Silent Protector by Barbara Phinney Page B

and were staying at a friend’s house at the end of the road, while Elsie kept Stephen, the little boy who’d befriended Charlie.
    “How are the boys?” he asked Elsie, accepting a tall glass of iced tea.
    “Fine. Sleeping like babies.”
    “And Liz?”
    “She didn’t wake up. That poor woman was dead on her feet, though she didn’t know it until her head hit the pillow. And you look pretty battered as well.”
    He smiled at her, thankful that Liz had stayed zonked out. She’d use this incident to walk off the island with Charlie, he was sure.
    Elsie’s front room curtains hung slightly ajar, and dawn was peeking through the eastern trees, a pink and dark orange glow that warned of bad weather ahead.
    A noise down the hall made both of them turn. Liz was coming out, wearing the dress that Elsie had given her. It was identical to the one Monica wore last night, and only then did he remember that Elsie had made the women in the village two simple dresses each. She’d been given bolts of different patterned material, and running off thesame pattern of dress was probably as easy for the woman as cooking up a pot of seafood bisque or a plate of hush puppies.
    “What’s going on? There’s some boy sleeping on the floor beside Charlie. Well, he’s not now. I set him up onto the bed.” She looked from Elsie to Ian. “What’s wrong?”
    “The Callahans, the family beside my house, had a fire last night. Stephen Callahan is the boy in your room.”
    Liz gasped. “Is everyone okay?”
    “They’re all fine. Just the back bedroom was damaged, but thankfully they were all sleeping in the living room. Leo Callahan said it was cooler there.”
    “I’ll get some coffee on.” Elsie walked into the kitchen.
    Liz touched Ian’s arm. He smelled like smoke but hoped she wouldn’t notice. Or at least not notice that the smoke bore the oily hint of burning fuel. “How does this affect Charlie?” she asked.
    “We need to talk about that, but first, I need other answers.” He walked into the kitchen, with Liz on his heels. “Elsie, did Monica ever mention to you that she was in debt?”
    Looking up from her coffee canister, Elsie wore a shocked expression. “You know I shouldn’t talk about what we women say at our Bible study, Ian. It’s wrong to gossip.”
    “It’s not gossip. I’m trying to think of a reason someone would set fire to the Callahans’ house.”
    “Monica wouldn’t do that!”
    “I’m thinking that someone targeted the wrong house.”
    Elsie gasped. “You think that some loan shark tried to threaten Monica but got the Callahans’ house? Could it be that dangerous?”
    “It all depends on where she borrowed the money from. Why do you think it was a loan shark?”
    Elsie bit her lip, her brow wrinkling in worry. “She said she needed money right away and that she’d borrowed some and the people wanted it back now. She said they refused to wait, and though she didn’t admit it, I think she was scared of them. But she didn’t say why she borrowed the money or who from.” She shook her head. “That’s all I know, Ian, and don’t ask me anything more. This is horrible.”
    “Why would Monica borrow money in the first place?” Liz asked. “What’s her lifestyle like?”
    “The same as ours,” Ian answered. “Which makes it odd that she needs money because she hasn’t spent in a way that shows here.”
    “You hired her,” Liz pointed out, glancing at Elsie as the older woman looked deep in thought. “Did she say how she was going to spend her wages?”
    “Like everyone else, on bills,” Elsie answered quickly, putting away the coffee canister. “We all have bills, and Monica was complaining once how much groceries cost. She asked me the other day about starting a garden.”
    Liz’s expression went distant.
    Only when silence dropped on them did Ian notice her concern. “What’s wrong?” Ian asked.
    “I just realized something. When did this fire start?”
    “Around