He crossed the room and cupped her face. “I know. Get dressed.”
As they moved around the cabin, the easy feeling from earlier vanished, replaced by urgency. The night had turned on a dime.
Mia pulled on clothes with shaking hands, her mind racing.
Missing orders.
Crackers.
Cancellations.
Rumors.
A blog post. And now, a fire. Her pulse kicked hard. This wasn’t a coincidence anymore.
The sky was still dark, with stars twinkling above. But Mia could swear she smelled smoke even though she was miles away.
Caleb drove carefully through the night. Neither said a word.
Her mind spun. What could have happened? Fire meant damage. Damage meant money. Money meant survival. She forced herself to breathe.
Stop.
This wasn’t helping.
She took a deep breath. She could see the red and blue lights flickering faintly in the distance now.
She’d know soon enough.
CHAPTER 39
Mia hadn’t saida word driving back to the farm. She hugged herself and stared out into the inky night, shoulders tight.
Caleb kept both hands on the wheel, eyes scanning the road while his mind was already running contingencies. He wasn’t sure what they’d find when they got there. He only hoped the fire had been small. Contained. Something that could be fixed. He prayed that it wasn’t anything his guys had missed, though that was highly unlikely. He didn’t cut corners. If this was intentional, it wasn’t on them.
Red and blue lights cut through the darkness as they turned onto the drive. Fire trucks. A cruiser. He was glad he had made Ranger stay at the cabin. One less variable. One less thing that could go wrong. This would have been too much excitement for the dog.
He parked by the farmhouse and circled around to help Mia down. Her hand was cold in his. He held on for an extra second before letting go.
They walked toward the event barn, the gravel crunching beneath their feet. The air smelled wrong. Smoke, faint but unmistakable, clung to the night.
Her dad stood just outside the spill of light from the trucks. The second Mia saw him, she broke free and went straight into his arms. He wrapped her tight, one hand cradling the back of head, murmuring something Caleb couldn’t hear.
Good. Her dad was okay. That mattered. That was one box checked. He needed more.
Caleb searched for Austin Peters. He was standing by the pond.
He forced his focus outward, the way he had been trained. Assess. Secure. Muscle memory kicked in. It always did when things went sideways. He scanned the barn. No active flames. The structure was still standing, though one corner looked darker than it should have. Wet and soot-streaked. Damage, not destruction. For now.
Austin stood with his helmet off, turnout coat unzipped. Calm. That was a good sign. Liam McBride and a deputy sheriff were talking with him.
Caleb headed over. “How bad?”
Austin blew out a breath. “Started near the prep area. At first glance, it looks electrical. Outlet or extension. We’ll know more in the daylight. Smoke damage mostly. The alarms did their job and alerted Mr. Whitmore. He called it in early. We got here fast.”
Caleb nodded. He glanced back at Mia. She was still clinging to her father, staring at the barn.
This wasn’t over. The warning hum he’d learned never to ignore kicked in, familiar and impossible to ignore.
