“Hi, Mike, how are you doing?” Colin said quickly, cringing at his question to the man who had just lost his beach house.
“Very funny, Colin,” the gruff voice replied.
Remembering the reason for his call, Colin said, “Sorry about that, mate. We did all we could to save the house, but the two explosions pretty much did it in.”
“Two explosions? I hadn’t heard about two.”
“That’s why I was calling. I wanted to confirm how many propane tanks you had.”
“Just the one. And it was outside the house in the back.”
“What did you keep in the five-gallon drum that was in the garage?”
“I didn’t have one of those. I did a few years ago for oil, but got rid of them.”
Colin smiled. So, he had kept his oil in them. No point talking about the danger of that now.
“But there weren’t any in there now, that you knew of? I know I saw one. James and I commented on it.”
“No, I didn’t. Any ideas on the cause of it? I know there weren’t any neighbors there, either. Fireworks, maybe?”
“I don’t think fireworks started it. Everybody was at the firemen’s fundraiser. Nobody in camp, as far as I can tell.”
They spent a quick moment catching up, Mike making plans to come down from California as soon as possible to clean up and survey the damage.
“All those years to build that house. And gone in the blink of an eye,” Mike said. “I can hardly believe it.”
“So sorry, mate. Let me know when you get down and we’ll round up a crew to help”
“Thanks, Colin. Good to know you were on the spot.”
Colin’s shoulders drooped as he ended the call and tossed the phone on the couch. He leaned on the kitchen counter, his muscles tensing at the memory of all of Mike’s possessions, his beach side hopes and his dreams, buried amidst the rubble of the fire.
Nala yelped as Colin banged his fist against the counter, the frustration over his friends losing their homes more than he could bear. “Sorry, Nala,” he said as he smoothed her ruffled fur. “I just need to make sense of all of this.”
He reached for his phone, flipping through the ones he’d taken on it before. He enlarged them, looked at them from a different angle and still—nothing. But he knew there was something that connected the fires. He just knew it. If only he could figure out what it was.
Chapter 14
Hanna watched quietly as the dust settled on the road after Colin drove off toward home.
“What’s that about, friend?” Megan said as she came up behind Hanna, resting her hand on her shoulder.
“I’m not sure. I’ve only recently gotten to know him, and he’s a fun person to be around. Very talented, very funny.
“And handsome,” Megan prodded with a smile.
Hanna looked at her friend, feeling a bit confused. “Handsome? Yes, I suppose he is,” she said, her cheeks flushing. She quickly turned to the horse trailer, opening the doors to lead Violet and Regalo back to their corral.
Handing Regalo’s lead to Megan, she headed toward the gate. “I guess I have noticed more how he is on the inside. And today he was different.”
Megan led Regalo into the corral, unclipping his lead and giving him a pat on the flank. He ran off, running freely now he was out of the trailer.
“How so? James says he’s a guy who’s pretty even-keel, always up.”
“That’s been my experience so far, and we’ve had some nice talks. But today, Alex was talking about the rumors about his past, some silly things about being involved with the IRA. And I think it got to him.”
“Colin and James laugh about that all the time. Everyone thinks James was a spy, too. They’re just rumors, and pretty ridiculous. You think it bothered him?”
“Yes, I do. He got pretty quiet after the talk of that, and the threats the resort’s been getting.”
Hanna closed the gate of the corral as Megan threw hay over the fence for the horses.
“The resort’s getting threats? What kind?” Megan’s brows furrowed.
“He didn’t really say. He doesn’t seem to think they’re serious.”
“Well, you’re the most intuitive person I know. What do you think is bothering Colin?”
“He won’t tell me. I would only be guessing.”
Megan laughed. “I’ve known you a long time, Hanna. You may call them guesses, but you’re always right.”
Hanna smiled at her friend. She turned toward the setting sun, the colors magnificent against the darkening sky. “All the stories about his past may be just rumors, but there’s something there that rings true for him. That causes him pain.”
Megan sat down on the bench beside her friend, admiring the sunset as well. “You don’t actually think he was involved in any of that stuff, do you?”
“I don’t know for sure. I would like to think not. But he won’t talk to me. As much as I like him, I don’t know where to go with that. And my sense is that while he may have not been truly involved in anything illegal, somehow there’s more.”
“I hate to say it, but if you’re going to leave a different kind of life behind and start over, Mexico’s a pretty good place to do it. Re-invent yourself, create a new start. But he’s so committed to helping people here in the South Campos. That just doesn’t make any sense, that he’d be running from something.”
The sun made its final appearance of the day, finally setting behind the mountain in a blaze of color. Hanna sighed as she turned to her friend. “I would love that to be the case. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.”
Her friend stood up, pulling Hanna up with her and heading toward the house.
“Just give it some time, maybe. You’ve only just met and there’s no hurry to find out anything at all.”
Hanna walked slowly toward the house, her eyes cast downward, her red boots shuffling in the dirt.
“What? You really like him, don’t you?” Megan said, swinging her arm over Hanna’s shoulder.
Hanna blushed and shoved her hands in her pockets. “I don’t have time for anything like that. I’ve got horses to train.”
Megan snickered. “Ah, I get it. Gotta stay serious and committed. Make sure you don’t have any fun. Make sure nothing happens that isn’t planned.”
“That’s not fair, Megan. I’m not that...rigid.” She crossed her arms over her chest.
“Ordinarily, no. I haven’t seen this side of you in ages. You’ve been pretty Zen for a long time. It figures, that’s when you’d be thrown for a loop.”
Hanna started walking faster. “I have not been thrown for a loop. I just think he’s a nice guy, that’s all.”
“Uh-huh. That’s why you’re bothered that he won’t tell you his deepest, darkest secrets.”
Hanna smiled. “I don’t want to know his deepest darkest secrets. Just trying to help a friend.”
Megan held her hand up to her mouth in mock surprise.
“Okay. I’ll go with that, for now. I bet you’ll find out everything you want to know, and soon. I saw how he looked at you.”
Hanna’s head snapped in her direction, her pony-tail flipping over her shoulder, her brown eyes wide. “What do you mean?”
Megan’s blue eyes flashed at her friend’s surprise. “Come on. You can’t tell me you haven’t noticed that silly grin on his face when you’re around.”
The groan Hanna let out made Megan laugh even harder. “You’re making that up. We’re just friends.”
“As I said, for now. Who could resist a beautiful girl in red cowboy boots, anyway?” She grabbed Hanna’s hand and pulled her toward the house. “Come on. I brought a bottle of wine and it’s way past happy hour.
Chapter 15
Colin’s mood was still dark when he fell into bed. His night was restless, and he’d tossed and turned for hours. Memories of his childhood had come unbidden, and thoughts of his youth in Ireland were front and center. He had gotten up to pace several times, the millions of s
tars shining like sparks on black velvet not able to calm him back to sleep.
With eyes wide open, he watched the Milky Way pass overhead and the sky lighten over the Sea of Cortez, equally as glorious as the sunset the previous evening. Even Nala wasn’t awake this early and he was spared the slobbery tennis ball on his head. Chuckling over his good fortune, he decided to give up on sleep and take a run on the beach.
He pulled a t-shirt over his lean, muscled frame and yanked on a pair of shorts. He smoothed his wavy hair quickly with the palm of his hand and pulled a baseball cap on. Quickly pulling on his running shoes, he hollered for Nala to follow and headed up the beach.
Lost in his thoughts again, he enjoyed the release as sweat began to glisten on his skin. Running faster, he felt his breathing quicken and his heart pound, as it had when he ran in the hills of Ireland as a boy. Before he knew it, he was a few miles up the beach in front of the garage that had burned several nights before. He bent over, resting his hands on his knees for several moments as he caught his breath.
“Hey, Colin,” he heard a voice call. Holding his hand over his brow, he spotted the homeowner waving him over. He walked toward the house, the smell of coffee wafting on the breeze, reminding him he hadn’t yet had his daily dose.
“Coffee?” the man said, lifting up a mug.
Colin smiled. “Sure. Thanks.”
“You’re welcome. Anything I can do for a bombero.”
Colin smiled and took the mug that was offered him, pouring in some cream. “I’ve been thinking about your fire the other night. I’m still trying to make sense of it, especially after the one we had the next day.”
“Do you think there was anything unusual about it?”
“Honestly, I’m not sure. I’m not a professional at this. Just trying to check into everything I can think of for an explanation. If it was fireworks, maybe we need to do some kind of education for weekenders so this doesn’t happen.”
“That would be comforting. Besides all of the dogs hiding under the beds, it’s a bit scary when they set off so many,” he said, shaking his head slowly.
“Could there have been anything in the garage that may have ignited? Did you have any big five-gallon drums in there? I took pictures but haven’t looked at them yet.”
“No, nothing like that. As I told you that night, we got all of the flammable stuff out before the roof collapsed. Haven’t been back in to do anything with it yet, though.”
“Mind if I take a quick look?” Colin set his mug down, hoping he might see something new if he rummaged through the garage again.
“Not at all. Go ahead. I’ve been too depressed to go in there. Guess I should join you.”
The two men headed over to the charred garage, the blackened brick walls half standing. They climbed over the things that had been saved from the fire: kayaks, beach chairs, umbrellas and ice chests.
“Guess we got quite a few things out before it really went up,” the man said, stepping gingerly over a deflated beach volleyball.
Colin walked through the rubble again, picking up a piece of metal and rummaging here and there. Moving away some debris in the corner, he spotted a small can of lacquer thinner with the lid off. His eyes narrowed as memories came flooding back to him.
“Are you a painter by chance?” he said over his shoulder.
The man appeared startled. “No. Why do you ask?”
“Is this your can of lacquer thinner? Here, in the corner.”
“I’ve never seen that before. Like I told you, there was nothing flammable in here, no supplies of any kind like that. Just the gas, and we got that out.”
Colin crossed his arms over his chest, one hand stroking his chin. This looked like a familiar scene to him, one from a long time ago.
“And you said you heard fireworks that night and thought that had caused the blaze. No explosion?”
“If it was an explosion, it was certainly a small one. Not much louder than a firecracker.”
They talked a little bit longer about what might have happened, but they ran into a dead end. Colin’s head spun as he jogged home, the scene of the fire flashing in his mind. It hadn’t even occurred to him that this might be the work of an arsonist, but now the possibility was becoming real.
As he ran, his memories overtook him. He vividly recalled the fires his father responded to as a volunteer firefighter with Colin tagging along...until it got too dangerous. He’d been about sixteen when things got really dicey. Boys he’d been friends with his entire life were experimenting with ways to start fires, bragging loudly about wanting to be a part of “the cause”. It wasn’t long before it got out of hand and people began to get hurt.
Before that last night that had changed his life forever, his father would come home and explain how they did it. He showed Colin the cans of lacquer thinner with rags for small fires. He explained how they used larger drums full of flammables with makeshift fuses and timers.
It suddenly felt too familiar and Colin raced home, wanting to see if he could spot anything in the pictures he’d taken that might confirm what he was beginning to suspect.
He replayed the sights of the second fire in his mind, the houses rushing past in a blur. Nala was at his heel and he barely noticed which part of the beach he was on, trying to remember what he saw surrounding the small can at the first house and the 5-gallon drum at Mike’s house. As he slowed to catch his breath, he turned inland. Looking up at the campos, his breath caught in his throat.
A pillar of smoke climbed high in the sky from one of the campos. It got bigger as he neared and the smoke was as black as he’d ever seen smoke be. It wasn’t that far in the distance...it was clear that it was in one of the campos. He cursed himself for leaving without his radio. If he’d had it with him, he might be lucky enough to hear that it was nothing. But, instead, his heart raced and he was drenched in sweat, and not because of the run.
As he ran faster, he hoped that his eyes were playing tricks on him.
Maybe it’s just somebody burning trash. Please, be that.
His eyes glued to the plume of smoke, he ran faster toward it, hoping against hope that it was nothing out of the ordinary.
Nala bounded ahead as he ran up through the arroyo. As he reached the top of the ridge, he couldn’t deny it any longer. He could now see flames as well as smoke and his heart pounded. Although there were several houses in between him and the flames, there was no doubt that it was Hanna’s house.
Chapter 16
Blood pumped quickly through his veins and his heart pounded as he started off toward the fire, jumping over stumps and weaving through the cactus. As he rounded the last house before Hanna’s, his breath caught in his throat and he stopped dead in his tracks.
In the corral to the side of the house, Hanna held the reins of both Regalo and Violet, leading them calmly over to the far side of the corral. Neither horse seemed alarmed, and confusion washed over Colin’s face.
“Hanna!” he yelled as he continued running toward the smoke. It didn’t appear to be coming from her house, but from the garage on the side.
“Colin,” she said as she finished tying the horses as far as possible from the smoke, “I haven’t been able to do anything about the fire yet.” She turned toward the garage. “I just noticed the smoke and wanted to get them out of the way first. I called for the bomberos.” She calmly walked toward the burning structure, her red cowboy boots raising dust in her wake.
“Stay away, Hanna,” he said.
Her eyes flashed as she turned to him, stopping mid-stride. “This is my house, and I intend to do what I need to do.”
They both turned in unison toward the road as they heard the sirens of the fire engines. The lights flashed as they turned toward the house, heading down the dirt road at a pace Colin was familiar with, trying to navigate the ruts and washes. This time, his hands clenched in frustration as he wished they could respond more quickly, get to this fire faster.
Hanna turned back toward the
garage, striding forward toward the hoses that were used to fill the horses’ water tanks. He caught up with her just as she was turning the spigot. Grabbing her hand, he pulled her back toward the far side of the corral. “I think we should wait for the fire trucks, Hanna. I have a bad feeling about this.”
She stood and looked at him, her eyes quizzical and confused. They both turned toward the garage as flames peeked through the top of the roof, licking at the smoke.
“Trust me, Hanna,” he said, his jaw clenching as he held out his hand to her.
He watched as the black plumes rose higher now, and as he turned to her, her face changed. Her eyes never left his, and as she reached out her hand, her fingers inches from his, the explosion sent them both hurtling away from the fire, flying through the air and landing on the other side of the corral at the feet of Violet and Regalo.
Chapter 17
Hanna’s eyes flickered as she slowly regained consciousness. She looked up at the blue sky and remembered she was in Mexico. Violet was nuzzling her cheek as she lay on the ground, as if prodding her awake.
She groaned and patted Violet’s head, pushing her head away. “I’m all right, girl,” she said as she tried to sit up. She made it to her elbow before she saw Colin next to her, sprawled on the ground and unconscious.
In a flash, she recalled what had happened. She remembered deciding to trust him, ready to run, and the sound of the blast that sent them flying. Now, the fire was much bigger and had either jumped or been sent over to the house several yards away. Although her house was made of the local ladrillo, she knew there was much to burn.
As she turned back to Colin, she saw the first fire engine pull up to the scene. She laid her hand softly on his cheek and called his name as the bomberos prepared to battle the fire, James rushing to where they had been thrown.
“Hanna, are you all right? What happened?” James said quickly, his eyes full of concern.
By the Light of the Moon Page 6