Reining In Trouble

Chapter Four

The Wildman County Sheriff’s Department was in need of a paint job. For whatever reason, the previous sheriff had painted the once copper-and red-toned bricks light blue. Since then the weather had changed that to a worn and chipped muck gray. Forget a happy-looking place, the one-story building now looked like a depressed cloud. And that was on its good days.

Yet peeling paint couldn’t squelch the pride Caleb had in the department and the work he and his brother had done during their time there. He still felt it the next morning when he began his day. His metal desk with a perpetual stack of papers in the out tray, a framed candid picture of him and his siblings and the one empty coffee cup that always rested on a coaster felt as much of a home to him as the ranch.

Even on mornings where frustration clung to him like a second skin.

“Hodge said he’d call as soon as he was done talking to his boss,” Jazz reminded him from over the tops of their desks. The fronts were pushed together leaving no space between. It made working together easier than having to hunt each other down. She didn’t look up from the paperwork she was filling out as she continued. “I know patience isn’t always your strong suit but that’s what you’re going to have to wear until he calls.”

Caleb pulled out a stress ball Madeline had given him when he’d been promoted to detective. He squeezed it once, hard.

“Would you practice patience if some creep had sent that email to you?” He shook his head, answering for her. “You should have seen her, Jazz. It scared her and it happened on my land.”

Jazz paused, her pen midword. She sighed.

“Just because someone sleazy did a sleazy thing on the ranch doesn’t mean it’s your fault,” she said. “It’s the fault of the sleazy person. Plus, you’re trying to help catch that very same sleazy person. That counts for something.”

Caleb snorted.

“You just said sleazy four times.”

Jazz shrugged.

“If the shoe fits.”

She went back to the paperwork. Caleb glanced at the clock above the closed door of the sheriff’s office. Declan wasn’t in and probably wouldn’t be until they knew if there was an arsonist running through town. Caleb had decided to keep the incident with Nina under wraps for the time being. Partly because he could handle it, thanks to having no actively open cases, and partly because of Nina.

He had no doubt that his mother wouldn’t have given the woman any grief over what had happened. Almost everyone at the ranch had, at one point or another, used one of the ponds or streams to cool down after a long day of work or exercise. That was nothing to be ashamed of, definitely not to be punished for. Yet the way Nina’s words had hardened as she declined his offer to eat at the main house the night before had made him feel oddly protective. Not just of her physically, either. With a start, Caleb realized he wanted to help alleviate the embarrassment and worry that had colored her cheeks rosy.

He wanted to keep her safe.

He wanted to make sure she felt it, too.

“What about that list of people she gave you yesterday?” Jazz continued, pen moving across her paper. “Did you finish going through it?”

Caleb put the stress ball down and eyed the list in question. There was an X next to each name.

“Yeah. I talked to everyone she could remember the names of already this morning. Everyone had a solid alibi.”

“Did you tell them what was going on with Nina or did you use that Nash family charm I keep hearing about to trick them into talking?”

Caleb chuckled. Jazz was trying to keep him busy, he knew, but she’d been giving him grief about the so-called Nash family charm since she’d moved to Overlook. She never saw it, she’d said time and time again. To be honest, neither did he, but that hadn’t stopped the women in town from bringing it up to each other.

“Since I view you as a brother, does that mean I’m a part of that family charm, too?” she’d asked one day.

Caleb had chuckled then, as well.

“You know how small towns work by now, Jazz,” he said. “All you have to do is say ‘yes ma’am’ and ‘no sir,’ and compliment their pecan squares.”

Jazz snorted but didn’t disagree. Caleb had gone back to squeezing his stress ball, distracting his hand from texting Hodge again, when his phone finally went off.

“Talk to me, Hodge,” Caleb greeted him.

Hodge Anderson, the king of IT in town, answered in his usual gruff tone.

“Good news, bad news,” he said. “Tracked the IP address to one location in Overlook.”

“Bad news?”

“It’s at Claire’s Café.”

Caleb grumbled. Claire’s Café sold coffee, pastries and a small selection of books. It also had free wi-fi. It wasn’t unusual for locals and out-of-towners alike to make the trek to Arbor Street with their laptops. Fast internet wasn’t always easy to find in Overlook, and at the café it came with Claire’s homemade pecan squares.

“Could you track it to the computer that sent it?” he asked, hopeful. Sometimes they couldn’t get an exact location but just a general area.

“That is the bad news,” Hodge persisted. “I think it’s Claire’s computer. It seems to be stationary, the best I can guess. It hasn’t left the address in over a week.”

Caleb felt his eyebrow rise, confusion pulling the strings.

“Are you sure?”

Hodge sighed.

“That’s where the computer is that sent the email. You’ll have to figure out the rest.”

Caleb thanked the man before both said their goodbyes. He’d known Hodge since they were teens. Caleb questioning him had been more out of the need to be thorough. He trusted Hodge and his skills. However, that didn’t mean he thought Claire Jenkins was the culprit behind the email. She’d been friends with his mother since they were teens. She didn’t exactly strike him as the malicious type. Still, he put his stress ball back into its drawer and put his badge around his neck. He glanced at Declan’s closed office door and then was in his truck, pointed toward the heart of town.

* * *

THE AIR WAS cool and the breeze was gentle. There wasn’t the smell of salt water from the sea clinging to it like her childhood home, but the freshly mowed grass and the promise of rain was still a nice tradeoff. Nina picked her way along the manicured trail that led to the stables, trying to savor the charm of the ranch while pretending she wasn’t tired to the bone. Falling asleep had been hard. Once she’d managed it, it had been restless. When Molly had shown up that morning, eager to run a fine-tooth comb over every inch of the cabins, Nina had welcomed the distraction.

Now that it was almost lunch, she decided that she didn’t want to be alone just yet and took up Molly’s offer to show her the horses. The manager, like most of the employees on the ranch, had soft spots for them. Because of this, Nina didn’t mention that the last time she’d ridden had been when she was ten...and that she’d been terrified every minute of it.

“I hope this rain business keeps well enough away when we open,” Molly said, clipboard checklist for the cabins beneath one arm. Her blond hair was braided tightly against her scalp. She’d left her cowboy hat in the office. Nina knew she’d need to get one soon. She needed to help sell the idea of a ranch getaway. She needed to look like she belonged and buying a Stetson seemed to be the easiest way.

“If it does end up raining, what do you think about taking the guests out to the barn near the trails?” Nina thought out loud. “Dorothy said it was once used for storage but is now empty, right? Maybe we could set something up in there to make them still feel like they’re getting a camping or outdoorsy-type of experience without getting soaked. Maybe set it up to look like a makeshift campsite. Just a bit more comfortable.”

Molly’s brow scrunched in thought but her lips pulled up into a smile.

“You know, that could work,” she said. “We could put in lanterns and decorate the barn like one of those old Western town attractions. I have to meet with Dorothy this afternoon. I’ll run it by her and see if we can’t go ahead and start working on the backup plan tomorrow.”

Nina felt a swell of pride.

“I’ll see if I can’t come up with some activities, too. Maybe I can arrange something in town with one of the bars.” As soon as she said it Nina’s stomach clenched.

She had spent the night going over every person she had given her email address to but still couldn’t pinpoint anyone who had seemed off. Her gut hadn’t yelled or even whispered through meeting or talking with the locals. No red flags, no strange behavior. Yet that email was still in her inbox, taunting her.

Nina had decided not to bring it up with Molly or anyone on the ranch. Not when Caleb already knew. She was sure it was only a matter of time before the news was out and she was let go for being so careless. That had been half the reason sleep had evaded her for so long the night before. Between the memories she had tried to leave behind to the very real possibility that she’d have to move back to her childhood home and live with those same memories again had almost put her in a cold sweat.

This had been her best chance at moving on. Starting over. Yet less than a month had gone by and her fresh start was being soured.

“That’s a good idea,” Molly responded, unaware that Nina had fallen back into a seemingly unending loop of memories and fears. “You should talk to the Nash triplets. They’ve spent their lives on this ranch. I bet they know how to keep entertained during every season around here.”

“I can’t imagine having triplets,” Nina confessed, thankful for the slight distraction from her darker thoughts.

Molly laughed.

“Amen. Poor Dorothy has only been pregnant twice and yet has four children. Have you met any of them yet?”

Nina didn’t want to lie as much as she didn’t want to talk about the email. She nodded and went with a vague in-between response.

“I’ve only met Caleb, briefly.”

Molly lifted up four fingers and ticked them off as she began.

“We have the eldest, Declan, who’s the sheriff. He lives on the ranch in a house that used to belong to Dorothy’s in-laws before they passed. He’s a nice man but lets his work consume him. Which I guess you have to if you want to keep your community safe.”

“Dorothy mentioned him. She said I wouldn’t have to worry about any flak for throwing large scale events from local law enforcement since her son was the sheriff.”

“A definite perk! Though, let me tell you, he’s an intense fellow but it’s just his way.” Molly held up three fingers. “Then we have the triplets. Desmond, Caleb and Madeline. The only triplets born in Overlook in seventy years.” Her smile disappeared. Her humor fell away. It was such an abrupt change that Nina wondered if they should stop their walk. But, just as quickly, Molly reverted to normal. “Desmond is a businessman, as best as I can describe him. He lives here on the ranch in a house built right behind the main one. He has a bit of money beneath his belt that he’s made outside of the ranch. He’s usually out of town on some work trip or another. Madeline lives there, too, since he’s hardly ever home. She works with him, but last I heard she was trying to find something else to do. Then there’s Caleb.”

Obvious affection threaded around the detective’s name. It prompted a flutter in Nina’s stomach.

“I know you’ve already met him but, as a local gal, let me be the first to tell you that he spelled trouble when we were younger. Kids are kids, sure, but Caleb was an absolute wild child. Fearless. I was better friends with Declan yet I still have several stories of Caleb being a little daredevil.” That change passed across Molly again. It was like the air deflated from her words. This time the change was slower to leave. “He’s a detective now, one of the best Overlook has had, if you ask me. He lives on the ranch, too, in a cabin the triplets started to build after their father died.”

Nina thought of the cabin she’d seen the day before with new attention. She didn’t interrupt to say she’d already seen where the man lived.

A wistful smile lifted the corner of Molly’s lips. “I once thought it was a bunch of bull-hockey that twins and triplets had a different kind of bond between them than other siblings—I mean, I have a sister who’s my best friend—but once you see them together you’ll understand it to be true. Maybe it’s just genetics or maybe it’s what they went through back in the day, but either way, once you meet the Nash triplets, you don’t forget them easily.”

They were getting closer to the stables. Nina could make out Molly’s husband, Clive, with a beautiful almost-silver white horse in a pen. He waved at them, cowboy hat in his hand. Molly returned it with a wide smile. An ache of loneliness joined the ache from last night still radiating through Nina. Still, she didn’t want the conversation to end.

“What they went through back in the day?” Nina repeated.

Molly gave her a sheepish look.

“I didn’t mean to bring it up,” she hurried. “It’s just one of those things that I assume everyone in town knows.” A haunted feeling crept over Nina. It pulled at the hair on the back of her neck. “When the triplets were eight someone abducted them from a park in town.” Nina felt her eyes widen. She stifled a gasp. “That triplet connection they have saved their lives, at least that’s how it was told to me by my mom when I was older. They were held for three days. Three. Can you believe that? Then, by the grace of God, they helped each other escape. Sure, they got hurt in the process, but all things considered it was a miracle. One the town still likes to talk about today, especially since the man who took them was never caught. And, believe you me, they looked for him for years.” She shook her head. Her frown managed to pitch lower. “Honestly, since you’re now employed by the Nash family, I’m sure someone in town will try to get more information out of you about it. Some insights they’d never heard before or, maybe, just some kind of theory they have about who was behind it. Still, it’s not something the family likes to talk about so, please, keep it to yourself. The Nash family is a lot more than their tragedy.”

“I won’t say anything,” Nina promised.

Molly gave her a polite nod. Her history lesson and rundown on the Nash siblings transitioned into talk about the stables and the horse Clive was with. It wasn’t until Molly and her husband started talking about their daughter’s latest homework assignment that Nina excused herself.

She walked along the side of the barn until she was at the wooden fence a hundred or so feet behind the stables. It encased a long-stretching field. A few horses were grazing in the distance, cresting along the curve of a hill. Nina watched them with admiration, and a small amount of dread. The last time she’d ridden a horse had been with her mother. She’d been terrified. Her mother had made her a promise.

“I won’t let anything happen to you, Nina. Trust me.”

Nina had still been terrified but nothing bad had happened. She’d been convinced her mother had worked some kind of magic. A spell.

Nina wished her mother had used that same magic on herself.

She placed her hands on the twisted wood of a fence post and took a long, deep breath. Caleb’s face appeared in her mind as clearly as the green grass and gray, cloud-filled sky. She felt herself soften.

She often forgot that, just because she’d lived through something traumatic, didn’t mean she was the only one who had.

Tragedy had a way of taking a person and changing their shape. Nina found herself wondering how it had affected one detective in particular but she finally came out of her thoughts enough to realize the cloud she’d been looking at in the distance wasn’t a cloud at all.

It was smoke.

“Hey, Molly?” she called over her shoulder. Geography had never been Nina’s strong suit in school but she was pretty sure the only building in that direction belonged to the same man she had been thinking about. Maybe they were doing a burn pile? But why there?

Nina ducked between two wooden posts and stepped out into the field. She glanced down at her watch.

Did Caleb take normal lunch breaks?

Was it her imagination or was the smoke cloud becoming larger?

Unease started to kick up in her stomach. Then Nina was running.

Chapter Five

No one was at the Retreat or the main office. Caleb thought about calling Nina since she’d given him her number the day before but decided to try the stables first. He didn’t mind stretching his legs anyhow, especially since he was starting to get that mid-afternoon drag. He’d skipped eating lunch in lieu of going to Claire’s Café.

Which was the reason he wanted to talk to Nina.

One of the reasons.

The other wasn’t based in facts but feelings. He wanted to check on the woman, to make sure she was okay. As little contact as they’d had in the last twenty-four hours, she’d still managed to make an impression. One that passed itself on to Jazz. She’d offered to finish off the paperwork on their last case while Caleb figured out who was behind the email.

The walk to the stables was nice. It would rain soon. There was something inspiring about the charge in the air before a storm. Like everything around him was building up to something powerful. It put a little pep in his step, a little more focus in his gaze. For the first time since seeing Nina at the stream, Caleb wondered if she liked the ranch. She’d said she was from Florida, living on the coast.

He tried to remember what his mother had said after she’d interviewed and then hired Nina. She wasn’t married, he knew that. No kids either. She had a business degree, but the specifics and where she’d gotten it, he didn’t know. Like Caleb’s ex had pointed out, he fell down the rabbit hole of work quite often. Sometimes when he’d resurface he was faced with a world that had passed him by.

That used to bother him when he was younger but now he was used to it.

Yet he couldn’t help one surprising fact. He wanted to know more about Nina.

The stables were housed in an old tried-and-true weathered red building. It held twelve box stalls plus an office that Clive kept, a small room for the farrier and vet to use when they made their rounds and an attic loft overhead. Caleb was fond of that loft. The Nash siblings had each spent their fair share of time sneaking out of the house and congregating there with their friends growing up. Admittedly, it had been a while since he’d been there, but Caleb couldn’t help but smile as he padded in through the tall, open front doors.

Clive was standing on the opposite end, finishing tacking up another reason for Caleb to smile.

“Well, if that isn’t the most handsome stud I ever did see,” Caleb exclaimed. Clive finished adjusting his horse’s girth and then gently tugged on the saddle. He gave a good-natured laugh.

“Don’t let Molly hear you calling me handsome like that,” he said. “She might go and get jealous.”

Caleb patted his friend on the back and focused on the horse staring at him.

“Been a while hasn’t it, Ax?” he whispered, running a hand up and then down the side of Ax’s neck. He was a frame overo Tennessee Walker. As beautiful as they came. Like Caleb could navigate the ranch with his eyes closed, he could perfectly imagine every white patch across Ax’s dark copper hair without looking. The horse had been born on the ranch, just as Caleb had been.

“I was going to take him for some exercise,” Clive said, taking down the tacking ropes. “The forecast said there was a good chance we’d be getting storms tonight and through the next few days. Thought I’d take him along the fence to make sure everything is on the up-and-up.”

This wasn’t anything new; once a week someone checked the fences. It was as much for keeping out predators and ill-willed humans as it was keeping the horses and livestock in and safe. Though the mightiest of fences didn’t keep everyone out, especially if they were in tip-top shape. Case in point, the person who’d sent the email to Nina.

“I’m on my lunch break right now. If you don’t mind the company I can tag along.” Caleb patted Ax’s head. The horse nudged into him.

“Sounds good to me,” Clive said. “I can take out Isla—”

“Clive!” Molly skidded into the stables, eyes wild and cheeks flushed. She looked between them as her chest heaved up and down. “I looked for Nina after she yelled for me but—but she’s running through the field. There’s smoke in the distance. Caleb, I think it’s your house!”

Caleb didn’t waste any time. His fingers wrapped around Ax’s reins.

“Time to run.”

* * *

THE AIR TOOK on the distinct smell that came with something large burning. It only propelled Nina forward with more urgency. What could she really do if the detective’s house was the reason that smoke was climbing against a darkening sky?

Nina guessed cutting across the field at her fastest run would put her there before Clive and Molly could get there in the car. Maybe in that time she could do some good? Make sure no one was inside? Try and put it out herself until real help came?

Nina’s lungs started to ache as she pushed up and over the top of the hill. The free-roaming horses had already run closer to the barn, not liking her frantic energy. She didn’t blame them. As soon as she crested the hill she let out a strangled cry. She hadn’t misremembered. The cabin in the distance was Caleb’s. Though it was a lot farther away than she had thought, there was no denying that was what was burning.

Nina couldn’t see the dirt driveway from her current angle. She couldn’t tell if the truck was there or not. It renewed her drive to keep pushing. Her feet dug into dirt and grass harder, her legs took the force with a strained ache.

She couldn’t stop. Flames were greedy. Lost seconds meant everything. She had found that out the hard way at the heartbreakingly high price of her mother.

A different kind of ache twisted within her so hard Nina almost stumbled.

I can’t do this right now, she thought with decided concentration. I can’t think about her. Not when he could be in—

Nina’s thoughts were interrupted by the sound of hooves beating out a thunderous rhythm behind her. It wasn’t until she felt them in the ground that she turned, worried the horses had been spooked even more and were about to trample her in their mad dash to escape.

What Nina saw brought her to a stumbling halt.

None other than Caleb Nash was charging toward her on horseback, detective’s badge swinging on a chain around his neck and cowboy hat firmly on his head. Up until then Nina had never really gotten the appeal of cowboys, in the movies or real life, but right then she finally understood the allure. There was just something to be said about a man blazing across the earth with power beneath him and fire in his eyes. Yeah, she understood now.

Caleb was exactly where he belonged, sitting astride one of the most beautiful horses Nina had ever seen with an ease that somehow added to his appeal. When he stopped right next to her, Nina said the first thing that came to her mind.

“I-I thought you might be inside.”

Caleb leaned over and outstretched his hand.

“Get on,” he replied, voice all baritone.

It was all Nina needed to hear. She took his hand, put her foot in the stirrup, and let the man and momentum do the rest. It wasn’t until her backside hit the saddle and her arms were firmly around the detective’s stomach that Nina thought about her fear of horses. But then it was too late. They were cutting through the rest of the field with speed. The movement was jostling—she’d definitely feel it in the morning—but Nina clutched the man at the reins, trying to focus on anything other than the fence they were coming up on way too fast.

Was he going to stop or—?

Nina tucked her head against Caleb’s back and squeezed her eyes shut.

“Hold on,” he yelled into the wind. Like she wasn’t already doing just that.

Nina felt the cowboy readying for the jump before the horse had even lifted off the ground. She clung to Caleb, focusing on the hardness of his chest and stomach instead of the fact that for one terrifying moment they were in the air. It wasn’t until they hit the ground on the other side of the fence and ran a few feet that Nina loosened her death grip a fraction.

She heard the fire before she opened her eyes to see it.

Flames licked the left side of the cabin. From the porch to the roof, red and orange and black swirled together. The fire crackled and roared as it ate up the wood. Glass shattered as the heat hit the window, just out of reach of the flames. Caleb’s body hardened within her arms. He brought the horse to a stop several yards out at the road. Nina held on as he swung his foot over and jumped to the ground. Wordlessly, he reached up and brought her down.

He handed her the reins, his face impassive.

“Stay here,” he ordered, already turning.

“But you can’t—”

He didn’t give her the chance to argue. Caleb ran up to the porch and swung around it in the opposite direction of the fire. He disappeared around the corner.

Nina realized her heart was in her throat. The fire was consuming one side of the house but it wouldn’t be long before it was destroying all of it. Movement flashed in front of the window next to the front door. She clutched the reins. Why had he gone inside?

A loud crack split the air. The left side of the house shuddered. Flames spiked higher in the air as half of the roof crumbled.

“Caleb!”

Nina dropped the reins, hoping the horse wouldn’t go too far if he got spooked, and ran around to the house. The back door was wide open. Smoke had already filled the inside.

“Caleb.” She tried again, taking an uncertain step forward. She couldn’t hear anything else over the fire burrowing into the structure. No one moved.

Terror clawed at Nina’s heart. Then she thought about her mom.

Only one person had been able to help when Marion Drake had been trapped. He had felt the heat, choked on the smoke, but decided not to move. He had watched instead, dooming her mother to a fate she hadn’t deserved.

Nina didn’t know Caleb. Not in any conventional sense, at least. They weren’t friends or lovers. She hadn’t grown up in town. She didn’t know his middle name and he didn’t know that she was allergic to scented fabric softener. She had no idea if he was single; he had no idea that she had broken up with her last boyfriend because he’d wanted to marry her. He wore a cowboy hat and a badge; she hid behind a wall of fallout left over from the trial of her mother’s killer.

Yet it didn’t matter.

Bolstered by thoughts of her mother and two of the bluest eyes she’d seen, Nina covered her mouth and nose with her arm and ran into the cabin.

* * *

CALEB DIDN’T MAKE it into his bedroom before the ceiling over it collapsed. He did, however, make it into the hallway that led there. The house seemed to moan and exhale all at once, unable to fight the pain that the fire was causing. He didn’t have the time to watch through the open door as most of his belongings were crushed by weakened and burned wood. Instead he had to ensure he wasn’t the one crushed next.

He retreated to the next open door. He didn’t use it often but the office was still a room he hoped not to lose. At this rate though, he wasn’t sure it stood a chance. All he could do was get out of the house and hope the fire department was speeding in their direction after Clive called. Caleb didn’t have the time to puzzle out what could have started the fire but he wasn’t an idiot. He knew they were past the point of using the water hose or an extinguisher.

Now the house was on borrowed time.

Just like him.

Caleb spun on his heel as he cleared the office door. He unintentionally sucked in a breath as the small hallway filled with debris. His lungs filled with smoke. It nearly doubled him over as a coughing fit took hold. The house shuddered again.

He moved to the middle of the room, trying to recover.

The only reason he’d come into the cabin in the first place was to make sure his mother wasn’t inside. Like the pop-up surprise of spring cleaning, it wasn’t unheard of for her to walk from the main house to his or Declan’s and let herself in. She called it loving visits from the woman who’d raised them. Caleb called it her ninja training since she was always so sneaky about them.

Which was why he’d been terrified she had somehow started, and then become trapped by, the fire ravaging his home. He’d run into the house yelling for her, relief only partially coming through when no one has responded and he’d seen each room was empty.

Now that he knew she wasn’t inside, his focus needed to shift to escape.

The window looked out to the wraparound porch and the field just beyond. He hurried over to it. He kept it open almost every time he used the office, preferring the smell of grass and daylight over the stuffiness of being confined, and it had a perfect track record for easily flipping open. Caleb pushed up on the glass. This time it wasn’t easy. The window didn’t budge.

Caleb coughed into his arm before he could zero in on what was making the window stick. His eyes were watering something fierce. It took him longer than it should have to figure out what he was looking at.

The windowsill was nailed to the frame.

From the outside.

The reflex to swear was only tamped down by another wave of coughing. The smoke had already been thick when Caleb had run in, now with the structure failing, it was undeniably worse. Never mind the coughing, it was getting hard to breathe.