They shot a bullet into one. It just went straight through. No explosion.”
Carson’s face was grim. “It’s the vapor you have to worry about, when the gas is released and concentrated in a room. If it’s thick enough to hamper breathing, any spark will make it explode, even turning on a light switch.”
“Is that what you think happened?”
“Merissa said he’d opened the valve on one of the tanks, that they were having trouble breathing. He’d set the timer to go off and was probably counting on the fumes to cause the explosion, to cover his exit and kill the women. I assume he planned to tie them up first, but he didn’t foresee someone getting close enough to shoot him before he could follow through. Nice diversion, by the way.”
“Thank Cody, it was his idea.”
“Anyway, I couldn’t get a clear shot from the position I was in, so I moved closer to the cabin. All at once the back door opened and the women tried to come out. The would-be assassin was after them. I aimed past them, hit him in the shoulder, and motioned to them to run. He was stunned long enough for us to get clear of the cabin. I smelled gas before I even got as far as the porch. The women were coughing from contact with it. He fired after us, just before the explosion.”
“You think the shot ignited the gas?”
“Yes,” Carson replied. “When he shot at us, the spark from his pistol must have ignited the gas.” Carson shook his head. “He burned to death. Even for an evil man, that’s a hell of a way to die.”
“Merissa said that’s how he’d go,” Tank replied heavily. “She knew.”
“You take care of her,” Carson said firmly. “If you don’t, I’ll take her away from you and marry her myself.” He grinned.
Tank chuckled. He clapped him on the shoulder. “Thanks for saving my life.”
“I didn’t,” he replied, puzzled.
“You saved her. Without her, I wouldn’t have had a life.”
“Got it,” Carson told him, with an understanding look. “You’re welcome.”
Cody Banks joined them in the waiting room. “Well, we’ve got a dead body and no way to identify it,” he said heavily. “Coroner’s working on him down in the autopsy room, but there isn’t much left to go on, unless his DNA is in a database somewhere.”
“Did he have anything on him like a cell phone?”
“He did. It’s pretty much toast. We’ll send it to the state crime lab and hope for a miracle. Just between us, I doubt we’ll get lucky.”
“We need to call Sheriff Hayes Carson in Texas,” Tank said grimly. “The shooter told Merissa that he’d hired someone reliable to take out some woman who’d seen him and had a photographic memory.”
Carson’s eyes narrowed. “I can only think of one woman who fits that description. You’d better make that call fast.”
“I will,” Tank said.
“The man was a certified lunatic,” Cody said angrily.
“What about his watch?”
Cody blinked. “What watch?”
“The one he was wearing...”
Cody was shaking his head. “He didn’t have a watch on his wrist,” he replied. “Nor a wallet. Go figure.”
“He must have stayed someplace while he was hunting me,” Tank said curtly.
“We thought he might have been staying in the attic of the cabin,” Carson added.
Cody sighed. “Well, we’ll give it a look, but the fire did catastrophic damage to most of it.”
Tank winced. “Merissa’s computer was in there. All her work.”
“No, it wasn’t,” Rourke said, joining them. He was grinning. “Forgotten already? I moved out her computer and most of their little personal keepsakes earlier in the day, and was going to bring them to stay at your ranch.”
“Great foresight.” Tank chuckled.
“I am known far and wide for my foresight, which is exceeded only by my striking good looks,” Rourke pointed out.
Carson rolled his eyes.
“We’ll need to contact the Red Cross,” Cody said.
“Why?” Tank asked.
“The women are going to be temporarily homeless...”
“They have a home,” Tank said, smiling. “We have three spare bedrooms.”
“Is that an invitation?” Rourke asked, big-eyed. “Because I’ve been sharing a room in the bunkhouse with him, and he snores,” he grumbled, glaring at Carson.
“I do not snore!” the other man said indignantly.
“Then you’re using a chain saw at night and you don’t remember,” Rourke countered.
“It wasn’t an invitation,” Tank told him. “You have to go home now. This case is closed. The would-be assassin is no longer a problem. Although I’m very grateful, to both of you, and your checks will reflect how grateful.”
“I didn’t do this for pay,” Rourke pointed out. “So don’t insult me.”
“Same here,” Carson added. He smiled, too. “Even famous attorneys do pro bono cases from time to time.”
“Some lawyer,” Rourke muttered. “Do your summations with a sniper kit, do you?”
Carson raised both eyebrows.
“If you ever get tired of working for Cy Parks, you can come and work for me,” Tank told Carson. “I’ll even build you a house of your own.”
“Tempting,” Carson said. “But Cy Parks would grieve for me.”
“He did an Irish jig when you said you were coming up here,” Rourke mused, “and he’s not even Irish.”
“Lies,” Carson said easily.
“I only lie when I’m asked to,” Rourke said haughtily.
Merissa and Clara came through a door, along with Dr. Harrison, who was grinning as he talked to Clara.
“Long time, no see,” Tank said and shook his hand.
“What an extraordinary coincidence,” the doctor said. “I brought a young man in with me who needed stitching up after a fight, and ran into these two.”
“He knows the resident on duty,” Clara said.
“I should, I taught him everything he knows.” He grinned. The smile faded. “I was sorry to hear about your cabin. If you need a place to stay...”
“Very nice of you, but the wives have the guest bedrooms all ready for them at the ranch,” Tank said. “And we’d better go. It’s been a long day for all of us.”
“I’d like to phone you later, if I may,” the doctor told Clara. “To see how you’re doing.”
“That would be very kind of you,” she replied. “Thanks.”
“It would be my pleasure.” He nodded to the others, smiled at the women and walked on to the desk.
“Ready to go?” Tank asked.
Merissa nodded. “I’m so tired. We both are.”
“It’s been an ordeal,” Tank replied. “But with a happy ending. Come on. You can ride with me.”
“You’re sure we won’t be imposing?” Merissa asked worriedly.
“How can you impose?” Tank asked with a smile. “You’re family, aren’t you?”
She looked up at him with her heart in her eyes. “Oh, yes. Definitely family.”
He drew her under his arm and smiled.
THE WOMEN SETTLED in as easily as if they’d been born at the Kirk ranch. Merissa, who had a hard time interacting with most people, fit right in with Morie and Bolinda.
“It’s like I’ve known them all my life,” she told Tank when they were alone in his truck, driving back to the cabin to check out what was left of their personal possessions after the fire department and the crime scene
