Homestead

Chapter Thirty

“I’ll drive,” Tess shouted, pointing to her pickup truck parked next to the barn. “I’m used to these roads in this kind of weather.”

“All right.” Clay raced across the drive, barely keeping her footing on the muddy ground. By the time they reached the truck, her pants were soaked through from the thighs down, and water streamed over her face and down her neck. She jumped into the passenger seat, yanked the seat belt across her chest, and punched in 911. After three rings she lost the signal.

“Damn it.” Clay texted Ella. What’s happening?

Beside her, Tess buckled up and threw the truck into gear.

“Hold on,” Tess cried. “The roads will be a mess.”

“I’m good. Go. Go!”

Tess pointed the truck toward the road and hit the gas, punching through rain so heavy they could have been driving on the bottom of the lake. The headlights reflected back at them as if from a murky mirror. Clay kept trying to call with no luck.

“Ella’s not answering,” Clay yelled over the pounding rain. “Can’t get emergency services, either.”

“Couldn’t have happened at a worse—oh!”

The truck swerved violently, and Clay’s head bounced off the side window. Her stomach lurched as the truck fishtailed. She grabbed the handhold over her head as Tess fought to keep the big truck on the road.

“Tree down,” Tess shouted. The truck steadied off and Tess laughed unevenly. “Sorry. Should have expected that. Are you all right?”

“I’m good.” Clay fingered a tender spot above her ear. “You?”

“Fine. We’re almost there.” Tess gripped the wheel, her face set in concentration, her eyes glued to the road ahead. “What do you think it is?”

“That was gas—had to be one of the propane tanks.” Clay had seen plenty of well fires on the job, but they weren’t drilling now. Every one of the tanks at the camp was in proximity to the barracks or the operations trailers, where she had people. Ella and Kelly had probably been in her trailer, and she couldn’t raise either of them. She pushed the sick feeling away as a black cloud of anger filled up her chest. “And my guess is it’s not an accident.”

Tess caught her breath. “More sabotage? But this is crazy—who would go this far?”

“I don’t know,” Clay said, “but I will before I’m done. How much longer?”

“A minute or two.”

Clay gripped Tess’s thigh, squeezed lightly. “When we get there, I want you to stay in the truck. If one of the tanks exploded, the others might be rigged to go too. I don’t want you anywhere near—”

“Clay,” Tess said mildly, “I haven’t sat back and let anyone handle my problems in a long time. I’m not going to start now.”

“Damn it, Tess,” Clay growled, “I’m not trying to control your life, just trying to keep you from getting hurt. I know what these things can do. We’ve got a couple dozen wood-frame buildings sitting right next to a lot of propane tanks. It’s a situation designed for disaster once a fire gets going.”

“And what do you plan on doing by yourself?”

“We plan for these contingencies—but first I have to make sure all my people are safe. Then I can contain the fire and shut down the gas lines.” She pointed to the rain-streaked windshield. “We’re right up there. The turn—”

“I’ve got it.” Tess swung onto the dirt access road, and a wall of trees and water instantly enclosed them. She leaned forward, squinting through the brief clear area as the wipers labored with the volume of rain. “I know you want to save your equipment and your buildings, but they’re not worth you getting hurt.”

“As soon as I know all my people are safe, I’ll assess the fire situation—I don’t plan on being a hero.”

Tess glanced at her. “Good, because I just got you back. I don’t plan on losing you again.”

Clay covered Tess’s hand on the wheel. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard anything quite as good as that.”

“Just remember it, then.” Tess slowed, the rear wheels hydroplaning as she braked. The truck skidded and slid fifteen yards toward the woods before she got it under control. They passed the open access gate, and up ahead, flames leapt into the sky. “How far—”

“This is close enough—we don’t want you getting stuck,” Clay said. “Turn the truck around so it’s pointed toward the road. If we have injured, you might need to take them to the hospital.”

“All right,” Tess said. “I’ll get the truck ready to evacuate any injured, but I’m not taking them. I’m not going anywhere without you.”

Clay jumped out, holding the door open as the rain lashed her face, and stared in at Tess. “I don’t remember you being this stubborn.”

“I wasn’t.” Tess smiled. “I’m tougher now. You’re going to have to get used to that.”

“I can handle that. If you’re not going to stay here, you have to promise to follow my lead. Can you do that?”

“Yes.” Tess shut down the engine and left the keys in the ignition. She jumped out and ran to the front of the truck to meet Clay. “I’m very sure. Because wherever you’re headed, I’m going with you.”

“Stay close!”

Tess grabbed the back of Clay’s shirt as they ran, afraid she would lose her in the otherworldly orange haze. The fire was bright, but the air was so heavy with smoke and rain, visibility was practically zero. Beneath the roar of the flames and rush of water falling all around them, she thought she heard shouts. The rain, a cold, dense wall, suddenly shimmered and broke apart as a wave of heat speared through it. Recoiling, she finally made out the silhouettes of burning buildings writhing against an ominous sky. Two buildings, storage sheds or barns of some kind, were fully involved. Flames leapt twenty feet into the air as if trying to escape their own fury. The trailer door stood open as she remembered it had been after it had been vandalized. It wasn’t burning but appeared dark and deserted.

“Wait here,” Clay said. “I need to get the men organized and find Ella and Kelly.”

“I’ll check the trailer,” Tess called and took off running as Clay’s protests were quickly swallowed by wind and flame. She jumped up onto the top step and grabbed the side of the trailer for balance. The metal was scorching and she yanked her hand back. “Ella! Kelly! Are you in here?”

She heard nothing but had to be sure no one was lying unconscious inside. Carefully, she stepped inside, checking her footing and testing the air. Nothing appeared to be burning, but the power was out just like everywhere else. Venturing a few feet farther, she could tell almost immediately the trailer was empty. She pivoted back to the door and nearly ran into Clay.

“Oh!” Tess’s pulse jackrabbited with a rush of adrenaline.

“Damn it!” Clay grabbed her shoulders. “Whatever happened to following my lead?”

“I was—you went to check in with the men, and I went to look for Ella and Kelly. They’re not here. They must be with the men.” Tess grabbed Clay’s hand. “Come on, we need to find them.”

“Just be careful. Please.”

“I will.”

Back outside, they ran toward the nearest burning shed. As they got closer, Tess could finally make out human forms, a half dozen figures dragging equipment and loaded pallets away from a wall of flames.

“I don’t see Ella…Wait”—Tess pointed—“I think that’s Kelly.”

Tess raced toward Kelly as Clay was stopped by a big man in an undershirt and work pants. Kelly’s face was smudged with soot, her shirt and pants drenched and covered with smears of oil and grime.

“What happened?” Tess said.

“Not sure—it looks like a gas leak. Looks like the fire started over near the big storage building.”

“Where’s Ella?”

“I lost track of her when we went to check on the men in the barracks.”

“Is everyone accounted for?”

Kelly shook her head. “There’s no way to tell. The guys bunking in one building didn’t know who had stayed in the others. We located the crew foreman before Ella disappeared. He’s trying to get a head count now. It could take hours before we know for sure.” Kelly wiped her forehead, smearing the soot into long dark streaks like war paint. “Any chance help is coming?”

Tess shook her head. “I doubt it. Not in time, anyhow.” A chorus of engine roars brought her spinning around in time to see Clay climb into the operator’s station on a large track-type tractor, engage the plow, and head directly toward one of the burning buildings.

“What is she doing?” Tess started to run.

“Wait.” Kelly grabbed Tess’s arm. “She’s going to take the building down. It’s the only way to contain the blaze and keep it from spreading.”

“What about the gas?” As Tess watched, other men jumped into tractors and backhoes and started for the second burning building.

“The men already shut down the lines from the uninvolved tanks. They’ll be all right,” Kelly said.

Tess jerked around, fury making her voice quiver. “How exactly do you know that? They’re driving right into the middle of that fire.”

“They know what they’re doing, they’ve done it before. This is part of the job.”

“It’s a ridiculous job,” Tess yelled, knowing she probably sounded ridiculous, and not caring. Clay had disappeared behind a wall of flames and she was terrified.

“Trust her,” Kelly said. “Clay knows what she’s doing.”

Trust. Why did it always come down to that? Clay might know what she was doing—but not even Clay could control nature. Tess knew what formidable foes wind and rain and fire could be.

“I can’t just stand here and watch,” Tess said. “I’m going to check the rest of the buildings and make sure that they’re all empty, just in case.”

“Good idea,” Kelly said. “I’ll come with you.”

Tess trotted toward the nearest uninvolved building. “I don’t think you need to be on duty tonight, but I appreciate you looking out for me.”

“Right now, I think we all need to look out for each other, at least until we find out if this was an accident or not.”

“Clay doesn’t seem to think so.”

“No,” Kelly said, her usual good humor gone and a hard edge to her voice. “Neither do I.”

Running from building to building, they cleared them all in less than five minutes. All were empty with no sign of any injured workers anywhere. The fire was concentrated near Clay’s trailer and the storage sheds. If there was an arsonist, he seemed to have targeted buildings that were unoccupied.

By the time they crossed back across the wide expanse of the camp, Clay and the others had knocked down both burning structures and were heaping mounds of dirt on the flaming debris. Tess searched for Clay, but in the swirling smoke and embers, she couldn’t tell one person from another. Despite Clay’s promise she wouldn’t try to be a hero, Tess couldn’t think of any other name for it.

“When she gets off that tractor, I’m going to kill her,” she muttered as she paced.

“I don’t know,” Kelly said. “If it was me, I’d kiss her.”

Tess shot her a glance.

Kelly grinned. “Well, you know, if I was into hot sexy women.”

“I don’t plan on asking for details.”

“I’m going to check the perimeter for Ella—she’s got to be out there somewhere.”

“Text me every few minutes so I know you’re all right,” Tess said.

“Will do. You should be fine if you just stay here.”

“Fine.” Tess squinted through air thick as sawdust and about as easy to breathe, searching for Clay, trying to make herself believe everything would be all right. She thought maybe Kelly was right. When she saw Clay again, she planned on kissing her. Until then, there was work to do.

As Kelly disappeared from view, Tess ran toward the closest tractor.