12-Alarm Cowboys (159 page)

Once she was back at Skyview, Makenna parked and immediately ran out to look for the goats. “Houdini! Cola!” Seeing nothing, she headed out to the barn. The gate to their pen was standing open. She took the time to grab their leashes, then took off to look for them. By now it was early afternoon. Makenna didn’t have on her watch, but the sun wasn’t directly overhead anymore. Heading toward the highway, next to the fence line separating Tammie and Titan’s land, she heard a faint bleating. “Houdini! Cola!”

Breaking out into a run, she was thankful to see them grazing on some tall grass. “What are you two doing?”

She was thankful they didn’t run from her. In a few minutes she had the leashes hooked on their collars and was on the way back to the barn. As she walked, she relived the harsh things people had said about her. They’d made her so uncomfortable. Just because Damien grew up here, some people couldn’t believe he could be at fault. But what had Titan said? What was more important? That they love her or that he loved her?

There was no contest.

One day the truth would be known. Until that time, she needed no one’s approval but his.

Once she had the goats put up, she decided to stop in at the house to wash the pungent smell off of her hands. Those two needed a bath! Inside, she headed to the bathroom, took one look in the mirror and decided to change clothes. With no time for a shower, she freshened up quickly, grabbing the first thing she could find to put on. The jeans she’d worn the day before going to Austin were still lying across the hamper. “These will do.”

Going back downstairs, she thought about the pregnancy test. Heartened by Titan’s attitude, she decided to see once and for all. Was she pregnant? With trembling hands, she went to her purse and withdrew the box. Returning to the restroom, she took the test, then she waited, staring at herself in the mirror. It was unbelievable how much her life had changed. Her marriage was over. Her husband was on the verge of capture and would face jail time. She had Titan in her life—and she might be pregnant!

Counting out the seconds, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. This was it! Raising the plastic stick to eye-level, she looked. There was a plus sign. A plus sign! She and Titan were having a baby!

With a happy squeal, she ran down the stairs to the kitchen. She couldn’t wait to tell him. Maybe she could get back to the meeting before it adjourned and leave Allie her car. Titan would be worried if she wasn’t there, but she couldn’t have let Houdini and Cola get run over! Picking up her purse, she was about to slip the pregnancy stick inside when a voice behind her caused her blood to run cold. She dropped it where it landed unnoticed on the floor.

“Long time no see, Mrs. Wade.”

A hand gripped her arm and twisted it ruthlessly behind her back.

“Damien, no!”

“You and I have some unfinished business to attend to.”

“No, let me go!” She struggled to no avail. This was a scene they’d played out too many times. Makenna was no match for his strength and he knew it. The only power she had was a threat. “Titan will kill you, Damien. He loves me.”

“How long have you been fucking him, Makenna? How long have you been shaming me, making me the cuckold?”

“I didn’t, not until I left you.” He slung her around and slapped her in the face—hard. “But I wanted to! I wanted to from the first moment I saw him!” She didn’t know what possessed her to confess that bit of information. It just came tumbling out.

“Today’s the day you die, Makenna!”

“Titan will kill you, Damien.”

“Not if he thinks you left him willingly.” He held on to her arm while he grabbed a notepad and pen from the counter. “Write him a note, tell him you don’t love him. Tell him you’re leaving.”

“No!”

“Yes, you just came from the town meeting. Didn’t you? Oh, I was there. I’ve never left. I’ve been staying with Tammie. We’re old friends.” He forced her to sit in a chair. “We’ve been fuck-buddies too. Can’t blame me for that, can you? Being married to a fat frigid bitch like you, I had to seek consolation elsewhere.”

He forced the pen into her hand. “Write. Write what I tell you.”

She struggled in vain.

“Dear Titan,” he sing-songed. “I’m leaving you. I never really loved you. The confusion in town is more than I can handle. I wish you the best. Don’t come looking for me.”

“He won’t believe this.” Would he? In a last desperate act, she signed it. Not with the name Makenna, but with the initials MTF. Would he know what it meant?

“Come on, you bitch!” Damien pulled her to her feet. “Take your purse.” She thought he was about to lead her outside. Instead, they started down the hall. “Get your suitcase and fill it, let’s make this thing look real.”

As Makenna tried to follow her crazy husband’s directions, he took every opportunity to knock her around. When he was satisfied with what she’d packed, he picked up the suitcase and yanked her through the house and outside. Once they were in his truck, she asked, “Where are you taking me?”

“To your funeral pyre,” was his macabre answer as he made her climb onto a four-wheeler that she assumed belonged to Tammie. He made her sit in front of him, her arms still forced behind her back. In horror, Makenna realized he was taking her to Titan’s cabin, the one they’d been in the day of the stampede. “That was you who beat on the walls, wasn’t it?”

“Yea, I enjoyed myself.”

When they arrived, he showed her no mercy, dragging her, hitting her. He was wet with sweat and he stank. Makenna wondered how she could’ve ever thought she loved him. His answer was no surprise to Makenna. By this time, she was tired, she was weak. When he tied her to a chair in the center of the room, she knew all was lost.

“I’m about to set a fire that will put this area on the map. They call this place the Devil’s Backbone, but when I get through, they’ll call it the Devil’s Triangle. I’m going to set three fires, all to converge right on top of you.”

“Are you crazy?” she screamed in panic. Of course he was.

“No, I’m not crazy,” he answered calmly. “A wildfire burns away debris, and that certainly describes you.”

“Were you responsible for all the fires?” She didn’t know why she was asking, she just wanted to know.

“Yes, I love fire.” He grew still. “Seeing something burn that I’ve ignited makes me feel powerful. It’s exciting.” He met her gaze. “More exciting than anything. The thrill is better than sex. It’s the ultimate power.”

Seeing the madness in his eyes made her scream anew. “Titan! Help!”

“No one can hear you.” He stood back for a moment staring at her, as if admiring his handiwork. “You’re nothing, Makenna. You’re nobody. No one will ever love you and no one will find you in time.”

Sheer terror washed over Makenna. She had no doubt he was about to do just as he promised. Titan wasn’t here. He was in town. He wouldn’t know what was happening.

She was going to die. Their baby was going to die! Misery and terror consumed her. “Titan!” she screamed again.

But there was no one to hear her. Damien had left to set a fire—a wildfire.

*

“Hey, excuse me.”
Titan touched Allie’s arm as she talked to Hotshot. “Have you seen Makenna?”

“Yea,” she answered brightly. “She borrowed my car to go to your house. She said some of your livestock was out.”

“Oh, okay.” Titan was surprised. “How did she know?”

“I don’t know.” Allie shrugged. “She didn’t say.”

“Is something wrong?” Hotshot asked, a concerned look on his face.

“I…don’t know,” Titan admitted. “I need to leave and find her.” The meeting had finally turned his way. Enough of his friends and supporters had drowned out the troublemakers. A vote had been taken and he was still chief.

“Hey, if you need anything. Call me.” Hotshot touched Titan’s shoulder.

Titan nodded, going to his truck. He was blocked in by a couple of cars that had pulled too close. “Damn!” He had to wait, growing more frustrated by the minute. “Dammit, move!” His gut was doing strange things. He didn’t know if it was the tension from the stupid meeting or if his instincts were trying to tell me something. Was something wrong?

By the time the stragglers had claimed their vehicles and moved on he was so worked up he could have cheerfully picked up the cars and tossed them aside with his bare hands. Gunning it out of the parking lot, he drove home at breakneck speed.

*

Damien watched the
liquid fuel catch. The bluish-white flame mesmerized him. When the dry grass around it ignited with a rush, he broke out into laughter. Conditions were just right. No rain for weeks and weeks had dried out everything. Just a spark could ignite this whole damn area. That’s what he wanted to see, a furnace in the Backbone.

He stepped to watch. This was fire number two. One more to go and he would’ve set a trap that his tramp of a wife couldn’t escape. To make it even better, he was destroying Sloan’s ranch. Two birds with one red hot stone, you couldn’t beat that with a stick.

Moving on to his other target, he thought about what he’d accomplished. During his career, he’d set almost a hundred fires. Most he’d been right there to put out. A couple of people had died. Oh, well. Collateral damage. Killing people wasn’t his goal, but it happened occasionally. This was the first fire he set with that goal in mind. And Damien had to admit…

It was mighty sweet.

He smiled and took out his lighter—ready to start another fire.

*

When Titan skidded
into his own driveway, he saw Allie’s car parked next to Makenna’s. She was here, somewhere. Jumping out, he called her name. Listening.

Nothing.

“Makenna!” He tried again, running to the house. Surely she was inside. Going in, he stood in the foyer. “Makenna!”

Again, nothing.

He began looking through the house—the living room, his office, the dining room—finally, the kitchen. Spotting something on the floor, he picked it up. It was her pregnancy test. It was positive! Makenna was having his baby! “Makenna, love, where are you?” Maybe she was upstairs taking a bath. He was about to head upstairs when a piece of paper caught his eye. A note!

Snatching it up, he read it. She was leaving him? She didn’t love him? Pain shot through his heart. She was having his baby and she didn’t want to be with him?

And then his eyes settled at the bottom of the paper. She’d written MTF.

MTF.

Makenna and Titan forever.

“No, no, no.”

She wasn’t leaving. She’d never sign a note that way if she intended to break things off with him.

Something was wrong.

Just to make sure, he started up the stairs. “Makenna!” The buzz from his pager stopped him in his tracks. “Talk to me,” he answered dispatch.

“Repeat that.” He just had to make sure what he’d heard.

“Grassfires have been spotted in the vicinity of Skyview Ranch. More than one. With drought and wind conditions taken into consideration, we’re looking at a wildfire, Chief.” Then she paused. “I’m sorry. I’ve notified everyone and called for assistance.”

“My God!” He clipped his pager back on his belt, feeling more torn than if a knife had ripped him in half. “Makenna, baby, what’s going on?” As if a voice from above was speaking to his heart, he knew—he knew that all of this was connected. Makenna was in danger!