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But it was the tired slouch of Quint’s shoulders that claies of soot and ash on his jeans and denim jacket Dallas suspected that a closer inspection of his clothes would reveal a collection of burn marks where sparks had landed

After an exchange of parting words, Quint backed a step, then turned and headed toward the house in a slow, leg-weary walk When she heard the clump of a booted foot on the porch planks, Dallas moved away from theand crossed to the kitchen cupboards

The back door opened and Quint walked in, bringing with hilance traveled around the kitchen and came to a stop on her

“I hope you still have so out the rumble of the fire truck’s motor as it started up

“Just made a fresh pot” Dallas reached into the upper cabinet for a clean cup “The fire truck’s leaving, is it?”

“Yeah” Soue crept into Quint’s voice “There’s still a couple of guys on the fire line,around , just to play it safe”

Quint shrugged out of his jean jacket and gave it a halfhearted toss onto one of the kitchen chairs He was shirtless beneath it Just for an instant Dallas was unnerved by the unobstructed view she had of his lean-limpse of the contrast between the bare flesh across his back and the gri swath down the front of his chest, and Dallas understood the practicality of his actions

“I guess the fire marshal will be out either this afternoon or tomorrow,” Quint said as he turned on the faucets and adjusted the water temperature

“I suppose that’s standard procedure” She filled his cup with coffee and tried to ignore the distraction of all that hard, bare skin It was i away”

“I told the fire chief” Quint soaped his hands and forearray lather covered them, then rinsed it off under the faucet “You and I both knoas arson Proving it h More than likely it will simply be labeled ‘suspicious’”

Dallas stared at him in surprise “Why only ‘suspicious’?”

“Without any evidence of cause or some type of accelerant, arson beco, Quint splashed water on his face and neck, then reached again for the soap bar “As dry as that hay was, a cigarette lighter is all it would have taken We can only hope the arsonist was stupid enough to leave it behind—assuh it could just as easily have been one of those small portable torches they make nowadays”

“If they found so like that, then that would be proof, wouldn’t it?” But Dallas didn’t have much hope that it would occur

“It would be proof, and evidence that a cri lather, Quint scrubbed at his face and neck

“I wouldn’t hold my breath if I were you” Dallas removed a clean hand towel froe would never allow any of his men to make such a foolish mistake”