Page 57 of A Mile of Ocean

Tate could make out shapes moving in the distance through the settling dust. She called out for Blake, who eventually appeared at her side.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“I thought you were dead,” she said, coughing from the smoke.

“Not yet.”

A few feet away, Cecil and Lincoln were scrambling to their feet, shaken but unharmed.

“The radio,” Tate muttered, pointing to the device where Blake had heard Trent yelling.

“She’s okay,” Blake told Trent. “We’re all okay, except the guy in that shack. He’s gotta be blown to bits.”

Chapter Seventeen

The acrid scent of smoke mixed with the metallic tang of explosives hung heavily in the air as Trent and Savannah arrived in one of the water trucks. The fire was still burning, and since the location was remote, the fire department would take another twenty minutes to get there.

Trent got as close as he could to the burning structure with the hose, spraying water on as much surface as he could reach to prevent the flames from spreading to the dry scrub around the area. Blake and Lincoln pitched in where they could, using horse blankets to smother the flames they could reach.

But after the water ran out, Trent shouted, “Just let it burn itself out. Everyone needs to back up, though, in case there’s another explosion.”

Tate stood at a distance, her gaze transfixed on the destruction. The adrenaline that had coursed through her veins moments before now gave way to a deep sense of unease. She couldn’t shake the feeling that this wasn’t over, that there were still pieces of the puzzle they hadn’t uncovered.

As if reading her mind, Trent surveyed the scene. “Who was this guy? What drove him to such drastic measures?”

“Good question,” Tate muttered, still in shock. “We need to find out who he was and what connection he had to the ranch. Do you think he’s dead?”

“Birk and Beckett certainly don’t believe it. They wouldn’t leave the house unguarded. They want proof that he’s dead first.”

“I can’t say that I blame them. You don’t think he was in there?”

“Nope. I don’t. Let me ask you something. How far along is the genealogy project?”

“I understood from Eastlyn that Cooper finished with the Callum side and has now started with the de Havilands. Why?”

“Have him speed it up and focus on the de Haviland side of the family.”

Tate frowned at him. “Is this a gut instinct or something else?”

“After getting a look inside his little notebook, let’s just say I’m more curious about why he left Duchess alive. Twice. If he hates her as much as indicated, why hasn’t he focused on getting to her?”

Tate took out her phone. “I’ll text Eastlyn for an update on where Cooper stands.”

Savannah stood back with several other team members who had shown up from the other patrols, watching the fire burn. The fire crackled and hissed, creating flickering shadows on their faces. “I can’t believe we were just in there less than two hours ago.”

“He was probably nearby then,” Lucien speculated.

“Probably. It felt like we were being watched,” Trent added. “Why didn’t he make a move on us, though?”

They heard sirens in the distance, getting closer. Law enforcement arrived behind the fire trucks. Firemen had the blaze out in a matter of minutes without any more explosions.

“We can’t get too close yet,” Trish cautioned as she updated Brent Cody. “But according to Tate Callum and Blake Hudson, witnesses who were out here at the time, our main suspect wasinside the shack when the explosion occurred. But several others believe he’s still alive. Maybe he somehow managed to escape. It’s too soon to know yet.”

“We need a body before making any conclusions,” Brent stated. “How did we miss the explosives in there?”

“That shack is out of range of the monitors,” Trish explained. “See all that tall scrub surrounding the area? That helped cover it up during the first ground search.”

“If you’re trying to justify how we didn’t find the shack, we did. We searched this area. There was nothing in that shack at the time. He probably found this place after we discovered his campsite and has been staying here ever since.”

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