Page 54 of Legacy of Lies
Chapter 13
Forget a bucket of cold water.
Garrison righted Sara from where he’d dumped her on the couch. Between fear for Zach, who was probably on the ranch, and the abrupt interruption of sexy times with a hard, hot rancher, she teetered on the edge of sanity. She looked down. Right, and she was half-naked, too. Fabulous. She clutched her sweatshirt to her chest.
When she glanced up, Garrison stood halfway, his gaze riveted to her breasts.
Her mouth went dry.
His voice cracked. “Shit. I need to go. Now.”
Somehow, she managed to string coherent words together. “I’m going with you.”
“Like hell.”
“I don’t know what the situation is, but you might need an extra set of hands.”
“Might not be safe.”
“Am I safe here? With Hank running around?”
“Damn it. You’re right.”
“Give me a second. Um.” When he continued to stare at her, she twirled her finger. “If you wouldn’t mind.”
As he spun around, she whipped the bra back on and shoved her sweatshirt back over her rumpled hair. Hopping on one foot and then the other, she pulled on tennis shoes and snagged her hair clip on the way out of the house.
The ranch burning. How bad was it?
She slammed the front door closed and raced to the passenger side of the truck. Before she could buckle up, Garrison pushed the truck to near maximum allowable speed as the vehicle roared down the side street and onto the state highway.
Shadows from the yellow dashboard lights gave him a haunted, corpselike expression. The hard line of his jaw in profile cut the moonlight coming through the driver’s side window. Vinyl creaked as he gripped the steering wheel.
Too long. They wouldn’t get there in time.Faster, faster. But safely.
He tried making a call en route, but the call must have gone unanswered, since he flung the phone on the floorboard. A heavy web of dread settled on her shoulders until she wanted to rip the uncertainty off. What was burning? Was anyone hurt?
She rubbed her sweaty palms on her jeans and returned one hand to the door handle.
Sniffing, she caught a faint scent of smoke, getting stronger.
As they passed under the Taggart Ranch sign, a glow appeared over a low hill.
Garrison’s intake of breath matched her own.
Holy mother of God.
“Goddamnittohell.”
The phrase no sooner made it past his lips when the truck’s speed jumped another notch. As they fishtailed on the gravel, she bit her lip while the moonlit world flew by. Tears welled in her eyes at the smell of smoke, much more acrid now.
As the truck crested a hill, Sara stifled a scream. Hungry flames leapt from what looked like a fully engulfed structure, possibly a barn, throwing cruel reflections on the ranch house windows nearby. The truck screeched to a skidding stop in front of the massive ranch house, fifty yards from the inferno. A wave of heat blew Sara back when she jumped out of the truck.
Far back on the ranch road, flashing lights piercing the smoke heralded fire trucks’ arrival, the red-and-white strobes bouncing off the clouds of dust as they approached.
“Oh my God.” Sara coughed as the stopped near the front porch of the ranch house.
A figure dashed from the smoke and flames rolling out of the barn, her face smudged and orange hair flying in a wild nimbus.
