Rose smiled. "Cook to your heart's content, Dom."
When she reached Main Street, Rose noticed the air was warmer, above freezing. Nick would be back at the lodge by now.
No sooner did she have the thought than he called. "Do you want me to pick you up?"
She spotted Bowie's beat-up van down the street. "Thanks, but I'll get a ride. Be back soon. What are you doing?"
"Thinking and making calls. I brushed Ranger. He didn't like it."
"He never does." Rose didn't ask any follow-up questions and disconnected, walking down to Bowie's van. He was climbing in. "What're you doing in town?" she asked him.
"Stopped to see Liam to see what he knew about the fire. He said I just missed you."
"Have you talked to the police?"
"Oh, yes."
"Then you know Dominique was attacked?"
"I stopped by to check on her, but she was busy. I talked to her for two seconds, probably while you were with Liam. She's pretty shaken up." Bowie narrowed his eyes on Rose for half a beat. "You are, too."
"I don't deny it. Can you give me a ride up to the lodge?"
He nodded. "Where's Ranger?"
"Nick hiked back up to the lodge. Ranger went with him."
Rose shoved stuff off the van's front passenger seat and got in. The interior smelled like mud and cold, wet stone--at least not like gas, she thought.
They passed the police station. "Every cop in town must be out at the lake," Bowie said.
"Probably so." She stared out the side window at the familiar landscape of her hometown. Snow had melted into her wool socks. She'd unzipped her coat, but she was still too warm. "When you were in that fight at O'Rourke's, did you ever imagine Derek and Robert would be dead in less than a year?"
"I wasn't thinking about the future. I was locked in to the idea that I needed to punch Derek in the head."
She couldn't help but smile at Bowie's irreverent tone.
But his eyes were serious when he glanced over at her. "That fight's in the past, Rose. It's not why Derek and Robert are dead."
"You protected me last year."
"You can look at it that way, but I wasn't really thinking. I was mad. Derek was out of control. I reacted."
"I keep wondering if I'd confronted my problems, maybe things would have gone differently this year."
"Don't go there. We are where we are. Whether or not it's where we would be if we hadn't dealt with these bastards doesn't much matter."
They drove up the mountain in silence. As they came to the lodge, Rose said, "I miss Hannah."
"Yeah, me, too."
"I miss her, but I'm glad she's with Sean and not here now, for this."
"You're her friend. I talked to her earlier. She wants to be here for you. Beth, too."
"You told them to stay in California, didn't you?"
"Yeah. Do your work, Rose. Let the police do theirs. You're a can-do type, just like your brothers, but sometimes you have to know your limits. We all do."
"It's easier on a search than with something like this. It all feels so out of control, with no rules."
"There are rules. Rule one--you don't get to kill someone. Rose, you okay with this guy?"
"I can handle him."
"Could he have set the fires? It only takes a cell phone to detonate a simple homemade bomb."
"It wasn't Nick, Bowie. Absolutely not."
Bowie grinned at her. "See? There's an attraction there." He pulled into the lodge parking lot and glanced in back at Poe. "Look at him. Not a peep out of him. Ranger's influence."
"Ranger's not perfect, you know," Rose said. "Poe looks tired. Did you have him out running this morning?"
"He charged around while I was working. He's in good shape. He's just lazy. The vet said he needed to lose weight, so I've been getting him out more. It's good for me, too."
"Dominique said she was meeting you at the lake this morning. What happened? Where were you?"
"Late," he said, his voice heavy with regret.
"Why?"
He threw the van into Park and looked over at her. "I made a stop to give an estimate. It took longer than I expected. The police have all the details. You want them, too, Rose?"
"I'm not doubting you. Don't get defensive. I just wanted to know."
"Maybe you want to know too much. Maybe you should get on a damn plane and go train dogs in Alaska or something. I worry about you, Rose."
She let his worry roll over her. "Thanks for your concern. Bowie, are you and Dominique seeing each other?"
"She and Poe are both trying to get in shape. She wants to run a half marathon this summer. Nothing more than that."
"I grew up here. I can be private all I want and it won't do me any good. Everybody's always sticking their noses in my business."
He grinned at her. "Like you'd have it any other way."
"You're a good friend to have, Bowie. Thanks for the ride."
"Anytime."
"Want to come in?"
He shook his head. "I have work to do. Call or come find me if you need a friend."
Rose promised she would and thanked him as she got out of the van.
She spotted A.J. down by the shop and walked in that direction. He was pacing, clearly agitated, and she assumed it was because of the scene at the lake. He shoved a hand through his hair. "I can still smell smoke," he said. "Damn."
"I'm sorry, A.J."
"Yeah. Me, too. I've been trying to sort everything out in my own mind. I don't see how a couple of ski-bum drug dealers had anything to do with the death of that woman in California and this missing actor."
"We can come up with a thousand different scenarios if we want to." Rose recognized a middle-aged couple ski from the lodge on the groomed trails in the meadow. "Most guests won't associate what happened at the lake with the lodge. It's far enough away--"
"They could see the smoke from the dining room."
"A fire in the middle of winter, down in the valley. It's understandable they'd look."
"A fatal fire on top of another fatal fire just the other day." Her brother stared at a display of winter sports gear in the shop window. "I'd hoped winter fest would be a fresh start for everyone in town."
"It still can be," Rose said. "There's time to figure out what's going on and put an end to it."
"That's what we keep saying. It's what we said in November when Jo and Elijah confronted those two killers. It's what we said in January when Hannah and Sean figured out Lowell Whittaker was behind this network of assassins."
"The lodge is busiest in the warm-weather months. By then, most people aren't going to remember if this all happened in another town, or even know that it happened at all. We're in the middle of it. We'll know. I've been to the scene of so many disasters--"
"This isn't a natural disaster."
Rose sighed. "I'm not helping, am I? Okay. I'm going to find Ranger."
A.J. shifted back to her. "Lauren panicked when she heard sirens and saw smoke. I don't know how much more of this she can take."
"She's strong, A.J. So are you."
"She's scared." He let out a breath, shook his head. "Never mind. We'll get through it. You just concentrate on staying safe yourself. When you radioed this morning and I saw the smoke..." He stood up straight and managed a small smile. "I was glad Nick was with you."
She grinned at him. "Ha, the faith my brothers have in me." She touched his arm. "We're going to be okay, A.J. You know that, right? Whatever happens."
"Yeah," he said, and followed several guests into the shop.
As she headed back up to the main lodge, Ranger bounded toward her with the energy of a puppy. Nick's influence, she decided, her heart jumping when she saw him ambling toward her.
She believed what she'd said to A.J. They'd be okay. What other choice was there?
Twenty
Beverly Hills, California
G
rit could tell the Black Falls women were restless, frustrated that they were on the other side of the continent while so much went on at home. Sean was more accustomed to not being in the eye of his hometown storms but the events of the day had clearly disturbed him, too.
The fire at Jo Harper's cabins on the lake--Robert Feehan's death, Dominique Belair's near death--bothered everyone.
The cabin Grit had stayed in had burned, but he wasn't nostalgic. He figured the accursed woodstove had probably made it through just fine.
Devin and Toby Shay arrived at Sean's house, and Grit was of a mind to leave them and Beth there while he and Sean drove out to the Cameron & Martini building that had burned a year ago.
Beth had other ideas. Testy and silent, she climbed, uninvited, into the back of Sean's car and put on her seat belt.
Sean glanced at Grit, as if seeking his wisdom on what to do. Grit shrugged. "How far is this place?"
"Twenty minutes, longer if traffic's bad."
As far as Grit could see, traffic was always bad. He figured he could handle thirty minutes with Beth biting her nails in back. Let Sean be the one to kick her out. "Drive on."
Sean gritted his teeth and steered his expensive sedan out of the driveway.
Grit turned to Beth in the backseat. "Have you talked to Trooper Thorne?" She just stared out her window. He tried again. "Your brother? Your sister? Rose? Dominique?"
"I don't want to talk."
That could work, Grit decided, and turned back around. Seventeen minutes later, they pulled into a small parking area by a three-story Art Deco building that Cameron & Martini had saved from the wrecking ball, refurbished and still owned.
There'd been a fire during renovations. Nick Martini's quick actions had almost certainly saved the building.
Sean led Grit and Beth into a cool, elegant lobby, no indication that there'd been a fire or that the place had ever needed renovating. Sean said, "The fire was last January, months before Jasper Vanderhorn was killed."
"Your sister was just getting involved with Cutshaw then," Grit said.
Beth stiffened visibly, but Sean was calm. "I don't see how the two could be connected."
"Me, either." Grit looked up at the Art Deco ceiling. "Vanderhorn investigated this fire?"
Sean shook his head. "Not officially. He looked into it on his own after the fact."
"He was trying to connect this fire to his serial arsonist?"
"I suspect so, yes," Sean said, diplomatically.
Grit noted the list of businesses with offices in the building but none struck him as being related to Hollywood and their missing actor. Advertising, digital media, financial planning. He turned back to Sean. "How'd the fire start?"
"Electrical short," Sean said. "The work crews missed it."
"No arrests?"
"No. There's no proof it was arson."
"But you think it was," Grit said.
Sean shrugged without answering.
Beth wandered over to the elevator but was obviously listening in.
Grit continued. "The police will be looking into whether Robert Feehan was or could have been in Los Angeles then. Cutshaw, too. Maybe they worked together and just had a falling-out."
Sean considered Grit's comment. "Why target Nick and me? The Whittakers were already in Black Falls, but my father wasn't suspicious of Lowell yet. No one was."
Something Drew Cameron's four offspring now had to live with, Grit thought. He said matter-of-factly, "Lowell didn't like you. You're everything he isn't. His crazy bitch wife threw you in his face. Why
not
target you and your smoke jumping buddy?"
"Nick was only here by accident. I wasn't here at all. The fire couldn't have been meant to kill us." Sean looked around the lobby, as if imagining the flames a year ago. "Most arsonists work alone."
"Okay," Grit said. "So it's Feehan, and Cutshaw wasn't involved. Feehan finds out a Cameron is a rich Californian and locates one of your enemies or one of Martini's enemies to pay to mess things up for you. Was construction delayed?"
"For a few weeks."
"Maybe that was enough. Maybe this fire was about profit. How'd Martini find out about it?"
"Nick was out that night and got a call from the security guard that there was a fire. He arrived before the fire crews."
"Could he be the arsonist himself?"
Sean cast Grit a cool look. "No."
"Is that friendship or your head talking?"
"Both."
Beth stalked over to them. Her turquoise eyes showed the strain she was feeling, but she still glared at Grit. "What happened to your navy business?"
"Tomorrow," he said.
They headed back out, the air warm, the light now a filtered brownish color. This time Grit took the backseat. Beth got in front without a word.
Sean was pensive as they drove to his house.
"I have to go home," Beth said, watching Beverly Hills slide past her.
Sean nodded. "I've been thinking the same thing. We'll all go."
Once at Sean's, he and Beth went inside to make plans. Grit stayed out in the driveway and took a call from Charlie Neal.
"Anything new?" Charlie asked, but didn't wait for an answer. "Never mind. I'd have heard. I've been looking into Portia Martinez--all on the internet, so don't worry. She grew up in Fresno. Her parents are school-teachers. Totally ordinary and normal. She wanted to work in Holly wood from the age of four."
"The police must know this, Charlie."
"They must, but here's what I'm thinking. What if Portia somehow got wind of this firebug and his plot to kill my sister?"
"Jasper Vanderhorn's the only one who had this theory about a serial arsonist. How would she have found out? And your sister's fire was months ago, and it was an accident. If Ms. Martinez knew anything about it, she'd have reported what she knew to the police or the Secret Service, don't you think?"
"She might have only just found out, and there could be a new plot. It's unfinished business. Killing Marissa, I mean."
Grit sighed. He was getting used to Charlie's labyrinthine way of thinking. "You think Jasper Vanderhorn was onto the plot and that's why he was killed?"
"Maybe Portia was his confidential informant."