Familiar Fire

by Caroline Burnes

  “Make a choice, Billy. You can come with me, or you can die in the street,” the sheriff said.

  Billy didn’t do a thing. His fate was completely in the hands of Red, a roving Irish dog.

  The sheriff’s hand moved down toward the butt of his gun. Just as his fingers caressed the handle, Red cut loose on his leg. The sheriff was so startled he lost his concentration. Billy grabbed for his gun, rolled and came up blasting. He winged the sheriff in the arm and made his escape with old Red gallivanting along at his heels.

  Now that’s the tale of a great moment of relief, and one that’s been completely forgotten in the lore of Billy the Kid.

  Ah, indeed One day I ought to write the history of my family, “Dog Days—Canine Tales of Bold Romance and Adventure.” Jack London made a fortune with his White Fang books, and those dogs were savages.

  Let me cock my ear to the south. I hear the sound of some cats stirring at the Tanner residence. It’s early, and what a wonderful surprise—to spring forth from the bushes and give those lazy pusses a moment to remember.

  KATE COULD BARELY control her laughter as Lyte stormed to his car and got in. He was fuming. Beside her, Familiar also looked amused.

  “How about some breakfast?” she asked the cat as the minister drove away. She turned away from the window just in time to hear a knock at her door.

  “It’s open.”

  She wasn’t completely surprised to find Jake standing there. She’d been thinking about him all night. “Your dog deserves a T-bone, my treat,” she said.

  “He deserves a prison term,” Jake couldn’t stop his smile, “but I’ll let him have the T-bone.”

  “Is he always so discerning about character?” Kate found that Jake’s smile opened the door on a lot of emotions. And memories. He looked so young when he smiled, so much like the eighteen-year-old she’d left behind. Looking at him, at this moment, it felt as if fifteen years had not slipped away from them.

  “Ouzo has a knack for puncturing pomposity, particularly mine,” Jake said, his smile turning slightly rueful. “Lyte is going to be out to have my head.”

  “Does he know Ouzo’s your dog?” Kate realized that Jake didn’t need Lyte any angrier. The minister was already over the line.

  “If he doesn’t, he’ll find out. Ouzo is a hard dog to hide. He’s a descendant of Big Red, the dog that ran with Billy the Kid.”

  “Yeah, right. Familiar here is straight from Salem, Massachusetts. Right, boy?”

  Familiar’s golden gaze was unyielding.

  “Sorry,” she said, stroking his back. “Familiar is not amused and neither am L” She popped the top on a tin of smoked shrimp. “Try this, fella.” She placed it on the floor.

  “It’s true. Big Red was a famous Irish setter. He was imported directly from Ireland.”

  Kate gave him a sidelong look. “If Ouzo is descended from an Irish setter, why is he black?”

  Jake paused, a frown settling on his face. At last his eyes brightened. “Because he was a blackguard. He was something of a criminal mastermind.”

  “Jake, I hate to disillusion you, but Ouzo looks like a black cur. Maybe a cross between a lab and a setter or bird dog, but he definitely can’t trace his ancestry farther back than the street corner where his unlikely parents met up. He’s black as the ace of spades and those golden eyes, they’re wolfish, Jake. Not to mention the long hair on his back legs that makes him look like he’s wearing baggy trousers. The Kennel Club would be on you with a lawsuit if you tried to claim that animal as a descendant of some pedigreed setter.”

  “Kate! Ouzo would be mortally offended. And after he saved you from the attack of the enraged Reverend Lyte.”

  Kate laughed out loud. Jake’s false indignation was over the top. It had been a long time since she’d shared the absolute joy of a good laugh with…She straightened up. “Where is Ouzo, that pedigreed dog?”

  “Uh-oh.” Jake looked out the window. To his surprise, Ouzo was sitting on the street, staring in at them. “He’s right there. Let me get him.”

  “Use the leash,” Kate called out. “I’ve seen him at work with cats, and Familiar doesn’t care to be harassed.”

  Kate found another can of chicken and opened it for the dog. “Don’t say I’m spoiling him,” she forestalled Jake when he returned with the dog. “It’s rude to feed the cat and not Ouzo, besides I do owe him a thank-you.”

  “Since you’re handing out food, how about sharing one of those pastries.” Jake pointed at the bag. “Let’s see, you got one cheese Danish and one bear claw. You’ll eat half of each one, unless I beat you to it.”

  Kate pushed the bag toward Jake, hiding her sudden uneasiness behind a smile. “Help yourself.” Jake remembered too much about her. He knew the small details, the little crazy things she did that no one else bothered to notice. Jake reached into the bag, selecting the bear claw, as she knew he would. He reached for the other bag and drew out one of the two coffees. She always bought two, just in case she wanted a second cup.

  They found themselves staring at each other. The wall clock ticked louder as the long moment continued. Kate stood beside her desk. She knew she should say something, but words were inadequate to help her now. There was only Jake and the emotions that sizzled between them. Hurt, pain, distrust, fear, and ultimately, desire. He was sitting on the edge of her desk, and more than anything in the world she wanted him to kiss her. She’d hate herself—and probably him—when it was over, but it was almost painful she wanted him so much.

  Jake lowered the coffee and the sweet roll. He stood, slowly. Kate could see it in his eyes. He wanted her, too. They were both aware how stupidly they were behaving. Their chance had been missed long ago. Kate, better than anyone, knew there was no going back to the past and changing things. And yet…

  She swayed toward him as he closed the distance in two steps. She sank into his arms and felt them close around her with a sensation of pure happiness. Nothing else mattered. Not the past, not the future. Kate pressed her cheek against his shirt and held him as tightly as he held her.

  “Kate?”

  She looked up slowly. His lips were right there, and it seemed lifting hers to his was the only thing to do. How many times had she dreamed of this? But she’d never expected it to happen. Never.

  His lips were as sensual as she remembered, and his kiss as tender. She felt his hand move up to her neck, his fingers working into her hair as he slowly tugged it free of the pins that held it. He deepened the kiss, and Kate met him with demands of her own. Her own hands moved up his back, sliding over the muscles that were bigger, more developed than she remembered them.

  But his hair was the same. The silky texture of it, the feel of it made her tighten her hold, and he responded with more urgency in his kiss. In the background, Ouzo began to bark, but Kate ignored the dog and so did Jake. His face, unshaven, was slightly abrasive against her cheek as he broke the kiss to explore her neck with hard, hungry kisses.

  “Oh, Jake,” she whispered, unable to deny him.

  His fingers claimed her hair, gently tugging her head back further. His lips trailed down her throat, down to her collar bone and one hand dropped from her hair and began to slowly unbutton the uniform she wore.

  It occurred to Kate to stop this madness. It was insane. But it was the sweetest, most incredible lunacy Kate had experienced in a long, long time. Jake’s touch had always been magic.

  “Katie,” he whispered against the top of her breast. “I’ve spent many a long night thinking of you,” he said. He pushed the shirt off her shoulder. “I—”

  He blinked with shock at the sudden pain in his leg. Looking down, he saw the black cat, both front paws extended into his calf.

  Kate felt the tension in him and looked down, too. “Familiar!”

  Kate bent to push the cat away just as the office door burst open and an angry Roy Adams appeared, huffing and red-faced. Still bent over, Kate buttoned her shirt in what she prayed was an unobtrusive manner
.

  “Well, I’m glad to see you’ve got Jake,” Roy said. “Something has to be done about these fires and done now. Jake, if you can’t handle it, you can find another job. Kate, I hate to say it, but if you don’t get busy, there’s talk of a recall election.” He looked at both of them. “Is something wrong here?”

  “Nothing,” Jake said. He glanced at Kate. “Roy, putting pressure on Kate or me won’t change the facts. We’re working together on this case, and the best thing that could happen would be for you and everyone else to back off and let us do our jobs.”

  “You’re working together, are you?” Roy shot Kate a suspicious glance. “I never thought I’d see the day when you two worked together. I remember when you tried to run him down, Kate.”

  “That was a long time ago, Roy,” she said carefully. Damn! Was she always going to be haunted by the past? Either hers or her family’s.

  “What’s really going on here?” Roy glanced back and forth between them. “There’s something else…”

  “You’re right, Roy,” Jake said, stepping forward. “You’ll hear about this sooner or later, so it might as well come from me. Ouzo used Theodore Lyte for a fire hydrant.”

  Adam’s face registered puzzlement, then disbelief, then for a split second, amusement, before he replaced it with a scowl. “That man has been a bane ever since he took over that church last year. Jake, did you tell that dog to do that?”

  “You should know by now that Ouzo doesn’t do anything I tell him to do.”

  “That’s true enough.” Adams glanced at the dog who was sitting beside Familiar. “What a duo. Where’d you get the cat?”

  “I’m keeping him for a friend,” Kate said quickly.

  “I believe there’s some law against keeping animals in public buildings.” He eyed Kate suspiciously. “There’s really something going on here between you two and I can’t figure it out.”

  “I was trying to figure out what charges to file against the dog,” Kate said, sending Jake a glance that begged for help. “There ought to be a law against doing what he did, but I couldn’t find one on the books.”

  “Well, book him as a public nuisance and fine Jake.” Adams stomped back to the door. “I don’t care what you two have to do to get results, I want results. Remember, Jake, you’ve got a report to give tonight at the meeting, and I want to see the officials of Dandy Diamond Casino leave here with big smiles on their faces about the prospect of putting a new casino here.”

  “No promises,” Jake said, holding his ground. “Roy, nobody would be happier than me to put the arsonist behind bars. You, of all people, should remember how much my ranch meant to me. Solving these arsons has become personal, and the only promise you’ll get from me is that I’ll do everything I can to find the person or persons responsible for the fires.”

  Roy snorted. “So far, that hasn’t been good enough. Now get busy and quit wasting time.”

  He walked out, closing the door behind him. Kate went to her desk and fidgeted with the coffee, now cold. She didn’t want it anyway. She also didn’t want to have to meet Jake’s eye. They had stepped off the world and into a fantasy of madness. It could never happen again.

  “Kate,” Jake said softly. He walked over and lifted her chin so that she had to look at him.

  “Don’t, Jake,” she said. She stepped back. “That was crazy. We both lost our minds for a minute. That’s all it was, so let’s forget about it.”

  Jake followed her, his hand brushing her cheek. “Can you forget it?—because I can’t.”

  “I have to,” she said. She looked up at him. “I came back here because I finally realized that running away wasn’t a solution to anything. No matter where I went, I was still Kate McArdle’s granddaughter. I was still the sixteen-year-old whose mother ran away with a gambler and left her all alone. I was still the girl who slept with her boyfriend and then discovered that a hardscrabble ranch meant more to him than she did.” She put her finger over his lips to stop his protest. “That’s the way it felt, Jake. I’ve grown up enough to understand that maybe, just maybe, that wasn’t exactly the way it was. But don’t you see, it doesn’t really matter now. That’s the past. We had our chance and we blew it. Or I blew it. I was too…damaged to be whole enough to be the woman you needed.” She shrugged. “I may still be too much of a mess.” She faced him again. “But at least I’m trying now. And getting involved with you will only mess me up worse.”

  Kate’s words were like a slap. Kate had been doing her own thinking, and it wasn’t running parallel to his.

  “What we had was something special, Kate. I’m not willing to write it off and say we made a mistake so now it’s finished. You’re here. I’m here. There’s a chance for us, if you’re willing to take it.”

  The memory of their kiss made her skin burn with desire. There was no denying the power of their attraction for one another. But attraction was one thing, love was another. That was the wisdom she should have learned from Kitty McArdle. Desire was like the flame of a candle. It glowed beautifully in the right setting. But a strong gust of wind could extinguish it. Or in the wrong setting, it could start a devastating fire.

  Kate shook her head. “Not now, Jake. There’s no chance for us now.” Even as she spoke the words her body betrayed her. She wanted to go to him, to feel his arms wrap around her in an embrace that made her feel safe and loved.

  “You always think you’re the one who calls the shots, Kate.” Jake had grown angry. “When you roared out of town that day you never gave me a chance. Now, once again, you’re in total control. Maybe it’s because you can’t allow anyone else to be in charge, not even of your desires.” He reached over and picked up Ouzo’s leash. “That’s always been the problem here. You and your obsessive need to be in total control. And I guess you’re right. That’s something that I can’t deal with. No man would be able to.”

  Jake walked out and left the door open behind him.

  For a moment Kate remained perfectly still. She felt as if he’d knocked the breath out of her lungs. The first sensation that returned was a kind of sickness. She had the terrible feeling that it truly wasn’t over with Jake, despite her brave words to the contrary. Coming back to Silver City might have been the worst mistake of her life.

  Especially since so much evidence suggested that Jake could actually be an arsonist.

  Chapter Five

  Kate stood at the door of the Golden Nugget. Even though it was nine in the morning, the place was hopping with activity. It was true that no matter the hour, there were always gamblers eager to test their skills against lady luck.

  Kate had done no more than glimpse inside the old theater since she’d come back to town. Seeing the changes would be hard. Kitty McArdle always had a taste for the flamboyant in her clothes and decor, but she hadn’t had neon lights and rainbow-hued tiling and carpet to toy with.

  Kate pushed through the door. She took a look around, absorbing the addition of gaming tables, slot machines, and roulette wheels. At least Alexis Redfield had kept the flavor of the place as a saloon and theater. The old stage was just as it was when Kitty walked off it for the last time, except now there were expensive lights and plush curtains’. The stage floor, once worn by the dancing feet of Kitty’s Kittens, was polished. Nearer to the bar, the floor was covered with plush carpeting patterned with a full-house poker hand.

  The crowd was solid and boisterous, and Kate walked up to the bar where her grandmother’s likeness stared down at her. Kitty McArdle had been a beautiful young woman, and the artist had captured every curve and even the glint of mischief in her green eyes. Kitty had never married. It was a family tale that she’d been in love with the U.S. Marshal who was in charge of the Colorado territory at the time. He was a man who kept company with Kitty, taking her and a bottle upstairs to her private apartment at the end of a long evening. But Kitty had never talked about her personal romantic encounters. Never.

  The bartender glanced at Kate, then looked again
. He turned so that he could look at the picture behind him, and then back at Kate. “You could be her ghost,” he said.

  “I’m her granddaughter,” Kate answered evenly, “and I’m also Sheriff of Gilpin County. I’m here to see Ms. Redfield. I have an appointment.”

  He pointed to the staircase. “She’s up there.”

  Kate knew her way around. She’d spent her childhood running through the old building, playing hide-and-seek. It had been a wonderful place then. An air of secrecy hung about the entire building, and especially Kitty. And Kate had loved secrets.

  As she walked up the stairs she put the past aside. At a door marked Office, she knocked.

  “Come in,” a sultry voice called out.

  Kate entered. The room’s color scheme was of mint and orange sherbet, and everything was painted or printed in stripes, dots and stars—the pillows, curtains, rugs, walls, blinds, and even the furniture. Kate instantly felt suffocated. There was at least fifty thousand dollars’ worth of ruffles in that room alone.

  “Whatever it is that you want, state it and then get out” Alexis Redfield stepped out from behind a pastel plaid screen.

  Kate blinked. Alexis was wearing an orange sherbet dressing gown with a mint green boa collar. A matching fuzzy green turban covered her head. Unable to take her eyes off the strange outfit, Kate managed to say, “Hello. I’m…following through on an investigation, and need to ask a few questions. What’s your relationship with Evelyn Winn?”

  Alexis went to a small antique desk against the wall and picked up an orange cigarette holder. From a silver case she withdrew a mint green cigarette and put it in the holder. At Kate’s open stare, she twisted one corner of her flaming orange mouth and said. “I have them specially made. They’re menthol.” She lit up and blew a gust of smoke at Kate.