He knew it wouldn’t be long. The brigade’s total response time was a matter of -minutes—-Will had been their timekeeper during the last test.

Activating his vehicle’s -hands--free system as he drove toward Anahera’s cabin, he made a direct call to the leader of the volunteer firefighters. “It’s Will,” he said. “I’m pretty sure Anahera’s cabin is on fire. I’m heading in that direction to confirm.”

The other man didn’t waste time on unimportant questions. “I’ve just reached the firehouse. You want us to wait or do you want us to head out straightaway?”

Will could see even more smoke now. It speared out through the darkness, thick columns of gray smudging the night. “Get your people to the location as fast as possible.”

He screeched into Anahera’s drive.

The red glow of flames crackled hot against the shadowy backdrop of trees, and a second after he braked to a shuddering stop off the gravel path so that the firefighters could come through, the roof collapsed in a shower of embers.

Stepping out, he braced himself. The heat pulsed against his face, the smoke coating his nostrils, his throat, sinking into his clothing. It was a nightmare come to life, one that threatened to suck him into the abyss, but Will wasn’t fucking done yet. If Anahera was in that house, he’d damn well get her out.

No matter what the price.

Grabbing his phone, he called her.

It rang and rang and -rang—-“Will?”

He staggered against the driver’s--side door of the SUV just as the fire appliance turned into the drive, its siren going full blast. “You’re all right!” he yelled, barely able to hear himself. “Is there a reason anyone else would’ve been in your cabin today?”

“No, I locked up when I left,” she said. “Are you at the fire? Tom left -to—-oh, my God, is it my cabin?”

“I’m sorry, Anahera.”

But she’d already hung up, and he knew she was on her way. A number of others arrived before her, probably the folks who’d been in the pub, or who lived closest to the center of town. But they let Anahera pass to the front, their faces soft with pity and sorrow except for two drunks who stared at the flames, their eyes reflecting the greedy -yellow--red tongues.

Anahera said nothing when she reached Will; the two of them stood a third of the way down the drive while the firefighters worked to control the blaze. Will caught the locked tension of her muscles, but he also saw the shimmer of water in her eyes. And he remembered that this had been her mother’s home. It was the safe haven Anahera had come to, to lick her own wounds and attempt to heal.

He didn’t have any words to comfort her, so he just put his arm around her and tugged her against his body. She resisted, her hands fisted and her jaw a brutal line. “There was no gas inside,” she said. “My tank ran out last night just as I finished reheating the stew and I haven’t had a chance to return the empty and pick up a new one. And you saw me turn the electricity off at the mains.”

“Yes.” She’d opened up the box mounted to one side of the porch right before they left for Matilda’s what felt like a lifetime ago.

“My mother taught me to do that if I might be away overnight because the cabin was all the way out here by itself. She worried about shorts in the wiring.”

Will heard the firefighters shout to each other, their faces glowing with sweat. “I don’t think this was an accident,” he said. “It’s too much of a coincidence with everything else that’s going on.”

A massive crackle as a wall collapsed inward.

“Did you have a run--in with anyone tonight?”

A short pause before she shook her head. “No.”

“You can’t protect your friends now.”

“Nikau was acting off, but that’s because he just heard Keira is pregnant.” She blew out a breath. “She looks like me. Under the dyed hair and the colored contacts.”

Will thought of Nikau’s alibi for the time of Miriama’s disappearance, and then he thought about the three hikers and how Anahera’s picture would fit right in. “I’ll find out where he was earlier tonight.” The fire could’ve been set an hour or more ago, a small flame left to slowly creep across the cabin.

“There’s something else.” Anahera glanced at him before returning her gaze to her cabin. “It’s all over town that you spent the night here. And it’s far easier to get to my place than it is to yours.”

She was right. Will’s home was in the middle of a neighborhood, complete with nosy Evelyn Triskell only three houses down. “You were attacked to send me a message.” He’d been rattling cages, asking questions, while Anahera was a local come home and should’ve been safe. It made more sense than a serial killer suddenly changing the way he stalked and attacked his victims.

Anahera closed her hand over the forearm he had across her chest. “I was attacked because this person is a coward. Don’t let them mess with your head, cop.”

Will forced himself to unclench his jaw. “I know the cabin meant a lot to you,” he said, “but did you lose anything else important?”

“Both my laptops and my passport,” she told him. “But I can get the passport replaced, and my work’s all backed up in the cloud so I’m fine there.” Her hand rose to her throat, to the pounamu carving he’d never seen her without. “This is safe.” Strong fingers curving around the greenstone, her body finally softening slightly into his. “I still have photos of my mother, all backed up in triplicate, including a set on Josie’s computer. That’s the most important thing.”