Page 119 of Secrets That Bind Us
It doesn’t end like this.
I won’t let it.
Jason kneels by her chest. “I got this. I already called the FD. What the fuck happened Dean? Did you do this? How was she shot? Goddammit!”
He asks, but it’s all blurry. “Micah was in the house, Jace. He’s been living in the goddamn house this whole fucking time!”
Jason is grunting, and I’m helping him however I can, going to Verity’s feet and putting them up on one side of my shoulders, helping with blood flow. “I thought the motherfucker was dead!”
I shake my head, not daring to look back at the flames, but Jason has his eyes dead set on me as he starts working Verity’s chest.
“You gotta tell me right now before everyone leaves the fucking barn. Am I going back in there to look for a body? You know protocol. We don’t sift through the ashes unless we’re told to. So tell me now. Is my team going in?”
“No.” I say sternly. “The flames got to him right when he shot her.” There’s a loud groaning as the roof collapses, and I allow myself to look back when I hear the sirens. But it’s spreading fast, and the guests are starting to get closer to us to get away from the rapidly spreading fire. I see the bride dashing our way and I stand up. “NO!”
With a shocked gasp and wide eyes, Zoey puts her hand to her mouth, turning quickly to shield my children from seeing their mother like this. Jake and Eli are next to see, and they immediately hold onto each other.
“Jace…” my voice cracks. I can’t live this life without her. Tears blur my vision, burning due to the soot on my face.
“I’m working. Keep rubbing her legs.”
“Oh my God.” I choke on an inhale. “We were doing so good.”
He rattles off something as I see the devastation– the fire having spread from the house to the fields, and the barn– and I swear to God in the ruins of the collapsing barn I see a giant fucking goat disperse in the smoke rising above. Ash dances around us like flakes of snow.
Next thing I know, I’m in the ambulance with my girl, listening to the flatline.
I hang my head and pray one last time.
Chapter Forty-Five
Dean
FOUR DAYS LATER
I kiss and hug my kids goodbye as Zoey takes them home from their visit at the hospital today. Verity is finally out of the ICU but is now in a private room. She was shot in the abdomen, the bullet going straight through, which is what caused her to bleed out so much. She has a bit of damage to one kidney, but nothing that time and rehab won’t heal. I’ll be there for it all. I glance up in time to see a grim Jason striding toward me. “Hey, man.”
He juts his chin to the door. “How is she?”
I motion for him to come inside of the room, and we each take a seat at the ends of the small couch they have in here where I’ve been sleeping next to Verity, not leaving her side. “Vitals are so much better. Just waiting for her to wake up. To get back to me.” I reply.
“She will. She’s done it before. She will again. Have a little faith.” He frowns, but his eyes travel from me to Ver and back to me. “I just came to give you a report since you weren’t answering your phone.”
“Yeah, I don’t usually have my phone on me when I’m with my kids.”
“That’s a good thing.” He assures me, clearing his throat. “I went to the property first. To make sure.”
I lift a brow. “And?”
He gives me one solemn nod. “Everything is ash. The fire reached all the way to the back of the property. Thankfully, by some miracle, my guys got there just in time before the fire spread to any other farm. Nothing else but the Huntington property was harmed.”
“The entire property?”
Jason sighs. “Nothing survived. Nothing is standing. It’s all gone. I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s almost like there was an accelerant used all over the property, but we had no evidence of it. It’s nothing more than a pile of ash. Not even a beam or pillar of that old house. The pond completely evaporated, too.”
Chills go down my spine, but then the biggest sigh of relief escapes me. I put my elbows on my knees and my head in my hands. “He almost took her from me.”
I can feel when he reaches over and then softly pats me on the shoulder. “But he didn’t. And that’s what you have to concentrate on right now, okay? I’m not telling you that you have to be strong. If it were Maranda or my boys, I’d be doing the same thing– except I’d be bawling my eyes out every twenty minutes, begging her to come back to me.”
