Wild Heat
Page 36
Before he could say more, Jenny arrived with their sandwiches. They waited in tense silence for her to put them down and go away, but she was clearly in no hurry to leave.
“Hey, David,” she said, “how are you doing?”
“Fine, thanks.”
“Some fire burning, huh?”
He shot a quick look at Logan. “Yup.”
She looked between the three of them, finally noting that something was up. “You guys need anything else? Ketchup? Mustard? Are you hungry, David?”
“I'm fine, thanks.”
She raised her eyebrows. “Okay, then. I'll be going on a short break for the next few minutes, so just holler at Amy if you need something else.”
They all nodded, the plates of food remaining untouched. Finally, Maya broke the heavy silence after Jenny left. “What have you found out?”
“I've been able to clearly identify gasoline and fertilizer.”
Maya closed her eyes for a moment. “Together they explode just like a bomb. It's easy and inexpensive. Anyone could have done it. It's the perfect crime.” When she opened her eyes again, Logan got the sense she wasn't really seeing them. “Gasoline and fertilizer are too common, too likely to be in anyone's garage. Finding the person who laid the groundwork for the explosion is like searching for a needle in a haystack.”
During his fifteen years as a hotshot, at the first sign of trouble Logan immediately sprang into action. He used his body, his tools, and his brain to fight deadly blazes. But this time things were different. Instead of battling fire, he was up against an arsonist. One who was out for blood.
“Thanks for the help, David,” Maya said, pushing back her chair without touching her food. “I need to get going, need to check a few things out.”
Logan stood up and threw down forty dollars as David handed Maya a printout of his results.
“Keep the faith. You'll find out who did this. And you'll stop them before they do it again. I'll stick around the house the rest of the weekend if you need me to test something else.”
Maya gave him a weak smile as she took the lab paperwork then walked beside Logan to his truck. “I appreciate you hooking me up with David,” she said when they were alone again, in the front seat. “And thanks for going above and beyond the call of duty today, first with the fire, now with this.” She looked him in the eye. “But you need to stop wasting your time helping me, and get a lawyer, Logan.”
What the hell? She'd told him she believed him.
She put her hand on his arm. “I know you didn't do it. But this is a small town. How many gas stations are there nearby, without driving all the way downtown?”
“One.”
“How many places to get fertilizer?”
“One.” He knew exactly where she was going. “And if the gas and fertilizer in my garage come from the same lots as the ones David just tested and my name is already on the suspect list …”
She finished his sentence. “It'll look like you did it.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
MAYA HAD come to Tahoe to prove Logan's guilt, and he'd completely turned the tables on her.
Now she was certain of not only his innocence, but his compassion and understanding as well.
He was far too perfect, and far too difficult to resist.
She looked up, suddenly, and realized she hadn't told him where she wanted him to take her. “Where are you going?”
“To my house to get those fertilizer and gasoline samples.”
No. She didn't want to go there, didn't want to pick up any evidence that could possibly link Logan to the crime.
But she knew he was right. If there was a chance that they could definitively rule him out, she could call McCurdy and get him to officially end Logan's suspension.
She needed Logan to promise her one thing first, though. “If it turns out your samples are a match, promise me you'll get a lawyer.”
Stuck behind a big tour bus, he took his eyes off the road and looked her in the eye. “I'll do it, but you'll come with me.”
The bus needed to get its exhaust pipe looked at. It smelled like gas was funneling straight into his truck.
She frowned. “You don't need me to find you a lawyer.”
“It isn't about finding a lawyer. I'm not willing to leave you alone. Not after what happened last night. Not until we find the bastard lighting these fires.”
She wanted to tell him she could take care of herself, but those words were lost amid the warmth of knowing that someone was actually looking out for her.
In recent months she'd gotten used to handling everything herself, to never asking anyone for help, but there had been a time, back before everything that had happened to her family, when her father and brother had looked out for her. They'd kept her safe, whether it was vetting out a new boyfriend or screwing her overflowing bookshelves to the wall so they wouldn't fall over in an earthquake and bury her.
She was still trying to figure out how to respond when he pulled onto a gravel road that she figured was his driveway. Much like Joseph's, it was a narrow pathway between tall pines. And then, as if by magic, there emerged a pond with bright blue water, and beyond that a beautiful meadow. The driveway meandered up the undulating hills, toward a stunning wood-framed house.
It was one of the most incredible locations she'd ever seen. And the beauty all around her spoke volumes about the man sitting beside her.
“You did this, didn't you?” she asked in a quiet voice. “You built this house.”
He turned off the engine. “How'd you guess?”
“My father did the same thing when I was a little girl. It reminds me a lot of where I grew up.”
She'd loved every wall of their home, the tree house in the backyard that she'd helped her father build and paint and decorate, the flowers she'd dug into the earth and carefully watered all summer long so that when her father came back in the fall there'd still be blooms for him to see.
“Sounds like he was a great dad.”
Something large, yet fragile, shattered inside of her. “He was.” One of the walls protecting her heart now lay in shards by her toes.
“I would have liked to have met him.”
She looked down at her hands. Anywhere but at Logan. She didn't want him to see her weak like this, all because he'd expressed a sincere wish to meet a man she missed every single day.
“Hey, David,” she said, “how are you doing?”
“Fine, thanks.”
“Some fire burning, huh?”
He shot a quick look at Logan. “Yup.”
She looked between the three of them, finally noting that something was up. “You guys need anything else? Ketchup? Mustard? Are you hungry, David?”
“I'm fine, thanks.”
She raised her eyebrows. “Okay, then. I'll be going on a short break for the next few minutes, so just holler at Amy if you need something else.”
They all nodded, the plates of food remaining untouched. Finally, Maya broke the heavy silence after Jenny left. “What have you found out?”
“I've been able to clearly identify gasoline and fertilizer.”
Maya closed her eyes for a moment. “Together they explode just like a bomb. It's easy and inexpensive. Anyone could have done it. It's the perfect crime.” When she opened her eyes again, Logan got the sense she wasn't really seeing them. “Gasoline and fertilizer are too common, too likely to be in anyone's garage. Finding the person who laid the groundwork for the explosion is like searching for a needle in a haystack.”
During his fifteen years as a hotshot, at the first sign of trouble Logan immediately sprang into action. He used his body, his tools, and his brain to fight deadly blazes. But this time things were different. Instead of battling fire, he was up against an arsonist. One who was out for blood.
“Thanks for the help, David,” Maya said, pushing back her chair without touching her food. “I need to get going, need to check a few things out.”
Logan stood up and threw down forty dollars as David handed Maya a printout of his results.
“Keep the faith. You'll find out who did this. And you'll stop them before they do it again. I'll stick around the house the rest of the weekend if you need me to test something else.”
Maya gave him a weak smile as she took the lab paperwork then walked beside Logan to his truck. “I appreciate you hooking me up with David,” she said when they were alone again, in the front seat. “And thanks for going above and beyond the call of duty today, first with the fire, now with this.” She looked him in the eye. “But you need to stop wasting your time helping me, and get a lawyer, Logan.”
What the hell? She'd told him she believed him.
She put her hand on his arm. “I know you didn't do it. But this is a small town. How many gas stations are there nearby, without driving all the way downtown?”
“One.”
“How many places to get fertilizer?”
“One.” He knew exactly where she was going. “And if the gas and fertilizer in my garage come from the same lots as the ones David just tested and my name is already on the suspect list …”
She finished his sentence. “It'll look like you did it.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
MAYA HAD come to Tahoe to prove Logan's guilt, and he'd completely turned the tables on her.
Now she was certain of not only his innocence, but his compassion and understanding as well.
He was far too perfect, and far too difficult to resist.
She looked up, suddenly, and realized she hadn't told him where she wanted him to take her. “Where are you going?”
“To my house to get those fertilizer and gasoline samples.”
No. She didn't want to go there, didn't want to pick up any evidence that could possibly link Logan to the crime.
But she knew he was right. If there was a chance that they could definitively rule him out, she could call McCurdy and get him to officially end Logan's suspension.
She needed Logan to promise her one thing first, though. “If it turns out your samples are a match, promise me you'll get a lawyer.”
Stuck behind a big tour bus, he took his eyes off the road and looked her in the eye. “I'll do it, but you'll come with me.”
The bus needed to get its exhaust pipe looked at. It smelled like gas was funneling straight into his truck.
She frowned. “You don't need me to find you a lawyer.”
“It isn't about finding a lawyer. I'm not willing to leave you alone. Not after what happened last night. Not until we find the bastard lighting these fires.”
She wanted to tell him she could take care of herself, but those words were lost amid the warmth of knowing that someone was actually looking out for her.
In recent months she'd gotten used to handling everything herself, to never asking anyone for help, but there had been a time, back before everything that had happened to her family, when her father and brother had looked out for her. They'd kept her safe, whether it was vetting out a new boyfriend or screwing her overflowing bookshelves to the wall so they wouldn't fall over in an earthquake and bury her.
She was still trying to figure out how to respond when he pulled onto a gravel road that she figured was his driveway. Much like Joseph's, it was a narrow pathway between tall pines. And then, as if by magic, there emerged a pond with bright blue water, and beyond that a beautiful meadow. The driveway meandered up the undulating hills, toward a stunning wood-framed house.
It was one of the most incredible locations she'd ever seen. And the beauty all around her spoke volumes about the man sitting beside her.
“You did this, didn't you?” she asked in a quiet voice. “You built this house.”
He turned off the engine. “How'd you guess?”
“My father did the same thing when I was a little girl. It reminds me a lot of where I grew up.”
She'd loved every wall of their home, the tree house in the backyard that she'd helped her father build and paint and decorate, the flowers she'd dug into the earth and carefully watered all summer long so that when her father came back in the fall there'd still be blooms for him to see.
“Sounds like he was a great dad.”
Something large, yet fragile, shattered inside of her. “He was.” One of the walls protecting her heart now lay in shards by her toes.
“I would have liked to have met him.”
She looked down at her hands. Anywhere but at Logan. She didn't want him to see her weak like this, all because he'd expressed a sincere wish to meet a man she missed every single day.
