Moments later, the fire chief pulled in beside them. Jenna jumped out the truck and was blasted by hot and smoke-filled air, ashes twirled around her falling like snow. Although the middle of the night, the light coming from the fire illuminated the area in a rosy glow. She marched straight up to him. “I thought you were on scene?”
“I am on scene.” Matt Thompson gave her a quizzical stare. “Did the smoke get in your eyes, Sheriff?”
The air between then sizzled with more than heat from the fire. Jenna waved a hand toward his truck. “You’ve only just arrived. I saw you coming in behind us.”
“Have I?” Thompson rolled his eyes in an exaggerated manner. “In case you haven’t noticed the fire is spreading east. I moved my truck to a safer position. I could say: ‘What took you so long?’ but I really don’t give a damn.”
Anger threatening to bubble over, Jenna folded her arms across her chest. She had to deal with him, she had no other choice. “Give me the rundown.”
“Ah… I know you were brought in on the Louan case but Blackwater isn’t in your jurisdiction and I believe you’re only under the FBI umbrella as a consultant.” Thompson removed his helmet and looked down his nose at her. “I’ll give my report to Agent Carter.”
“She’s leading the investigation, man.” Carter walked up beside her.
As Kane and Jo joined her, Jenna stared at him. “If that’s a problem for you Chief Thompson, we’re all here now so how about bringing us up to speed?”
“Sure. Nice to see you again Agent Wells and you too, Agent Carter.” Thompson ignored Kane and waved a hand toward the firetrucks. “The house was well ablaze when I arrived. The local boys could see the house was too far gone to save, so they evacuated the ranch houses either side and then called it in. My crew have been containing the fire since arriving, preventing the spread.” He shrugged. “It’s all we can do. The fire will burn itself out soon.”
“There were three explosions?” Carter looked at him, grim-faced. “All gas bottles?”
“I’m not sure, I didn’t see them explode and to make things worse, the sheriff had a ton of ammunition inside the house.” Thompson frowned. “If he stored it inside a metal container the heat from the blaze could have caused an explosion. I’ll have a better idea of what happened when we get inside the house.” He looked at Jenna. “That won’t be for hours.”
Astonished, Jenna shook her head. “Then call out the Louan Fire Department as well. They can assist with preventing the spread and your crew can get the fire out.” She lifted her chin. “For God’s sake, there are people in there. We need to know if a crime was committed. Leaving it to burn itself out will destroy evidence.”
“And I’ll need to get closer and check for unexploded IEDs.” Carter stared at the fire. “You have no idea what else is hidden around the perimeter of the building. You’re putting lives at risk.”
“I am not.” Thompson’s eyes flashed with anger. “I’m keeping my men well out of harm’s way. I gave them strict orders not to move inside the fence.”
Jenna stared at him. “I’m ordering you to call in assistance. I want this fire out. Do it now!”
“You can’t give me orders.” Thompson shook his head in disbelief. “I’m the fire chief but I will call in the Louan crew just to keep the peace.” He stomped toward his truck and climbed inside, slamming the door behind him.
“Jenna.” Kane moved to her side and handed her a jacket with FBI written front and back. “There are two deputies just south of the firetrucks, maybe we need to have a word with them as well and see if they’ve found the girl?”
“Yeah.” She turned to Carter and Jo. “I’m going to speak to Wolfe and then go talk to the deputies.”
“Okay.” Jo indicated to a group of sightseers bunched together alongside the road. “We’ll see what they have to say.” She headed off with Carter and the fluorescent FBI logos on their jackets bounced away into the night.
Jenna hustled over to Wolfe’s truck. Inside, she could make out Wolfe, Emily, and Webber staring at the fire. As he buzzed down his window, she moved closer. “The fire chief figures it will be hours before we can get inside. He’s calling out another crew to hurry things along.”
“Colt’s been filming the blaze and we’ve been scanning social media for any footage.” Wolfe’s eyes reflected eerily in the fire. “I might not be able to get inside the house but I’m observing the fire. I’ve seen one hell of a lot of housefires but nothing like this one. How did it get out of control so fast? From the reports of the blasts the local fire department were on scene in ten minutes, which for a volunteer crew is pretty fast.” He sighed. “Unless the sheriff had a ton of combustibles inside the house, it shouldn’t have flared up so fast.”
Jenna nodded. “I thought the same and the fire chief said ammunition was popping and if the sheriff had stored some in a metal box it could have caused an explosion.”
“Do you keep your ammo in a metal box?” Wolfe raise an eyebrow.
“No, but it’s all over the house, in drawers.”
“Sheriff Stuart was a sensible man, no way he’d have stored ammo in a metal box in his home.” Wolfe met her gaze. “If the propane gas bottle exploded, it would have blown the house apart but it dissipates fast or burns up. The deputy I spoke to on the phone told me they heard three clear explosions. A whoosh and two loud cracks. I’m seeing debris all around, so a blast of extreme force. It sure sounds like C-4 to me.”
“Me too.” Kane leaned on the van with one hand and peered inside. “I figure it’s the same MO as the explosion at Louan but this time he didn’t plan on leaving any evidence.”
Jenna looked from one grim expression to the other. “I noticed a couple of cruisers over by the firetrucks. We’ll head across this field and speak to the deputies. It will keep us out of harm’s way. Maybe they’ll have a lead on who did this.”
Heat from the blaze warmed Jenna’s cheeks as she headed across the uneven ground with Kane at her side. The smoke was getting so thick she could hardly breathe. “Here.” She dragged a couple of facemasks from her pocket, handed one to Kane, and removed her helmet to push the other one over her nose.
“Keep your helmet on.” Kane adjusted his chin strap and pulled down the visor. “I sure don’t like the look of this blaze.”
Jenna nodded. “Yeah, something’s not right here.”
Through the smoke she could make out the flashing lights on the cruisers but underfoot the plowed ground was treacherous. She pulled out her flashlight, glad she’d filled her pockets with everything she might need. The duty belt she usually wore held everything she needed but in plain clothes with a shoulder holster, she needed more pockets. She trained the flashlight beam on the ground and they hurried over the plowed field toward the cruisers. A whizzing sound flashed past her shoulder, and she ducked as an explosion shook the ground. Before she could think, a blast of hot air shot her high into the air. She couldn’t breathe, spinning in a ball of smoke and soil. The ground came up fast but instinctively she wrapped her arms around her and tucked in her head, taking the impact on her back, and throwing out her arms to spread out the shock. Although her vest had taken most of the impact, pain shot through her lungs as the air was forced out. Spread-eagled in the moist soil, she sucked in agonizing breaths.