by Toni Leland
She started screaming, but Roy had already seen the problem. He pulled a blue plastic tarp off a pile of wood shavings, and flapped it at the confused horses. The herd stopped, then milled around. The dogs began working the frightened animals and, soon, Sara and Cliff were able to catch two horses and lead them down the ranch road. The rest followed, with the dogs nipping at the their heels.
Kellie's knees almost buckled with relief, then she looked behind her. The fire was closing in fast.
~ ~
Travis lit another cigarette and took a long drag on it. Narrowing his eyes against the brilliance of the flames, self-righteous satisfaction curled through his chest. The promise of revenge was intoxicating. The fire was out of control, the roar of the burning brush enhanced by booming thunder. Travis listened, orchestrating in his head the background music for a thrilling movie. He was the omnipotent director of this production. The wind picked up, sucked forward by the oxygen-gobbling flames that moved faster and faster. Over the din, he heard the distant wail of sirens, and he cackled.
“Too late!”
They'd be at it all day, but didn't have a chance of a snowball in hell of saving the barn and house.
“Okay by me. I always hated that fucking place.”
The fire reached a hedgerow along a small dry stream bed, and the flames leaped higher as they fed on the brittle, water-starved brush. Sparks drifted through the air, whirling in the wind currents, landing in trees and igniting new blazes.
“Just like in the movies.”
Banks of heavy smoke roiled in dream-like patterns, blocking out everything they touched. The hedgerow lit up like a fireworks display, the flames racing through the dry tops of the shrubs and forming a fiery fence along the gully. Travis looked up at the pale brown sky where heavy clouds scudded across the expanse, looking as though they carried rain. Frowning, he looked back at the inferno, which now obliterated his view of the ranch. He looked again at the hedgerow. The flames had changed direction, moving away from the target, eating their way toward his own house. The intense heat blasted him in the face and his eyes widened, his confused brain trying to focus on the moment. A gust of wind snatched the cigarette from his lips, and the temperature spiked around him.
“Oh shit!”
He grabbed the rifle and wheeled around to make a run for the pickup. Smoke burned his lungs and his heart pumped blood into his infected hand, throbbing through the painful wound. He stopped, blinking away the sting of smoke and trying to clear his vision, not believing what he saw. Someone was standing beside his truck.
Behind him, the crackle of burning grass drew closer. He raised the rifle and zoomed the scope.
“A sheriff's deputy. And it's a fuckin' broad!”
He focused on her dark eyes and centered the crosshairs between them, slowly squeezing the trigger. A hard gust of wind slammed into him as the gun exploded, but he saw her go down. Anger raged into his heart. No one was going to screw this up for him.
He glanced behind him at the advancing fire, then began to run. An excruciating pain crashed through his thigh, and his leg buckled. He dropped the rifle and threw out his hands to break the fall. Adrenaline surged through his system and his heartbeat raced. Smoke curled into his nose and lungs, the pain in his leg almost overwhelming. He began to crawl toward the truck, an image forming in his brain-his father, lying face down in the dirt.
Chapter 20
Fire trucks roared up the drive as Kellie bolted through the pasture gate. One pumper stopped in front of the main barn and two others rumbled past her, headed for the burning fields. Cliff had closed the barn door, and was attempting to shoo away loose horses that wanted to get back inside. Sara, riding Juicy, tried to herd the frightened animals toward the safety of the pond pasture.
Kellie stopped to catch her breath. “Is the barn clear?”
Cliff nodded, out of breath. “Yes, we got them all out.”
“What about the mare barn?”
“Clarke's over there now.”
A fire truck engine revved to a high pitch as Kellie sprinted toward the small barn that held the future of Rocking S. Panicky neighs from the frightened mares answered the high-pitched squeals of the foals. Clarke led two mares out the door, and Kellie ran up to him, shouting over the din.
“Just turn the rest of them loose!”
It was a risky move, but they were running out of time. Inside, she began opening stall doors. At the last one, she buckled a halter on a chestnut mare, then looked out through the small window. The fire was approaching at breakneck speed, fueled by the wind. She led the horse out into the aisle, hoping the others would follow. Two mares ran back into their stalls, but the rest followed Kellie out of the barn. Clarke appeared and grabbed the mare's lead rope, and Kellie dashed back inside.
Belle cowered in her stall, nose pressed to the screen over the window. Her eyes were huge and her muscles trembled beneath the shiny coat.
“Come on, girl. Let's go.” Kellie reached for the mare's halter, but the frightened animal dodged past her and ran out into the aisle. Kellie sprinted after her, but Belle was trotting briskly toward the door. Kellie stopped and turned back to the remaining two occupants. Moving as calmly as possible, she entered the stall and clipped a lead rope onto the big palomino's halter. A throaty nicker drifted from below, and Kellie stepped back to look. Bright eyes peeked from beneath the mare's tail.
“It's okay, baby. Follow mama.”
She led the mare outside into the haze and headed toward the lane. A fire hose uncoiled like a huge serpent, and water roared over the roof of the main barn and, and, suddenly a streak of yellow shot past her. The mare reared, yanking the lead rope from Kellie's hand and racing after her foal who was headed straight toward the blazing pasture.
Kellie chased after them, but a fireman caught her arm. “Let us do that. You go on down with the others.”
“No! You'll never catch her! Let me-”
The words died in her throat as Sara galloped past on Juicy. Kellie screamed as her own baby disappeared into the muddy brown smoke.
The fireman shouted into a two-way radio. “There's a little girl on a horse out there!” The reply was unintelligible over the noise of the fire and the equipment. “Damn! You have to find her!”
The searing wind swept over Kellie, snatching her breath away. She swallowed hard, tasting the smoky ash against her dry throat, her brain unable to comprehend the unthinkable outcome of the nightmare-losing Sara and Ed. The fireman looked up at the leaden sky, and Kellie broke away from his grasp. She ran toward the burning field, tears blinding her, but panic providing the strength she needed. Dodging hoses and people, she struggled to see through burning eyes, her sobs snatching what breath remained in her lungs. Suddenly, Sara and Juicy appeared against the fiery backdrop of the flames, and galloped through the gate leading the palomino mare. The tiny filly danced beside them, tossing her head as though she'd had a marvelous adventure. Sara was soaking wet, but her victorious grin outshone the flames.
Kellie wrapped her arms around her daughter's trembling little body, cradling her close, fighting the terror of almost losing her and, finally, absorbing the full impact of the child's courageous love for the horses.
Sara struggled free. “Are all the horses safe? Where's Uncle Clarke?”
Kellie looked around. “He was in the mare barn-”
She choked on the words as she looked back toward the small building. A blanket of flames covered the roof, the ancient wood giving no resistance to the merciless onslaught.
She raced toward the burning building. A burly firefighter snaked a hand out to stop her, but she leaped sideways and ran past him, screaming Clarke's name into the deafening roar. The fire licked around the silhouette of the building, forming an orange halo. The door loomed like a gaping black cave entrance, and the heat blasted her in the face. She gasped and stumbled, her lungs protesting against the deadly smoke. A series of loud explosions like gunfire resounded from inside the barn,
and Kellie sank to her knees. If her brother was still inside, he was beyond help.
The east corner of the roof crumbled with an ear-splitting bellow. Huge jets of water pummeled the building, but the old wood was too hot, too willing to succumb to the seduction of the fire. Kellie sobbed, staring numbly at the death trap. The shimmering molten air tricked her senses, producing a mirage at the mouth of the cave, hovering just above the ground. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, then opened them again as Grandfather Sutton's wood-sided station wagon rumbled into the yard. The tinny horn pierced the din, and Clarke's triumphant smile illuminated his sooty face.
~ ~
Frank stared at Rodriguez's dark features, eyes frozen in disbelief. A pool of blood widened around the man's dark hair, creeping across the dirt floor toward Frank's boots. Bitter defeat knifed through his chest. It's over-they've destroyed me. He could try to disappear, but these people were everywhere, their deadly network forming a web from which he'd never escape.
He gazed at the gun in his hand, wondering how he had come to this. One lousy tough break at the track, that's how. He stepped back from the corpse and Celeste's dancing blue eyes appeared in his mind. Would she stick by him through all this? Abandon her wealth and easy life to become a fugitive?
And what about Sara? His eyes burned. His little girl would despise him when she learned what he really was. He glanced down at the lifeless form at his feet, a silent testimony to just how low Franklin Frazier had sunk.
A deep rumble penetrated the silence and he listened intently. Another roll of bass tones sounded almost like stampeding hooves, and he noticed a wisp of gray smoke curling around the edge of the unlatched door. He moved closer, inhaling the distinctive odor of burning grass.
“Shit! The jerk must have dropped a cigarette.”
He pulled the door open wide enough to slip through, then cautiously mounted the steps in the smoky stairwell. At the top, he peered around the bales of hay that camouflaged the entrance. Dense smoke obliterated everything but hay and one corner pole. The smoke burned his eyes and nose, and he coughed. Then a loud crack like gunfire echoed from somewhere. He grabbed the handle of the trapdoor and, pulling it shut, backed down the steps into the darkness.
~ ~
Ed reined in his horse and pointed toward the cloud of smoke. “Do you know another way to get to Randy's?”
Hyde nodded and turned west along the fence. Ed pushed the radio button. “Danielle? Come back.” He waited, then tried again, but the radio was silent. He punched the button once more. “Dispatch, call the fire de-roger.” He urged his horse into a trot and came alongside Hyde.
“Fire crew is on the way, but we have to get over to that house right now-I have a bad feeling about this.”
“A farm track leads to a hay barn, then goes straight across the field to the other side. We can make good time that way.”
He leaned down and unlatched a gate, and Ed trotted through. In less than a minute, they were galloping over a dirt road. Ed glanced at the pole barn as they flew past. No time to think about those memories right now. He smiled. But what memories! To the north, a heavy blanket of smoke obliterated everything, but its advance was measurable. In the distance, the faint wail of sirens sounded much too far away. The wind had picked up and Ed worried that they'd be hampered by limited visibility. A flashback to the desert slashed through his brain. Hiding anywhere they could find. Blinded and vulnerable by the vicious dust storms.
The loud crack of a gunshot vibrated through the thick air, and Ed's horse leaped sideways, almost unseating him.
Hyde turned and trotted back to him. “What's the plan?”
Ed squinted into the smoke. “If someone's shooting at us, then they have a vantage point that's not compromised by the smoke. But the shot didn't sound that close.”
Hyde turned to look toward the south. “There's an old windmill on the property, but I don't see anyone up there.”
Another shot rang out and adrenaline exploded through Ed's body. “Shit! Those aren't meant for us!”
The big gelding strung his neck out and pinned his ears, pounding over the red dirt as though the devil were after him. A gate suddenly appeared and before Ed could make a decision, the horse sailed over it, barely breaking stride on the other side. An ear-splitting explosion thundered through the air and the horse reared, tumbling Ed onto the hard ground. He rolled, then scrambled to his feet, yanking out his revolver.
“What the hell was that?”
He stared at mushrooming smoke and flames leaping a hundred feet into the air. Even from a safe distance, the heat was intense. He squinted against the hot wind, a familiar band tightening around his chest. The brown fields faded into gritty sand, and the roar of burning oil fields hammered his senses. Flames rocketing thousands of feet into the desert night sky. A glimpse into hell.
“Sheriff? You okay?”
Ed looked toward Randy's house. “Yeah. Let's go.” He mounted his horse and took off again at a full gallop, praying like he'd never prayed before.
Minutes later, they rode into the barnyard and Ed swung down from the saddle. Adrenaline fueled his anger-the patrol car was empty.
“God damned independent cuss!”
Hyde looked around. “Who are you talking about?”
“My Under Sheriff. She's too macho for her own good.”
Hyde dismounted. “I'll go with you to the house”
“No, you stay here and keep watch.”
Without waiting for a response, he strode toward the side of the house, his heart in his throat. If he pushed open that door and found Kellie dead, he'd...he'd what? It was too late to protect her like he should have. His damned pride and ego had steered him away from the only thing he'd ever wanted.
Releasing the safety on the revolver, his gut curled with the familiar sensation of walking into an ambush. Dark dusty huts. Abandoned streets. Children with submachine guns. An involuntary shudder passed across his shoulders and he shook off the images. Every muscle geared for battle, he pushed the door open with his foot.
“Logan County Sheriff! Anyone here?”
The silence filled him with dread and he moved into the living room. His pulse hammered with each step, just as it had on every mission in the desert, when he'd wondered if that step would be his last. The only difference was that these steps might take him over the edge.
He moved slowly down the hall, stopping to look through each doorway, his courage growing with each empty room. Madman or not, Jethrow Sutton was Kellie's kin. Maybe he wouldn't harm her. Ed snorted at his own naive optimism.
He strode out the back door and hollered at Hyde. “He's gone, probably took them hostage.”
Hyde sat straight and still in the saddle, staring across the field at the single huge fire burning in the field. “I think I heard someone calling for help out there.” He set off at a brisk trot through the long grass.
“Wait!”
Hyde kept going, and Ed kicked the front tire on the patrol car. “God dammit, why doesn't anybody pay attention to me?”
He barked into the radio. “All units, possible hostage situation. Suspect Travis Mack on the run, may have woman and young girl with him. Do not approach, but keep visual. Over.”
His radio crackled with each responding unit's acknowledgment. While he listened, his brain pondered the situation. He felt useless out here in the middle of nowhere on horseback. The fastest way back to Kellie's ranch was the east section road. He should take the squad car. But where the hell was Danielle?
A heavy engine rumbled behind him and he moved out of the way for two heavy fire trucks. They bumped over the uneven ground and headed straight toward the head of the wildfire. With a final glance at the house, Ed mounted his horse and followed Hyde's tracks through the grass. The single fire now burned with less intensity, and he could make out the silhouette of a pickup truck. The acrid odor of burning rubber seared his nose and eyes. Just ahead, he saw Hyde's horse.
The vet was k
neeling in the grass beside a body.
Ed jumped down. “Holy shit! Danielle, what happened?”
Her face glistened with sweat and black smudges covered her cheeks and forehead. A large gash over her eyebrow oozed blood, and one eye was swollen almost shut. Her uniform shirt was soaked with blood.
She managed a weak smile. “Sorry, chief...” Her eyelids drifted closed.
Hyde held her hand and stroked her hair, speaking in gentle tones. “It'll be all right. I'll take care of you.”
Ed's radio crackled and he punched the button. “Get an ambulance out to this fire on the Sutton spread. Have them coordinate with the field crew!”
Hyde looked up. “She's been shot in the shoulder, and she's lost a lot of blood. I'll take care of it until we can get her to the hospital.”
“Shot?” Ed knelt beside her. “Dani, who did this?”
Her good eye opened slowly and she winced. Her husky voice was thick with pain. “Don't know...someone out there.”
“You mean, someone is in the field?”
Danielle's eyes closed again, and Ed leaned closer. “Dani?-”
Hyde's tone sharpened. “You can question her later. She's passed out again.”
~ ~
The fire chief strode up to Kellie, pushing back his hat and wiping his forehead.
“I think we caught a break-the wind changed direction and the fire's headed south now. Anything out there besides grass?”
Her eyes brimmed. “Sheriff Campbell and Hyde Browning.”
A thunderous explosion shook the ground, and everyone turned to look toward the burning fields. A fiery ball rose in the air, followed by another blast, and thick black smoke billowed around the core of the new fire.
The chief swore. “That looks like oil or tires burning!”
He raced off toward one of the trucks, shouting into his radio, and Kellie followed.
“Randy's barn still has an old tractor inside. Maybe that's what blew up.”
