What Lies Below, page 9
He shoved his arm through the hole in the glass, and with his body halfway into the house, he reached around and unlocked the door. He pushed it in, and Luna rushed past him. Smoke billowed from the back of the house, and Heath called for Apollo.
The dog answered with a whine, and Heath followed the sound, almost tripping over him huddled in a corner of the room. Heath grabbed his collar. “It’s okay, boy. Come out with me this way.”
As he led Apollo to the front door, Heath heard sirens wailing and Luna’s echoing cry. He got Apollo outside and corralled both dogs away from the house and the road where a fire truck careened to a stop. Helicopter blades thwacked above him as the chopper dumped red fire retardant into the trees at the edge of Willow’s property. The sticky substance floated his way, and he threw an arm across his eyes.
As the firefighters rushed in, something exploded in the house, and another burst of flames shot from the roof. The chopper swooped in and doused the fire from above.
Heath tried to keep himself and the dogs away from the activity at the house. They had taken refuge beneath the picnic table, and he parked on top of it, pulling his shirt over his nose and mouth. They couldn’t leave the area. He’d parked his truck on the other side, near the trail leading to Toby’s house, and he couldn’t take the dogs past the fire engines on the road. Right now, fear paralyzed them, but that same fear could send the dogs into a panic and out into the wilderness.
Heath lifted his head as footsteps approached him, and he raised his hand at Sheriff Chandler.
West stopped next to the table. “Are you okay? Do you need medical attention?”
“I’m fine.” Heath held his arms in front of him. “Just a little sliced up from breaking the window. Nothing serious.”
West asked, “Are you the one who called 911?”
“Never had a chance and don’t think I can get service, anyway. I saw the smoke and ran over when I realized it was Willow’s place. I saw someone running away from the fire, but I heard the dogs yelping and couldn’t leave them.”
West’s brows shot up and disappeared beneath his hat. “You’re kidding. You saw the arsonist?”
Spreading his arms, Heath asked, “You don’t think this happened naturally, do you? Not after the break-in yesterday. Someone is trying to smoke Willow out—literally.”
“Did you get a good look at this person?”
“Nope. He was running away. Had a black hoodie on, black pants. That’s all I saw.” Heath coughed. “If we can salvage the footage from Willow’s security camera, you might get a look at him, but I doubt he was smiling for the camera.”
“You sure the arsonist was male?”
“Are you thinking Ellie Keel is behind this?” Heath shrugged. “Could’ve been a woman.”
A commotion erupted from the road, and Willow barreled into the clearing. “My dogs! My dogs!”
Hearing Willow’s voice, Apollo lumbered from his spot beneath the table and trotted toward her.
Sobbing, she fell to her knees and wrapped her arms around her pet’s neck. Willow wiped her nose on Apollo’s fur and looked up. “Luna?”
“She’s right here. Safe.” Heath reached down and rubbed the top of Luna’s head with his knuckles.
West cleared his throat. “Heath saw the arsonist running from the scene, Willow.”
Her eyes widened. “Did you see who it was?”
“He was covered up. Disguised.” Heath pushed to his feet. “Do you have any more questions for me, West? I think we need to get Willow away from here until the...rubble cools, and the dogs don’t need to be here.”
“Away from here?” Willow turned her head to take in the smoldering heap that used to be her summer home. “Where are we supposed to go?”
West snapped his fingers. “Why don’t you stay with Astrid? She and her son have Sherlock. I’m sure she won’t mind another couple of dogs, and I know Olly won’t. Astrid’s brother is still in DC, so she and Olly have the place to themselves.”
“I’m not going to descend on Astrid.”
Heath said, “Stay at my hotel. I know there are vacancies.”
“The Bay View Hotel is not going to allow a couple of mangy mutts to roam their halls.”
“If you don’t want to stay at Astrid’s, at least leave the dogs with her, and you go to the hotel.” West adjusted his hat and glanced at the ruined cabin. “Might be a good idea for you to stay in town until things get...settled.”
“I guess.” Willow chewed her bottom lip. “You don’t think Astrid would object?”
“Absolutely not.” West pulled out his phone. “I’ll call her now. You sure you don’t need medical attention, Heath?”
“I’m good.”
Willow turned her gaze on him for the first time since she rushed onto the scene. She studied him from his still-tearing eyes to his soot-stained shirt and his battered arms. “Why are you here, and how’d you save the dogs?”
“Saw the smoke, noted the direction and ran over. Heard the dogs yelping in the cabin, so I let the arsonist go to get the dogs.” He pulled up the hem of his T-shirt to wipe his face. “You’re welcome.”
“I mean, yeah, thanks for rescuing the dogs. What kind of person drugs dogs and then sets fire to a house with them in it?”
Heath eased out a long breath. “Someone desperate to chase you off this property. If you don’t have a place to live here, maybe they think they can force you out.”
“That’s not gonna work with me.” She dug her heels into the dirt and wedged her hands on her hips, looking like she’d never leave.
“Maybe they don’t know who they’re dealing with.” He tugged on Luna’s collar. “Let’s get out of here. Breathing in all this stuff can’t be healthy.”
West strolled over from where he was talking to the fire captain. “Definitely arson. The perpetrator used accelerant. Captain Foster said you can come back tomorrow to sift through the remains. Much of the living room survived intact, although I’m sure the water got to some things. The firefighters pulled out and bagged your laptop.”
Willow waved her hand. “All that stuff is on the cloud. At least the dogs are safe.”
“Which reminds me. Astrid said she has no problem taking the dogs, and you’re more than welcome to stay with them.”
“As long as the dogs are secured, I’ll stay at the Bay View.”
“Let Astrid know if you change your mind.” West held up a finger. “Let me get your laptop.”
Willow urged Apollo toward the road. “I might just have to wait until all these vehicles leave before getting the dogs in my truck. Where’s your truck? I didn’t see any other vehicles on my drive.”
“I left it up the road. I didn’t know where the fire was headed or how fast.”
Batting at a bit of floating ash, Willow asked, “Do you want me to take you to your truck on my way to dropping off the dogs?”
“No. You go ahead. I’ll make sure there’s a room waiting for you at the hotel. I think the fire captain wants to talk to me again anyway.”
West walked toward them, a large plastic bag swinging from his hand. “The firefighters grabbed a few other things, too, some files on your table that looked important.”
“Thank you.” Willow took the bag from West and, with the sheriff and Heath’s help, coaxed the dogs past the fire engines to her truck and into the bed, giving Apollo a boost.
Heath waved her off with a sense of relief. Then, with just a couple of firefighters left on the scene, he plunged back into the forest and retraced his steps to Toby’s place. He’d have to come back later to continue digging. He stashed his tools in the back of his truck and drove to his hotel.
The ready smile on the hotel clerk’s face vanished when Heath strode into the lobby. He must look worse than he felt.
“A-are you okay, Mr. Bradford?”
“You know that fire on the other side of the island? I was there.”
The guy clicked his tongue. “I heard about it. Just glad it didn’t start a forest fire.”
“No, but it badly damaged my friend’s cabin, and she’s going to need a place to stay. Do you know Willow Sands?”
“I know of her. We’d be happy to offer her something here.”
“Put her room on my credit card.”
The clerk clicked his computer’s keyboard and, without looking up from the screen, said, “We have a room on your floor, just a few doors down.”
“Even better. You can give me the key card. I’m meeting her here in the lobby.”
The clerk finished the transaction and slid two cards across the counter. “Let me know if we can do anything else for you or Ms. Sands.”
Heath jerked his thumb toward the alcove stocked with drinks and snacks to the right of the front desk. “Put a couple of waters on my room, too.”
After he gathered two bottles of water from the fridge in the little market, Heath dropped down on a sofa in the lobby, exhaustion rolling through his body. Confusion and frustration beat against his temples.
His father had sent him here to pressure Toby Keel and Willow Sands into selling their properties to Bradford and Son, so the company could work with the Samish to develop the land for a casino on the island. At the time, Heath’s father had no idea that Heath would discover that Toby had been the one sending him anonymous messages about his mother. As soon as Heath figured that out, his mission on the island changed.
The mission also changed as soon as he met up again with Willow Sands.
His eyes flew open as someone touched him on the shoulder. “Sorry it took so long.” Willow’s voice was quiet. “Had to get the dogs settled, but I think they’ll be okay there. They’re getting all kinds of attention from Astrid’s son.”
“That’s good.” Heath sat up and rubbed his eyes. “Can’t believe I just dozed off in a hotel lobby.”
She sat beside him and squeezed his thigh. “You were a hero saving Apollo and Luna. I think you deserve some rest—and some first aid.”
“Just a few cuts and scratches.” He squinted at his arms. “And some singed hair. Don’t know how that happened. I wasn’t running through the flames.”
“Well, I smell like an ashtray, and I wasn’t there as long as you were. There was hot debris floating around. A few of those fire flakes probably landed on you.” She called to the front desk. “Hello! Do you have a first aid kit? Just a few bandages, antiseptic and burn cream.”
“We do. Take it up to your room and return it whenever. I’ll go get it.” The clerk disappeared in the back and then walked over to them with a white plastic first aid kit.
Heath said under his breath, “I think he wants me out of his lobby.”
“Of course he does. You look a mess.” She prodded his shoulder. “Your place or mine?”
“Mine. I can change my clothes, too.” He handed her the key cards to her room, and they took the elevator up to the fourth floor, where her room sat a few doors down from his.
He flashed his card at the door and pushed it open. “You can check out your room. I’ll be fine. Put your things away.”
“No way.” She squeezed past him and placed the first aid kit on the credenza, dropping the plastic bag West had given her. She flipped the kit open and rifled through the contents. “You should wash your injuries with soap and water first.”
“Good idea.” He walked into the bathroom and whistled. “No wonder I scared that hotel clerk. I look like hell.”
“There’s some burn ointment in here, some antibiotic cream, bandages, ibuprofen.”
Heath pulled his T-shirt over his head and hitched it over the shower rod. He ran warm water in the sink and soaped up a washcloth with the bar. He ran it across the scratches and cuts on his hands and arms, wincing at the stings.
Blotting himself dry with a towel, he slung it over his shoulder, then splashed some water on his face. Finally, he ran his wet hands through his hair. The next best thing to taking a shower.
When he walked out of the bathroom, Willow was standing in front of an array of first aid items. She glanced up, and he felt the heat from her gaze that swept across his bare chest almost as intensely as he’d felt the fire in her cabin today.
Tapping the credenza, she said, “Burn ointment?”
“On the backs of my hands and a few spots on my neck.”
“Sit.” She nodded at the bed.
He perched on the edge of the mattress and held out his hands while she plucked up a white tube. She squeezed some gel on the tips of her fingers and dabbed at some red marks and blisters on his hands. Then she shuffled closer and tapped at a few spots on his throat.
She spun around suddenly and dropped the ointment on the credenza. “Do you need antibiotic cream for those cuts?”
He inspected the red welts on his arms and one slice where the glass from the window cut him. “Just on this one spot, I think. I can get that if you put a little cream on my hand.”
“I got it.” She turned back around, pinching another tube between her fingers. She leaned over him and patted some of the cream on the cut. “This one’s different from the others. This one is a cut. The other smaller ones are scratches. You got those from reaching through the shattered glass?”
He got those from racing through the woods, and she probably suspected that. “No clue where those came from. They might even be old scratches.”
Finished tending to his wounds, Willow packed up the first aid kit and ducked down to the mini fridge. She held up a beer. “I think you deserve this.”
“Sure.” Heath yawned. “Join me?”
“If you don’t mind paying minibar prices for a bottle of beer.”
“This could be considered a business meeting. I’ll expense it.” He gestured for the bottle, and she handed it to him.
While he stayed on the bed, she sat on the desk chair with her beer. “What do you think is going on? Why would someone set fire to my cabin?”
“Probably to put pressure on you.” The few sips of alcohol trickled down to his nerve endings and dulled them. He’d been so tired the past few days, creeping out, digging holes. And he didn’t even know what he was looking for. His lids felt heavy, but he took another slug of beer.
“Does this person or group think because I don’t have a place to live on the island that I’ll just give up?”
“How’d your meeting go with the attorney? Did he shed any light on the situation?”
“Not really. The property is legally mine according to the will, but it doesn’t mean the Keels can’t challenge.” Willow picked at the label on her bottle, opened her mouth and then shut it. Whatever she was going to say, she’d decided against it.
He couldn’t blame her for that. Plenty of secrets swirling around this island, and he didn’t know if he could handle one more.
He finished off the beer in two more gulps and collapsed, flat on the bed, holding the bottle loosely in his hand. “I think that fire did me in. I was already tired, but that adrenaline spike drained me.”
Willow took the bottle from his hand, and he heard her voice through a drowsy haze. “I’m going to let you get some sleep. You started the day tired, and it doesn’t appear that it got any better for you. Thanks for booking the room.”
As she closed the door with a whisper, he was already trailing off to sleep.
* * *
WILLOW THUMBED ON a light as she walked into her hotel room. She placed the plastic bag on the desk. It contained her laptop, Toby’s files and a few toiletry items and food that Astrid had pressed upon her. She fished out her computer and a sandwich. She was actually more grateful that the firefighter saved those files than the laptop—especially after what she’d learned from her mother.
She plugged in the computer, and it flickered to life. She entered the Wi-Fi password from the hotel and launched a search engine. A quick probe confirmed that just because a person owned the surface of a property didn’t mean that person also owned the mineral rights on that property.
Her exploration had also delivered the bad news that the owner of the mineral rights could exploit those rights, regardless of the wishes of the property owner. Big trouble.
Who else knew about the nickel vein and that she probably didn’t own it?
She slumped in the chair and unwrapped the sandwich Astrid had packed for her. Peeking inside the pita bread, Willow smiled. Knowing her preferences, Astrid had slathered the pita with hummus and added some diced tomato, onion and cucumber. What a mom.
She devoured the sandwich, then bit into an apple, her leg bouncing up and down. After her cabin had been ransacked and set on fire, she couldn’t just sit here. Her gaze wandered to the bottle of water Heath had procured for her, and she grabbed it.
What had he been doing near her cabin? She’d taken note of the road when she left for Astrid’s and didn’t see his truck parked there. He must’ve been at Toby’s for some reason.
She noted the setting sun out the window, gulped back some water and shoved the hotel key in her back pocket. With both Lee and Heath nosing around that property, she figured it was time she did her own reconnaissance out there. She’d already signed the paperwork Jason had given her. Hell, she owned that land.
Before she slipped out the door, she grabbed Toby’s files and shoved them into the hotel safe. She couldn’t trust anyone right now.
She made the forty-five-minute drive back across the island and parked on the road that led to Toby’s trail. Tilting her head back, she sniffed as she hiked in, the acrid odor of the fire still permeating the air.
By the time she reached the clearing where Toby’s cabin huddled, the sun had sent out its last rays, caught in the mist that hugged the ground. Willow’s flashlight played over the front of the cabin. Had Heath broken into Toby’s house after she and he had left earlier? Had he seen something during their search?
