gone, Cady and Sara leaned on each other even more. She had no doubt Natalie was being straight with her. She’d known her as Sara’s daughter for many years and then on her own since they’d started the book club together when Natalie was entering high school.

I really don’t think it’s that big a deal, though, said Natalie pulling up a chair from behind one of the six computer terminals on an amoeba-shaped table. Hero’s ears perked up. "She might be smoking some weed. Lots of kids do.