by James, Ranay
Sirens could now be heard off in the distance as the Johnson County Volunteer Fire Department answered the call. He had no idea how much time had passed since he saw the first tongue of flames lick the night sky. It did not matter. Time was of no consequence, and yet it was the most important thing of all. He needed time to get to her before the flames took them both.
“Kate? Kate where are you?” he called frantically, covering his face then dashing into the barn.
“I’m back here. Oh God, Robert, I can’t get this latch open!”
“For God’s sake, Kate, we don’t have time for this! We have to get out of here now! Leave them!”
“Please, please help me. You have to help me save her. She’s pregnant, and I cannot let her die. Not like this.”
Through the smoke he could see her at the end of the row of stalls trying to get the last of the stall doors open.
He knew from the direction and speed the flames were spreading she would be trapped in the conflagration at any second. The timbers of the rafters were giving way in a deadly rain of fire and ash. Dodging the gauntlet of falling objects, he kept his sights on her. Keeping as low to the floor as he could, he tried to keep his footing.
The horse wild with terror reared. The horse's right front hoof caught her, grazed off the side of her head, and sent her dazed to the dirt floor. He saw her falling in slow motion as time began to stop. Running, headless of the danger, he finally reached her. Freeing the latches holding the last of the stalls, the red-hot iron scalded the tender flesh of his palms as he swung the stall wide. Slapping the mare on the haunches and sending it flying to freedom, she was now on her own.
If she made it then she made it.
Kate was his future, and he would protect and save her even at the cost of his own life if necessary. Scooping her up, he dashed for the only way left to them now. Kyle once swore he needed to repair a section of this old barn which had rotted over the decades; Robert prayed he had not gotten around to doing those repairs to the back wall. It was their only hope of escape and survival.
Kicking through the rotten section of wall, he said a prayer of thanks for Kyle’s procrastinating nature as he pushed Kate, none too gently, out of the opening vowing to give his apologies later. The barn was going to collapse any second, and he was surprised it had lasted as long as it had. He carried his precious bundle as far as he could before the crash rocked the ground beneath his feet. Dropping to the ground and covering her body with his own, he protected her from the last of the falling debris grateful the angle of the collapse had been away from their retreat. They had escaped out the east side just a blink of an eye before the building gave way to the west.
Along with the last of the falling ashes of the old barn came the first drop of the rain.
Timing was everything.
Within moments the worst of the fire was extinguished, hardly before the fire department had unfurled their hoses from the pump trucks. Overpowered by the quenching waters of the heavy spring rains, the roaring inferno fizzled into nothingness and disappeared back down into the hell from which it came.
Chapter 28
Kate took in a deep breath. The air was clean and crisp, a total contrast to the charred and blackened scene that had unfolded just a little earlier. She looked at the cinders and smoldering remains of the house while sitting on the steps of the bunkhouse wrapped in the silver thermal blanket the young paramedic had given her.
The bunkhouse was the only thing still standing out of the buildings of the estate.
“Well, at least I don’t have to worry about painting the house this summer,” she said swiping the soot-riddled tear away from her cheek.
She looked around at what remained of her past. Her eyes settled on Robert talking to Buddy Duke, the fire marshal. The matching thermal blanket wrapped around his bare shoulders was a testament to the memories she did have of him saving her life. Most of the previous night was a blur with the exception of his charging through the flames to help her save the mare.
“Excuse me,” she said rising from the rocking chair where the paramedic was dressing her burns.
“Ma’am, you need to let me finish,” the E.M.T. protested mildly.
“You are,” she said flatly giving away her lack of inner feelings. She was numb to her very core.
The young paramedic just let her go.
Walking over to where Robert was standing speaking to the marshal, she wordlessly slipped under his arm and hoped the contact would dispel the chill stealing its way into her core. Robert never missed a beat in his conversation with Bud as he pulled her close encircling her inside his protective embrace. All anyone could see was her head sticking out from under the thermal blanket that he had wrapped around them both.
“I had just rolled over to look at my watch when she called. It was just a little after three,” Robert informed the marshal.
“But given the time you called 911 and the time it took the fire department to reach the ranch, the fire must have gotten out of control an hour or more later.” Bud was taking notes for his report.
“I agree,” Kate offered.
Her memory was sketchy, but she remembered calling Robert, taking a bath, and then crawling into bed at around three-thirty. She remembered looking at the bedside clock at three-fifty. It was then she knew she was in real danger, the smoke already choking her in her sleep. By that point the first and second floors were completely in flames.
“How did you get out if the downstairs was already engulfed?” Robert asked, surprised at how close she had come to the ravages of the flames.
“I don’t really remember. I guess I shimmied down the tree just outside my bedroom window. I did that all the time as a kid. I remember feeling trapped, a gloved hand over my nose and mouth, and then I remember Robert coming into the barn. Everything else in between…” Shrugging and shaking her head, she fought to bring the missing pieces of the moments together. “I don’t recall. I have a huge hole in my memory.”
“It’s all right. Don’t fight it.” He pulled her closer and laid his cheek on the top of her head. “It’s all right.”
“Take her home with you, Robert. Put her to bed and then get some rest yourself.” Bud ordered and Robert felt it was the wisest move given Kate was swaying on her feet even with his arm firmly wrapped around her.
He was not in much better shape, but acknowledged things could definitely be worse. Aside from a few cuts, scrapes, and small pieces of metal they pulled from his side, the burns on his palm were the worst injury he sustained, and even those were not too bad, small blisters more or less. Kate was banged up from the horse knocking her down, but none the worse considering. They both would need a haircut to remove the singe, but the first order of business was a shower.
Robert shook the marshal’s hand and offered to call him if Kate remembered anything else.
Loading her into the dually work truck Chase had driven over from his ranch, he leaned over her to secure the belt. She kissed him on the cheek and leaned her forehead into the crook of his shoulder.
“You came for me,” she whispered.
Robert closed his eyes, savoring the private moment before answering, only just beginning to understand the depths of his desires and devotion.
“If you only knew the lengths I would go for you,” he said, safe in the knowledge she was fast asleep and succumbing to the sedative the young paramedic had given her to ward off the effects of the shock and pain.
Tenderly laying her head on the backrest, he softly shut the passenger door to keep from waking her. Hopping into the driver’s side, he was weary to the bone. Not many times in his life had he felt this drained of reserve energy. The day his father and mother had died and the night he had lost his first client to assassination were the two that jumped to mind.
This he could add to the list. He hoped that list remained very short.
His mind was finally wrapping around what had happened here and just how close Kate had come to dying. Hi
s own life was inconsequential compared to hers. It would be the same for anyone under his care, but more so with her.
What he could not puzzle out was if Kate was an intended victim or simply a victim of chance.
Did the fire start on accident?
It was a possibility, anything was possible.
Buddy had said it could be weeks before all the reports were completed, and Kate was no help at the moment.
Kate had said the lights flickered a couple of times and suggested it was the house's old wiring. Perhaps a short was responsible. However, he had new electrical wiring run throughout the house to ensure proper functioning of the security system. He had not told her for fear she would nix his efforts for the reason that it was expensive. Little did she know, the money was trivial compared to her safety. To save the argument he just did it without telling her.
Was the lightning he had seen responsible for starting the fire behind the house and it spread?
Arson was always an option given Kyle had just been murdered. Yet, he had to concede Bud had a valid point. The combination of lightning and an old house together sometimes spelled disaster. Fire, like tornadoes, were also strange animals. The fact the bunkhouse was untouched was just an example.
The house and barns were a total loss. That was secondary to the fact that no one was killed. Logically, he knew that and so would she. Nevertheless, she had absolutely nothing left in the world except for her life. It would take some adjusting. They would go shopping first thing tomorrow, and he would give her an open checkbook. Today would be spent recuperating.
Getting out of the shower, he decided to crawl in bed beside her where she had been asleep now for a half hour. He was not letting her out of his sight, and he was too tired to do anything except pull her into his arms. Then and only then did he give over to much needed sleep.
His last thought was to wonder how he was going to get her to stay.
Chapter 29
“Kate?” Robert shook her shoulder softly. “Kate, wake up, baby.”
Opening her eyes, she saw the late afternoon light streaming in through the French doors of a room she did not recognize. Blinking back the haze, she recalled what had happened and wondered how Robert could be so calm.
“Fire, a dream? My house?” she asked propping herself up on her elbows.
“I’m sorry Kate, but no, it was not a dream. Everything is gone except the bunkhouse,” he said brushing the hair away from her forehead. She had a nasty little burn just above her left eye. It would leave a scar, and for him, it would be a constant reminder of how close he came to losing her.
“I cannot believe I almost lost you.” He cupped her face gently kissing her just to the side of that little burn. He needed to feel her alive and breathing.
“The animals? Did we lose any of them?” she asked while moving her sore legs over the side of the king size bed and placing her feet on the plush carpeting of what she now figured was his master bedroom suite.
“No, your quick reaction saved them with just minor burns for the most part. I have the vet looking after the most pressing.”
“Thank you. That was very thoughtful. I will pay the bill as soon as I can get back to New York. I’m sure Harvey will let me have my old job back. There is nothing left for me here. The code book is toast along with everything else I own.”
She was wondering how she could be so calm and expressed that to Robert.
Robert felt it was a reaction to the events. Her mind was sheltering her from the total emotional distress she would eventually feel. First Kyle and now her home was forever lost to her.
“No need to make any decision about your future right this minute, Kate. You are welcome to stay here as long as you need to. Tomorrow we can go shopping for whatever you need. Cost is of no object right now.”
Somehow his offer of assistance hit her as an offer based on pity.
“I appreciate what you are offering. I really do, but I don’t want or need your charity, Robert. I'll figure it out,” she said picking up the hairbrush off the dresser and running it through her singed hair. It was all coming back to her, screaming into her brain like a freight train. She smelled like smoke even though she had showered before crawling into his bed. She knew it was just her shock to the situation and she could not help wondering if she would ever get the smell of smoke out of her mind.
He put his hands on her shoulders gently squeezing. “I’m not insinuating you can’t take care of yourself. Let me put it another way, Kate. You cannot leave. The authorities will not allow it, at least not just yet.”
“Why not? Am I under some sort of house arrest?” She looked at him through the mirror and placed the brush back down before turning around.
“No, of course not, but it would be a mistake to leave right now.”
The insurance company would be withholding settlement pending the outcome of the fire marshal’s findings. With the considerable damage to equipment and dwellings, she stood to gain a tidy profit. He pointed out she needed to stay at least until the fire marshal’s report was complete.
“You’re flat broke, baby, and don’t think for a moment the insurance claim adjusters won’t be looking closely at that tidbit of information.”
Kate figured Kyle did not carry insurance.
Robert nodded. “Yes, he did. The policy was current. In fact, Kyle had just raised the value at George’s insistence. George told me himself that he made sure Kyle kept the taxes and insurance paid even if the light bill went delinquent. You stand to benefit from this disaster.”
She looked at him in disbelief, and it surprised her how much his words hurt.
“They think I did this? What kind of person do they think I am to put firefighters’ lives in danger for profit? Do you think I torched my house just to collect insurance money?” she asked disbelieving.
He knew her misinterpretation of his words had stung, cutting deeply and unintentionally. Holding up his hands in a conciliatory gesture, he knew he needed to soothe her.
“No, not for an instant, Kate, would I believe you would do anything of the kind. I know the breed of woman you are, and arson does not suit the bill. Besides, you forget I saw you running into a burning barn to save three puppies. A woman set on gain through fraud and arson would never bother. However, I’m not the one having to shell out the bucks for lost property.”
“Maybe so, but how much can it all really be worth, Robert? Seriously, the house was ancient and needed a new roof just for starters. The equipment was a bucket of rusty bolts, except the combine and it has a note.”
He could hear the frustration in her voice.
“You underestimate the value of the place. The house was insured for 2.2 million replacement cost, and I’m not sure you could rebuild it for even that. The place was a mausoleum, but that is beside the point. The contents were insured separately. The antiques alone were worth enough to feed a small army. The equipment was still very functional, and don’t forget the lost crop which had its own separate policy against just such disasters. It is very probable the house and furnishings alone will be enough to settle your debt to me and leave you with living money left over. It would allow you to keep the ranch. Is that not what you wanted?”
“And leave me with nothing left to rebuild.”
“We still have our agreement. You could keep the money and take the risk that the treasure is out there still waiting to be uncovered. Who knows, you might walk away with both the ranch and a boatload of Rebel Gold. However, I have to be honest with you. Buddy did find accelerant.
“Accelerant?” she groaned. She was screwed, she conceded.
“Don’t give up on anything just yet, Kate. It might be easily explained away with all the farm equipment parked here and there,” he encouraged.
He knew what she was thinking: Eight thousand acres and still dirt poor.
Kate understood with the code book gone that unless she could find the treasure using her memory, it was looking like the land would b
e Robert’s after all. If what he said was true and they did find accelerant that could not be logically explained away, then she could not bank on the insurance money. She would be back on the streets looking for a job.
Taking her by the upper arms he pulled her close in mute apology. “Stay, Kate, not because you have to or because you have nowhere else to go. Stay because you want to.”
“But I do have somewhere to go,” she said stepping back. Being in his arms was the last place she needed to be because it was really the only place she wanted to be. Having lost so much already, she did not want to lose her heart as well. She just might be heading down that path to self-destruction, and she really did not wish to go there.
Robert was not about to let her go back to New York. That was her past, and as far as he was concerned it would stay that way. She belonged in Texas. She belonged here with him.
“I’ll not let you go back to New York. That world was eating you alive, one nibble at a time. You can stay here.”
“I’ll stay in the bunkhouse.”
She had looked it over earlier that morning and it was fine. It still had everything she would need. It was a bit rustic, but it would work. It was better than staying under Robert’s roof, living off his good graces. She was already in debt to him, and having to depend on him for the roof over her head was just more than she could handle at the moment.
Robert had to wonder if he had heard her correctly. The bunkhouse?
“You’re not staying in the bunkhouse. You will stay here where I can do my best to guard your safety.”
