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She
wouldn’t leave the kids,” Ken said. “What are you getting at? That
she was planning on leaving us?”
    “ I’m just trying to cover
all the bases, Ken. You know how this works.”
    “ Well, I’m telling you she
wouldn’t leave. Sam doesn’t run away from her problems.”
    “ How about threats? Anyone
been threatening her?”
    Ken shook his head. “You
mean the local drug cartel?”
    “ Anyone at
all.”
    “ No. I don’t know she
would tell me if she felt threatened by anyone. Sam tries to be the
tough one. And she wouldn’t want me to worry about anything while
I’m in here, anyway.”
    “ How about you? Have you
gotten any threats while in here?”
    “ I haven’t exactly been
making friends,” Ken said smugly.
    “ Ok. If you think of
anything else, let me know.”Chief Gladstone looked Ken over for a
few seconds. “I’m really sorry about this, Ken. I know how much you
care for your family.”
    Ken nodded his head.
“Thanks.”
    “ I’m going to talk to the
judge today to see if we can get a postponement,” Suzette said. She
pushed her chair back and stood up. Today she was wearing a tight
blouse with a short, dark skirt which showed off all her assets in
all the right places. Ken wondered how she got away with dressing
like that in the courtroom. It just suited her perfectly, though.
“In light of everything that has happened, I don’t think it will be
a problem.” She told him goodbye and left the room.
    “ Ok. If we are done here…”
Ken said.
    “ I’ll be in touch, son.”
Chief Gladstone said as he got up to leave.
     
     

Chapter Six
    Santa Rosa Beach, FL Tuesday
6:00 AM
     
    After a long, twelve hour drive from
Miami to Santa Rosa Beach, Rachel had a hard time getting up and
ready for her meeting. Michelle set her up with a nice beach house
overlooking the beautiful sugar sand beaches and crystal clear
waters of the Gulf of Mexico. She wanted to stay in bed listening
to the waves crashing and the calls of the seagulls.
    Santa Rosa Beach was a small coastal
town which was home to about ten thousand people year around.
During the summer tourist season, the population soared to about
fifty thousand, give or take a few people. Most people who lived
here were either retired or serviced the tourist industry –
fishermen, hotel workers, restaurant employees, real estate agents,
and kitschy clothing and gift boutique shops owners.
    She drove over to a popular local
diner called the Donut Hole to grab a cup of coffee before her
meeting with the fire investigator. The waitress took her order of
French toast and bacon and she settled in to read the paper. The
Walton Sun had run a full length feature about Samantha and the
warehouse fire. Rachel read the highlights of the article
again.
    “ Hi. Excuse me, but are you
Rachel Scott?”
    Rachel looked up from the newspaper.
She studied the man standing before her. He was tall, good looking
with thick, dark hair and kind eyes. She put him to be around mid
to late thirties.
    “ Yes. And you
are?”
    “ I thought I recognized you
from the news shows about missing people. Samantha’s mom said you
might be coming up here to help us.” He held out his hand to her.
“Mack Dixon.”
    She instantly recognized his name from
the article she just read. “Ah, Samantha’s partner from the fire
department.” Rachel shook his hand. “I was reading about the case
in the paper. Please have a seat.” Rachel motioned to the chair
across from her.
    “ Sorry to disturb your
breakfast, but I just wanted to say hello and see if there was
anything I could do to help.” Mack sat down. “Sam is not only a
co-worker but a good friend of mine.”
    “ Sorry to hear what
happened.” Rachel paused while the waitress sat down her food and
offered Mack some coffee. “I’m meeting with Jeff Stanton this
morning to go over the particulars of the case. Anything you can
tell me about Sam would help.”
    “ Sam and I are close. We’ve
known each other since