Sara saw it and gasped. “We’re trapped.”
“Look at me,” Murphy ordered.
She forced her eyes to his and saw nothing but steady calm.
“We have to jump. It isn’t far, maybe twenty feet. The ground is mostly sand on the east side. If we jump there we should be okay.”
“Twenty feet? I can’t jump twenty feet.” Sara’s voice rose. She could hear the terrified whinnies of the horses trapped in their stalls. Those poor animals were going to burn to death.
“I have to save the horses, Sara, we don’t have time.”
She stared into his eyes and absorbed some of his strength. After a deep breath, she nodded and allowed him to lead her to the east ledge. They stood there and looked over. Sara started trembling and gripped Murphy’s hand.
Below them something crashed, startling her.
“We have to go now, Sara. On three?” Murphy met her eyes.
Sara nodded.
Murphy counted and on three pulled her with him over the edge. She screamed as they dropped to the ground. Murphy hit before her with an oomph and she braced herself for impact. When it came, she knew she hadn’t prepared herself nearly enough. The breath was knocked out of her and she landed wrong on her ankle. It twisted painfully under her weight and pain shot up her leg. She lay there, stunned and in pain but not for long.
Strong arms swept her up. Murphy ran with her toward the house.
“No, Murphy, the horses. You have to save them,” she said as she looked over his shoulder at the fiery barns.
Murphy didn’t slow down.
Sara struggled against his grip. “Please, Murphy. Save them. I can make it to the house by myself.”
He stopped and set her on her feet, looking torn.
She touched his cheek. “Go. I’ll call 911.”
“Stay in the house,” he commanded.
“I will.”
He kissed her and turned to go.
“Murphy.”
He glanced over his shoulder.
“Be careful.”
He took off at a dead run for the barns and Sara lifted her leg in agony. She forced herself to endure the pain until Murphy wasn’t looking so he wouldn’t waste time with her and risk the lives of the horses. She couldn’t bear the thought of them burning to death.
She hobbled toward the house as fast as she could, hoping Abby didn’t wake up and see the fire. The porch light came on and Alice flew through the door in her housecoat. She took one look at Sara and came running down the steps.
“Oh, dear, what happened?” she asked, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and putting most of Sara’s weight on her.
“Fire. I have to call 911.” Sara panted through the pain each step caused her.
“I already have, dear. They should be here in about fifteen minutes.”
“The horses are trapped…”
Suddenly two trucks flew up the driveway. James and Paul jumped out and started running toward the barns.
“Anybody hurt?” Paul called on his way past, tugging his shirt over his head as he went.
“No, but Murphy is down there alone,” Sara called back.
“We’ll handle it. Stay inside,” James ordered as he sprinted by.
Sara’s heart squeezed. This was what family was all about. Helping each other and being there when needed.
As Alice helped her up the steps onto the porch, she started worrying about Murphy. When she glanced back, she saw the barn enveloped in flames and a sob rose in her throat. Murphy wouldn’t quit until he saved each and every horse. If he got trapped…
“Don’t worry, dear, the boys will get the horses out. Let me have a look at that ankle.”
Alice led her into the living room and made her sit with her ankle stretched in front of her. Since it throbbed, Sara didn’t argue. She had no idea how to explain.
Alice brought her a make-shift ice pack of ice wrapped in a kitchen towel and Sara pressed it to her swollen ankle. She could feel Alice’s eyes on her and knew she was putting the pieces together.
“I can’t sit here. I have to go help.” She started to get up but Alice pushed her back down.
“You won’t be any help with that ankle. You stay here in case Abby wakes up. I’ll go on down and see what’s happening.”
Defeated, Sara nodded and sank into the cushions. She balanced the ice pack on her ankle and rubbed her eyes, praying the men and horses were all right. If she and Murphy hadn’t been there to see the flames, the horses would have been lost.
“Don’t move. I’ll be right back,” Alice instructed before disappearing out the door.
Minutes later, fire trucks roared the driveway and made their way down to the barn. Sara wished she could go check on Abby, but the way her ankle swelled, she knew she’d never make it up the stairs without assistance. She would have to trust her care to Grover.
What a night this turned out to be. It broke her heart to think about everything being lost in the barn. It wasn’t just the building, it was tack and photos of the kids when they were young with their horses and ribbons they had won in competition. Memories and pieces of their past they would never get back.
She could hear trucks barreling down the drive, and wanted to be there. She imagined Murphy darting through flames to get the horses out, fighting not to get burned, and bit down on her lip. She hoped they were okay. The waiting was almost more than she could handle.
Alice returned a little while later covered in soot and smelling like smoke, assuring her everyone was fine. “Jon and the boys managed to get all the horses out before the building went up in flames. The fire department got the fire out, but the barn is a total loss.”
Sara breathed a sigh of relief.
“No one was hurt?” she asked.
“Jon sustained some smoke inhalation, but he’s fine. He’s going to be awhile.”
Sara didn’t miss the frown that marred Alice’s brow, and her heart sank.
“This wasn’t an accident, was it?” she asked quietly.
Alice moved to her side and laid a hand on her shoulder. “Don’t you worry, dear, Jon will take care of everything. I’m going to go make a pot of coffee and take it to the boys. How’s your ankle?”
“Better, thanks.”
Alice nodded and disappeared into the kitchen. Sara closed her eyes. Deep down she knew this was no accident. Stephen was here.
Sara let out a long sigh. She couldn’t stay here. Too much had been lost already and she wasn’t going to let Stephen take anything more from this family. Tomorrow she would pack their things and go before anyone could stop her. She could go to Texas or Arizona. Somewhere remote and out of the way. Stephen would hate the desert.
With an aching heart, she said silent goodbyes to the family she had grown to love.
Chapter 14
Murphy raked a hand through his hair. It came away heavy with soot. He tasted smoke and felt it thick in his lungs. The barn was demolished.
The fire had been deliberately set.
An empty gas container lying a few feet away and the footprints that didn’t belong to anyone on the ranch proved it. The fools hadn’t tried to hide the truth that they set the fire, instead taunted him with the evidence. Stephen Benchley didn’t know who he was dealing with. By God, Murphy would make it clear as soon as he got his hands on the bastard.
It ailed him that the fire had been started right under his nose. While he had been distracted with Sara, they had snuck in and lit the place on fire. He hadn’t heard a thing and that wasn’t like him. Years of dangerous missions deep behind enemy lines had fine-tuned his instincts, yet somehow a slip of a woman had obliterated them. It rubbed like a burr under a saddle. He couldn’t protect her if she distracted him. They hadn’t lost more than a building and some tack tonight, but next time it might be more.
It could be Sara or Abby or a member of his family.
A rock settled in his stomach. This bastard had come into his home and threatened his family. That wa
sn’t acceptable.
He saluted the fire trucks as they roared past him. Nice thing about small towns, they let folks handle their own problems until they needed assistance. He wouldn’t press charges because he wanted to take care of this himself.
James and Paul approached, both covered in ash.
“What are you going to do, Jon?” James asked. As an ex-cop, he knew what the fire represented.
“Tighten security. Keep the girls close to home. He’s playing with us, sending us a warning. Fool thinks he’s in control.”
“One hell of a warning,” James muttered.
“Worst thing we can do is underestimate the man. He may not be familiar with our territory, but he managed to do okay with this stunt.” His voice relayed his anger at being caught with his pants down. Literally.
Paul clapped a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t be so hard on yourself, Jon. Sara is one lovely lady. Can’t say it wouldn’t have happened to us if we were in your shoes.”
Murphy scowled into the darkness. Did everyone know what he and Sara had been doing on top of the barn? Christ, nothing was sacred in a small town. By now the firefighters knew and by breakfast tomorrow the entire town would know too.
He never should have opened his door that night.
“We’ll help you get the horses in the corral so you can go see how Sara’s ankle’s doing. Did she really jump from the roof?”
Murphy scowled at Paul, who was grinning like a fool. Damn, he would never live this down.
“How far would you say it is? About twenty feet?” James added with a barely concealed grin.
Murphy knew what they were doing and he appreciated it, but he wasn’t in the mood to be cheered up. He’d missed the mark and let the enemy get close. A dangerous mistake he couldn’t afford to repeat. From this point on, he was staying as far away from Sara as possible.
Even if it killed him.
* * * *
Sara heard the back door slide open and sat up so she could see for herself that Murphy was all right. He walked in with James and Paul, who looked tired and in need of a shower. All three wore grim expressions and were covered in soot. Paul wore flannel pajama bottoms and James’s t-shirt was on backward. They had literally jumped out of bed to come help.
She let out a tiny sigh. Murphy might be covered in soot, but he was alive. Relief flooded her with such intensity she had to turn away from him so he didn’t see. He didn’t need her adding to his burdens.
Alice rushed over to them. She embraced each of them in turn and did a quick inspection to make sure they were okay.
“Everything’s gone?”
Murphy nodded and leaned down to give his mother a strong hug.
Her heart flip-flopped at the uncharacteristic gesture. They were going to be okay. No matter what had been lost, they would make it through.
“It was only stuff,” Alice said, holding her son tightly. “We can rebuild. You boys better get on home before the girls pack up the kids and show up on the doorstep. They’ll be worried about you.”
James and Paul each stopped to ask Sara about her foot before saying their goodbyes. Touched by their concern, she assured them she was fine, blushing when Paul winked at her. They couldn’t possibly know how she’d done it.
Once the door closed behind them, Alice said her goodnights and headed to bed.
Murphy circled the couch and kneeled beside her foot. He picked up the ice pack and gently prodded her ankle with hands that were black with ash.
“Are you okay?” Sara asked, worrying there were burns beneath the grime.
He ignored her question, rotating her foot in a tight circle. “Does this hurt?”
She winced. “A little. You don’t think it’s broken, do you?”
“Sprained. You’ll need to stay off it for a couple days.”
She groaned. “How am I supposed to explain this? Abby is going to wonder what I did.”
Murphy glanced at her, his expression grim. “Tell her you tripped on the stairs,” he said gruffly, replacing the ice pack.
Why the coldness in his tone and the distance in his eyes? Something was wrong, more than just the loss of the barn on his mind. He was acting more like the cold, aloof man she had met in the mountains. There was no warmth in his eyes when he looked at her. He looked like a stranger and it hurt.
“You can rebuild the barn?” she asked, settling back on the sofa.
Murphy rubbed a hand over his eyes. “Yeah, we can rebuild.”
“That’s good, isn’t it?”
“Yeah.”
Sara bit down on her lip. Tension radiated from his pores, making her uneasy. She wanted to massage the tension out of his muscles, but kept her hands folded in her lap, knowing he wouldn’t welcome it right now.
“Do you know how it started?”
Still crouching at her feet, he said, “Deliberately, with gas cans and a match.”
Her worst fear, come true. She had brought this upon Murphy’s family. It gnawed at her insides like an angry disease.
She met Murphy’s eyes and flinched at the coldness she saw there.
“I’m sorry,” she said.
Anger flashed in his eyes. “You didn’t do this,” he said through a clenched jaw.
“I brought this danger into your home. If I wasn’t here, you would still have your barn.”
Murphy locked a hard gaze on her. “If you weren’t here you would be dead by now.”
Sara gasped. “You don’t know that. I was taking care of Abby and I was just fine without your intervention. I evaded Stephen for six months.”
“Only because he allowed you to.”
Stunned, she gaped at him, unable to speak. When she finally found her voice, it was filled with indignation.
“You can’t know that. You don’t know Stephen well enough to know that. How dare you undermine me. I took care of Abby while I was in that godforsaken house, and I took care of her after we left. I didn’t try to fall down that ledge, I slipped. I would never let them hurt my daughter, so don’t tell me that Stephen has been in control. Abby is safe because I kept her safe. I made her wear disguises and moved her all over God’s creation without allowing her to make friends or get attached to any one place. We’ve spent the last six months living out of a car and bouncing from one motel to another. It’s been stressful and hard but we did it! And we’ll keep doing it. I made the right decision. I did the unthinkable and dammit, I’m proud of it. It’s the first thing I’ve done in a long time that was right.”
Her tirade ended with a sob and she bit down hard on her lip to prevent it from escaping. How dare he suggest Stephen had been playing with her the entire time? She was too angry to admit it sounded like something Stephen would do.
Staring at her hands, she willed her heart to stop pounding and her tears to go away. She hated this emotional tornado that felt like it was going to suck her up at any given moment.
Murphy rose slowly to his feet. She refused to look at him.
“You’ve done a good job with your daughter, Sara,” he said quietly. “You’re a very good mother, but the force opposing you is stronger and we have to act accordingly. That’s all I meant.”
Her chin lifted. Murphy stood over her, tall and menacing, but with the gentleness in his eyes she had grown to love. It made him seem less a soldier and more like the man she dreamed about at night. Her anger instantly evaporated and she sighed.
“I overreacted. It’s been quite a night. Maybe we’ll communicate better in the morning.”
“There’s nothing to say. Until the threat is gone, I’m going to be increasing security on the ranch and you’re going to stay close to the house.”
“Isn’t that what I’ve been doing?”
“No more rides. No trips to town.”
Sara flinched. “No more us.”
“There never was an us.”
Sara felt the blow of those words clear to her toes. They ripped and shredded their way through her heart and made her look a
way from the man who’d tossed them at her. He’d shut her out the same as he had his family after his return from Azbakastan. When Murphy felt he failed in a task, he withdrew. Which meant he thought he had failed her.
With jerky movements she picked up the ice pack and swung her legs to the floor. She pushed to her feet, ignoring Murphy’s outstretched hand, and bit back a wince as pain shot up her leg. No way would she accept his help now. The line had been drawn. They were back to soldier and runaway. This place she’d been before. She had spent most of her life alone.
Murphy reached for her elbow when she took a tentative step forward. She slapped his hand away and limped toward the stairs.
“Dammit, Sara.”
Sara kept on awkwardly toward the staircase. Every step was pure agony, but she wasn’t going to let Murphy help her. He had made it clear where he stood and she was determined to let him have his way.
She made it to the stairway and gripped the banister.
Murphy followed close behind but he didn’t touch her.
Holding up her injured foot, she hopped up the stairs one by one with Murphy dogging her heels the entire way.
“This is a side to you I’ve never seen,” Murphy muttered as she stepped gingerly onto the landing. “Stubborn doesn’t suit you, Sara.”
“It does now. Goodnight, Murphy.”
She hopped on one foot down the hallway and into her room.
With his hand, Murphy stopped her from closing the door. “This is the only way it can be, Sara. My job is to protect you.”
“You have been protecting us. You got us out of Colorado. What does being with me have to do with that?”
Murphy raked a hand through his hair. “It has everything to do with it.”
“Well, we are not a job, Murphy. We’re real live human beings who stumbled into your life and made a mess of things. I’m sorry for that, but I’m not sorry I made love with you. It was the best thing that has happened to me since Abby. I’m sorry you feel it’s a burden.”
“It wasn’t a burden, it was a distraction,” he said and walked away. He disappeared into the bathroom and closed the door.
Sara denied the urge to join him in the shower, and shut her door. She leaned heavily against it for a moment, rethinking what Murphy had said. He considered her a distraction. Kind of flattering, even if it did put the kibosh on their relationship. If Murphy considered her a distraction, that meant he felt something for her.
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