Fired Up

by Mary Connealy

  “Jonas has the back.” Vince had his arms crossed, looking like he was just hanging around, nothing better to do right before sunup. “He can watch from inside. Luke stood in for Jonas until an hour ago, so Jonas got some sleep. I just took over for Red Wolf.”

  “You can’t stand out here every night.” Dawn would be breaking soon. The wind howled and tossed the long coat around Vince’s knees. “You’ll make yourselves sick from the cold. And there aren’t enough of you to keep watch overnight. The shifts are too long. Luke and Red Wolf can’t ride in every night. You’ll all be worn right down to the bone.”

  Dare started moving. He hated standing still, and he hated it even more when he was fretting. And having his friends give up sleep to guard him was a fretful business.

  Vince nodded. “It’d be a sight more comfortable inside. I’ve been wondering if Mrs. Greer or Sevier—or whatever Glynna’s name is—would let me watch out the back window of the kitchen. I can’t ask, though, not if her son and her cook are both suspects. Might as well post a big old sign right here, announcin’ we’re standing guard.”

  “Maybe we should do that.” Dare had thrown on a coat but not a hat. It wasn’t bitter cold—growing up in Indiana taught a man just how cold it could get.

  “It wouldn’t be real sneaky.”

  “The only point of being sneaky is to catch someone. If we let the whole town know we’ve posted a sentry, maybe that’d stop whoever did it. My problems would be solved.”

  “Nope. Not solved. Just put off a while, cuz the killer’d come back once they thought it was safe.”

  “Not if it was Paul who set that fire. He’s not a killer. He might’ve done it in a bad moment when he was killing mad, but he seems calmer now. If it’s him, I’ll be fine.”

  “Plenty of angry kids in the world, Dare. Not too many that’d set a fire to murder a man. If he did that, he needs to be found out.”

  “And Lana,” Dare said, hating to think that Paul had started the blaze, “if she’s as crazy as I think she is, why has she waited all this time? Crazy people aren’t patient. I can see why she would’ve been stopped by me being out of town at the Kiowa village, but I’ve been back for a long time now.”

  “Maybe she didn’t want to kill Glynna and the kids. Maybe she knows we’re watching the house. Maybe she’s crazy as a hydrophobic kangaroo rat and we’re wasting time trying to make sense of what she’s doing.” Vince crossed one booted foot across his ankle and seemed so relaxed he might be trying to slip in a nap. Dare knew better. Invincible Vince was always ready for trouble.

  “I’ve decided it was someone stealing drugs. I’ve had patients wanting morphine before. A couple of ’em passed through not that long ago. If the craving gets too bad, sometimes laudanum won’t hardly stay ahead of it. They hid out by town until they saw their chance, stole the drugs—probably half mad if they were locked in a craving for them—then set the fire and ran.”

  “I dunno,” Vince said. “The way that fire was set seemed mighty personal. It wasn’t strictly to cover up a crime. Whoever it was aimed to kill you, Dare. If it’s someone just wanting morphine, then they probably know you’ve restocked since the fire. Add to that, if they’ve been using what they stole all this time, they might be running out.”

  A rustling sound brought Vince’s gun up as Dare spun around and drew his Colt. A dark shape rounded Dare’s house and he squinted, trying to see if it was someone with a grudge and a tin of matches.

  “What is she doing out here?”

  “She?” Was the moving shadow female? Vince always had eyes like a cat, seeing things in the dark no one else could see. “Is it Glynna?”

  “No, it’s trouble on two legs.”

  Dare recognized the aggravated tone. It must be Tina Cahill.

  Chapter 17

  “What is Tina Cahill doin’ wandering around at this hour?” Then Vince realized and suddenly he felt foolish. Tina Cahill was bringing them—

  “Coffee?” Dare sniffed the air.

  Vince looked around and saw the night had lightened and dawn would soon be upon them. Another nightly vigil was ended. He did a real good job of not letting Dare see how exhausted he was. It helped that it wasn’t yet daylight.

  Tina walked straight for them. Vince saw her eyes locked right on him. It annoyed him that she’d picked him out so easy. But then everything the woman did annoyed him.

  She rarely spoke a kind word to him—for no reason Vince could understand. She tended to preach her own little sermons, mainly about the saloon, which served more coffee than whiskey most days. And she had a knack for listening to Jonas’s sermons, then repeating them in bits and pieces to anyone who didn’t get away from her fast enough. She was also a deep well of old chestnuts learned from her aunt, who didn’t deserve to be quoted, considering she’d booted her niece out into the streets when a new man came along.

  Vince didn’t have time to fool with a woman, and he had enough troubles without worrying about a little filly. But he was used to women, in the rare event he was near one, being real friendly. But Tina had taken an instant dislike to him. She was polite for Jonas’s sake, most of the time, but she had a sharp tongue in her head, and she liked to stab him with words every chance she got.

  It didn’t help that she was the prettiest thing he’d ever seen, and he caught himself on occasion wondering if children born to them would be dark or fair. He could actually picture the little tykes. There would be several, so maybe some blond, some dark. Boys and girls both. Restlessly, because he found the image fascinating, Vince thrust it from his head. He’d accepted that he could never marry nor have children and he’d never spent one second thinking on such a thing before Tina came along.

  “The night watch is over.” Tina raised one hand with a coffeepot and another with two tin cups.

  “You’re not supposed to bring us coffee, for heaven’s sake.” Vince had no idea why he was snipping at the woman. Of course she didn’t know she was giving away Vince’s position.

  “I’d already given away your position, Vince,” Dare said. He walked toward Tina and relieved her of the burden of the pot. “She’s not doing a bit of harm.”

  She smiled at Dare.

  Vince knew that because her teeth shined white in the half-light. Vince tried to remember if she’d ever once smiled at him. She’d bared her teeth a few times, but it wasn’t one bit the same.

  A light from behind them drew Vince’s attention to the back door of the diner. A lantern had just been lit. Lana was up. That woman was a worker for a fact and one of the finest cooks Vince had ever known. Too bad she was a foam-at-the-mouth madwoman.

  “Let’s go to my place.” Dare started for his house.

  “Is Jonas up?” Vince asked, dogging Dare. He had no wish to be left behind with Tina.

  “Yes, he got the coffee going,” Tina said. She was just a step behind them.

  Dare swung his door open and held it for her.

  “No one’s gonna try and start a fire with four of us awake and the lights on. Another night has passed with no sign of trouble. Besides, if it’s Lana Bullard, she’s too busy cooking to kill you right now.” Vince, remembering his manners, stepped back to let Tina go through. Then he followed.

  “I’ll tell Jonas to come on over.” Dare let the door swing shut behind Vince.

  At the sound of the closing door, Tina turned suddenly and Vince stumbled into her and caught her, his hands on her upper arms.

  Dare’s house was dark. Tina moved, warm and supple under his hands.

  “You suspect Lana Bullard is responsible for this?” She sounded surprised.

  Vince’s fingers flexed on her arms, and he noticed how slender and soft she was.

  “Vince!” Tina’s tone brought his eyes up.

  “Huh?” He decided to keep hanging on for just a few more seconds.

  “Lana Bullard—you think she started the fire that almost killed Dare?”

  That wasn’t what Vince wanted to talk about a
t all, but he did want to stay right here, and so he forced his mind to work. “Sure, possibly. Probably, in my opinion.”

  “Why would she do that?”

  “Because she’s crazy as a hydrophobic kangaroo rat.”

  Tina shook her head. “She seems fine to me. My aunt Iphigenia always said, ‘Don’t talk unless you can improve the silence,’ and your criticism of a hardworking woman like Lana improves nothing.”

  Vince ignored almost all of that. “You seem fine to me, too.” Vince held her just a little tighter and drew her just a little closer.

  Tina opened her mouth, then closed it. For a second it reminded Vince of the catfish he’d pulled out of Lake Michigan while growing up. But this pretty woman’s resemblance to a catfish ended right there, and he forgot about fishing when she took a deep breath and he felt her move again under his hands.

  “Why?” Tina asked the strangest questions.

  “Cuz fishing’s got nothing to do with you.”

  Tina closed her eyes and shook her head as if she needed to rearrange her brain. Then she stepped back.

  Vince didn’t even consider letting her go and instead tugged, and she stumbled forward right into his arms. The door behind him swung open. Jonas shoved past Vince, who dropped the preacher’s sister like she was a blazing hot potato.

  Turning his baby sister forcibly around, Jonas herded her into Dare’s kitchen. Vince followed, but Jonas firmly closed the kitchen door with Tina in the kitchen, turned, and blocked Vince’s path.

  Jonas Cahill—Parson Jonas Cahill, good friend, wise counselor, loving man of God—jabbed a finger right under Vince’s nose. “You watch your step around my sister.”

  With narrow eyes Jonas studied Vince a moment too long. Vince remembered his friend had ridden the outlaw trail. He’d been a mighty dangerous man in the war, too.

  It helped clear Vince’s muddled head right up.

  Especially since that beautiful woman didn’t even like him. And he didn’t like her, neither. Much.

  “Uh . . . Jonas, you don’t have to—”

  Dare, who must’ve been with Jonas, though Vince hadn’t noticed him until now, shoved past Vince. The restless man didn’t know how to wait worth a hoot. Vince moved, which broke the awkward stare-down. Jonas headed for the kitchen fast, probably to get there in time to keep an eye on his fuss-budget sister. His beautiful fuss-budget sister. His beautiful fuss-budget sister who’d brought coffee on a cold Texas morning and had arms so soft and strong that Vince still felt them moving under his touch.

  Dare threw kindling in his kitchen stove while Tina pulled down a skillet. Vince leaned against the door, to keep watch—and stay away from Tina.

  Tina said over her shoulder, “Start breaking eggs, Vince. Make yourself useful.”

  “No, hold on,” Vince said. “Let’s go over to the diner for breakfast. I want you to see what I’m talking about with Lana Bullard.”

  “She’s a really good cook,” Dare said. “I’d be in big trouble in this town if I had her arrested for attempted murder. I’m going to need solid proof if I don’t want to be tarred and feathered and driven out of Broken Wheel.” After a moment, Dare added, “They might do it even if I can prove she’s guilty.”

  Vince poured himself more coffee. “You’ll be in big trouble if you get your house burned down around your ears again and this time don’t wake up in time to get out. Try to remember that when you’re worrying about being popular with the townsfolk.” Vince went back to his post at the kitchen door.

  “True.” Dare got coffee for himself and started pacing.

  “So you think the cook at the diner tried to kill you?” Tina asked. “Did you insult her pie?”

  “No, sir. She makes the best pie I’ve eaten since I sat at my own ma’s table.”

  A rap on the door drew Vince away. He swung the front door open to find Glynna standing there in the dim light of dawn. “Kinda early for a visit, isn’t it, Mrs. Greer?”

  “It’s Sevier, and yes, it’s early.” Glynna trailed him into the kitchen, still rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. “I saw the light on when I came down to help Lana. She shooed me out. Can I help you get breakfast over here?”

  “No!” Vince, Dare, and Jonas all spoke at once, and spoke a bit too loudly.

  “That’s just what Lana said.” Glynna’s eyes got round and leaky looking. Vince hunched his shoulders and prepared to take a beating—at least that’s how a woman’s tears felt to him.

  “We were planning on eating at the diner.” Tina gave the men a confused look. “Otherwise we’d appreciate your help.”

  Vince stifled a shudder, but Jonas didn’t do as well. Dare was always moving, so it was easier for him to get away with jittering around.

  “I want to meet your cook. Vince here has said some hard things about her, and I want to judge for myself if she’s a troubled woman.” Tina frowned at Vince. “It’s a hard life out here. If she’s really troubled, you might try showing her some compassion instead of insulting her.”

  Vince rolled his eyes heavenward. “It’s not an insult to say a lunatic is a lunatic. It’s like saying water is wet.”

  Tina sniffed and turned her back on him. He sure wished the woman wasn’t so pretty. And so bent on hating him.

  “Is the diner open?” Dare asked.

  “Not quite yet.”

  “Good, the crowd shows up the minute the door unlocks. Let’s go now. I haven’t so much as talked with Lana. I want to see how she acts when I walk into that kitchen.”

  “A kitchen full of sharp knives,” Vince muttered.

  Dare thought of knives and remembered Janny’s hand. He was pacing near Vince, and his friend slapped him on the back and said, “But I’ll protect you.”

  “Hope it doesn’t come to that. Let’s go.”

  Glynna had to unlock the diner’s front door.

  Instead of heading for a chair, Dare walked straight toward the kitchen. “Let’s go on back. I want to see her.”

  It occurred to Dare that he was dealing in a friendly fashion with Glynna—for a change.

  Maybe it was because he’d been distracted by Vince standing guard, reminding Dare of the threat to his life.

  Maybe it was because Glynna had moved out and he wasn’t spending quite so much time brooding over how much he was attracted to her and how disgusted he was with her helping a thieving deserter.

  Maybe it was because he knew he was being a confounded fool, and none of what happened to Glynna was her own fault. Might as well blame her for accidentally hitting Greer in the fist with her face.

  Glynna went into the kitchen first, Dare right behind her. He heard boots and glanced back to see Vince, followed by Tina and Jonas, all coming in—his friends to guard him, Tina to see if they were treating poor Lana fairly.

  Dare stepped into the kitchen to see Lana, her back to him, chopping up a potato with a knife that flashed like lightning. The woman was a hand with the cutlery, no denying it.

  “Lana, I’m back,” Glynna said. “Can I help?”

  “No!” Lana turned around, holding the knife like a weapon—which could be accidental. Then she looked past Glynna and her eyes landed on Dare. He saw her grip tighten on the knife handle. Something deadly flashed in her eyes. She blinked a few times and was just a hardworking cook again.

  “I’m not quite ready to start cooking, but the coffee’s hot by now.” She jabbed the long, curved blade at the coffeepot. “Pour ’em a cup, Glynna.”

  It was an order. Lana had truly taken control of Glynna’s diner. It made sense that someone would. Glynna clearly had no talent for running a kitchen.

  Not surprising, Glynna obeyed the order. The woman had no sense of command.

  “Lana, how are you?” Dare figured he wasn’t going to be able to prove the woman was a killer just from that flash in her eyes and her skill at chopping. “I haven’t seen you for a while.”

  “I ain’t been feeling poorly. No reason to see a doctor.” Lana went back to
work, reducing a stack of potatoes to shreds. The woman worked magic turning a potato into breakfast.

  Her shoulders seemed stiff. She’d turned so he could only see the side of her face.

  Dare didn’t know how hard to push her. If she wasn’t the one who’d attacked him, then she had honest work and a fair amount of skill. Was she fragile enough that he could drive her away? And if so, where would she go?

  Dare wanted to send everyone out of the room in the hopes she’d talk more freely with him if they were alone. But Vince-the-guardian wouldn’t go, nor Tina-the-reformer, who was determined to guard the rights of the criminally insane.

  Jonas wouldn’t go, either. He wasn’t of a mind to leave Tina and Vince in the same room. Glynna might go. She’d followed an order just a few seconds ago. But that still left the kitchen mighty crowded.

  Considering that sharp knife, Dare wasn’t sure he wanted them to go. “I’ve felt bad about how things ended last time you came in.”

  The clatter of the chopping on the wooden tabletop stopped as suddenly as if Dare’s hearing had quit working. Lana flexed her wrist around so the knife went up and down a bit as if she were aiming it. Slowly, Lana straightened from the table, still flexing the knife in eerie silence. Dare should keep talking, but his throat was bone-dry, especially since Glynna was a bit ahead of him, right in the path of the knife.

  He caught Glynna by the shoulder and shoved her behind him as Lana began to turn, her knife still tipping up and down. Vince made a fast move and was at Lana’s side and wrested the knife from her hand. It happened so fast, Dare hadn’t even realized what Vince was doing until he’d done it.

  Lana whirled and glared at Vince. “Give me back that knife.”

  “I didn’t like the way you were holding it.” Vince wasn’t showing one bit of concern for Lana’s tender feelings. “You seemed inclined to attack the doctor the last time you saw him, and I didn’t see any reason to let you stand there, knife in hand, while you answered his questions. Dr. Riker wants to talk about how upset you were that night you thought you’d lost your baby.”

  Flinching, Dare wished Vince wasn’t so blunt. But then why not? If Lana wasn’t a crazed killer, she’d apologize for how strangely she acted. Or maybe she’d get upset but in a rational way. If she was a raving lunatic who was currently and tenuously clinging to good sense, it might be better to provoke her when there were plenty of witnesses—and she was unarmed.