Page 11 of Deputies Under Fire
Dutton sighed. “Yeah, that’ll be fun.” He glanced around. “I’ll leave you to it. Let me know, though, what Helen says.”
“I will,” Rory assured him. They said their goodbyes and as Dutton headed back to his motorcycle, she and Rory went inside the barn.
Once again, she had to force her attention away from the stain of Mellie’s blood. It was easier to do that today since she could focus on the two CSIs, Molly Hanks and David Barrow, who were working all the way at the back of the barn. There was enough light coming through the cracks that she could see they were examining something on the wall.
Rory must have noticed, too, because their pace quickened. Maybe the CSIs had found something they could use.
They stopped a few feet from the stall, and Rory opened his mouth, no doubt to question them. He didn’t get the chance.
Because an explosion ripped through the barn.
Chapter Four
Rory heard the deafening blast. Felt it, too, when his body jolted and then lunged forward. He couldn’t stop himself from being hurled into one of the stalls, and he landed, hard, on what was left of the hay-strewn floor.
The impact knocked the breath right out of him, and while fighting for air was a high priority, he was also trying to register what had happened.
Some kind of explosion had torn through the barn.
Debris was falling all around him, and there was the sound of someone moaning. Someone in pain.
Eden.
She was hurt, and he had to get to her. But he couldn’t see her. The air was a cloud of dust, filled with bits of rubble and smoke.
Hell.
Was the barn on fire? He couldn’t see or feel any flames, but at the moment the only things he could feel were the vise-like pressure in his chest and the all-consuming need to get to Eden so he could help her.
Grappling for air, Rory clutched his chest, and he managed to get to his feet. There were more of those moans, but he couldn’t be sure if it was Eden or one of the CSIs. Someone was definitely hurt.
He caught on to what was left of the stable wall so he could try to propel himself forward. Thankfully, nothing in his body seemed to be broken, and he was slowly regaining his breath.
With the much-needed air filling his lungs, Rory had the strength to move, and he glanced around, picking through the heaps of wood and other junk that was scattered pretty much everywhere. He certainly couldn’t see Eden or the CSIs, so he moved out even farther and continued glancing around.
Most of the barn wall directly ahead of him was gone. The blast had torn a huge chunk out of it, and the gaping hole was large enough to drive a vehicle through. His stomach dropped when he realized that was the area that the CSI, Lou Garcia, had been checking when he and Eden had arrived. Rory prayed the guy was all right, but he wasn’t seeing any movement outside.
No movement inside, either.
But he heard that groan again.
“Eden?” he called out.
It seemed to take an eternity for her to answer. An eternity where Rory had to battle the worst-case scenarios to keep them out of his head. He couldn’t lose Eden. He just couldn’t.
“Here,” she finally said. Like him, her breathing was labored, but he could pinpoint her location in the stall next to him.
The stall where Brenda had been left to die.
Rory used his hand to try to wave away some of the cloudy particles that were obstructing his vision. He stepped over some of the pieces of shattered wood and inched his way to the stall.
And he saw Eden.
Alive.
The relief flooded through him. But not for long, because while Eden was on her feet and staggering toward him, the CSIs, Molly and David, were still on the floor. Molly was moaning, and there was blood on her head. But David wasn’t even moving. He was either unconscious or dead.
In the back of his mind, Rory realized the crime scene had literally been blown to hell and back, and that the killer was likely responsible. But he couldn’t focus on that now. He wentto Eden, and before he could stop himself, he pulled her into his arms.
