Sea Haven 01 - Water Bound

he hadn’t waited until they had lowered their guard. He’d come up with another plan of attack and implemented it immediately.
    Jet A fuel would provide the needed heat to dry out the ground between the thick vegetation and Rikki’s home. Once Pratt started the fire, he could manipulate the flames, until they burned hot enough to race up the hillside, consuming everything in their path, including Rikki’s house. This time, Pratt would cut off all escape by soaking the trees on the ridge above her as well.
    Had Pratt not been a fire element, Lev wouldn’t have been so alarmed. The ground wasn’t dry and ready for the least little spark, but Pratt had the ability to control his fire, make it burn hot enough to do the damage he intended.
    The heat would swirl around behind the flames, creating more oxygen and feeding the fire as it grew in size until everything in its path would be consumed.
    Heart pounding, tasting fear in his mouth, Lev cursed himself for not having made certain Rikki was safe. He’d been so focused on removing Pratt from her life, that he hadn’t considered she might be trapped waiting for 291

    Jonas and the fire department. He glanced at the sky. There were clouds, but not as heavy as the other night. A few appeared gray and dark, but not many.
    Lev, where is he?
    He let himself breathe. The arsonist wouldn’t know they could communicate in silence. He turned his head to glance over his shoulder and stepped into a pool of liquid. The ground was saturated with the fuel. He knew instantly the man had expected company. He was in the profession and had been educated in the way fires worked. He would have studied the topography of the farm and surrounding forest.
    Rikki’s home was considered urban interface—a home surrounded by tremendous amounts of fuel. She had cleared away hazards close to her house and planted only low-growing and fire-resistant plants within thirty feet of her home. She’d convinced her sisters to do the same thing. Most of the plants held water, making them perfect to get through droughts, and to aid in the resistance of fire. She pruned regularly and removed all the dead vegetation, staying extremely vigilant because of the fires in her past. Wild strawberry, beardtongue and fuchsias were closer to the house, while plants like lavender, yarrow, monkey flower and redbud provided a middle circle with the sage and concha on the extreme outside. Throughout the entire garden, she had sprinklers and a vast water supply.
    Don’t come through here, Rikki. He’s got fuel everywhere. And remember, he’s got a flamethrower. The moment he knows we’re out of the house and in the forest, he’s going to ignite that accelerant. I want you to get out of here.
    Well, that isn’t going to happen. I’m drawing all the moisture I can into this area, both from the sky and below us. I can’t use it until he makes his move. Once that happens, I’ll cut off his escape using the pond. He has to figure he’ll get out that way. I’m not letting our farm burn. The sheriff and the fire department are on their way. I told my sisters to leave immediately.
    That was his woman. Cool under fire. Determined. She could face a trained Russian interrogator and use what others called a weakness as her greatest strength, and then just as coolly and deliberately go out into the night and work with him, in spite of the danger, to save the farm. Of course Pratt had an escape plan. He was going to set the hills and forest on fire. He had to have given himself a safe path out.
    Staying low, Lev moved in a semicircle, slower now, reaching for the birds to give him a clear idea of where the fire starter was working. He moved in silence, knowing if Pratt heard him coming, he would immediately 292

    use his flamethrower and trigger the ignition source. It would definitely burn hot enough to start a fire on the hillside.
    Rikki had to be out in the open. She could never gather the clouds together from inside the trees. He didn’t know which would be worse, knowing she was in the woods where any moment Pratt could turn the entire forest into roaring flames or out in the open where she might be an easy target for a gun. He couldn’t see her as he worked his way through the trees and brush, back around toward the lower valley where the irrigation pond was situated.
    On the other side of the valley, some forty yards away, he could see Pratt, working furiously, jetting the fuel from a pack on his back. The