Echoes of Danger

Above them, the fire rose up, triumphant in its snap-happy victory. The sound of bursting glass shattered the night, and Dana watched as the blue lace curtains of her parents’ bedroom curled and crumbled, too dainty, too delicate, to survive the heat of the angry, leaping flames.

Chapter Three

“So you’re telling me that you can’t do anything to help me?”

Dana looked at the robust face of Sheriff Horace Radford and wondered why she’d even bothered to drive over the speed limit, straight to his house about five miles up the road, and pull him out of what looked like a sound sleep. The man didn’t seem to care one way or the other about all the happenings out on her land.

Remembering how he’d only shrugged and told her how sorry he was about Otto when she’d talked to him yesterday after the tornado, she wished the man hadn’t been reelected. She certainly hadn’t voted for him. Oh, he’d promised her a full investigation, but having a tornado drop down on his town’s doorstep had given him a pretty good excuse to sit on his hands. But having her house deliberately burned to the ground meant Dana didn’t have the same luxury.

“It’s all gone, Sheriff,” she said now, her voice still and resigned. “And I found this note underneath my windshield wipers.”

She read aloud the cryptic note. “‘You have something that belongs to us. Until we find it, watch out for your brother.’” The note had ended with a Bible verse, Proverbs 18:21. “Death and life are in the power of the tongue.”

Reading it again gave Dana the creeps and put a solid fear in her heart. They thought Dana had something of theirs, and they were threatening her brother to get it. The verse was almost like a warning, telling her not to speak. But what did they think she would have to speak about?

“That don’t make much sense,” the sheriff said after Dana read him the note.

“No, but it’s a threat. I don’t know what they think I have of theirs. Surely you can send some men out to look around. I saw them set the fire, so I know it wasn’t an accident, and I believe these people are a part of the Universal Unity Church. That’s the only ones I can think who’d do something such as this.”

“Dana, Dana,” he said, raising a beefy hand to ward off any further protests, “I’m sure sorry you’ve had all these troubles, sugar. I hate that you’ve lost your house, honey. But you can’t go around accusing people without some sort of proof.”

Dana stepped closer to the sheriff, her footfalls causing his creaky front porch to groan in sleepy protest, her face just inches from the oblong pink wart growing on his crusty nose. “Look at me, Sheriff Radford,” she said on a slow, even keel. “I’ve got dirt all over me. That’s from trying to save my house. Stephen and I fought that fire as hard as we could, but we couldn’t save anything. That’s because they cut off my water supply.” Lowering her eyes to the peeling green paint on the floor, she added, “I couldn’t even get inside to the phone, not that that would have mattered. My line’s been down since the storm. And my cell phone didn’t help. It was too late to call the fire department.”

The sheriff patted her on the arm, then pulled his dirty plaid flannel robe closer around his puffy white-haired chest. “I’m sorry, honey. Do you have a place to stay?”

Dana gave him another disbelieving stare. “Are you listening to me? They looted and then burned down my house and shot at us!” Her voice rose an octave higher with each word.

Sheriff Radford rubbed the salt-and-pepper beard stubble on his fat jaw. “It don’t sound good, do it? But I declare, I ain’t never heard of any trouble from that Unity woman and her kids. You sure you saw some of them?”

“Yes, I saw two young men dressed the way they all dress, from what I could tell. I’ve been thinking maybe it’s some sort of revenge against me, maybe because I talked to her the other day about my bull getting killed. But why they’ve decided to pick on me is beyond reason. Whoever sent them meant business. They tore up what was left of my house and burned the rest. Now everything I had is gone.”

“Think you could identify them if you saw them again?” the sheriff asked, his beefy hand still rubbing a hole in his unshaven face as he pondered all the details.

Glad that he was finally comprehending what she was trying to tell him, Dana pushed on. “Maybe. It was dark and I only got a glimpse, but I could tell from their actions, they looked young—two of them, dressed in what looked like baggy clothes and big coats—that much I remember.” She let out a long sigh. “I’m pretty sure they shot my breeding bull, and now this. And they looted the house right after the storm. I can’t imagine what they’re looking for, though.”

The old man leaned back against the planked side of the house wall. “I’ll go ‘round and have a talk with some of your neighbors first thing in the morning. Maybe somebody saw something.”

“Talk?” Dana pushed smoke-scented hair out of her eyes. “These people killed an expensive animal and then destroyed what little was left of my home. And that’s just this week. Goodness knows what they’re planning next. You need to do more than talk. If these kids are from that church, you need to arrest them before somebody else gets hurt.”

“I can’t arrest anybody until I have proof!” he shouted, his eyes bulging. At Dana’s look of surprise, he added, “And you’d better stop accusing Ms. Roark’s pack. That woman has become a pillar of this community and she’s got lots of money tied up in that place out there. We have to consider all the angles before we go blazing in on a high horse, accusing her of things.”

Dana gave him a puzzled look. “I’m not accusing her. I just think somebody living there isn’t exactly nice. And I think she needs to know about it. When I talked to her yesterday, she practically threatened Stephen herself.”

“I can’t believe it’s anybody from her place,” the sheriff responded, shaking his head. “That woman makes them kids behave. Holds them to a tight schedule and has them praying all day and night. They plum don’t have time for much outside activity.”

It suddenly hit Dana why the sheriff was being so indifferent toward her. The Roark woman had helped the man get reelected. That, plus the fact that the sheriff was lazy and didn’t really want to put himself in any danger, made Dana think she could give up ever finding the criminals who’d destroyed her home. No, Sheriff Radford wouldn’t make any effort to arrest someone who might put his own life in danger. He only worked enough to keep himself supplied in liquor and cigarettes.

“What are you going to do?” she asked, just to test his thin mettle.

“I’ll post guards on your land,” he supplied, pleased that he’d done his sworn duty. “Keep any mischief-makers away.”

“Mischief?” Dana laughed bitterly. “I’d call arson and slaughter a little more than mischief, Sheriff.”

“Crazy kids,” he said, shaking his head. “Are you sure you got a good look at them?” he asked again, his words stretching out in a long whine.

“Not a real good one,” she admitted. “They stayed hidden like the cowards they are, but I saw them in the light from the fire.” She glared pointedly at him. “And you’re just as big a coward. You’ve sold out the people of Prairie Heart, Sheriff. How do you sleep at night?”

Anger puffed his face to a glowing red. From the yellowed glow of the porch light, Dana saw she’d struck her mark. The man sure didn’t have a poker face.

“I do what has to be done,” he said in a wheedling voice, “to keep the peace around here. And since you ain’t got one dab of proof against anybody, I suggest you stop barking up the wrong tree.”

Dana lifted a finger to his chest, poking him as she spoke. “Oh, you’re right about that. I am barking up the wrong tree. I’ve lost everything, but you don’t care, do you?” Pushing him away with a repulsive jab, she added, “I guess I’ll have to deal with this on my own.”

“Don’t do anything stupid, Dana,” he warned. Then his wide face took on a sympathetic demeanor. “How ’bout I give you a little money to tide you over?”

Dana wanted to spit at him. He was telling her not to do anything stupid, when he was the biggest idiot of all! “No, thanks. I don’t want your money, Sheriff. I’d prefer some justice, though.”

Looking affronted, he said, “You don’t know Caryn the way I do. She’s a very peace-loving woman. She wouldn’t do something like this.”

Dana was already heading back to the truck, where Stephen sat watching. Then she turned to glare back up at him. “You know, I never once accused her of any wrongdoing. I just happen to believe it’s someone living on her property. Seems you’re mighty worried about that woman. Sure makes me wonder what you’re hiding.”

“I ain’t hiding nothing,” Sheriff Radford called out a little too defensively. “And just to prove it, I’ll send them deputies out right now.”

“I feel better already,” Dana called. She got in the truck and slammed both palms against the steering wheel, a fresh batch of tears brimming down her cheeks. She was going to have to take Stephen to a safe place. And she needed some time to think about what to do next. She was going to have to ask Tony Martin for help sooner than she’d planned.

Dawn greeted them as they entered Kansas City by way of Interstate 35. They’d left Prairie Heart behind. They’d left their little corner of the Flint Hills behind. They’d left their charred and splintered farmhouse behind. They’d left their home, their land, their life, behind.

Dana had made a snap decision, based on a long stretch of determination. She only hoped Tony would welcome them and help them. Maybe, at least, Stephen would be safe in the city until she could figure out what to do next.

After waking Emma and Frederick to ask them to look after her stock, she’d discussed her options with them. She still had her cattle; she could try to save them at least.

“We’ll herd them over to Harvey’s place,” Frederick assured her. He called several burly, dependable, well-armed men to meet him at the crack of dawn. He’d get the animals to a safe pasture. “And I don’t mind shooting any trespassers, thieves, or travelers, not one bit.”

“Tell the men I’ll pay them all back, somehow,” Dana promised. “When this mess is settled.”

“That Sheriff Radford,” Emma hissed, her pink foam curlers contrasting sharply with her bright red-and-yellow-flowered housedress. “We’ll vote that lazy old man out come next election!”

“Somebody’s got him in their pocket,” Dana explained, her instincts telling her that someone was Caryn Roark. “Voting doesn’t count out as nicely as cold cash.”

“Where you going, child?”

“Kansas City. To see Tony.”

Emma smiled knowingly. “‘Pride goeth before a fall.’”

“I don’t have any pride left, that’s for sure,” Dana said. “I don’t have anything.”

“Poor child. We could take care of you two. You know you can stay with us, don’t you?”