Page 91 of Wild Fires

“Hey. Are you okay? I heard there's another fire. When you're done with it, we really should talk.”

“It's not a fire, Ryan. There are at least ten of them. It's him.”

“Where are you?”

“The cliffs again.”

“Tell him that all the original sites have been hit, plus a few extras.”

“When did you get the calls?”

“About ten minutes ago.”

“Babe, I'm here with Vance. He's been debriefing me. Give us a few minutes and I'll catch up with you so we can reassess.”

I knew exactly what he was saying. If the fires just started coming in then Vance Thornton could not be the arsonist. There was no way he could run around town setting multiple fires when he was standing right there with Ryan.

“Okay,” I said in a strained voice.

The second I hung up I ran to search for any sort of detonation device. It was the only thing that would make sense as I was certain it was Vance.

“What are you looking for?” Andrew asked.

“Any sort of incendiary device.”

“There's nothing. There's no fuel, literally nothing. It doesn't even make sense. Just a match against some dry land. And why is the land dry?”

“Witches caused the storm this morning. How did you not realize that?”

“Sorry, but I was a little preoccupied battling the fire.”

“My biggest suspect is a bust now. Has a solid alibi for today.”

“And you're certain this is the work of our arsonist and not just a bunch of residual fires from sparks from the wildfire?”

“I suppose that could be plausible, but no. This is definitely his handiwork.” I pointed to the ground. “He's left behind a wooden match and a single feather at every fire.”

My phone rang again and I answered it without even checking caller id. I assumed it was Ryan confirming he was on his way.

“Ms. Montgomery, I'm calling from Warwick Title and Insurance Company regarding your inquiry into the beneficiary of the Pierce estate in Ravenden. We've received all your paperwork and everything looks in order. I can now confirm that the insurance claim will be paid to a Carson Pierce. Says here he's the late owner's grandson and executor of the estate in question.”

A man walked out of the shadows and into the clearing.

Carson.

He gave me a crooked smirk as he put a cigarette in his mouth and then lit it with a wooden match. He tossed the match into a patch of high dry grass, took a deep pull on of his cigarette and blew it out as he watched the fire.

A gust of breath far stronger than it should be was aimed directly for the flame while instantly ignited from the breeze.

“The catalyst is wind. Not fuel, but wind. It's why we never found any residue or fuel source. It was wind.”

But why was he suddenly exposing himself to us. The odds had shifted and I wasn't sure what game he was playing at now but I had a very bad feeling about it.

Ryan

Chapter 25

My raven was feeling uneasy after talking to Gracie. Something in her voice sounded off.