He pulled slowly at first, and then the second her hips cleared, she slipped out easily, almost toppling into him.
After moving away from the house, he gathered her into his embrace and held her for a few seconds. “I thought I’d lost you when I saw the house on fire.”
She nestled against him, relishing the warmth of him and the sense of safety she felt. In that moment she never wanted to leave the shelter of his arms.
“Are you okay?” he murmured against the top of her head.
She nodded against his chest, then turned within his arms and looked at the cabin nearly consumed totally by the flames. “This was no accident. The fire was at the back and front exits. Even the windows we could have easily been able to escape through were consumed with flames.”
Her face ashen and wearing Jake’s coat, Aunt Linda stepped closer. “Someone wanted to destroy Betty’s house. Why?”
“Good question and one I intend to find out. No one goes after you two without answering to me.” Jake’s arms cuddled Rachel even closer. “I don’t want to go through that again.”
“Neither do I,” Rachel whispered, her throat raw.
“I’m taking you to town to report this to the police and see the doctor.”
Not wanting to leave his arms, Rachel glanced over her shoulder. “Take us home. We’ll call the police and report the fire.”
“Nope. You need to have Doc look at your injuries.” He released her and examined her right side. “You’re bleeding. Let’s get to Gramps’s car. He has some towels you can place over the wound.” Jake looked at her aunt. “Are you okay? I didn’t see bleeding.”
She nodded.
As flames engulfed the cabin, they hurried to the SUV, the sound of sirens filling the air.
A police car came down the long drive followed by the fire department. There wasn’t anything that could be done for the cabin. With only a light breeze and a snow-covered ground, hopefully the blaze wouldn’t spread.
“See? Now we don’t have to go to town.” Rachel took the clean towel from Jake and pressed it into her side.
“You’re still going to see Doc.” Jake started the car and turned the heater on, then he climbed from the vehicle.
“Wait,” Aunt Linda said. “Take this.” She shed his coat and tossed it toward him.
He caught it and walked toward Chief Quay as he got out of his cruiser.
Rachel watched the conversation between them with Jake gesturing toward the house, anger creasing his forehead as he spoke to the chief.
“Jake saved us,” her aunt murmured.
“I know.” Since he’d come home, she felt as though she’d been on a tilt-a-whirl, spinning out of control. And yet, seeing him again renewed feelings she’d kept buried—conflicting emotions from anger at him leaving to happiness he was here.
As Jake returned to the SUV, the firefighters hooked up their equipment. “Let’s go. Randall will come out to see you later after you’ve seen Doc.”
“How did he find out about the fire since we couldn’t call it in?”
“Gramps saw the black smoke when he returned from plowing the Andersons’ drive down the road. He went home, placed the call and then was going to come over. Randall told him that he just received a report from another neighbor and he would take care of it.” Jake backed up, then made a turn and headed for the highway.
* * *
Jake opened Linda’s door to greet his grandfather and Mitch. “Thanks for bringing him over. Randall should be here soon to interview Rachel and Linda.”
“The cabin must have gone up quickly.” Gramps entered while Jake petted Mitch.
“Probably an accelerant was used. One of the firefighters has experience in determining arson.”
“That makes sense.” Gramps sat on the couch. “Where are Linda and Rachel?”
“Changing. Doc had to sew up Rachel’s right side where some glass sliced her good. The rest of her cuts were small. Neither of them have smoke inhalation problems.” As Jake rattled off the list of injuries, a part of him was back at the cabin, frantically trying to get Rachel free. If something had happened to her, he would have blamed himself. He’d rescued many people while working for the Northern Frontier Search and Rescue Organization and the police, so he should be able to save someone he really cared about.
“That’s a relief. I should have gone with them this morning.”
“And what? From what they told me it happened fast, and there wasn’t anything that could be done, except to get out. Besides, you wouldn’t have fit through the window.”
“True. I never thought something like that would happen.”
“Neither did I or I would have been there.”
Gramps’s wrinkled face cracked a big grin. “Do I need to say if you had, you wouldn’t have gotten out? We have the same build. Most of the Nichols men are tall and have broad shoulders.”
Jake chuckled. “Touché.”
“It’s good to hear some laughter after the day I’ve had,” Rachel said as she walked slowly into the living room.
Jake turned toward her, remembering how close he’d come to losing her. That thought left his gut roiling, and he was even more determined to find out what was going on in Port Aurora. “Are you all right?” He took in her pale face and tired eyes—a beautiful sight to see. It could have gone so wrong today.
“My side hurts, but it felt great to take a shower and get that smoke smell out of my hair. I think I washed it three times.”
When Rachel moved past him to the chair across from Gramps, Jake drew in a deep breath of the apple-scented shampoo. She still used the same one from when she was a child. He associated apples with Rachel because of that.
She eased down, wincing once. “When is the chief arriving?”
“I see his car coming down the road.” Linda crossed the room and opened the door to the arctic entry.
After shaking Randall’s hand, Jake sat next to Rachel’s aunt on the couch while the chief took the last chair. His grim expression fit Jake’s mood. Every alarm bell was going off in his head. The fire only reinforced his belief that Betty’s death wasn’t due to a robbery gone bad. What had Betty gotten herself into?
“Are you two all right now?” the chief asked, withdrawing a pad and pen from his pocket.
“As well as could be expected.” Linda pressed her lips together.
Randall shifted his attention to Rachel. “I understand Doc had to see you.”
“I’ll be okay. Do you have any idea what happened?”
“No, other than there were footprints leading to the house from the woods on the left side. I followed them to tire tracks—probably a truck. I’m treating this fire as arson at this time. Did either of you see anything?”
Linda shook her head while Rachel said, “We were in the back bedroom, looking for Aunt Betty’s camera.”
“Why?”
“Although I don’t think it is worth much except to her, someone could have taken it,” Linda answered Randall.
“Did you find it?”
“No, but I didn’t check the darkroom thoroughly. It was trashed like the whole place was. The camera usually hangs on the peg by the door, but it wasn’t there.”
The chief wrote on his pad. “So it’s