“Not exactly, but go ahead.”
Belle furrowed her brow and fixed him with a stern look.
“All right, I remember,” Clint lied. “What did you want to tell me?”
“There was another fire.”
The smirk that had been on Clint’s face instantly disappeared. “What was that?” he asked.
“It was in Solace. That’s the town a little ways west of here. I hope it wasn’t too bad.”
Plenty of fires were sparked that had more to do with dry lumber and carelessness than any sort of malicious intent. Even so, Clint couldn’t help but feel that he was about to get one of his worst suspicions confirmed.
There was only one way for him to be certain.
NINETEEN
“I’m going to Solace,” Clint said.
Henry sat in the restaurant inside the hotel where he was staying and stared across his table at Clint. He kept staring at him, as if he was waiting for the punch line to a joke. Finally, he asked, “What are you talking about?”
“Solace,” Clint repeated. “It’s the name of the town where Bower went. I heard there was another fire over there.”
“Was anyone killed?”
“I don’t know yet.”
“Then maybe it doesn’t have anything to do with why we’re here,” Henry said.
Speaking through a mouthful of eggs and potatoes, Talman grunted, “Fires spark up all the time. It don’t mean every last one of ’em was sparked by a killer.”
“I know that,” Clint said evenly. “But this just seems like an awfully big coincidence. I don’t like coincidences.”
“Like ’em or not, they tend to happen,” Talman snapped.
Clint threw half a glance at Talman, but kept his eyes mostly on Henry. Eventually, the leader of the Texas Rangers wiped off his mouth and slapped his napkin down.
“We’ve still got work to do here,” Henry said. “Barkley and Dave have to check in and we can’t just leave ’em high and dry. Besides, Bower and Mark are in that town.”
“And have they checked in?” Clint asked.
“No.”
“Maybe that means something.”
“Or maybe you’re talking out of your ass,” Talman muttered.
This time, Clint put more than half a stare on Talman. He placed his hands flat upon the Rangers’ table and leaned down like a wolf preparing to rip a smaller animal’s head off.
“What the hell even got you to come along on this hunt, Talman?” Clint asked. “Was there a pay increase or were you just looking to get out of some other work in Texas that needed to be done?”
Talman jumped up from his chair and nearly overturned the table along the way. Before he could say anything, he was being shoved back down again by the man next to him.
“We wanted to keep from drawing too much attention here, gentlemen,” Henry warned. “This ain’t exactly the best way to go about it.”
Talman choked back whatever it was he’d wanted to say and nodded slowly. He also made a point to try to look like he was sitting back down again on his own accord.
“Those men we traded shots with are still out there,” Henry said to Clint. “They’re the closest we’ve gotten to catching someone at the spot of one of these fires and I ain’t about to let them get away.”
“What if they’re not the ones you’re after?” Clint asked.
“Then they need to learn not to shoot at a Texas Ranger. They fired on a lawman, Adams. You know I can’t just let them ride away after that.”
“All right,” Clint said. “That’s fair enough. I wasn’t even here to ask if you’d come along with me. I’m going to Solace to see what’s going on over there. I just thought you’d like to know.”
Talman let out a clipped grunt of a laugh before saying, “That was a good way to waste some time.”
Before Clint could respond to that, Henry shifted in his seat to glare at his partner. “I swear to Christ you’re more trouble than you’re worth, Talman. If you don’t stop making an ass out of yourself, you will become a bigger pain in my ass than I’m willing to bear. After that, you might as well get on your horse and keep riding north because you won’t want to step foot in Texas again.”
Although Henry’s voice wasn’t loud enough to carry much past their table, there was more than enough intensity in it to tell Clint he was serious. Apparently, Talman knew that just as well.
Like a child who’d been freshly scolded, Talman looked down and picked at his food without saying another word.
Once he saw that he’d put an end to one source of his headache, Henry shifted his attention back to the other. “You want to go see what’s happening in Solace?” Henry asked. “Go on ahead. I appreciate all the help you’re giving me, Clint, but you don’t take orders from me. You can go do whatever you like. All I ask is that you find a way to get word to me if you happen to find something that may be of some use. If you’re not willing to do that, I can’t back you up if this situation gets any worse.”
Clint shook his head. “I wouldn’t expect you to back me up unless I was helping you. If I do find something over there, I’ll be sure you find out about it.”
“All right, then,” Henry said. “Since you’re going all that way to check on my boys, maybe you should take this along with you.”
When Clint saw what Henry was handing over to him, he instantly knew why the Texas Ranger had been so hard on him. The badge was in somewhat rougher shape when compared to the ones worn by Henry, Talman and the others, but it still looked official enough.
“I don’t know how much weight that’ll carry around these parts,” Henry said, “but it could cut a few conversations short if you need to speed things up with a local authority.”
Clint’s first impulse was to hand the badge back to Henry. Still, despite being out of Texas, the Rangers had a good enough reputation to get plenty of things done plenty of other places. Seeing as how there might still be a killer on the loose, Clint decided not to turn his nose up at whatever help was being offered.
“I’ll make sure to keep my nose clean,” Clint said as he tucked the badge into his pocket.
“Be sure that you do,” Henry warned. “Or I’ll just have to come after you as soon as I’ve got this other killer’s hide tacked onto the side of my barn.”
TWENTY
When he got back to his room at the Kipperway Tavern, Clint found Belle lying in his bed wearing nothing but her stockings and a smile. She flipped the sheets off the bed, inviting him to lie beside her without having to say a word.
“This is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do,” Clint said. “But I’ve got to leave.”
“What?” Belle asked with a stunned expression on her face. “Why?”
“I need to go to Solace, but I’ll be back before too long.” Even though he’d been the one to take the smile off her face, Clint could hardly bear the sight of her pulling the sheets up around her and moving off the bed.
“You truly can’t know how difficult this is,” Clint said.
Belle walked up to him, looked Clint in the eyes and slipped her hand between his legs. Feeling the bulge in his crotch grow harder after a bit of coaxing, she grinned and said, “I can tell how hard it is.”
“That’s not fair, Belle. It really isn’t.”
“Now we both feel slighted. Do you want to know how I feel?”
Without waiting for an answer, she took Clint’s hand and guided it between her own legs. She was warm, soft and wet enough to make the pain Clint felt before seem like nothing in comparison to the aching he felt now.
Clint bit down on his lower lip.
“You still want to go?” she purred.
After letting out a strained breath, Clint said, “Yes. It’s important.”
She examined him for a few more seconds before stepping back and picking up her clothes. “I suppose it must be pretty important. Either that, or I’m losing my touch.”
“You’re not losing anything,” Clint said. �
�I just hope you’ll be here when I get back.”
“Maybe not right in this room, but I’ll be around. When you get back here, come find me and I’ll let you convince me to give you another chance.”
“I’ll look forward to it.”
Belle was merciful enough to get dressed quickly and pat his cheek as she walked toward the door. “Don’t stay away too long, now.”
Clint needed a moment to stand in his room once Belle was gone. He collected himself, gathered some breath and let it out. Suddenly, he felt very tired. Before he gave in to that feeling, he packed up his saddlebag, slung it over his shoulder and headed out.
While he was getting Eclipse ready to go, Clint spotted something down the street that held his attention. He quickly finished up what he was doing and made certain every one of the saddle’s buckles and straps were tightly fastened. Taking the reins in hand, Clint led Eclipse down the street to the small building that had caught his eye.
The little church wasn’t very fancy. The bell it its little tower looked as if it hadn’t been rung in years. The door was warped and the windows were cracked, but the old preacher who tended to them did so as if he was maintaining the finest cathedral in the country.
As Clint walked up to the preacher, he smiled and thought back to just how long it had been since he’d been to a proper service.
“Good morning, friend,” the preacher said. He was an old Mexican with stringy white hair and a round, pleasant face. “There won’t be a mass until noon, but you’re welcome to stay and pass some time in the shade.”
“No, thanks, Father. Is that the proper title?”
The preacher chuckled and waved his hand dismissively. “I’ve been called worse. What can I do for you?”
“Do you know about the folks who died in that fire the other day?”
“Oh yes,” the preacher replied as a shadow seemed to settle on his face. “Today’s mass is in their honor.”
“Did they have any family?”
“I’m not sure, but if they do, they’ll probably be at the mass. You’re welcome to attend as well.”
Clint shook his head and dug into his pocket. “I can’t attend, Father, but I would like to give you this. It belonged to . . . the departed.”
Holding out his hand, the preacher gasped when he saw the brooch that was placed onto his palm. “Oh my goodness! This belonged to Maryanne Wilkins?”
At that moment, Clint didn’t know what made him feel worse: the fact that he didn’t know the dead woman’s name or the fact that he was prepared to lie to the preacher about that fact. Finally, Clint bit the bullet and replied, “I didn’t know them, but I found it in their house. It’s a long story and it’s not as bad as it sounds. Just . . . please see to it that it’s given to the proper person.”
“Certainly. If there’s a next of kin, I’ll be sure to pass it on.”
“I’d appreciate it, Father.”
Just then, the preacher lifted his chin and showed Clint a warm smile. He even started to nod slowly, as if he was listening to someone else’s voice. “May the Lord bless you, sir.”
It took a moment, but Clint asked, “What’s that for?”
“Because I can tell you truly would appreciate it if this finds its proper owner. So many would keep such a treasure for themselves and not think twice about it.”
“Yeah, I suppose they would.”
Still smiling, the preacher extended his arm and made the sign of the cross over Clint’s forehead.
“Oh, and Father?” Clint asked once the blessing was done. “It’s probably best if you don’t let folks know you have that until you’re sure there is a proper heir.”
The preacher chuckled and said, “I may be a man of peace, but I’m no stranger to the black sheep in my flock.”
TWENTY-ONE
The old barn had stood in its spot for years. Most locals would say it had been there longer than the rest of the town of Solace. It was a big old building that had become home to plenty of animals other than the ones brought in by the farmer who’d owned the place.
That farmer was gone.
He’d been gone for quite a while, allowing the animals to take the barn over. A few of the original residents may have had some offspring that still remained, but most of the animal life in that place had been of the wild variety.
Coyotes, jackrabbits and even a few strains of birds made their home there. At least, it had been their home before Voorhees had come along to burn it to the ground.
Voorhees stood in his spot and pulled in a long breath filled with soot and the stench of death. Those things brought a smile to his face and a wistful sigh all the way up from the back of his throat.
When he heard footsteps approaching him, he was reluctant to shift his eyes away from the smoking frame of the barn. When he saw who was walking up to stand beside him, he shifted his eyes back and licked the smoky grit from his teeth.
“What’s the meaning of this?” Elizabeth asked.
Voorhees dug his hands into his pockets and spoke through clenched teeth. “It was a fire. A big one.”
“Why didn’t you tell me about this? You’re not supposed to do something like this unless I tell you to.”
“There were so many inside. I couldn’t wait.”
Stepping around to stand in front of him, Elizabeth glared up at the tall man’s lumpy face. “How many were in there?”
“I don’t know.”
Elizabeth slapped him hard enough to make a loud crack, but that was still not enough to turn his head more than a fraction of an inch. “How many?” she demanded.
“Lots,” Voorhees replied as he reached up with one hand to lovingly rub the spot where he’d been slapped.
Looking around at the overgrown field and rocky soil, Elizabeth asked, “Do you even know if anyone saw the fire?”
“No.”
As much as she wanted to slap him again, Elizabeth held back. The last thing she wanted to do was make the moment better for Voorhees. “I’ve got a plan for another fire,” she explained as calmly as she could manage. “We may be able to get a whole street this time.”
Voorhees’s eyes widened and his mouth hung open. “A whole street?”
“That’s right. But we won’t be able to do that if you go around doing things like this and put folks on their guard. I think some of those lawmen are here.”
“The Texas Rangers?”
She nodded. “The Texas Rangers. They want to catch us real bad, and they might just get us if we stay in one place too long or if we get too sloppy.”
Slowly, Voorhees hung his head. “Sorry.”
Elizabeth extended a tightly clenched fist up to his face. Through a great amount of effort, she uncurled her fingers and rubbed Voorhees’s chin. “Why would you do this without me? You know I like to be here when they die. And afterward, I like to be with you.”
“I know, but there were so many and I didn’t want them to run away.”
Looking toward the tall, blackened posts that had supported one of the barn’s crumbled walls, Elizabeth asked, “Was it good?”
Voorhees nodded slowly, as though he was fondly remembering a childhood dream. “It was real good. They were howling and screaming and kicking at the walls. Some of them tried to fly out, but their wings were on fire.”
“Fly out?”
He kept nodding. “Some of them had nests in the loft.”
“Are you talking about birds?”
“Yes. They were the best. But some of the others inside screamed louder. I went to try and see what they were, but there was too much smoke. All I could see was them running and dragging themselves.”
“Were there any people inside?” Elizabeth asked.
“I don’t think so. If there were, they were real quiet.”
Elizabeth smiled and patted his cheek. “Then maybe this isn’t so bad after all. Nobody may even remember this place is here.”
“I’ll remember it. Just like I remember all the others.”
“I know, darling. I know.”
Voorhees tilted his head, but didn’t quite put his face into Elizabeth’s hands. When he looked toward the barn, he made a noise that was something close to a purr.
“I want to go inside and look,” he said.
“If you want, you can stay here overnight.”
“Really?”
“Yes. That will give me some time to take another look around and find the best spots for you to burn. Those streets I saw are perfect and they should burn so good.”
“What if those lawmen find me?” Voorhees asked.
Elizabeth’s reply was short and sweet. “Then you’ll kill them. If they insist on chasing us this far, they’ll have to be dealt with.”
“Do you think a Texas Ranger will scream when he’s on fire?”
Now Elizabeth smiled fondly. “Yes, darling. I think he will.”
TWENTY-TWO
Compared to Kipperway, Solace was the cosmopolitan center of New Mexico. There were several streets leading into different sections of town, ranging from a row of well-maintained shops to a brightly decorated Chinatown district. Not every stretch of street was up to the standards held by the majority, but those exceptions were on the edge of town and were most likely occupied by cheap saloons and rat-infested cathouses.
As Clint rode down the streets looking for the Archer Hotel, he took some comfort in the fact that he was less likely to be noticed riding into a town this size. Unlike Kipperway, the locals here didn’t pay any mind to a strange face in the street. When he spotted a particular storefront on the corner, Clint thought he might have found the exception to that rule.
According to the sign over the door, the Solace Examiner was New Mexico’s finest source of reputable information. As Clint dismounted and tied Eclipse’s reins to a hitching post, he hoped that whoever ran the newspaper would at least know something about any fires started in the last few days.
The narrow door leading into the newspaper office was closed, but not locked. When Clint opened it, he was immediately assaulted by the smells of ink, wood pulp and axle grease. Judging by the look of the man who poked his head up from behind one of the presses, Clint realized that those smells were the least of his worries.
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