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He slipped into the barn and found a can of gasoline sitting next to a lawn mower just inside the door, then started for the house. The geese went crazy again at his approach. Cooked geese, he thought, smiling at his own wit. With any luck they were penned close enough to the house to roast.
But just as he poised to begin dousing the clapboard siding of the house, he heard a sound from inside. The cries of a puppy. He stopped in frustration, then tried the windows and doors. He couldn’t burn an innocent little puppy.
Every one of them was locked.
Blindly kicking through the grass at his feet, he searched for a rock or a stray board, something to break through the windows. His anxiety rising, he checked his watch.
If Forrester returned, he’d be trapped. There was only one way to drive out of this place, and it could be blocked with a single vehicle.
With an oath, he pivoted away from the house and hurried to the barn. He splashed gasoline along the outside wall. Then he lit a makeshift wick and ran for his car.
Sparing one glance at the beautiful ball of flames exploding into the night sky, he smiled to himself, then stomped on the accelerator and headed toward the highway.
This was his final message. The next trip to Fossil Hill would be his last. He’d wait until the moment his quarry’s guard was down.
And then justice would be served.
* * * *
“GO TO BED, YOUNG MAN. Now.”
“A real popular place to be around here.” Alex gave Dana a look of disgust, and then she knew that there was far more behind his outburst than the information about Katie. “Aren’t you gonna—”
“This is not your business. I’ll take care of it.”
“Right.” He headed up the stairs, his back rigid. “Great example, Mom.”
When his bedroom door slammed shut, Zach cleared his throat. “I’m sorry,” he said quietly. “I never should have stayed the night.”
“I knew it would be hard for him if I ever...started seeing someone.”
“You were seeing Tom, though.”
“He was never here late at night. I’m not sure if we ever had more than a brief kiss in all that time, but Alex didn’t like him either.”
“It’s a primitive guy thing.”
“I know.” She listened for sounds coming from upstairs, then beckoned for him to follow. “Let’s go out in the kitchen, where we can close the door.”
When they reached the kitchen, she shut the door behind them and started a pot of coffee. “Want anything to eat?”
Zach stood at the window and looked out into the yard. “It’s a little early for me.”
He did look tired. She’d gotten to bed late...and he didn’t look like he’d slept at all. “Me, too. I could have used another hour or two. Look, I’m sorry about my son. These teen years aren’t easy for him, and he says—”
“He was right.”
“He...was?”
Zach turned to face her, his expression grim. “I never said the words, but I did let you all assume Katie is my daughter. She isn’t.”
A sick feeling pooled in her stomach as Dana remembered all the promises Zach had made as a teenager, all the promises that had been broken when he disappeared.
Ironic, how she’d seen such integrity in him when he’d first showed up again...and sad, because she clearly wasn’t any better at judging character now than when she’d been a girl of seventeen. “Maybe you’d better explain.”
He seemed to choose his words with care. “My sister led a hard life. She came to me and said she needed a safe place for her daughter. I figured it would be better if people didn’t know too much about Katie, even out here.”
“Why would anyone harm a little girl?”
