Page 38 of The Gilded Cuff
She ran headlong after him, straight into danger. When she ran to the next stall down from where he was and threw open the door, he flashed her an incredulous look before growling about punishments coming her way. He got his horse loose and headed outside while she ran to the next door. When he returned back into the smoke, she went after him.
“There’s two more,” Emery’s shout came through the gloom before horse darted past her and out onto the lawn, free of the fire.
Two more. They could do this. She believed in him, even as her lungs singed inside with the heat of the flames and her eyes burned with smoke.
Just as she and Emery got the fifth and final horse out, the wood around them shuddered, groaned and gave way. She fell to the floor mere feet from the burning stable door. Hands lifted her up and pushed at her backside, hard. She ducked her head just in time, barely missing a collision with a fallen beam, and fell onto soft, cool grass. Emery followed, coughing violently.
They both lay there for a few seconds, clearing the smoke from their lungs, before he wrapped an arm around her waist and dragged her farther away from the burning wreckage. When they were about fifty yards away, he collapsed onto his back, eyes closed, one palm on his chest as he breathed. Sophie recovered a little more quickly and sat up, watching the stable burn.
Flecks of ash floated up around them, caught in the faint breeze and swirling in dizzying circles around the yard like snow from storm clouds. Much farther away, the five horses they’d rescued were watching the fire with nervous eyes. Every one had been saved. Relief flooded her veins, dulling her senses like morphine. Adrenaline left her system and she wanted to curl up in a ball and sleep.
The moment her eyes started to close, she saw a man standing on the other edge of the flames. He wore all black and had a ski-mask over his face. She scrambled to her feet and started running, despite her legs buckling. She lost sight of him when she skirted around the burning stable. He disappeared from view in the thick trees.
“Sophie?” Emery was behind her, one hand settling on her shoulder as he turned her around, face etched with worry lines. “What’s wrong? What are you doing?”
“I thought…I saw someone disappear into the woods.”
Cody and Hans suddenly burst from the house at a full run. Both men were armed. Cody had a Mauser 9mm, but Hans had an AR-15 pistol ready as he ran. Had she not known Hans a little better, from what Emery had told her, she would have been terrified. His gaze was cold and calculating as it swept the stable and the surrounding woods before he checked on her and Emery.
“I smell gasoline.” He commented so quietly she could only just hear his voice over the roaring blaze behind them. “Someone set this fire. I want everyone inside the house.Now.”
Emery got to his feet. “It’s a distraction, isn’t it? Set fire to the stables, draw us out.”
Hans gave a curt nod and then paused. “Or they wanted to draw us out, knowing we’d rush back in a few minutes later. Could be a trap. Stay behind me until I figure out what we’re dealing with here.”
They moved as a unit to the back entrance that led to the kitchen. The door was ajar.
Sophie swallowed, her throat sore from the smoke. She bumped into Emery’s back, which made Cody run into hers with a grunt. She rose up on tiptoe to peer over Emery’s shoulder.
A black box with a red bow on top sat on the kitchen counter. It was about the size of a shoe box.
“What’s that?” Cody whispered.
Sophie glanced at him, surprised to find the usual spark of humor in his eyes had faded.
Hans entered first, setting the pistol on the counter with care, flicking the safety on. Then he approached the box, studying it from every angle.
“Doesn’t appear to have any weight sensors. It might have something inside that will be set off with movement.”
“What? Like a bomb?” Cody asked.
With a low growl of warning, Hans pulled out a small device the size of a smartphone and waved them all back. He clicked on the device and moved it over and around the package. A green light flashed and the device beeped.
“No bomb. Must be organic or something nonmetal.” He pocketed the device.
“What was that thing?” Sophie asked Emery.
“A handheld metal detector I created.” He started toward the counter, holding her behind him.
“Emery, I don’t think…” Hans trailed off when Emery ignored him and undid the bow and eased the lid off the box. Whatever was inside made him freeze. Blood drained from his face, leaving him as pale as alabaster.
“My god,” Hans breathed, his eyes wide. Fear shadowed the man’s eyes briefly and that scared Sophie more than anything.
She drew closer, needing to see what had frightened two of the bravest men she’d ever met. Inside the box lay a little boy’s sneaker. It looked old. A puzzle piece snapped into place and she flinched.
“It’s one of Fenn’s, isn’t it?” She already knew the answer, even as Emery’s eyes closed and he sucked in a breath and nodded.
Seeing the reminder of Emery’s twin’s promising life cut short instantly became one of the worst moments in her life after losing Rachel. The shock sunk deep into her bones. The sudden drop, the fall into darkness and uncertainty, then the understanding dawned like a sun over a barren wasteland.
