Chapter 6
They were driving toward the house when a glow over the rise alerted Dylan. “How fast can this truck go?”
Nikki looked at him then at the glow on the horizon. She sped up and they bounced and jerked over the next mile and topped the small rise that had obstructed their view of the ranch’s buildings. The view now was that of a fire blazing.
“Oh, God,” Nikki murmured and pushed the truck even harder. Dylan held onto the OG handle above his door and grimaced at the sight before him. The house, thank God was intact but also in danger from the wind and drifting embers. The equipment building was built of metal so was out of danger, except from heat. But the old ranch hand cabin was fully engulfed in flames.
They jerked to a stop between the house and the hut and Dylan jumped from the truck and headed to the equipment building and the water spout along the side of the structure. He jerked the long hose coiled up on the wall and fitted it to the faucet then started running with the hose toward the hut, shouting for Nikki to turn on the faucet. As he pointed the hose toward the base of the flames, he found himself praying the fire didn’t spread.
They worked alone for several minutes before Wayne’s truck sped into the compound and he sprang from his truck. He rounded the vehicle came out with a shovel and started in with it, pushing flames and dirt back into the fire. Together, the three of them worked for what seemed like hours, water and dirt becoming mud and steam. Finally, the flames died as the old wooden building collapsed into itself and the fire became red embers. One by one, each of them stepped back to watch the embers glow, then fade. Nikki sank onto the ground, her face flushed from the heat and her hair sprinkled with white and gray flakes from the smoke. Dylan doused the embers again then joined Nikki and watched as Wayne shoveled several more minutes, apparently determined to get the last of any embers into the center of the structure. When he turned to stare at the two of them, sitting side by side in the dirt, his face darkened.
“What were you thinking?”
Nikki and Dylan looked at him and he continued. “You didn’t call anybody, did you?”
“Who would I call, Wayne? We don’t have a fire department,” Nikki said in confusion.
“Me! You call me!” He shouted, his smoke-stained face dark with anger. She raised her brow.
“You came.”
“But after I saw the light from the fire,” he spat out and Dylan slanted his head.
“You live close enough to see the fire?”
Wayne sputtered for a minute then admitted, “I was on my way over to check about the window. I saw the fire on the way over.”
“Good luck for us, huh.” Dylan drawled and got a glare from Wayne who continued to berate Nikki.
“You don’t think, do you? You don’t think to call and ask for help. You only want to do things yourself. Never asking for help. Trying to take care of the world on your own. Well, it’s coming back to bite you in the rear, missy. It’s coming back.”
He stalked off then, throwing his shovel into the truck with a clang and then getting in and driving off with a spray of dirt and rock that further covered the smoke and dirt-covered pair. As Nikki held her arm up to shield her face she murmured, “Thanks for the help, Wayne.”
Dylan stood and held his hand out to help her up. “Yeah, he doesn’t have any romantic interest in you.”
He liberally covered the remains with water and then found a rake and started to spread the embers, getting at the still-smoking ground. Nikki joined him and they worked for another hour ensuring there wouldn’t be a flare-up or that the wind could carry more embers to the nearby dry brush. Finally exhausted, they turned toward the house. Nikki looked at the lighter gray in the east and sighed, “It’s going to be a long day.”
“Maybe you can get a quick nap in.” He walked beside her to the front door and then stopped. Nikki turned to him and smiled. “Come on in. I’ll make coffee and we’ll figure this out.”
He shook his head and gestured toward his damp jeans and shirt. “I’ll bring in dirt.” She laughed and waved a hand over her own clothes. “I’m as bad. Come on in. And you need a nap too.”
“Your religion doesn’t prohibit a man staying in your house?” He joked as he stepped inside behind her.
“Religion isn’t what my faith is about. It’s about following the teachings of Christ, not about the rules of man.” She went into the kitchen and started the coffee machine then turned to look at him. “Do you have any other clothes?” At his head shake she bit her lip then nodded her head. “I have some stuff of Grandad’s that I hadn’t gotten rid of. Hang on a second.”
She disappeared and Dylan went to the kitchen sink and washed his hands before retrieving coffee mugs. As he did, he thought about her comment. Not the rules of man. That might explain a lot about her practices.
When Nikki reappeared, she had a bundle in her arms, held away from her body. “They aren’t top of the line, but they might get you to the store in Lordsburg, where you can get some clothes to fit you.”
Dylan gestured at the table, “You might want to put them there. If I handle them, they’ll be dirty before I can put them on.” After she’d done that, she gestured toward the coffee. “Coffee or shower?”
“I think I’m going to do the coffee first,” he said. “You shower first.”
She nodded and headed out of the room, saying over her shoulder, “You might want to see if the pants will fit you. Grandad had a bit of a paunch.”
By the time they’d both showered and Dylan had fashioned a crude belt to keep the loose jeans up, they were both starving. Dylan found himself falling into an easy routine with her, buttering toast and finding plates and utensils in the cabinets while she cooked. They’d sat down at the table to eat the food when the knock came on the front door.
Dylan indicated for Nikki to stay in her seat. “I’ll see who it is,” though he knew who’d be at the door.
Sure enough, Wayne was at the door, neat and clean, but with a slightly reddened face from the heat of the fire the night before. A state police officer stood behind him, his expression bored.
“Nikki?” Wayne raised his voice and ignored Dylan. He tried to enter the house but Dylan filled the doorway and even braced his hand against the doorway. “Wayne, officer.”
“Nikki!” Wayne yelled and Dylan felt Nikki’s hand on his back, indicating that he could step out of the way. When he did, she advanced to stand slightly in front of him. “Good morning, Wayne. You left earlier before I could thank you for helping put out the fire.”
He nodded abruptly, but his expression softened a bit before he turned to the police officer. “Told you we had some trouble here last night.”
The officer turned his attention to Nikki. “Mr. French said you had a fire last night?”
“Early this morning, actually, between midnight and about three, I’d guess.” She calmly responded, much to Wayne’s irritation, by his expression.
“You didn’t see the intruder? Were you asleep?”
“No, I was out on my land.” She said and Wayne shot a look at Dylan then.
“Where was he? Wasn’t he supposed to be staying in the hand house?”
“I was with Nikki,” Dylan said and put his hand on her shoulder, taking pleasure in the soft curve beneath his hand and in the jealousy that crossed Wayne’s features. He tightened his hold slightly before letting his hand drop to his side.
“So, neither of you were around to see anything?” the police officer had a small notepad out now, taking notes.
“No,” they said in unison.
“When did you see the fire?”
“We were in the truck about a half mile away I guess,” Nikki answered and then finished with a description of their speeding to the house and finding the hut in flames. As she explained the process of putting the fire out and of Wayne’s arrival Dylan was aware of both the officer’s and Wayne’s observations of him.
The police officer turned his attention to Dylan. “And you are?”
Dylan produced his ID, both civilian and BP, and then continued. “I’m a friend of Niki’s and was concerned when I heard of the window getting shot out. I’ve got some experience in security and wanted to lend a hand.”
The police officer jotted down his details then nodded. “Good thing you were here last night.”
“Or was it?” Wayne said, his tone curt. “You might have made things worse.”
“How could Dylan make things worse?” Nikki asked, her tone incredulous. “He’s been here a couple of days. No one even knows he’s here but you and the police.”
Wayne sputtered and then turned to the young officer and growled at him. “You going to stand there or you going to look at the house?”
The officer shrugged and turned. As he headed to the rear of the property, Dylan thought he could hear him muttering something. Something better off not hearing, he thought and looked at Nikki. “I better go with him.”
She eyed Wayne who was still standing near them. “I’ll join you,” she said and shut the door firmly before walking ahead of the two men. Dylan sauntered beside Wayne, not bothering to hide his satisfaction that Nikki didn’t want to be alone with the man.
It didn’t take more than half an hour for the officer to decide the fire was set. A faint odor of gasoline remained on the remains and though the smoking pile of wood was still hot to the touch, the officer deemed it safe enough to leave alone. Still, Dylan retrieved the water hose and while the others were watching, doused the wood with more water. Any other evidence besides the gasoline starter was drenched or burned anyway.
Wayne hinted at staying with Nikki after the officer finished his report but she insisted that she needed a nap. When he’d left she sighed. “Our eggs are cold.”
“I’m hungry enough to eat them anyway,” Dylan said and turned toward the house. She walked alongside him. “Why would anyone want to burn down that old hut?”
“You know why, Nikki. Now we only have to find out who.”