He’d heard other firemen say, “We fight from the unburned to the burned.” That meant getting behind a fire to keep it from spreading through the structure, saving, if possible, what remained.
The kitchen was relatively free of smoke. Two firemen went in with hoses while James spent the longest five minutes of his life waiting in the yard for one of them to return.
When he did, the man made a motion with his hands that said they had not found anyone inside.
James moved forward, about to ask if they’d looked everywhere, but the fireman beside him intervened again and met him eye to eye. “They looked. Everywhere.”
James nodded, shivering against the adrenaline rush of relief. Shay wasn’t in the fire. But where the hell was she?
He waited a few long minutes, just to be certain, as the hoses did their job.
Finally one of the first to go in came out and walked up to James.
“No one in there. But there is evidence that someone was here recently. There’re groceries still in bags. Maybe she ran when the fire started.”
That should have made James feel better but it didn’t. If she’d run from the fire, she would have called it in or gone to the nearest house for help.
He turned and looked, and sure enough her car was still in the yard. Had Shay been surprised by the ex-con? Had he kidnapped her and set the fire to leave no trace? No scenario running through his thoughts was a good one.
Something began to ache deep in his chest. It grew so quickly that a groan escaped him.
A hand fell on his shoulder. “You okay?”
He glanced at the older fireman who was still watching him.
“Yeah.” And just like that James shut down. Time for emotion later. He was a lawman and needed to do his job. He walked around to the rear of the cabin.
“Did your people do this?” He pointed to the kitchen door, all but off its hinges.
The guy shook his head. “Someone did that for us.”
“Right.” James turned back to his vehicle to get Bogart. Shay and her attacker must be somewhere out there in the darkness, shielded by the surrounding woods. The thought that her stalker might have driven off with her to God-only-knew-where was too much to contemplate.
As he neared his cruiser he saw a sheriff’s vehicle pulling into the yard. It was Deputy Ward. He met the man at his door.
“I have reason to believe Shay’s been abducted.” James went through the key points quickly in an unemotional voice.
The deputy looked past him at the house, his face serious under the light of the NightWatcher light. The firemen were winning. The fire seemed to be all but out. “One of the neighbors from down the road just made a 911. There’s been a break-in. On the other side of these woods, over by the parking lot of the public pier about three miles from here if you drive around. Witness says the guy’s armed. Could be unrelated.”
James didn’t think so. “That’s got to be our man.”
Deputy Ward hitched up his pants. “Shay wasn’t with him.”
“Then he’ll know where to find her.” James locked out any other possibility. “I want to come with you. Bogart and I can be very useful.”
The deputy looked at Bogart, who was barking and circling inside his cage, eager to be let loose, and then nodded. “I deputize you right now.”
*
“He ran that way.” Two young men in gimme caps and hunting jackets who flagged them down in the street pointed toward a wood-and-metal-frame building in the distance. “We were camping in the woods when this guy comes running in out of nowhere. Nearly knocked the tent over. He shot at us and then kept going. We followed him here.”
“Okay. I appreciate your help. Now you fellas step over there across the street. I wouldn’t want either of you to get hurt.” They moved so quickly the deputy had to call after them, “Don’t go too far. I’m gonna need statements after we get this situation sorted out.”
When they had pulled in and parked a safe distance away, James and the deputy studied their surroundings behind the safety of their vehicles. Little detail could be seen beyond the ring of light cast by a lone bulb posted in the parking lot, but the shuttered building appeared to be abandoned. The door had clearly been kicked in and only halfway reclosed.
“Why do you suppose he’s hiding instead of just taking off?” Deputy Ward looked at James.
“Maybe Shay got away from him and he realized that if he left her behind she could later identify him. Or maybe he thought he’d stick around to find out how much trouble he’s in.”
“Hell of a thing.” The deputy sounded almost wistful but when James glanced at him, the lawman’s face was a solid wall of pissed off.
James gave a chin-up motion to indicate the structure. “What is that?”
“Bait shop during the high season. This ain’t the season.”