Death and Her Devotion (Rogue Vows #1)(22)

He didn’t recognize the two girls and assumed they’d come to town with the rest of the grieving Chase Ryan groupies. They had a city polish to their makeup and clothes that the local girls didn’t have. It wasn’t necessarily a good thing in his book.

“Excuse me, I’m Police Chief Duncan and this is Officer Taylor. We’d like to ask the two of you about what you’ve seen since the fire started.”

“Oh my God,” said the girl who wore her hair in several complicated black braids. “I can’t believe how big it is.”

“When we first walked up, there was only some light smoke coming out of the windows,” said the second girl. She had a stud in her upper lip that looked infected. Zane tried not to stare.

“So you were here for the beginning?” asked Stevie. “How many people were around?”

“We didn’t start the fire,” pointed out Pierced Lip. “We didn’t have anything to do with it.”

“We’re not accusing you. We’re just collecting information,” Stevie said smoothly. “What were you doing in this area?”

“We were walking along the main road,” said Braids. “We’re camped a little ways out of town and decided we wanted some Dairy Queen.”

“Did you notice anyone acting suspicious?” Stevie asked.

The girls looked at each other, and Pierced Lip scratched the red area around her stud. “There was a woman running along the road before we got to the driveway,” she said. “I thought it was odd because she wasn’t dressed for running.”

“What was she wearing?” Stevie asked.

“A pink skirt and cute top.”

“Her top was cute, wasn’t it?” Braids asked with enthusiasm. “She had on pink sandals too.”

“Was she young and blonde, with her hair in a ponytail?” Stevie asked.

“Yes,” they chorused.

“But she didn’t look like someone who would start fires,” Braids said firmly. Pierced Lip nodded in agreement.

“You’d be surprised what a pyromaniac looks like,” Stevie said drily. “Did you notice anything else unusual?”

The girls had nothing else to add, and Zane stepped away with Stevie. “Cyndee?” he asked in a low voice.

Stevie looked grim. “Sounds like it. I saw her earlier today and she was wearing exactly what the girls described. We know she has a problem with arson.”

Zane glanced at the grange. “But why now? Why this building? This doesn’t have anything to do with Chase Ryan.”

“But it has everything to do with us.”

“I’m not following you.”

“Cyndee threw a fit today when she found out we’re getting married tomorrow. She says we’re not working hard enough to find the killer and was furious that we’d take time away from the investigation for something personal.”

Zane was astonished. “You’re joking, right? Are you saying she started the fire to stop the wedding?”

“I’m saying exactly that. Or she did it to get back at us for not working the case 24-7.”

He looked over at Patsy and Brianna as an EMT checked them out. Carly and Seth had joined them, and Brianna had firmly attached herself to her mother. Seth caught Zane’s gaze and moved in their direction.

“She could have killed Patsy and Brianna,” Zane said in a low voice as Brianna’s father approached.

“Exactly,” agreed Stevie. “She’s lucky no one was hurt.”

“What happened?” asked the county investigator as he joined them. “I can tell by your faces it’s not good.”

Stevie brought Seth up to speed.

“Do you know where she’s staying?” Seth asked, clenching a muscle in his jaw as he spoke. “I’d like to have a word with her.”

Zane suspected Seth wanted more than a simple word with Cyndee. His daughter had been in the building where the woman threw a flaming explosive. Cyndee was going to find out you don’t endanger kids. Or mess with the Taylor clan.

“According to Chase Ryan’s friends, she’s got a trailer,” said Zane. “I’ll get a better description and get everyone searching for it. There’s only so many places she could be.”

He stepped away to call Josh. He wanted to find Cyndee and her trailer tonight.

No one came to his little town and attacked his family without big consequences.

His evening was not turning out as he’d expected. Or as he wanted.





CHAPTER NINE


“Ralph spotted the camper a few days ago,” Stevie told Zane as she watched the road for the turnoff past Crying Indian Campground, thankful there was still sufficient light from the late sunset. “He said he hadn’t bothered to report it for illegal camping since hundreds of people are currently doing the same thing. He figured everyone would eventually leave.”

“How’d he remember this particular one when you talked to him?”

“He said he had a camper like it back in the seventies.”

“Spider said it’s a piece of crap,” said Zane. “But recognizable.”

Stevie hit the brakes and turned down the dirt access road Ralph had described. Her SUV bounced over the rock-hard ruts. She eyed several tents and small trailers tucked far back in the firs. An occasional campfire was burning nearby. The area was close enough to Crying Indian for people to walk to use the facilities, but since it wasn’t part of the campground, they were essentially squatting on government land.