Now, looking at the ruins of the Double J, she finally understood that Jake had lost everything, too. His mother had died. Jacob had followed. Then the fire had destroyed the ranch.
With the cat at her side, she walked through the ashes. That had been the big family room. The stone fireplace remained, sadder than if it had fallen. Kate knew the loss of the ranch had hit Jake hard.
“What a pair Jake and I are,” she said to Familiar. “If I can’t find enough things to pine over, I can always come over and borrow some of Jake’s.”
“Meow.” Familiar scuttled through the blackened timbers and stones, disappearing under a timber that had already settled deeply into the earth. “Meow.”
“Be careful,” Kate called as she started after the cat. “Familiar, hold up.”
“Meow!” She could hear him beneath the timber, as if he’d dropped into a hole. “Meow!”
“Familiar.” Kate got down on her knees and began carefully lifting the debris. After a moment the cat popped up, a small rock in his mouth.
“What in the world?” She took the stone and brushed at it. The glitter of gold appeared through the dirt. Kate had grown up in a town filled with stories of gold and silver strikes, and though some were hugely profitable, many were busts. Old mine shafts pockmarked the surrounding mountains. In fact, there were several near Sentinel Mountain. Jacob had never allowed her and Jake to explore them—the timbers were unstable and dangerous. And there was no real reason to go in them. There was no gold, and the old caves had filled with bats.
She rubbed the stone on her blue jeans. It looked to be the real thing—a rock with a vein of gold in it. But it could as easily be fool’s gold.
“Where’d you dig this?” she asked the cat
Familiar obligingly disappeared.
Kate pocketed the rock and pulled the remaining boards aside. “Well, well,” she said, wondering how Jake’s dog had failed to find the stash. She lifted up the Prince Albert cigar box with extreme care.
It was Jake’s old treasure box. He’d kept his secret stuff in it since he was a kid. She’d never seen it, but she’d heard him talk about it often enough. And here it was. He was going to be so excited that she’d found it. She lifted the lid and a slow smile touched her mouth.
Inside were several miniature soldiers, undoubtedly favorite toys from childhood. There were marbles, one of them a vivid green cat’s eye, and a pocketknife. Several smaller stones winked gold in the sunlight, but it was the ring that caught Kate’s eye. She would recognize it anywhere, the two J’s centered with two diamonds in a circle of smaller diamonds.
Her engagement ring. He’d kept it all this time. Her hand trembled as she slid it on her finger.
Amazing, after all that time, it still fit.
Marry me, Kate.
Jake’s voice seemed to come from her heart and her mind. She felt again the rush of happiness, the feeling of complete and total joy. She and Jake belonged together. She belonged.
Both hands shaking, she removed the ring and put it back in the cigar box. She closed the lid and tucked it up on her hip. Even as she walked toward the truck she felt unsteady. Maybe she hadn’t run away from Jake because he wouldn’t leave Silver City, she’d run because she was terrified of loving him so much.
“Come on, Familiar,” she called. “I’ve got to go back and talk to Jake. He’s been right all along.”
The cat popped out of the debris, but froze as the sound of a car engine came to them across the clear mountain air.
Kate felt her heart speed up. Was it Jake?
Her hopes flagged as she recognized the white Blazer that Roy Adams drove for his insurance business. He was no doubt hunting her down to demand that she solve the arsons. She needed to talk to him anyway. She wanted to know why he’d given Alexis more insurance when an arsonist was on the loose. Especially after his refusal to reinsure the Double J.
“Kitty, kitty,” she called, hoping Familiar would pop up and run to the truck. She wanted to be ready to leave in a hurry.
“Familiar?” Kate went back to the rubble. There was no sign of him. “Come on, cat.” She clutched the cigar box to her chest and started toward the truck. She was standing there when Roy pulled up. His face was grim and for a moment he simply sat with his hands on the wheels as if he were having a harsh internal dialogue.
Then he opened the door and got out.
“Is something wrong?” Kate asked. As she looked at the mayor, she forgot about Familiar. She’d never seen Roy so tense. He looked as if he might explode.
“What are you doing here?” he asked.
“Looking for clues,” Kate answered, her concern for Roy growing. He was acting as if he might have had a small stroke. Almost disoriented. “Are you sure you’re okay? I’ve got some water in the truck.” She started toward her own vehicle.
“No, I’m fine.” Roy hurried toward her.
Kate turned to face him and her gaze caught the edge of yellow on the passenger floorboard of his vehicle. Her mind registered it before her thoughts connected, but when she did, her hand went instinctively to her gun.
It was the fire slicker, the protective gear that was missing from the fire station. She had a mental vision of the man who’d struck her. He’d seemed taller than Roy. But in the heat and smoke…
She looked into the mayor’s face and saw for the first time that he was carrying a gun.
“I don’t want to do this, Kate,” he said, sweat rolling down his face. “I honestly don’t. I don’t have a choice. I hope you understand.”
Before she could say another word, he stepped over and swung the butt of the gun against her head. Kate dropped into the ashes of Jake’s home without making even a whimper.
I hate hiding here in the rubble like a coward, but I have to remain free. Funny, but I never suspected Roy. Never. My thinking was going in another direction completely. This is troubling. I let Kate down badly by not warning her of the danger.
Perhaps she would have been better off with the dog protecting her. Ouzo may have been right. This is a bitter pill for a private investigator. But Roy is lifting Kate up and putting her in the Blazer. I can head back to town for Jake, or I can hitch a ride with Roy and see where he takes Kate. The second option is the best. I can’t simply let Roy walk off with her. There’s no telling what he might do. He’s got her in the back, and now he’s going to get the box she dropped Here’s my chance to slip into the Blazer with her. Pistol-Packin’ Mama may be out cold, but the fight isn’t over yet.
JAKE HANDED ALEXIS the ice pack, but his patience was growing thin. “Tell me again, what was Roy doing here?”
“He made an offer on the Golden Nugget.” Alexis shrugged one shoulder but wouldn’t meet Jake’s direct gaze.
He knew she was hiding something, but what? Why would she protect the man who might have rigged her to a device that could have toasted her? Jake could feel the arsonist’s obsession escalating out of control. First Kate had been knocked out and nearly killed, now Alexis.
Frustrated, Jake firmly grasped Alexis’s shoulders. “Tell me what Roy offered you,” he said. “Now.”
“Or what?”
“Or I’ll have Kate lock you up as a material witness.”
“You can’t do that!”
“Perhaps not legally, but Kate’s on her way to Denver. She won’t be back for hours, so if I put you in jail myself, say in protective custody, no one will be too upset with me. After all, I’m the fire chief, not the sheriff. I don’t have to know all the ins and outs of the law.”
“Jake,” Alexis’s eyes brimmed with tears. “I can’t tell you. If I do, they’ll hurt me.”
“Hurt you?” Jake was incredulous. “Good God, Alexis. They tried to bum you to a crisp.”
“But I can’t be certain it was Roy. I never saw him. I never…”
“I’m not accusing him. You said he offered to buy the Golden Nugget. I’m asking what he offered, and I’m wondering why he’d want that old building
.” Jake was also wondering if Roy knew more about the old bones buried there than he’d let on.
“Okay, he offered me twenty thousand for what was left.”
Jake was astounded. The dirt was worth at least a hundred grand. It was a prime downtown location for a casino. Even one that had to be built from scratch.
“And you said?”
Alexis made a face. “I said okay.”
“I know you’re a better businesswoman than that.”
“Roy said he wouldn’t hold up my insurance claim if I said yes. He also said if I didn’t sell, then I’d never get a penny of the insurance. He said he could find a million ways to keep the claim from going through.”
“And Evelyn? Do you know if he used the same tactic on her?”
“That’s why I was calling her. I never got through though, before I got knocked in the head.” Alexis frowned. “I was right in the middle of a sentence. You’d think Evelyn might have gotten worried that I just dropped the phone.”
“You’d think,” Jake said. He grasped Alexis’s arm. “Come on.”
“Where are you taking me?”
Jake only said, “Let’s go.”
“YOU SIMPLY CANNOT do this!” Alexis stormed.
“For your own safety,” Jake said. “Really, Alexis, someone tried to kill you. You’re perfectly safe here in the jail, until we can round up Roy and ask him some questions.”
“Don’t be a nitwit. Why would Roy want to kill me after I agreed to the sale of the Golden Nugget?”
“You signed the sale agreement?”
“I told you I did.” Alexis was beyond exasperation.
“And you told that much to Evelyn before you were struck?”
“That’s as far as I got.”
“Did it ever occur to you that once you signed the sale agreement, Roy had everything he needed from you? If you were to die, there’s a chance he would never have to pay off the insurance at all.”
That fact silenced Alexis. “He meant to kill me so he wouldn’t have to pay?”
“Maybe. That’s why, until we get Roy in custody, you’re safer here.”
“I’d much rather go with you. I’d be safe with you.”
Jake shook his head. “I’m going after Roy. Deputy Rollings will take care of you.” He motioned the deputy over. “Give her anything she wants within reason, but don’t open the cell door,” he said as he shook it to make sure it had latched.
He started to leave but turned back to Alexis. “One more thing.”
“What?” she asked sourly.
“Roy let himself out of your apartment, didn’t he?”
She thought a moment. “Yes. I was eager to call Evelyn, so he went out by himself.”
“That’s probably how he got back in—if it was him. He never closed the door. You should be careful about those things, Alexis.”
“In the future, I’ll do that But at the present I see you’ve taken care of locking doors behind me.”
“Deputy, maybe if you went over to the ice cream shop and brought her a double-dip orange sherbet and pistachio she’d feel better.” He handed the deputy a five. “Just don’t let her out.” Jake would be damned if one more person was going to get hurt.
“Yes, sir,” Rollings said.
To Jake’s amazement, Ouzo had stayed right by his side, but as he started to leave Alexis in the cell, the dog started barking.
“Please shut that annoying dog up,” Alexis said, covering her ears.
“Ouzo?” Jake was concerned. Ouzo was not a vocal dog in the worst of conditions. He much preferred sneaky, silent slithering to vocal protest
“Arf! Arf! Arf!” The pitch made the walls ring.
“Ouzo!” Jake had never seen the dog so distraught.
“Arf!” Ouzo lunged at the door, but Jake was quick enough to catch his leash.
“Arf!”
Though the dog weighed only forty pounds, he was dragging Jake out of the cell area and toward the door. Ouzo detoured to the desk where Jake had dropped his keys. Picking them up in his mouth, the dog headed for the door again.
“I have to find Roy,” Jake said, pulling on the leash. “Ouzo!”
But Ouzo went down the short flight of stairs and pulled Jake out into the street with breakneck speed. Paying no attention to traffic, he headed for Jake’s truck.
“Ouzo!” Jake braced against the curb, but it was as if the dog was possessed by superhuman strength. He simply kept going, and Jake either had to follow or let go of the leash. He chose to follow.
When they got to the truck, Ouzo jumped in, dropping the keys on the seat.
“Which way?” Jake asked sarcastically.
“Arf!”
“Does that mean left?” Jake asked sourly.
“Arf!”
Jake took a left. At the next intersection, Ouzo barked twice.
“Right?” Jake felt more than stupid, but he’d never seen the dog so determined to have his way, and he’d seen Ouzo plenty determined.
“Arf! Arf!”
He made the right and-two miles later another left. Jake immediately recognized that they were headed for Lookout Church. And the Double J. What would Ouzo want out there?
“Okay,” Jake said, pressing the pedal to the floor. If he was going to be a fool over a dog, he might as well go whole hog and do it in style.
THE FIRST THING Kate felt was the pain. Her head throbbed and streaked lightning bolts of pain to her eyes and down her spine. Her second thought was that she was blind. She opened her eyes and saw nothing but blackness.
The panic that struck her was new—very different from the emotional demons that had driven her away from Jake. This was more visceral, more immediate. She was blind and injured and she had no idea where she might be. And no one else had a clue where she was either. When the deputies began to miss her, they’d start their search on the road to Denver. Damn! She’d made a royal mess of everything.
The silence seemed to echo, and for a moment she thought she was hallucinating when she heard the rumble of Familiar’s purr. “Cat?” she whispered.
“Meow!” There was a note of relief in Familiar’s tone.
He came to her, his rough tongue licking her cheek. The presence of the cat steadied her and helped hold back the panic. Lately, she’d been so busy protecting her heart that she’d half forgotten someone might damage her body. Had Roy Adams delivered a blow so severe that her eyesight was impaired? She blinked, still seeing nothing.
“We’ve got to get out of here.” She spoke aloud and thought her voice echoed slightly. In the complete blackness, she began to work however ineffectually at the bonds that tied her hands and feet. Roy had not killed her. He’d left her tied. Did that mean he intended to return for her at some later date?
As she struggled, she thought back over everything that had happened. Roy had been so peculiar. He’d acted as if he were being jerked by strings, a marionette. After he’d knocked her out, he must have tied her and taken her—Surely she wasn’t still at the Double J?
If she was, then Jake might find her. That thought brought a tiny bit of hope. Jake would look for her. He wouldn’t give up. He’d promised that. He’d told her that he’d never allow her to run away again.
She clung to those words, hoping Jake had meant them. Surely their last conversation wouldn’t keep him from looking for her.
With a groan, she realized it would take a day, at least, before her deputies determined she’d never made it to Denver. Kate swallowed and felt the beginning of thirst already. If she was at the Double J, laid out to bake in the sun, she wouldn’t last forty-eight hours.
But she wasn’t hot. She considered that. Perhaps it was night.
But it wasn’t cold enough to be night. Where was she? Slowly, she started to move and explore.
“It’s a cave!” She wanted to jump for joy. She wasn’t blind! She’d been left in a cave. “Familiar!” She called the cat over. “You’ve got to help me.” She sat up and shifted around
so that the cat could get to her bonds. “I know it’s going to be hard, but you’re going to have to help untie me. We’ve got to get out of here. I have a really bad feeling that someone plans on coming back to finish me off.”
“Meow.” Familiar moved behind her and she could feel his claws and teeth at work on the rough rope that bound her.
Chapter Fifteen
Jake didn’t believe it when Ouzo directed him to the Double J. This was hardly the time for a nostalgic visit to the past. But something about the dog’s frantic persistence made Jake turn into the drive and pull up in front of the pillars that had once marked the proud entrance to his home.
Before he could react, Ouzo jumped out of the window and was busy snuffling the ground.
Jake didn’t bother to call the animal. He’d had enough experience with Ouzo to know that once the dog had his mind set on something, he wasn’t going to give up. The question in Jake’s mind, though, was why Ouzo was suddenly so interested in the Double J. They’d been over the fire scene a hundred times.
What new thing had happened to get Ouzo, who was normally as lazy as a snake in January, shifting back and forth with his nose to the ground?
Jake was half expecting it when Ouzo stopped and howled. Jake hurried to the dog’s side and knelt to examine the tracks. The ground was hard, but the dog had found two new sets of tire tracks. Both were large vehicles—trucks or sport utility four-wheel drives with tires equipped for handling the range—but that was about all Jake could tell.
And Ouzo was off again!
Jake trotted to keep up with him as the dog rushed back and forth.
They saw it at the same instant. Jake gasped and Ouzo barked as they both darted to the glimmer of white fire in the dirt. Jake picked up the ring and held it, not truly believing what they’d found.
Familiar Fire Page 18
