Lucky declined to comment on her statement. Chase divided his incredulous glance between the two of them. He said, "Devon, would you please give me a minute alone with my brother?"
"I'll wait for you outside, Lucky."
"Be right there."
As soon as she was out of earshot, Chase encircled Lucky's biceps in a death grip. His face close, he said, "Have you lost your friggin' mind? You can't tamper with something like this. Who the hell do you two think you are, Kojak and Nancy Drew?"
"I'm a whole lot better looking than Kojak," Lucky replied cockily.
"I'm not joking," Chase said angrily.
"Neither am I."
"Aren't you?"
Lucky's blue eyes narrowed. "What do you mean by that crack?"
"Isn't this all just a game to you? A game that will keep you in close contact with a woman you have no business being around?"
"Stay out of this," Lucky said tightly, his humor vanishing. "What I do with Devon—"
"You'd better do nothing with Devon. She's married."
Lucky, resenting his brother's sermon, though it echoed the one he'd been preaching to himself, jerked his arm free. "I'm a grown-up. I don't need you for a conscience any more, big brother."
"I'm not trying to be your conscience." Chase sighed with chagrin. "Okay, maybe I am. But I'm more worried about her than I am you. She's the real victim here, Lucky. Her life has been turned upside down, and it's your fault."
"I don't need you to remind me of that either."
"When you're done playing your games, what's she going to be left with, huh? A broken marriage and a broken heart?"
"You're wrong, Chase."
"Am I?"
; "Yes! This time it isn't just a game."
Chase stared at him long and hard before stating softly, "That's what really worries me."
* * *
All that was left of the machinery garage was a dark area on the ground, covered by ashes that had been sifted through so many times they resembled gray face powder. The remains of the machinery had already been hauled away. What little that could be salvaged had been sold as scrap metal. The revenue from that sale had barely covered the crew's expenses to Louisiana.
Devon sighed as she kicked up a cloud of ashen dust with the toe of her sneaker. "Not much here to look at, is there?"
"I told you." Lucky was squatting; he scooped up handfuls of the ash and let it filter through his fingers.
"The fire was meant to be destructive, not just to serve as a warning of some sort," she observed aloud.
"The agents said that from the beginning. That's one of the reasons they pointed accusing fingers at me. They said it burned quick and hot. The fire trucks never had a chance in hell of putting the thing out. The best they could do was save the woods surrounding it."
Devon moved to an area of green just beyond the perimeter of scorched ground. She sat down on the trunk of a fallen tree.
Lucky joined her. They silently contemplated the charred area.
"This is just one of several company buildings, right?" she asked.