With intense relief, she started to run into his arms. Mac grinned and she stopped. Did he have any concept of what he is just put her through? He was standing there grinning like an idiot. Rage overcame her relief at the sight of him.
Mac handed Chance over to the paramedics and ambled over to Dixie. He needed to dispel the terror he’d seen in her eyes when he had come through the blaze with Chance in tow. His heart was close to bursting. His brother was alive! They came through the fiery blaze and dodged burning rafters. They had sidestepped tumbling debris, but they had made it! He wanted to grab Dixie and hold her close. He wanted to take her home and lose himself in her warm and loving body.
Mac reached her side. He started to take her in her arms, but she flinched and stepped back. He stared in shock at her actions, noticing the tear streaked face and the accusatory glare. He was completely baffled. He had seen the overwhelming joy plainly on her face even from a distance. Granted, it’d been a close call, but everyone was out now.
When Dixie continued to stare at him, he turned with a sigh and encountered Jamie’s gaze. Grinning sheepishly, he motioned Mac over.
“Maybe it would be best if you gave her some more time to cool off. I’ve never seen her so upset. She was scared to death. Now that you’re alright there’s gonna be hell to pay, you know that don’t you?”
Sam shouted and waved them over. Mac and the others hastened to where Chance was receiving medical attention. Everyone’s elation at the sight of the men coming out of the blaze turned to concern. It was apparent Chance could be seriously injured. While the firefighter that had rescued him performed resuscitation, a portable oxygen tank was wheeled over. One man was checking his vital signs, yelling instructions to several others. They watched the entire process with bated breath. The firefighter was pumping Chance’s chest. One. Two. Three. Four. Quickly changing direction to blow in his mouth. One. Two. Three. Four. The family counted along with the rescue team willing chance to breathe. Breathe!
Mac was the first to notice the slight movement in Chances chest. His arms slowly crept up the head of the rescuer delivering the resuscitation. With a flick of his wrist, he knocked the cumbersome hat off and grasped a fistful of hair. Mac assumed he was trying to fight the restrictions placed upon him in his semi-conscious state.
Mac started forward to restrain his brother. The firefighter performing mouth-to-mouth was trying unsuccessfully to shake Chance’s hand. As Mac watched in growing horror, Chance turned his head slightly and deepened the resuscitating motions into a passionate kiss. The firefighter wrestled with him, trying to break his hold, and suddenly hairpins flew in all directions as masses of long blonde hair tumbled down around Chance’s fingers. In that instant, Chance opened his eyes, and his rescuer slapped him hard across the face.
Chance’s hero left him to the ministrations of the rest of the medics and stomped over to the fire chief. After a few angry words, the firefighter stripped out of the bulky yellow suit and a very feminine figure emerged. Mac’s obvious mortification turned to disbelieve as he realized the firefighter who had worked so valiantly to save Mac and Chance was a woman.
“Leave it to Chance to try and seduce a woman on his deathbed,” Sam observed wryly.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
When it became evident that Chance would pull through, Dixie turned away from the fire scene and started toward the car. She needed to get herself under control before she faced Mac, but he ran to catch up with her.
As soon as they were out of sight of the others, Mac grabbed Dixie’s arm and held her close, heedless of the grime of his clothing. Dixie heard his comforting heartbeat and tried to calm her own erratic pulse. He’s fine. He wasn’t hurt. Nothing happened to him. She repeated this mantra as she fought for control.
“You’re sure you’re not hurt? No bruises or burns or anything?” she asked. At the negative shake of his head, she began to tremble anew.
Mac stepped away from her, his arms outstretched as he turned in a slow circle. “Look at me, honey. I’m fine. A little dirty, but I’m not hurt.” He gathered her close again and wiped a smudge of dirt off her cheek. She was trembling in the aftermath.
“Are you positive you’re unharmed?”
“Positive.” Mac grinned.
“Good.” She stepped away. Drawing back her fist, she gave him a swift punch to the stomach.
“Oof.” Mac doubled over while she continued to punch him wherever she could reach.
“Don’t you ever scare me like that again!” she screamed as she kicked him in the shins. He grunted and grabbed hisleg. “Don’t you realize you could have been killed?” She tried to punch him in the eye.
Mac staggered back as she continued to rain punches down upon them. He frantically grabbed her hands and got enough leverage to wrap his arms and legs around her, effectively pinning her to his side. She struggled, jerking her head in the direction of the firefighters.
“Those people are professionals. They do this for a living. They are well trained and well-equipped, but you just had to find your brother yourself didn’t you?”
He put his hand to her mouth, “Let me explain.”
She bit him.
“Oww!” he yelled shaking the injured appendage.
She took the opportunity to struggle out of his grasp and rounded on him once again, her hands on her hips. “Did you give one thought to me? How would I have told your parents? They not only lost one child, but two? I love you, you stupid, brave man. My heart went up in flames when I realized you were in that blaze. You honestly expect me to kiss you and let it go at that? Not very likely, buster.”
She wagged her finger at him. “You’re going to be paying for this escapade for the rest your life. And another thing…” She continued, but suddenly the trees behind him began spinning. Mac’s face became a blur. “Oh God, I don’t feel so good.” And with a sway, Dixie fainted in his arms.
Mac stared dumbly at the prone figure splayed across his outstretched arms. His mind was still staggering from the scolding he had received. One minute she’s shouting at me and the next she’s fainted. Fainted?! With a call for help, he carried the unconscious woman back to the paramedics.
Quickly ascertaining that her vital signs were good, the paramedics opened a small pack the smelling salts and waived it under her nose. After a moment, Dixie began to stir. Supported by Mac’s arms, she slowly regained consciousness. She looked around at the concerned circle of faces. Sam was delivering stinging smacks to her hand in an effort to comfort her with little pats. Jamie was frowning at her as if she had fainted on purpose to prove to Mac how upset she was. Chance was staring at her as if she had grown two heads. “I’m sorry. Too much excitement, I guess.”
Shakily, she tried to regain her feet, but Mac pressed her back against his chest. “You are not going anywhere. You’re going to be checked out by a doctor at the hospital. You have any idea how terrified I was when you just pitched into my arms?”
“Somehow I think I know the feeling,” she said dryly. “It probably came close to the feeling I had when I knew you had disappeared in that barn.”
Mac’s felt a blush crawl up his face. Repentant, he kissed her. “I’m sorry. You’re right. I was so concerned for my brothers, I failed to realize the impact of my actions on you. We’ll talk later. But right now I want you to get checked out at the hospital.”
“I’m sure it was just nerves. We’ve been through so much lately,” she reassured Mac, but her expression proved she didn’t believe her own words.
Dixie, Jamie, Chance, Sam and Mac-at Dixie’s insistence-were taken to a nearby hospital for a more thorough evaluation. Ben notified Mac’s parents of the situation. Mac conferred with the doctor, and it was decided that Chance should stay overnight for observation, but Sam and Jamie were released after receiving a few stitches and their burns were cleaned and bandaged. Sam had suffered a concussion, but the doctor felt it was okay to release him after giving Mac strict instructions. Mac was all right with
this, but he wanted Dixie to stay overnight. Only after the doctor assured him that Dixie was in excellent health, did he relent. They walked down the hall the check on Chance before heading home.
“What in blue blazes is going on around here?” Ginny Coalson demanded from the doorway of Chance’s hospital room. “Ben comes by the house and tells us that the construction company offices have burned down and that most of my children are at the hospital. Did no one think we would want to be informed of this disaster?”
“Well, uh, Mom,” Mac stammered, searching the room for reinforcements, but his other brothers were suddenly intensely interested in the art on the wall, the carpet on the floor, or the tiles on the ceiling. He was on his own.
With a sigh of disgust, he tried to allay her fears. He knew that was the true cause of her anger. She had always yelled at them severely whenever one of them had been injured. It was her way of releasing the tension and fear that she felt. Apparently, Dixie was a lot like his mother, Mac reflected as he massaged his still tender stomach.
Sam took pity on him. “I was sitting at his kitchen table drinking a beer and mulling over the evidence gathered at each the vandalized houses. It wasn’t much. The vandalism had started right after the first home had been built by Mac. The most logical conclusion was that some of the competition wasn’t too happy about being outbid on the projects, but I checked into that angle with a few discreet inquiries and came up with nothing. This had the feel of something personal. But I knew we were missing something. Maybe there was another angle somewhere and this guy was simply using the homes because he knows it’s our weak point.”
Sam took a drink of water. “I thought maybe this was a personal vendetta against the family. After all, I’m the most hated person in the family so I looked up the personnel files of everyone who had been involved in the fiasco fifteen years ago. The only name to come up on the computer with any sort of grudge against me was Angel, and no matter what we had gone through years ago, I couldn’t believe she would exact revenge by taking it out on the whole family.”
“Of course not!” Chance retorted from his hospital bed.
Sam frowned at the interruption. “I made a quick call to my superiors in Washington, and was reassured that all the criminals I had helped bring down were either still incarcerated, out of the country, or dead. I also knew from personal experiences how easy it was to get certain jobs done even thousands of miles away. I was a specialist in tracking down individuals that wanted to remain “anonymous”. This had the feel of a professional. He knew just where to hit, what to hit the hardest, to hurt the worst. He had to be getting inside information. That’s when I realized how much time had passed since Chance had left for the offices.”
“I grabbed my cell phone and dialed the office, but received the answering machine. I tried Chance’s cell phone, then Jamie’s. When they went automatically to voicemail, my intuition screamed. I grabbed my keys and headed out the door.”
“Why didn’t you call me sooner?” Mac huffed.
“Because I’m used to working alone. I didn’t think about it. I spotted Chance’s car sitting in the parking lot. I was about to ream them both new assholes for not answering their phones. As I started for the front door, I noted a slight disturbance in the bushes at the back of the building. I crept closer, and shortened the distance between me and the figure there. He was oblivious to my approach, but that’s when the smell of gas hit me.”
“I darted forward, intent upon stopping this guy. I didn’t know where Jamie and Chance were, but it was a sure bet they couldn’t help me. I reached out to grab the man by the collar. I saw Jeb’s face, then my head exploded.”
Mac continued the tale. “When Sam came to, he called me, said the barn was on fire, and he had already called the fire department, but Chance and Jamie were in the offices. He was going to get them out. By the time we got there, the barn was in flames, firefighters were running around, and my brothers were nowhere to be found.”
Dixie interrupted with a scowl. “So you took it upon yourself to enter the blaze to rescue Chance.”
“Well, Sam and Jamie had a pretty good idea where he was and I couldn’t waste time trying to relay that to the firemen. The place was about to blow!”
“YOU WHAT?!” Hank shouted.
“It turned out okay, Dad. We were able to save everyone. Besides, Dixie’s already had her say about it.” Mac threw a frown at his wife.
“Then Chance kissed the firefighter and they lived happily ever after,” Jamie joked, hoping to lighten the mood and downplay Mac’s involvement in Chance’s rescue.
Hank Coalson looked at each of his sons. “Well if you would humor an old man, I would like for all of you to stay at the farm tonight. I feel the need to be close to my children. And maybe I can worm the rest of the story out of you, Mac.”
Mac flushed. He knew a command when he heard one.
Ginny took charge immediately. “That’s an excellent notion, dear. Let’s get all of you home where I can fuss over you for awhile. Chance needs to rest. The night nurse has already frowned at us three times from the doorway.” With a promise to return tomorrow, she kissed Chance on the fore head and ushered the rest of the clan out and into the night.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
The sheriff came by the Coalson farm the next morning. Mac was sitting on the front porch nursing a cup of coffee. “Well, son, we arrested Jeb Hawkins this morning as the arsonist responsible for the burning your offices. We’ll need Sam to come down and identify him as the man with the gas cans that he saw behind the barn.”
Ben spit on the ground. “As to the vandalism, well, we got lucky. Jeb was so afraid of the arson charge that he confessed to the vandalism the first time we mentioned it. Said he made a copy of the keys when he was fired by you.” Ben raised a bushy eyebrow at Mac. “Seems you were a bit too busy to remember to take those keys from him when you gave him his walking papers.”
Mac scowled. He remembered well the cause of his preoccupation at the time. She was his wife now.
Ben hid a smile but sobered at the last piece of news. “Jeb said he couldn’t put a name to the man who hit Sam from behind. It was too dark. He’d been contacted by phone and paid through a P. O. box. We checked out the story and it panned out. The box was issued using a fake ID and the sketch we showed the postal clerk identified him as our mystery man. Sam was hit before introductions were made, but Jeb confirmed our description. He’s agreed to plead guilty to the charges of accessory to arson in return for a lighter sentence for giving us any information on our real criminal.”
“Accessory to arson?” Mac was furious. “Sam saw him pouring gasoline all over and he’s given us nothing we didn’t know before. What about assault? What about accessory to murder because my brothers could’ve died in that place?” Mac’s voice carried through the open window.
Dixie stepped out onto the front porch to see what all the commotion was about. She turned inquiring eyes to Ben.
“Calm down, Mac and I’ll explain. Sam’s saw him pouring the gas; he didn’t see him light the blaze. That makes him an accessory. As for the assault, Sam said he was looking right at Jeb what he was hit from behind. Jeb said he fled the scene as soon as Sam went down. He knew Sam could identify him and he took off. That leaves our mystery man to drag Sam in with the others and light the blaze.”
“You’re taking Jeb’s word for it that he fled the scene?” Mac asked incredulous.
Dixie rubbed Mac’s back. “Calm down honey,” she murmured “Ben’s a friend of the family. I’m sure he did everything he could under the circumstances.”
“Thanks, Dixie,” Ben murmured. “As a matter of fact, I didn’t take Jeb’s word alone. He was attached to a polygraph when he was questioned. In addition to that fact, there’s also the fact that I’ve been in law-enforcement thirty years, and you can believe me when I tell you he would’ve sold out his own mother if he could’ve gotten a lighter sentence for her.”
“At least we kn
ow a bit more about what we’re up against regarding this guy. Sam’s right. This is more than just sour grapes over competitive contracts. Whoever is doing this is out to destroy me and my family. Apparently, he’s going to go to any lengths to do it.” Mac rubbed his hand over the back of his neck. “If we could figure out why, will have our man. But I’ll be damned if I know, Ben. This thing just gets curiouser and curiouser.”
He glanced down as Dixie squeezed his hand. She smiled up at him with all the love in her eyes. He smiled back, noting how fresh and pretty she looked in her peach dress, feeling the tension in his chest recede miraculously. How had he ever gotten this lucky? Was it fate that had sent her to him just when he would need her love and support the most?
Ben’s next statement drove him back to the present. “We’ll figure this out yet, Mac. But for now, be thankful that no one was seriously hurt and hope these clues lead us somewhere. I’ll step up security around the farm and your homes, but you don’t need me to tell you to take any extra precautions you can to keep you and your family safe.”
“Do you think he will come after us on a more personal level, Ben?” Dixie asked quietly.
“At this point, we’re dealing with a live wire. It’s best to be cautious.” He gave a tight smile. “A warrant has been issued for his arrest in connection with the fire and attempted murder. I’ve got copies of Jamie’s description of him to post in every store in the area. If he’s still here, we will find him.”
He went on to say that the local arson squad was pursuing several leads found at the scene of the fire. Mac offered a reward for any information that could lead to an arrest and Ben agreed to include that in the flyers to the stores. “You know that doing this may bring out every kook and conman who comes across it,” Ben added skeptically.
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