by B. J Daniels
The front door burst open. Cull and his father came stumbling out. “Call the fire department,” Cull was yelling.
Ledger fumbled out his phone. Through the door he could see smoke billowing into the living room from what had been the kitchen.
He dialed 9-1-1 as he drew Abby farther away from the burning house.
“Are you all right?” he heard Cull ask his father. He noticed that the older man was holding his left shoulder.
“I’m fine. Go!” his father said as he stumbled toward one of the pickups parked out front.
Cull was running for their water truck parked next to one of the barns.
The 9-1-1 operator answered. Ledger quickly gave her the information, his mind reeling. What had happened?
“There was an explosion. The house is on fire.”
“Is everyone all right?”
“I don’t know,” he said, suddenly terrified. Boone had started out the back door to go find Vance. The barns were far enough away that the ranch hands and the horses should be fine. But Boone...
“One of my brothers... I don’t know where he is.” And Vance. Ledger realized he’d never thought the man was his brother. “And another man.”
“I’ll send an ambulance, as well,” the operator was saying. “The fire department is on its way.”
* * *
HUCK HAD HEARD the call come over the radio and smiled. It just didn’t get any better than this.
He drove partway out of town so he could see in the direction of the McGraw ranch. Black smoke billowed up into a cloudless blue sky.
With luck, Travers McGraw and at least some of his sons were dead, Abby along with them. If that damned cook had done her job, the box with the explosives in it would have been left under the front stairs, where it would have done the most damage.
Not that he’d told the woman what was in the box. He’d just told her to handle it with care and not say anything to anyone. It was a surprise.
Idly, he wondered if she’d been surprised.
You’re a coldhearted bastard. He heard the last thing his ex-wife had said to him. “Yes, I am. Life made me that way.”
And now he was getting back at everyone who’d wronged him. He had the five hundred thousand dollars from the reward coming. He’d give some of it to Wade and then he was gone. There was an island somewhere calling his name. Vance was now a McGraw. He’d be fine. And if he didn’t like getting ripped off on the reward money, what could he do about it, Huck thought with a laugh.
For a moment, he watched the smoke rising higher in the sky as flames consumed more of the McGraw house. Things would have been so different if Marianne had married him and not McGraw. He would have done anything for her. Hell, he had that scholarship to the university. He was going to be an engineer, maybe build dams or skyscrapers; he hadn’t decided.
But when she’d married McGraw, he’d lost his drive. Nothing mattered. He’d married Wade’s mother on the rebound and his life had gone downhill from there.
An ambulance had been sent out to the ranch since they were unsure how many people had been injured. Huck waited patiently for the news, telling himself even if McGraw wasn’t dead, his house would be gone. He would have been hit where it hurt the most. The house McGraw had built for Marianne? Gone. Just as Marianne was gone in every sense of the word.
He thought about the twins. They, too, were gone. In the months since more information had come to light about what had been taken from the house the night of the kidnapping, Vance was the only one to come forward.
McGraw had lost Oakley and Jesse Rose. He’d lost Marianne. And now he’d lost his house and hopefully his life.
“Got you,” Huck whispered as he watched the cloud of smoke grow larger and larger against the skyline.
* * *
VANCE STEPPED BACK into the trees as Boone yelled at the ranch hands to let all the horses out. The two headed for the barns, while Boone raced back into the burning house.
A few minutes later, horses came running out, wild-eyed in terror and headed out across the pasture away from the burning house.
Vance was too shocked to do more than stare at the flames licking wildly at the large house and try to make sense out of what had happened. What would happen now? Who had been killed? Would they think he had done this?
Since this was Huck’s doing, Vance was in it up to his eyeballs. No one would believe he hadn’t had something to do with this, even if they couldn’t prove it.
Was that the way Huck had planned it? Was he going to let him take the fall for this? Was that why he’d texted him to get out?
Had the deputy already gotten the five-hundred-thousand-dollar reward money?
There was also the possibility that Huck warned him about the explosion hoping he would be the only one to survive and all this would be his so Huck could blackmail him right into his old age.
But what to do now?
If he was a real son, he’d be helping with the horses or running to the house to see if he could help whoever was still inside.
But he wasn’t and Tough Crandall’s visit had raised enough doubt that this would soon be over. The sheriff would be investigating. More DNA testing would be done and when he failed...
Vance began to run in the direction of the house only to swerve at the last moment and race toward the front of the house and the pickups parked out there. If one of them had a key in it...
* * *
“HERE, TAKE MY father to my cabin up the road,” Ledger said to Abby. “I have to help my brothers fight the fire until the rural fire department gets here.” She started toward her car, but he handed her the keys to his pickup. “Take my truck. The road is rough. I’ll have the EMTs come down there to look at his shoulder.”
“I’m fine,” Travers said. “We need to find your brother.”
“Dad, I don’t want to have to worry about you. Go with Abby. I’ll do what I can here.”
Abby could tell he didn’t want his father watching the house he’d loved burn to the ground. She couldn’t see how they could save it the way it had gone up in flames.
She was happy to help. Getting into the pickup, they started up the road when she had to pull over and let the fire trucks go by. She just prayed that Boone had gotten out.
Travers was looking back, tears in his eyes. “Still no word on Boone?” he asked. “Or...Vance?” She noticed he hadn’t called him Oakley.
She shook her head. “I’m sure Ledger will call the minute he knows something.”
Travers nodded and closed his eyes.
* * *
LEDGER WAS JUST about to go back inside to look for Boone when his brother came bursting out the front door in a cloud of smoke.
“Where is Dad?” Boone cried.
“He and Cull got out. Cull’s gone to get the water truck. Abby and Dad are fine. I’ve sent them to my cabin. I didn’t want Dad to see this. He’s been through enough.”
“What the hell happened?”
Ledger shook his head and called Abby to give her the news as his brother ran toward the second water truck. Cull was already watering down the closest barn. Clearly, he could see that it would be impossible to save the house without more resources.
At the sound of sirens, Ledger turned to see the fire trucks and ambulance in the distance.
* * *
VANCE CAME AROUND the side of the house as Ledger went to join his brothers to water down the barns. He rushed through the dark smoke toward the closest pickup. All he could think about was getting out of there. Let them think he died in the fire. It would be days before they realized his body wasn’t in the ashes. Meanwhile, he would have put miles between him and this place.
No keys in the first pickup. Or the second. He swore. The smoke was starting to get to him. He s
potted Abby’s car and raced toward it. Behind him, the flames cracked and popped. Sparks flew into the air. The heat of the blaze felt as if it was frying his skin.
He could hear sirens and see the trucks coming up the road. He had to get out of there. If he stayed, he was looking at prison for a crime he didn’t commit. He reached Abby’s car, threw open the door and reached around the steering wheel, praying that the keys would be there.
They were!
His luck had changed. His mind was working again. If Huck had the reward money, he would get his share or blow the whistle on the deputy. Two could play at blackmail.
He dropped into the seat, reached for the key, turned it. The car engine caught and started. Vance glanced at the house, thinking what a waste and wondering who might still be inside.
He threw the car into Reverse, not letting his mind go there. He braked and looked again at the house, his senses warning him not to run. He would look even guiltier if he did. Maybe he could turn state’s evidence on Wade and Huck. Maybe he could get out of this with a little honor.
He put the car in Park and turned off the engine, thinking about Travers McGraw and wishing with all his heart that he really had been his son. How different his life could have been.
Did he really think there was hope for him, that he could change? He told himself he needed to help water down the barns. He needed to be a different man, the kind of man Travers McGraw thought he’d welcomed into his family.
He reached for his door handle when he heard a noise. At first, it didn’t register. A buzzing sound that he could barely hear over the roar of the fire.
Vance looked down at the floorboard, shocked to see what was coiled there. Two rattlesnakes intertwined, both of their ugly heads raised and looking right at him.
He jerked the door handle in that instant before the first one struck. He threw himself out of the car as the second one caught him in the neck. Its fangs going so deep that the snake was still clinging to him as he fell screaming from the car. He tore the snake from his neck.
Over the roar of the blaze, he heard the sirens. Looking up, he saw the first fire trucks pull up. He ran toward them, screaming for someone to help him as venom raced like flames through his veins.
* * *
WADE STARED AT his father, then at the cloud of smoke in the distance. “What did you do?”
“Instead of merely whining, I took care of your wife and her boyfriend,” Huck snapped. “You should be thanking me. Hell, if it wasn’t for me and Abby’s mother, you would have never had Abby as long as you did.”
“What are you talking about?” Wade demanded, his voice breaking.
“McGraw never had another girlfriend. He was in love with Abby and planning to marry her after college. And he would have if we hadn’t tricked Abby into believing he was cheating on her. Why do you think she rushed into the marriage with you? You would never have stood a chance with her otherwise.”
“You lousy son of a—” Filled with rage, he took a swing at his father. Huck easily stepped aside and hit him in the back of the neck. Wade staggered, turning to look back at his father. Lies, all lies. He felt as if his entire world had imploded.
He shook his head. He wanted to blame his father for all of it, but he couldn’t. He’d gone along with this stupid plan. He could have walked away. He could have gotten help. He could have been a decent husband.
“Where do you think you’re going?” his father demanded as Wade turned and walked toward his pickup.
He didn’t bother to answer as he climbed behind the wheel. He had to find out if Abby was still alive. He had to see her. Restraining order be damned.
“Don’t go out there,” Huck yelled after him as he took off in a cloud of dust and gravel. He roared out of Whitehorse. Smoke billowed up into Montana’s big sky.
* * *
LEDGER AND HIS BROTHERS, along with the hired hands, managed to get the horses to safety and save the barns. Now, covered with soot, he stared at the ashes of the house. The firefighters hadn’t been able to save it.
Smoke still billowed up, a dark smudge on the skyline.
“At least no one was killed,” Cull said as the brothers stood shoulder to shoulder in the front yard. “I talked to Dad. His shoulder is better, but Abby called the doctor, anyway.”
“How long before we find out what caused it?” Boone asked.
“The fire chief said it should be a few days. Maybe a gas leak.” Cull shook his head.
Ledger turned at the sound of a vehicle roaring up the road. “I’ll be a son of a...” He stared in disbelief.
“Maybe you better let us handle this,” Cull said, grabbing his arm as Ledger started toward the pickup that had just come to a dust-boiling stop in their yard.
He pulled his arm free. “Not a chance. I promised Abby I wouldn’t go after him, but I told her all bets were off if he came out here.” He stormed over to the pickup as Wade climbed out.
* * *
WADE DIDN’T NEED his father to tell him he was a damned fool for coming out here. But he had to know if Abby was all right. Now, though, as he saw the destroyed house, his heart lodged in his throat. If she was in that house when it exploded... His beautiful Abby.
He saw Ledger McGraw, the man he’d hated for years, stalking toward him. Abby had been in love with McGraw from the beginning. She would have married him if Wade’s father and her mother hadn’t lied to her. Wasn’t that what had eaten him up inside for the past three years because he’d suspected it all along? He hadn’t gotten Abby fair and square. She’d never wanted him. She’d always wanted McGraw. He’d never felt such pain. And all of it had been for nothing. Especially if Abby was dead.
“Wade? What the hell are you doing here?” Ledger demanded as he advanced on him. The cowboy was covered with soot from fighting the fire and he looked angry enough to kill.
“Is Abby...?”
Ledger kept coming. Wade didn’t even bother to throw up an arm as the cowboy punched him. He staggered under the blow but didn’t go down. His father had hit him a lot harder than that in his life.
“Just tell me she’s alive.”
Ledger hit him again, this time driving him back before tackling him to the ground. Wade took another blow before his survival instincts cut in and he started to fight back. This man had been his nemesis for years. He hated him. Hated that Abby loved this man more than him.
But still McGraw was winning this battle.
“That’s enough,” a male voice ordered as Ledger was pulled off him.
Wade looked from Ledger to his brother Cull. Behind him was the older brother Boone.
“I would have let him beat the hell out of him a little longer, if it had been me,” Boone said. All three of them looked like they wanted to kick his ass. He couldn’t really blame them.
He wiped the blood from his cut lip with the back of his hand as he sat up. “Abby?”
“She’s alive,” Ledger said, glaring down at him. “No thanks to you.”
Wade covered his face with his hands and, unable to hold back the burst of emotion, began to sob in relief and regret.
Chapter Eighteen
“YOU WANT THE good news first?” Cull asked. They had all gathered in Cull’s cabin, the largest one on the ranch now that the house was gone.
“Huck and Wade have been arrested.” He looked at Abby, who was sitting next to Ledger on the couch. “They’ve both been charged, along with a tech at the lab and our cook. Huck and Wade won’t be seeing daylight for many years to come. Vance is going to live—and turned state’s evidence against them. He’ll get some time as well, but nothing like he should for his part of the charade.”
Ledger saw his father nod solemnly. “I feel sorry for him. I saw something in him...” He shook his head. “I have more good news. While the
house is a total loss, insurance will cover rebuilding. I actually think it’s a good thing,” he said, no doubt seeing that his sons were afraid he was taking it hard. “It’s a new beginning. Let’s face it, there was a lot of sadness associated with that house.”
“It was haunted,” Cull said. Ledger knew he was only partially kidding.
His father nodded. “I suppose it was. But my life has changed since I built that house for your mother and our future.”
Boone had been looking at his phone. He glanced up suddenly, shock on his face. “Jim Waters has been arrested trying to leave the country with a briefcase full of money.” His gaze shot to their father. “Do you know anything about that?”
Travers’s smile was almost sad. “Human nature. Jim apparently couldn’t overcome his. It’s probably just as well since Patricia’s trial is coming up. She has implicated him in my poisoning.”
Boone swore. “That son of—”
“I have some good news,” Ledger interjected. “Wade has agreed to sign the divorce papers when the six months is up. He isn’t going to contest it. Also he’ll be going to prison and locked up for some time to come.”
Travers reached over to squeeze his son’s shoulder. “I’m happy for you. I suppose you’ll want to start building a house for the two of you on the ranch. Looks like there’ll be a lot of construction going on. I like that. I like progress.”
“Me, too,” Ledger said and smiled over at Abby.
“Well,” Cull said. “Nikki is going to be back this week. I hate to let my little brother beat me at anything...” He grinned. “I’ve asked Nikki to marry me. She’s said yes!”
There was cheering. Travers suggested a toast.
“There’s one more thing,” Boone said. “Do you still want me to follow up on that last lead we had about Jesse Rose?”
“I do. But Vance taught me something,” their father said. “I need to be more careful. If you don’t mind checking it out...”
“Don’t worry. If it’s not legit, I’ll know. Just don’t get your hopes up.”