by Kathi Daley
I picked up a stick and tossed it for Honey. “That makes sense. I don’t know a thing about blowing things up, but there has to be a technique to it. A lot of people around here have experience with dynamite, though. Folks use it to blow stumps, it’s used in the mines, it’s sometimes used for landslide control and to break up ice. I see where you’re going with your line of thought, but I’m not sure using possession of dynamite or knowing how to use it will serve as much of a way to narrow people down.”
“Maybe you’re right. I took a hike up to the spot where I estimated the charge would have to have been set. There’s evidence someone was up there, but whoever set the charge went back to clean things up. There was a light snow on the mountain overnight too, which further masked whatever evidence would have been left behind. I found a couple of shell casings from a rifle near the point of the explosion. No one was shot, so I have no reason to believe they were left by the killer rather than someone who was up there some other time, but I brought them back just in case.”
“Houston’s coming by with dinner for the three of us when he gets off work. You can give them to him then.”
Landon glanced in my direction. “Is there something going on between the two of you?”
“Not that it’s any of your business, but we’re just friends. The same way you and I are friends.”
“Figured, but it seems like I find you together quite a bit lately.”
“I’ve been helping him train Kojak. I’m not sure he’s cut out for police work; maybe search and rescue someday. Even if that doesn’t work out, he’s good for PR. Houston takes him to work with him and folks seem to love him.”
“And Harley?”
I frowned. “Harley likes Kojak just fine, but that’s an odd question.”
Landon chuckled. “What I meant is, are you and Harley dating?”
“Again, none of your business, but again, no. What is it with all these questions?”
Landon shrugged. “Just curious. We haven’t had a lot of opportunity to hang out lately and I feel sort of out of the loop.”
I laced my fingers through Landon’s. “It has been a while since we’ve hung out and just chatted. I hate the reason you feel the need to babysit me, but this is nice. When Wyatt’s released from the hospital, the three of us should get together for a movie marathon. We haven’t done that since last fall, when we all hung out at my cabin for a horror fest.”
“We should plan on it again this Halloween.” Landon paused. “Do you think we should call the dogs back? It looks like the clouds are about to open up.”
“Yeah, we should head back. I still have to clean the barn and the cat boxes.” I let out a loud whistle to call the dogs, who were walking ahead of us. They all came back right away except for Denali, Mr. Independent. The big guy had a mind of his own.
“Denali,” I called as loudly as I could shout.
My call was met with rapid barking.
I glanced at Landon. “Wait here with the others. I’ll get him.”
I told the other dogs to stay, then jogged forward. When I got to the end of the clearing where I’d found the footprints that morning, I found Denali staring intently into the thick brush. “What do you see?”
Denali growled.
I didn’t see anything, but I wasn’t comfortable with the situation. “Come on. Let’s go home.”
Denali let out five barks in rapid succession, then turned and followed me. I wasn’t sure what he’d seen or smelled, but I didn’t want whatever—or whoever—it was hanging around so close to my cabin.
“Everything okay?” Landon asked.
“Something just spooked Denali. It happens. Let’s head back so I can get my chores done before Houston shows up.”
“You realize you shouldn’t have taken off like that by yourself, right?”
I smiled. “I know I promised to protect you, but I did leave you with six dogs.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“I know. Stop worrying. I’ll be fine.”
Even as I said the words, I knew deep in my gut that no matter how much I wanted them to be true, it didn’t seem as if things were going to be fine at all.
Chapter 5
By the time Houston arrived with the food, Landon and I had cleaned the barn, tidied up the cat boxes, fed everyone, and even straightened up the cabin. Because Neverland was closed, Houston had brought dinner from the inn, which was a nice change of pace even though I adored Sarge’s cooking.
“Please tell me you’ve managed to whittle down the list we created this morning,” I jumped right in once we’d all served ourselves and sat down at the dining table. “Not that I think any of the twenty guys we came up with is our man, but it’s a good idea to definitively eliminate them.”
“I have the list of more than twenty down to four,” Houston informed me. “I don’t necessarily suspect any of them, but I was unable to speak to them to verify alibis, so they stay on the list. The others all provided verifiable alibis.”
“Who are the four left?” I asked.
“Vance Tisdale, Grange Littleman, Paul Gentry, and Kent Paulson.”
All four of them had lived and worked in Rescue since before Val’s death. All were tall men—over six feet—and had dark hair. I didn’t believe any of them were capable of murder, but if you loosely interpreted facial and body features, any of them could have given Serena the photo of me, though none had a beard unless they’d grown one since I’d last seen them. Of course, all were probably known to her.
“Serena knows all of them, I think, so they couldn’t have delivered the photo to the shelter, but we’ve already acknowledged that the killer could have had someone else do that. All four men are tall, so they’d likely wear a size twelve boot or larger. Did you verify the footprints behind my cabin were from a size twelve boot?”
“I did,” Houston said.
“Here’s what I don’t get: Why would this guy have someone deliver the photo to Harmony at the shelter?” Landon asked. “If he wanted to scare her, why not e-mail it to her? Or text it to her if he didn’t have her e-mail address? Why the personal touch provided by hand delivery, especially if he used a proxy?”
“Good question,” Houston said. “If he’d delivered the envelope personally, I’d say he hoped she’d open it right away and he could enjoy the look of fear in her eyes. But if he had someone else make the delivery, it does seem an electronic delivery would have been more efficient.”
I leaned back in my chair. “I know we need to look at everyone, but I don’t think any of the four men is the sort to kill a person who’s just trying to help.”
“Maybe not, but someone set off that charge. Tell me a little bit about each man,” Houston suggested.
I took a sip of my coffee as I considered what I knew about them. “Vance Tisdale owns a local cabinet shop. He’s married with three children. He was probably put on the list because he was the subject of a rescue two winters ago. He’d gone ice climbing and had a fall, and a team had to go out to get him. I think he was grateful for the assist, and as far as I know, he didn’t have any bad feelings about it. I can’t see why he’d want to kill anyone.”
“Would you say he’d know how to use dynamite with the sort of precision needed to cause a controlled landslide?”
“Yes. His business can be sporadic, so he supplements it by working for road crews. He’d have had training in the use of explosives to create controlled landslides.”
Houston jotted down a few notes. “Go on.”
“Grange Littleman tends bar at a place on the highway called Shooters. He’s the sort who likes to hunt and fish. I imagine he’s probably handled dynamite from time to time. As far as I know, he’s never been the subject of a rescue, but he sometimes hangs out with Wyatt. They’re both single and about the same age.”
“And Paul Gentry?” Houston asked.
“Never married. No children. Works construction in the summer and sells firewood in the winter. He also help
s out with road crew. He’s the shortest and heaviest of the four. As far as I know, he’s never been involved in a rescue.”
“Paul hasn’t, but he was good friends with Trace Colton,” Landon pointed out. “Trace died up on the mountain maybe ten years ago,” he informed Houston. “Maybe it was even farther back than that.”
I frowned. “It was fourteen years ago, and it was the same mountain as the call came in for last night.” I looked at Houston. “I remember the rescue clearly. Trace and Paul were just kids. Actually, teenagers, around my age. They’d gone hiking and the weather turned bad. They got disoriented in the snow and Trace fell. He was hurt pretty bad. Paul tried to help him, but Trace was gone by the time Val and Jake got to him.”
“So, maybe he blames the team for not getting to Trace in time to save him,” Houston said.
“Maybe,” I agreed.
“Seems like a real suspect,” Houston said. He took a minute to make more notes. “What about Kent Paulson?”
“Kent is widowed,” I answered. “He has two children, a boy and a girl, both young. He sells insurance. As far as I know, he’s never been directly involved in a rescue, although his home burned to the ground at about this time last year. His wife didn’t make it out. Kent was very vocal in placing the blame for his wife’s death on the volunteer firefighters. He felt they took too long to respond.”
“So he might hold a grudge against first responders in general,” Houston said.
“I guess,” I said. “I’d say he’s a good candidate, but my vision of Val through the man’s eyes doesn’t fit him. Kent would have been a kid when Val died. I don’t think it could have been him. It would have to be someone who had the ability and opportunity to be up on the mountain during that storm.”
Houston tapped his pen on his little notebook. “So, of the four, you think Paul Gentry is the best candidate?”
I nodded. “I’m not saying it was him—personally, I don’t think it was—but if I had to choose one of the four, it would be him.”
Houston clicked his pen shut and put it in his shirt pocket, then added his little notebook. “I plan to talk with all four men tomorrow, providing I can track them down. If they have alibis, I move on. If one or more don’t have alibis, I’ll take a closer look. I suspect the team might have other names to suggest by then. We could meet again tomorrow if we have something to discuss. It would help if one of you could call the others to ask them if they have names to add to the list.”
“I’ll do it,” I offered.
“I’ll poke around on the internet to see if I can come up with anything,” Landon added. “I think it’s relevant that the man who blew up the mountain thought of Val just as it went. It’s been thirteen years, though, so if there’s a link, why now? I’m hoping if I dig deep enough, I can find a link between something that happened at around that time and something that’s happened recently.”
I rested my elbows on the table, then put my head in my hands. It seemed so surreal to be dealing with Val’s death again thirteen years after the fact. I kept seeing her lying on the dirt floor of that cave through the eyes of the man who very well might have killed her. I tried to remember what he was feeling as he reviewed that memory, but all I could get back to was his rage as he put into action something that would lead to the loss of a man’s life.
I felt a hand on my shoulder. “Are you okay?” Houston asked.
I nodded and then lifted my head. “I’m fine. Just tired. I didn’t sleep last night. I’m sure I’ll crash early this evening.” I stood up and looked around for a way to change the subject. I needed time with my thoughts before I was ready to discuss them. “I have ice cream if anyone’s interested.” I took several steps toward the kitchen with a stack of plates from the table. Not the best segue, I realized, but it seemed to do the job because Landon and Houston began gathering dishes too. I opened the freezer and was reaching for the ice cream when my phone rang.
“Hello,” I answered.
“Lumber over to the yard for the next kaboom.”
I looked at my phone after the person on the other end hung up. “I think that was him. He said to lumber over to the yard for the next kaboom.”
Houston stood up. “Did he say where?”
I ran out the back door without answering. Was he going to blow up something in my yard? I looked toward my newly rebuilt barn, then at the dogs, who were watching me but didn’t seem concerned. No, this wasn’t the yard he’d meant.
“Harm?” Houston put a hand on my arm. “Did he say where?”
“No. That was the entire message.” I frowned. “But the phrase seemed specific. Lumber over to the yard.” I looked at Houston. “The lumber mill.”
Houston ran toward his truck. He called the county dispatch and learned there’d been a fire reported at the local lumber mill. “I think you’re right. I need to go.”
“We’re coming with you.” I called the dogs into the cabin, then Landon and I grabbed our jackets and joined Houston at his truck.
“We need to call the volunteer firefighters to warn them,” I said.
“The number for the county dispatch is the one I just called from my phone.” Houston handed it to me.
I hit Redial and waited, but the line went dead instead of ringing through. I tried again with the same result. “We must be in a dead zone. The cell reception is really bad out here.”
Houston picked up his radio and tried to call the county sheriff, but all we could hear was static. “That’s odd,” Houston said. “Bad cell reception shouldn’t affect the radio.”
“Maybe someone tampered with it,” Landon suggested.
The idea seemed unlikely, but with everything that was going on, I supposed it was possible.
“Or,” Landon said, “maybe someone is using something that’s interfering with the signal.”
That, I admitted, could be it.
By the time we arrived at the lumber mill, the place was fully enflamed. I looked at the group of men fighting the fire and gasped. “My God. Get them to move back.”
The minute the words left my mouth, the entire building exploded in a flash of white light. It happened so fast, I barely had the chance to breathe, let alone react. After a moment, Houston, Landon, and I all jumped from the vehicle and ran toward the victims.
Four men were down. We began checking for pulses. Three of the men had suffered from cuts and burns but were still alive. The last man, though, the one who’d been closest to the mill when it exploded, never had a chance. I put a hand to my mouth, closed my eyes, and swallowed hard. I said a quick prayer for him, then turned to Houston. “Do you have a blanket?”
“In the cargo area of the truck. And there’s a metal box in the shell with supplies. Grab the first aid kit too. The shell isn’t locked.”
I tried to quell my nausea as I ran back to the truck. I wanted to fall to my knees and weep, but there was work to be done, so I grabbed the blanket and went back to cover the body. Then I called Jake and told him to deploy the team and have Dani on standby for an air evac to the hospital in Fairbanks. Two air evacs in two nights must be a record.
I started to walk to where Houston was talking to one of the men who’d survived when I had the distinct sensation someone was watching me. I paused and looked around but didn’t see anyone. It was probably just my nerves getting the best of me. I didn’t have time for a breakdown. I had work to do. There were three survivors and three of us, so we’d each take one to comfort until medical help arrived.
“What are we going to do about the fire?” I asked Houston as I worked to apply a compress to the forehead of the man I was working on. The mill was burning uncontrollably, threatening the piles of logs waiting to be milled and the forest beyond the property.
Houston looked at the fire truck, which wasn’t being manned. “I’ll see if I can get some water on it. When Jake gets here, tell him to round up whoever he can find to help.”
The next few hours were a blur. Somehow, we got the thr
ee survivors stabilized and Jordan and Dani took off to the hospital in Fairbanks with them. Jake managed to round up enough help from the locals, many of whom had come out as soon as the explosion alerted them to the problem, to get the fire under control. The mill was a total loss, but the piles of lumber and, more importantly, the forest beyond was saved.
The man who’d died had been taken to the morgue, and Houston had notified his wife and teenage children. Of all the jobs that had to be dealt with in an emergency, that was the one I least wanted to do. I couldn’t imagine being able to find the words I’d need. I didn’t think I could watch the light die from the eyes of the surviving family, knowing their life would never be the same again.
When Landon and I got back to my cabin I felt as if I’d been to hell and back. All I wanted to do was take a shower to wash off the smoke and blood and then fall into bed. As we’d approached the front door after Jake dropped us off, I noticed something was taped to the front door. It was a photo of me, standing with my head turned as the fire raged behind me.
“I remember this,” I said quietly. “I felt like someone was watching me, so I looked around.”
“But you didn’t see anyone?”
I shook my head. “No. I decided it was just nerves and went back to work.” I felt a lump form in my throat. “He was there watching. Just like last night. The death and destruction brought him joy.” I willed my heart to slow. “No, not joy. Release.”
“Release?”
I looked directly at Landon. “Emotional release. He finds solace in causing pain to others.”
Chapter 6
Monday, October 15
Jake called me the next morning to let me know he’d spoken to Houston. They’d agreed that gathering all the first responders in town to the table for a debriefing and strategy session was a must. Houston had two full-time officers working under him, and there were seven members of the volunteer fire department who were well enough to attend. Additionally, there were six of us from the search-and-rescue team if you counted Sarge. Neverland was still closed, so everyone was told to meet at the bar at two o’clock.
