A sick feeling flashed through her stomach. Unable to suppress a whimper of fear, she ran to the set of sliding glass doors by the breakfast nook just as a wall of flames shot up from the deck.
Trapped!
No. She was not going to burn to death. There had to be a way out. She ran to the garage entry door, but it was already warping from the heat, bulging in toward the foyer.
Someone was trying to burn her alive.
Frantic, she sprinted toward the spare bedroom.
Please, please, let the windows be clear.
As she raced into the room, the window exploded, raining glass down on the floor and shooting flames onto the comforter. Searing heat blasted at her as the fire greedily consumed the bedding and spilled over onto the carpet. Her eyes stinging from the smoke, she ran into the hallway, slamming the bedroom door behind her.
The air in the house was already thick and hot, turning black. Coughing, gasping for air, she crouched down beneath the heavy curtain of smoke. Tears streamed down her face from her stinging eyes as she crawled on her hands and knees to the middle of the family room.
Had she really survived everything she’d been through to die like this? There had to be a way out. If she filled the bathtub with water could she survive the flames? She didn’t see how she could, but it was the only thing she could think to try. When the flames got too hot, she’d sink beneath the water. Better to drown than to burn.
She started to crawl back toward the bathroom when the sliding glass doors exploded. She ducked, expecting to feel shards of glass raining down on her.
“Jessica, where are you?” Ryan’s voice yelled.
Ryan? He was here? How had he gotten inside past the flames? “Ryan.” She tried to yell, but she choked on the lungful of smoke she’d just inhaled. She coughed and tried to clear her throat.
Ryan appeared in front of her. She could barely see him as he pulled her to her feet and wrapped a soggy blanket around her.
“We have to run through the flames.” His deep voice was as calm as if they were about to go on a sightseeing trip. He grabbed her around the waist and guided her toward the breakfast nook.
She balked when she realized he was pulling her toward the sliding glass doors, or where the doors used to be. Now there was a gaping hole of shattered glass. A curtain of flames danced across the deck in front of the opening. The only thing keeping the flames from racing into the room was the tile floor.
He grabbed a placemat from her table and used it to rake the broken glass away from the doorway. “Come on. This is the only way out.”
“No, I can’t.” She shook her head and tried to tug away from him. The flames were so hot she felt like she was already burning.
He reached down and flipped the end of her blanket over her head, completely covering her. Her breath left her in a whoosh when he threw her over his shoulder, crushing her against him. He seemed to back away from the heat, toward the family room. Then he was running, and the heat seared Jessica even through the blanket. She screamed but the wet blanket muffled her cries. Ryan twisted violently beneath her.
They hit something solid with a bone-crunching thud. Then they were rolling, over and over until they finally came to a stop. Everything hurt, but she wasn’t on fire. Ryan flipped the blanket back from her head. She gasped as she realized they were both lying on the grass twenty feet from the inferno that used to be her back deck.
Ryan must have jumped with her through the flames where the sliding glass doors had been. He’d hurtled both of them over the railing.
A section of the roof caved in, sending up a shower of sparks as part of the back of the house imploded.
“Hurry, we’ve only got a few minutes,” Ryan said.
A few minutes until what?
He peeled the wet blanket off her. As Ryan stood, Jessica realized he was wearing a blanket, too. He shucked it off and Jessica drew in a sharp breath at the sight of his golden skin reflected in the firelight. His lack of clothing didn’t seem to bother him. Then she noticed his hair, short and spiked. Singed.
“You’re burned,” she exclaimed. She reached up to check his scalp but he ducked away, grabbing her hand and hauling her to her feet.
“Come on.” His voice was an urgent whisper. He tugged her behind him and took off in a jog toward the line of trees at the back edge of her property.
The darkness swallowed them up, and Ryan hugged the tree line with her in tow, running toward his house. He didn’t stop until they were standing in his bedroom. Jessica coughed, trying to clear her lungs from the smoke she’d inhaled. Ryan, seemingly unaffected, dropped to his knees in front of a closet and began shoving things into a large backpack that was already stuffed half-full, as if he made a habit of being packed for an emergency.
There were no lights on in the house, but Jessica could easily see everything in his bedroom because of the light from the flames next door reflected in the windows.
She looked back at him. “Shouldn’t you put some clothes on?” she blurted out.
He tossed the backpack onto the floor beside the bed and rushed across the room to what she assumed must be his master bath.
For a moment, the horror of what she’d just gone through faded as she gaped at the raw, male beauty displayed so boldly in front of her. Toned muscles rippled beneath Ryan’s tanned skin. Like Adonis, he was sheer perfection.
In every way.
She swallowed hard and forced herself to look at his face. “What are you doing? Shouldn’t we call the fire department or something?” She stepped to the doorway, shivering in her wet nightshirt. She gasped. Two men were lying on the floor, their faces turned away from her. Rivulets of blood seeped across the tile. Jessica jerked back onto the carpet and stood next to Ryan’s bed, her chest heaving, desperately trying to make sense of what she’d just seen.
Ryan grabbed some more items from a drawer in the bathroom and shoved them into a small leather case. He moved past her, threw the case in the backpack and zipped it closed. He yanked a pair of jeans off a hanger in his closet and pulled them on. Then he grabbed a thick wad of cash out of his top drawer and shoved it into his front jeans pocket. Three small rectangular boxes went into his backpack. Seeming to reconsider, he grabbed a fourth box and put that in as well.
Jessica swallowed hard. The word “ammunition” had been written on those boxes.
“Are...are those men...dead?” Jessica whispered. She clutched her throat, fighting a wave of nausea.
“It was them or me.” Ryan shoved his feet into a pair of boots. He thrust his arms into a long-sleeved black shirt and yanked it down over his head. As he pulled on his coat, he frowned at Jessica.
He yanked another drawer open and pulled out some clothes. After tossing them on the bed, he reached down and grabbed the hem of Jessica’s wet nightshirt. By the time she realized his intentions, he’d already whisked her shirt off. She frantically tried to shield herself, but Ryan impatiently pushed her arms out of the way and yanked a dry, long-sleeved sweatshirt over her head. Jessica froze, shocked at what had just happened, but Ryan was already reaching for a pair of sweatpants on the bed beside her.
“I’ll do it.” She grabbed the pants from him.
“The wet underwear has to come off, too.”
“Then turn around.”
Ryan’s mouth quirked up in a half grin. He turned around and dug back into the closet.
Jessica quickly shucked off her wet panties and shoved them under one of the pillows on the bed. Her face flaming, she tugged on the pants, rolling the waist down several times to get a better fit. They were far too big and she had to hold them up to keep them from falling off, but they were dry, and warm.
Ryan turned around, pitching a pair of socks on the bed. He frowned at the sweatpants and bent down, rolling up the pant legs to reveal her feet.
“Put these on.” He dropped a pair of tennis shoes on the floor in front of her and grabbed another coat from the closet.
Jessica stared
dumbly at the socks and shoes. The indignity of Ryan stripping her clothes faded as the image of the two dead bodies on the bathroom floor crept back into her mind. There was so much blood. She twisted her fingers in the soft sweatshirt that hung to her knees and glanced back toward the bathroom.
Swearing, Ryan grabbed her around the waist and roughly set her on the bed as if she were a child. He tugged the socks onto her feet then shoved her feet into the tennis shoes and tightened the laces.
Jessica watched him put a jacket on her and roll the sleeves up to expose her hands, as if she was seeing him through a long tunnel, as if this was happening to someone else. The far-off whine of a siren had her looking back toward the window.
Ryan lifted her off the bed and set her on her feet. “Let’s go.”
He tugged her arm and she stumbled after him, holding up her pants, trying not to trip as the oversize shoes flopped on her feet. Ryan didn’t release her hand until they were in the garage next to a motorcycle. He shoved his backpack into the leather holder on the left side and put a smaller bag in the holder on the other side of the bike. Saddlebags, that’s what they were called, right? Jessica couldn’t concentrate, couldn’t focus. Why were they even in Ryan’s garage? The sirens were much louder now. Shouldn’t she and Ryan be outside waiting for the firemen?
Ryan hopped on the motorcycle and leaned over and shoved a helmet onto her head. He tightened the strap beneath her chin. Jessica slapped at his hands when he reached for her.
“What are you doing? We have to wait for the firemen, and the police.” The thought of going outside again, being so exposed, had her throat tightening. She couldn’t do it.
“Jessica, we can’t stay here. We have to leave. Now.”
“No. I’m not going anywhere.”
“If you stay here, you’re dead.”
She swallowed hard. “The police—”
“Won’t protect you from assassins.”
“Assassins? But, those men in your bathroom, weren’t they the ones who started the fire?” Her heart pounded and her fingers twisted the fabric of her jacket.
His dark eyes stared intently into hers. “No, they weren’t. There were two more gunmen in front of your house when I went to get you. That’s why we hugged the tree line at the back of your yard when I brought you over here, so they wouldn’t see us. Do you know why they were waiting in front of your house?”
“I...I don’t know.”
“Yes, you do. They were waiting to make sure you didn’t come out of your house alive. When they go around back and see our tracks, they’ll come here looking for you. We need to get out of here. Now.”
She shook her head again. “No, it’s not possible. I didn’t tell anyone. Don’t you see? I didn’t break the rules. They couldn’t have found me. You have to be mistaken.” Her voice broke on the last word. She knew she was being irrational, but she couldn’t seem to stop blubbering.
The urgency left Ryan’s face and his expression smoothed out. His mouth curved into a reassuring smile. He calmly held out his hand, palm up, and waited as if he had all the time in the world. “You’re right. It’s not your fault. You did exactly what you were supposed to do. You didn’t break the rules. I’m still here. And I’m going to keep protecting you.” His voice was soothing, cajoling.
Hot tears ran down Jessica’s face. “I don’t know what to do,” she whispered.
“I do. Take my hand. Trust me.”
Jessica looked into his eyes, so intent, so certain. The paralyzing fear began to loosen its hold. This was Ryan. He’d realized the danger at the courthouse before anyone else. He’d saved her from her burning house. A peaceful calm swept through her. She stopped shaking.
“I trust you, Ryan.” She placed her hand in his.
His brows drew down in a frown. He stared at her as if he was trying to figure something out, as if he was trying to figure her out.
The sirens had stopped. Lights flashed red and yellow through the garage windows, spurring Ryan into action. He lifted Jessica onto the bike behind him and pulled her arms around his waist.
“Ryan, wait. Where’s your helmet?”
“On your head. Now, hold on tight.”
He started the engine. It was nearly deafening in the enclosed space. The bike jerked forward. Jessica gasped and clutched Ryan to keep from falling off. He rode through the house, through the open back door, heading toward the back deck stairs. Jessica’s eyes widened and she grasped him even tighter. The bike bumped down the steps and shot across the yard.
Jessica risked a glance back and saw a fire engine and a tanker truck on the road in front of her house. The firemen didn’t even glance their way. The roar of the fire must have masked the sound of the motorcycle.
A flash of movement had Jessica looking back to her left. Two men burst forward out of the trees beside Ryan’s house. One of them raised his hand and the moonlight glinted off the gun he held.
Jessica clung tighter to Ryan. “Those men—”
“I know. Get down. Lock your arms around my waist.” He leaned hard to the left. The bike skidded sideways as he made a sharp turn directly toward the gunmen. They both dove to the side, out of the bike’s path. Jessica bunched her fingers around the front of Ryan’s leather jacket as he whipped the bike back toward the right, aiming the powerful machine at a break in the trees.
The sound of gunfire erupted behind them. The bike’s engine roared. Ryan and Jessica surged over the ridge.
Chapter Six
The motorcycle plunged over the side of the mountain.
Jessica clung tightly to Ryan as the ground rushed up to meet them.
The bike landed hard, bouncing and twisting like a bucking horse trying to throw off its riders. Jessica’s head banged against Ryan’s back and the force of the blow, even with the helmet on, snapped her chin. The taste of blood filled her mouth from where she’d bitten the inside of her cheek.
Ryan managed to keep the motorcycle upright and gunned the engine, evening out the ride and propelling them down the path deep into the cover of trees.
Shouts sounded behind them up on the ridge, but Jessica didn’t risk looking back. She was too busy trying not to fall off the motorcycle.
Ryan yelled something at her, but she couldn’t make out what he’d said over the sound of the engine and the blustery wind rushing past her.
“What?” she yelled.
He turned his head to the side. “Are you okay?”
“We just jumped off a cliff. I’m peachy,” she shouted back.
He swerved to avoid a tree branch.
Jessica dug her nails into his jacket. “Sugar. Could you warn me next time?”
“Did you just call me sugar?”
“Not in this lifetime,” she growled back.
He laughed and leaned the bike to the side to dodge another tree branch. The crazy man was actually having fun. Jessica hid her face against his back, desperately hoping the wild ride would be over soon.
It wasn’t.
Hours passed as Ryan rode the bike deeper into the mountains. At first, the trail they followed was well-worn, obviously heavily traveled. Then he turned onto a smaller trail, if it could be called that. There wasn’t much room to maneuver and several times he had to dodge to avoid a fallen tree or a group of vines.
Jessica was proud of herself that she hadn’t fallen off yet, but if they continued much longer she would have to beg for a break. Her hands were aching from the cold and from clinging to Ryan’s waist for so long. She didn’t know how anyone could actually enjoy riding a motorcycle. They were horribly uncomfortable, not to mention loud.
The sky was beginning to lighten to a pale gray when Ryan pulled to a stop next to a small shack and cut the engine. The sudden silence was unnerving, but was quickly replaced by a chorus of singing crickets and chirping frogs. Jessica had heard somewhere that as long as you heard animal noises in the forest, there was no one else around. She hoped that crickets and frogs qualified as animal noises, and
that she and Ryan were safe here.
“What is this place?” she asked, somewhat in awe of the Norman Rockwell appeal of the weathered shack set against a backdrop of fall foliage, and the homey scent of pine trees.
“An abandoned shed. There used to be a barn and a house to go with it a few decades ago. There are hundreds of these old structures throughout the Smokies.”
“How do you know there used to be a barn and a house?”
“I didn’t randomly agree with Alex to locate you in this part of the country. I did my research, memorized maps of the area. I know what’s around here. Stuart Lanier, one of the rangers who served in the Army with me, lives a couple hours north. We’ve hiked all over the Smokies.”
“So, what you’re saying is that you located me here because you thought someone might come after me and we’d have to escape into the mountains?”
He shook his head. “I didn’t plan on being here at all. I planned on high-tailing it back to New York as soon as I could, but my boss didn’t agree.”
Jessica stiffened. It kind of sucked having a gorgeous man tell you he was only with you because it was his job.
“I studied the area,” Ryan continued, “so I would know what was around, what posed a threat. I used that information to help decide if it was a safe location for you. Can you slide off or do you need help?”
“What? Oh...no, I don’t need help.” Hopefully.
She pulled off the helmet, handing it to him as she gingerly tested the inside of the cheek she’d bitten during their wild ride. Her thigh muscles screamed in agony when she swung her leg over the seat. Instead of twenty-eight, she felt closer to sixty. She hobbled backward, rubbing her lower back.
Ryan hopped off the bike as if he’d only been riding for a few minutes. Jessica rubbed her bruised posterior and glared at him with resentment. Except for the slightly singed hair, he looked like he always did—fresh, ready to take on any challenge, no worse for wear in spite of everything that had happened. He even smelled good, outdoorsy, whereas she could still smell the smoke clinging to her hair.
The Marshal's Witness Page 5
