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And he lived ten miles farther away.
That fact alone had always stuck in my craw. That had been the exact moment I’d been forced to realize that the sheriff’s department was in bed with Prescott. The sheriff had been re-elected only a year before, his opposition nearly crushed in the polls. It had certainly helped the man had several powerful people backing him.
Including my number one enemy.
There was far too much corruption in Napa Valley.
“I’m going to do what I can to help Mr. Kingston. Nothing more and nothing less. Then you and I are going to talk.” I hung up the phone, tossing it onto the dashboard, realizing almost instantly that Aspen was glaring at me. “You need to remember to do exactly what I tell you to do. This is a dangerous situation that could get out of hand very quickly.”
“What did you find out?” She sat up on her seat, forcing me to glance in her direction.
“The fire is destructive.” I didn’t need to go into detail. As I rounded a corner, we were able to clearly see flames rising at least a hundred feet into the air.
“Oh, my God,” she whispered, obviously horrified. “No one can survive that.”
“Well, it’s going to depend on where the fire started.” Sadly, Douglas’ small farmhouse was positioned very close to two of his vineyards. And the man had a wife and two children. Fuck. I twisted my hand around the steering wheel, shifting to a lower gear as we neared the fence separating the two properties. I couldn’t believe the level of destruction in such a short period of time.
Aspen gasped and as soon as I stopped the car, she unfastened her seatbelt.
I threw my hand over hers, shaking my head. “Stay here. This is far too dangerous.”
“You can’t stop me from trying to help. I can’t just sit here and watch this. Just let me do this.”
“No. You’re staying right here if I have to tie you to this car.” As soon as I opened the car door, the sound of whinnying horses drew my attention. I rushed toward the fence, able to see the horses were trying desperately to get through the fence. I raced toward the gate, realizing the damn thing had been padlocked. Who the fuck would have done that? The horses were frantic, kicking at the wooden slats. The fire was getting far too close. Only twenty yards had been cleared of brush and trees in order to provide a buffer in case something like this ever happened. That had been Kingston’s idea. The plan had been to widen the area. Damn it, I’d procrastinated. At any point the fire could jump to the trees on my side.
I had to save the horses. By the time I raced back to the car, Aspen was already out, heading in the direction of the fence.
“Don’t! If you insist on helping, then be ready to guide the horses to safety after I cut the damn padlock.”
“Why the hell would you padlock the fence?” she demanded, her voice almost lost in the roar of the fire as it crept closer.
“I had nothing to do with it.”
“Oh, my God.”
God had nothing to do with it either.
Embers were already flying, the sound of trees falling all around us permeating the night air. However, there was no sound of sirens. Goddamn the motherfuckers. They were intentionally going to allow the man’s entire estate to burn to the ground.
While the breeze was blowing the thick smoke in the opposite direction, it was only a matter of time before the force of the fire took control. There was no time to waste. I bounded toward the trunk, grabbing the tire iron, the only thing I had in order to try to smash the lock.
“What are you doing?” she screamed.
“Saving the goddamn horses.” I raced back, immediately taking aim, slamming the thick iron against the lock. Rage continued to build as I swung the instrument. The lock wouldn’t budge at first. I repeated the effort several times, finally able to break the damn thing. I threw the tire iron then fumbled to get the lock off. The flames were within a few feet.
I heard several vehicles behind me, but didn’t stop to look, instead throwing open the gate. As the eight horses raced out into the open, all of them completely terrified, I was able to breathe a sigh of relief. Their headlights combined with mine, allowing an even better view of the destruction that had already occurred.
“Thank God,” Aspen yelled. “Come on, babies. You can do it.”
“Jesus. What the hell?” Joshua was the first to reach us, trying to corral the horses as they flew by, some of them stumbling in their effort to get away.
“Get them to safety.” Taking several gasping breaths, the taste of acrid smoke remained in my mouth. The shit was getting out of hand quickly. At least several of the winery workers had heard about the fire, all of them prepared to fight in order to save what they’d worked so hard to achieve. They arrived with chainsaws and axes. They’d been through this shit far too many times. “Have them cut back as much of the trees as possible. We may lose this effort.”
“What are you going to do?” Joshua asked.
“Try and help Douglas,” I answered, already searching for Aspen. Where the fuck had she gone?
I felt Joshua’s hand on my arm. “You can’t do that. It’s burning too hot.”
