Wildfire by Roxanne Rustand Page B

and strolled over to Tessa’s truck. “I’ve got news…sort of.”
    She smiled. “I hope it’s good.”
    “I called in a favor at the state crime lab, and have an answer on that evidence from your burglary. The only identifiable prints were from you or your mother.”
    Disappointment washed through her. “So the intruder wore gloves, then.”
    “Probably.”
    “And I didn’t find anything at all when I cleaned up that mess. Would’ve been awfully nice to find some really obvious clue.” Feeling defeated, she sighed. “Maybe it was just a random, one-time deal. Someone who thought the McAllisters keep piles of money sitting around, and found that he’d totally wasted his time.”
    A corner of Michael’s mouth lifted. “You wouldn’t’ believe how many people make that assumption. They give me a sly grin and wink, if my marriage to Janna comes up.”
    Janna grinned and bumped him with her elbow. “Maybe you’ll have that kind of success, once this resort takes off.”
    “It should. Your Web site is beautiful, and this has to be the prettiest place on the planet.” Tessa turned to Michael. “Leigh tells me the most recent wildfires were probably set. Is that true?”
    “They weren’t ignited by lightning. But whether they were set intentionally or started by careless campers, we don’t know yet.”
    Tessa shivered. “This whole area is tinder-dry. If there’s enough wind and the wrong location, it could be devastating.”
    “We’re already evacuating homes and campgrounds west of Shawnee Creek. That one started on private land and spread into the national forest within hours. Over five hundred acres are gone already. It could be in the thousands by daybreak, if the incident management team can’t contain it.”
    “Are you seeing any pattern?” Janna wrapped her arms around her middle.
    “The last three have started close to some luxury cabins that were burgled.” He looked over his shoulder toward the towering mountains forming the western horizon. “Two fires were discovered by deputies responding to security system alarms. I hear the fire season hasn’t started this early in years.”
    With the breeze coming from the west, the air was hazy and acrid with smoke, and Tessa’s eyes burned. “Guess I’d better go. I still have evening chores, and I should get into town and visit Gus.”
    Michael shot a quick glance at Janna, nodded, then touched Tessa’s shoulder. “We’d be happy to welcome you, Gus and Sofia over here, if you’d feel safer. Your friend, too.”
    Surprised, Tessa laughed, sure that it had been Janna’s idea. A warm feeling curled around her heart at the relationships with her sisters that were deepening after far too many years of estrangement. “That’s nice of you, but we’re good. All of my work is over there, and I’d spend hours commuting. Thanks, anyway.”
    “Both of us are concerned, Tess,” Janna looped an arm through the crook of Michael’s elbow. “I just keep thinking about the day someone shot at you. Maybe he’s the one breaking into the cabins, and is afraid you saw too much. So he tore up your office as sort of a warning.”
    Tessa smiled. “You do have a good imagination. This is little Wolf Creek, Wyoming, not some drama on TV.”
    “No, it’s not,” Janna said urgently. “It’s scary. I agree with Leigh—this is all connected somehow, and I think the guy is escalating. And someone is going to get hurt.”

     
    Josh was an adequate rider, though he hadn’t grown up on horseback like the McAllisters. But one glance at the pack horses kept in a small pasture by Tessa’s barn, and he knew they were in serious trouble.
    He parked the four-wheeler and studied the animals through the fence.
    It was late afternoon, and they looked drowsy, like they usually did on warm summer afternoons. They were probably still tired from their long pack trip over the weekend. But two of the five horses were moving oddly, with a random, stumbling