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“You got lucky. A fire in here would spread fast,” Russell said as the horses started to calm.
The scent of smoke hung in the air, so Rafe flung the barn doors open to air the place out, even though it was bitterly cold. After a few minutes, the breeze had pushed a lot of the smoke, and most of the smell, from the barn, so Rafe closed the doors again. Then he turned on the heaters and gave the horses some extra oats and warm water.
“Did you see who did this?” Rafe asked.
“Not really. I’d guess it was a man, but I couldn’t swear to that. It was hard to see. Mostly I just noticed movement against the snow.” Russell shrugged. “I’ll call the sheriff to come take a look. Maybe he’ll come across something that will tell us who’s behind this.”
While Russell made the call, Rafe finished making sure the horses had what they needed, then went back to the house to wait. It was going to be a long night.
IT TOOKthe sheriff a while to arrive. He looked things over in the barn and scolded them for cleaning up, before checking out the trail left in the snow. “I need to do some looking around,” he said levelly. “There’s been plenty of activity here today.” Rafe wondered what he meant by that.
“Shelby, you know as well as I do that someone tried to set fire to Rafe’s barn. Getting angry with him isn’t going to help you figure out who did it.”
“No. But it’s been one hell of a day. It took me half an hour to calm down your neighbor,” the sheriff groused.
“That has nothing to do with Rafe. Grant sees slights everywhere… doesn’t matter if they’re real or not.” Russell drew closer. “What sort of trouble has Rafe caused? Beating out Duane for the championship? Inheriting the property from his uncle? I know—maybe he’s the one responsible for the avalanche that changed the direction of the stream?” Russell was bordering on the ridiculous, but Rafe loved him for it. “Come on. Nothing is ever Grant’s fault. The land he’s complaining about losing… he overgrazed it, and the owner isn’t happy. Grant Mendeltom’s issues are his own making, and if he’s behind this….” Russell’s eyes blazed with anger.
“Let the sheriff do his job,” Rafe said gently. “What can we do to help?”
“Nothing at the moment. I need to follow some things up and see where they lead.” He tipped his hat. “I’ll be in touch.” Then he left, while Russell muttered under his breath as he watched from the barn door.
“What?”
“The sheriff didn’t turn back toward town. He went the other way,” Russell reported. “To Mendeltom’s. Maybe he thinks one of them is involved.”
“Do you really think Grant would do something like that?” Rafe asked.
“I have no idea. Before yesterday, I would have suspected Duane. But who the hell knows? Duane isn’t the most stable of people, and there’s definitely no love lost between you two. But after Grant came unglued this morning, I’d say anything is possible.” He met Rafe’s gaze. “If the Mendeltom ranch is in trouble….”
“Then Duane loses out too.”
“Yeah. He’s always lorded his position over people. Grant bought Duane a brand-new car when he turned sixteen, and then another one when he graduated. They’ve always seemed to have money, but I bet they’ve been living above their means. And now, with the ranch not doing so well and Grant’s chickens have come home to roost, he’s got to be stretched pretty thin.”
Rafe slipped an arm around Russell’s waist. “How do you know this?”
Russell paused. “I’m a businessman, and there are certain signs that tell you when a business is healthy. The first one is that bills are paid on time. The second is that when they sell to you, they don’t beg for payment as soon as possible. Mendeltom always needs to be paid right away, yet he holds his bills until the people he owes threaten to turn him in for collection. This is a small town, and a guy can hear plenty of things if he knows what to listen for.”
“I suppose.” Sometimes it was difficult being the new person, the outsider. “Do you think whoever did this will try again?” Rafe wondered if he should sleep in the barn, but then what if someone decided to light up the house?
“I doubt it. What I think is that someone had way too much to drink and is now on their way home, scared out of their wits because they nearly got caught. Either that, or they are already sleeping it off.” Russell guided him out of the barn and made sure the door was closed. “Come on. Let’s go back inside.”
Rafe was still rattled, so he let Russell comfort him. The dogs all gathered around him and Russell when they came inside, and after giving them treats, he let them outside to take care of business. A few minutes later, all three trooped back inside and dropped onto their blanket in front of the fireplace. They had done their duty. The dogs had warned him, and now it was time for them to rest.
Rafe was tired as hell but afraid to go to sleep in case their firebug came back. This was his home—or at least he was trying to make it a home—and now it felt like it was under attack.
“I’m not sure what to do. I want to get a gun and stand guard all damned night.” He remembered feeling the same way back when he’d lost everything thanks to his parents’ rejection. He actually wondered for a moment if they were behind it. Then he realized that setting a fire wasn’t his parents’ style. They were more likely to get another lawyer, or forget he existed, than physically attack.
“Unfortunately, we have to wait and let the sheriff do his job.”
Rafe growled. He wasn’t angry at Russell, just the entire situation. “I’m not particularly good at things like that. I mean, what is the sheriff going to do? Whoever did this is long gone.” He rolled his eyes and tried to resist hitting something.
“Just relax.” Russell picked up his phone to make a call. “Hey, Dad. We need a little help. Someone broke into Rafe’s barn and started a fire. We put it out, but it’s just the two of us over here….” Russell nodded. “Okay. Thank you. We’ll watch for them.” He put his phone on the table. “A couple of the guys are on their way over. They’ll be here in the next half hour, so we should put on a pot of coffee. One of them will stay out in the barn, and another will keep watch here.” Russell lightly patted Rafe’s leg.
“You didn’t need to do that.” Still, Rafe was grateful for the help.
Russell shook his head. “What part about helping your neighbors don’t you understand?”
“But what about your place?” Rafe asked.
