He cut Nate off. “On my way.”
Kate was already blinking her way out of sleep. “Where are you going?”
“There’s a fire and they need me. Kate…” He hesitated for the merest moment, knowing how this would affect her. A fire like this was exactly what she’d wanted to prevent. She’d probably blame herself. But he couldn’t shield her from it. “It’s at your grandmother’s place.”
“What?” She scrambled off the bed, landing on her hands and knees on the floor. Frantic, she searched for her clothes. “I’m coming with you.”
No point in arguing. “Let’s go.”
She threw her clothes on with impressive speed, and they ran down the outdoor stairs toward his rig. She jumped into the passenger side, and he backed out the driveway before she’d even closed the door.
“Did they say anything else? Is she okay? What about the high tunnels? Do you know what part’s on fire? I’m gonna call her.”
“No.” He put his hand on her arm to stop her. “All she has is the land line. If you call her, she might try to answer it. We need her to stay out of the house.”
“Right, right. Is there anyone else we can call? Nate or someone? I just want to know she’s okay.”
“Not Nate. Don’t want to interrupt him. I’ll call the dispatcher.”
He dialed the personal number of the dispatcher he knew was on duty. He wouldn’t normally do something like that, but he was afraid that Kate might burst with anxiety if she didn’t get some information.
“Mandy, hi, it’s Chief Boone. Sorry to bother you like this, but can you tell me anything more about the Gordon fire? I’m headed there now.”
“Not much, Chief. Emma called it in. I told her to get out of the house and wait for us to get there. Knowing her, she’s probably hosing the place down right about now.”
“True that. Thanks Mandy. Good job.” He hung up and relayed the news to Kate. “Emma called 9-1-1, which tells me she’s okay.”
“Oh thank God.” Kate clutched at her heart. “I’d never forgive myself if—”
“Hey. Don’t jump to any bad scenarios. Do what we do. Work the fire. Work the problem.”
“Work the problem,” she repeated. “Okay. Yes. Right now the problem is you’re going so slow.”
“I’m driving twenty miles over the limit. Just for you.” He turned onto the spur road that ran along the bluff where Petal to the Metal was located. The clock on his dashboard said that it wasn’t yet five in the morning, but the first hint of light glowed behind the mountains of Lost Souls Wilderness.
The dark waters of the bay reflected the oncoming sunrise in little ripples of gold. Such silent magnificence everywhere he looked. The quiet world waiting for dawn.
Kate was looking out the window too, but he doubted that she was seeing the beauty. She was probably too worried about her grandmother to appreciate the scenery.
But he was wrong.
“It’s so beautiful here,” she choked out. “I love this place so much. I shouldn’t have come back here. I should have chosen some random industrial wasteland. I should have moved into a landfill or a junkyard, some place where a few extra fires don’t matter.”
He bit the side of his mouth to keep from laughing. Trust Kate to make her distress into something almost comical.
“Don’t laugh! I’m serious. I came to the one place that I actually care about, and look what happened.”
“Okay, sweetheart. Let it all out now. Because when we get there Emma is going to need you to be cool. Okay?” He reached across the bench seat and took her hand, offering strength with a quick squeeze.
“Yes. Yes. I will. Don’t worry, I’m good under pressure. My law firm would confirm.” She took a deep breath. “I got this.”
“I know you do.” His confident tone seemed to help, and she got herself together just as they turned down the long, winding drive that led to the peony farm.
Smoke was billowing from the back of the property, not the farmhouse.
“The house is okay.” He scanned the property with his expert eyes. “So are the greenhouses. Looks like some kind of outbuilding. Just like the other fires, the firebug went for the least amount of damage. See? It’s not so bad.”
Kate leaned forward to peer through the windshield, then gave a sudden laugh. “Holy shit. It’s the honeymoon suite.”
“The what?”
“A shed Emma wanted to turn into…eh, never mind. It wasn’t being used for anything except paint cans, and we just cleared out most of those. Of all the buildings on the property, it’s the least valuable. No big loss at all. Thank God.”
Just as the dispatcher had predicted, they spotted Emma Gordon wielding a hose. She wore a rubber apron and mud boots over her nightgown, and had wrapped a bandanna around her face to protect her from the smoke.
The crew was already working the fire from the alpha and beta side of the little shack. A nearby high tunnel and a truck loaded with trash were both at risk if the fire spread too far.
“Strange,” Kate murmured as they neared the ladder truck.
“Strange that Emma would be out here with a hose? Not really.”
“No, not that. It’s Emma, what would you expect? No, it’s the shed they chose. You can’t even see it from the road. You’d have to pass the farmhouse to reach it, and Emma’s geese would be all over anyone who tried. Geese are incredible guard dogs.”
“So maybe they came from another direction. We can worry about that later.” He jerked the truck to a stop and jumped out. A quick glance told him that Nate and the others had things under control, so he loped over to Emma.
“You can take a break, you know. They’re on it.”
“No, I can’t,” she said. He realized that she was trembling.
“It’s okay. They’ve got this. You might even be able to rebuild this shed.” He offered to take the hose from her, but she shook him off. “Don’t be afraid.”
“I’m not afraid,” she said fiercely. In her tense posture, he saw the same fearlessness he’d witnessed in Kate. “I’m furious.”
“I’d be, too. Kate feels terrible—”
“Kate? This has nothing to do with Kate!”
He stared down at the eighty-two-year-old in mud boots. “Are you saying you know who did this?”
“Yes, I know. I told them to stay in the Ford until you got here.”
He swung toward the truck but couldn’t see inside the windows. “Are they dangerous? Armed?”
She snorted. “Dangerous to themselves, that’s it. Where’s Kate?”
Kate was hurrying across the lawn as she zipped up her hoodie. “Emma, are you—”
“Follow me,” she interrupted. Dragging the hose along with her, she marched over to the truck. A hunting rifle was propped against the truck.
“Emma!” Kate gasped. “You didn’t—”
“It’s not loaded, but they don’t know that,” Emma grumbled. With the rifle in one hand, hose in the other, she gestured for Darius to open the truck door.
Inside, he found two suspects huddling together. Two soaking-wet teenagers. S.G. and a boy he didn’t recognize.