“I’ve got to go, Dad.” He didn’t wait for a reply. The rage inside him was too all-consuming for pleasantries.
He pocketed the phone.
Hannah’s hand flew over her mouth, her eyes going wide all over again. “The jam,” she whispered. “That’s how he knew I eat jam straight from the jar in my bedroom suite.” Her body shivered. She stumbled back against the wall, dropping the camera.
“What? Who?”
“Rafe,” she said. “He made a comment last week about me eating jam from the jar and I wondered how he knew because the only place I’ve done that is when I’m alone in my suite. I figured that he’d seen me on the balcony or something, but what if...”
Only two coherent thoughts broke through the rage pounding through Brett. One, that his .22 was still fully loaded from his patrol that night and, two, that Rafe Sinclair had better be praying that the police caught up with him before Brett did.
Chapter 17
Brett’s mind screamed louder than the keening of a tornado siren. If there was a camera, then there was a set of recordings somewhere either in Rafe’s bunk or in his phone. Whatever Brett found first—the recordings or Rafe—he had only one plan: destroy.
He barreled out of the office and flew down the steps, over the road to the stable.
He supposed it was raining still, but he couldn’t even feel it. He didn’t realize Hannah had followed him until he was inside the stable, lifting his .22 from Outlaw’s saddle.
“Let the police handle this. Brett, please.” She stood in the stable doorway, and he bet she meant to block him from passing, but he wasn’t letting anything or anyone stand in his way.
The police would probably want to save the footage as evidence, but the thought of explicit recordings of Hannah being passed around a police precinct or presented in court made Brett’s stomach turn.
“Like hell I will.”
Rather than try to get past her, he pivoted on his boot heel and strode along the center of the stable to the door on the opposite end. He was nearly there when Hannah grabbed his sleeve.
“Damn it, Brett. This is not the way. I don’t want you to get hurt.”
He yanked his arm out of her grasp. “Go in the house and wait for the police. This ends now.”
She took hold of his shirt again, pulling hard until he stopped walking. Moving around the side of his body, she clamped a hand on his jaw and forced him to look at her. “I’m not going to let you do this. Ryan’s on his way and for all we know, Rafe is armed.”
“I don’t care if he’s armed. I’m going to find him and I’m going to destroy those recordings if I have to burn the whole bunkhouse down.” He didn’t recognize his own voice, it was so even and quiet with restraint. “Do as I said and get in the house. Or better yet, take my truck and go to town. I won’t have you in danger any longer.”
“No. I’m not leaving. You need to stay with me and keep me safe.”
Nice try. “Fine, then stay here. But swear to me that you’re not going to put our baby in danger by following me any farther than this barn.”
She looked furious with him, but she held her tongue. Clearly, she knew he was right. “Don’t do this,” she repeated from behind clenched teeth. “I love you. I need you to be safe.”
Her words just brought it home to him what he had to do. She loved him, and he loved her, too. And he wouldn’t stand by and let her be violated by some greedy psychopathic scumbag.
“We’re wasting time. Let go of my shirt and get out of my way. It’s time for justice to be served.”
* * *
Hannah stood in the barn, alone. In shock.
Brett was going to get himself killed. Or he was going to kill a man and get sent to prison. Either way, the life of the most magnificent man she’d ever met was about to change forever and she couldn’t simply stand by and watch it happen. But he’d been right about her not putting the baby in danger. She was a strong, brave woman who’d risk almost anything to save her man, but her hands were tied. Tonight, being strong meant sacrificing what she wanted to do for the safety of her baby. There was nothing left except prayer for the police and Ryan to arrive in time. Or maybe, if God saw fit, for Rafe to be long gone from the ranch.
She walked to Outlaw and stroked a hand over his mane. “He’ll stay safe, right? He knows how much I need him, doesn’t he?”
Outlaw’s ear twitched. He pushed his nose into her chest.
She nodded and stroked the top of his nose. “I’m going to take that as a yes.”
The odor of smoke hit her nostrils. Wood burning. She lifted her nose, confirming her suspicion, which was how she spotted the first tendrils of dark smoke crowding the ceiling of the barn.
She didn’t think; she didn’t have time to be afraid. She untethered Outlaw and the still-saddled horse next to him and pulled them out the door. They ambled, not getting the direness of the situation. They stood just outside the stable, looking around and not paying any mind to the danger.
She swatted Outlaw’s rear, trying to get him to run away, and it was at that moment that she spotted movement out of the corner of her eye. She did a double take and saw a flash of white clothing worn by someone small in stature, the size of a woman, headed west. She shook her head and blinked. Was she hallucinating again or was that the ghost? More likely, it was whoever had started the fire—and they were headed straight toward the bunkhouse. Brett.
Every fiber of her being wanted to go after him, but running headfirst into this new danger was yet another risk she couldn’t take. Besides that, there was a fire nearby, with smoke pouring into the stable.
She didn’t see flames from where she stood, so she backed up and, shielding her face from rain with a hand on her forehead, took a close look at the building. The rain made the smoke hard to see, but it seemed to be coming from the east side. If the stable was on fire, then so many lives were at stake. There were at least ten other horses in the stable that she knew of. She turned a spigot on and, grabbing the water hose that was attached to it, ran around the building.
What she saw when she rounded the corner was the most horrific sight she’d ever witnessed. Worse than the ransacked office.
The fire licked up from the grassy earth in a straight line, as though someone had poured gasoline along a crease. The treated wood of the stable was burning, too, but slowly. Above the flames, pinned to the outside wall of the stable, were dozens of photographs. In each one, every person in the picture had their eyes gouged out, much like the engagement photo Greta had shown her a couple weeks earlier. Above the photographs, carved into the wood siding, were the words ALL LIES.
Hannah shook away her horror. There would be time to figure out who’d left such a message, but right now, all she needed to worry about was keeping the horses and other livestock safe. She angled the hose at the flames and sprayed, keeping her mind on the task at hand instead of the dark thoughts threatening to buckle her knees in fear.
She didn’t hear the car approaching until it was right up on her. Ryan leaped out and ran her way, his clothes still damp from patrol and a pistol in his hand. “What’s going on? Where’s Brett? Who set the fire?”
“I don’t know. I saw a woman dressed in white, running toward the bunkhouse, but I don’t know if she did this,” she said.
“Give me that hose. You shouldn’t be breathing these fumes.”
He tried to take it from her, but she wouldn’t relinquish it. “The fire’s almost out. I’ve got this. You’ve got to stop Brett. He has a gun and he went after Rafe.”
Ryan’s mouth fell open. His face whipped sideways to regard her. “Rafe, as in the Lucky C employee? Brett thinks he’s the one who vandalized the office? I thought we were worried about your parents’ church or whoever is embezzling money.”
“Brett called your dad. He said he w
as having Rafe help him with the ranch’s finances this past year.”
Ryan’s shoulders fell. He shook his head. “That doesn’t explain why Brett went after the guy with a gun in the middle of the night.”
“There’s more. We found a secret video camera in the office. Someone’s been recording me. Recording me and Brett this afternoon and recording me in my bedroom suite. And it’s Rafe. I know it is, given some private things he knew about me.”
Ryan cursed. He pressed a switch on his pistol and the magazine dropped out. He gave it a good look, then slid it back into place and cocked it.
Hannah aimed the hose at the last remaining flames. “You’ve got to go stop Brett before he does something he can’t take back or gets himself killed.”
“Where are they now?”
Hannah nodded toward the west. “The bunkhouse. And hurry.”
Ryan got on his phone. “I need backup at my family’s ranch. A fire engine, too. We’ve got at least one suspect on the loose, possibly armed and dangerous, and a minor structure fire.”
“You’re not going to wait for backup to get here, are you?” Hannah asked.
“Hell, no. Come with me.” He turned off the hose and tugged Hannah’s arm. “Let’s get you in the house first.”
“I’ve got to get this fire out. You go stop them and bring Brett back to me safely.”
“Hannah, I’ve got to make sure you’re safe first.”
Hannah threw the hose down and set her hands on her hips. “There’s only one violent criminal on this ranch and right now the father of my baby is trying to single-handedly take him on. I’m safe enough. Just go. Now!”
He rotated his jaw, a battle waging in his eyes. Then, with a terse nod, he took off running.
* * *
Brett stood over the sniveling, pathetic excuse for a man that was Rafe Sinclair while the other ranch hands stood watch at the door. As soon as Brett had clued them in about Rafe’s crimes, they’d let him pass and blocked the hall against Rafe’s escape.
“Tell me,” Brett roared, backhanding him across the cheek with a fistful of his mother’s jewelry that he’d found hidden in the bastard’s mattress. “Have the guts to admit that you attacked my mother.”
“I didn’t. I swear. She was already unconscious when I found her.”
“Like hell she was.”
“I’m telling you the truth. I’d never hurt nobody. I swear on my father’s grave. I just needed the money is all. With that party y’all were throwing, I saw it as my chance to slip a little jewelry out of her room. That’s it. You were all distracted and so I made my move. And I found her on the floor, lying in a puddle of blood.”
Brett hit him again. “And you did nothing?”
“I thought she was already dead, so I figured there was nothing I could do for her.”
Brett was nothing but fury. Rage. “She wasn’t dead, you son of a bitch.”
“I know that now.”
“So what did you do?” Brett said. “You walked around her and riffled through her dresser for things to steal?”
He licked at the blood on his split lower lip. “That’s it. That’s exactly right. I stuffed my pockets full of gold and diamonds and other pretty stones from the jewelry case, which was already open, I might add, and I got the heck out of there before you all came running in to find her.”
“What about the photo albums?” came another voice at the door.
Brett paused, his fist in the air, ready to lay more pain on Rafe, and looked to the door. Ryan stood in the doorway, his entrance blocked by a ranch hand holding a shotgun. “Get out of here, Ryan. I’m not ready to turn this scum over to the police yet. Not until I get the answers I need.”
“Don’t you think that’s what I want, too?”
Brett ground his molars together. “Your hands are tied by the law.”
“Not tonight, they’re not.” He shoved past the ranch hand barring his entrance and stumbled into the room.
Rafe turned his sniveling expression to Ryan, trying to crawl toward him, but Brett kicked him in the ribs and knocked him to the ground.
“Answer Ryan’s question,” Brett barked. “Why did you take the family albums?”
“I didn’t. I have no idea what you’re talking about. I just wanted some jewelry to sell.”
This time, Ryan grabbed Rafe’s hair and wrenched his pathetic face up. “You didn’t take the albums?”
“I swear. I’m broke. Gambling debts. The forged checks, the jewelry, it’s because they’re going to kill me if I don’t pay back the money I borrowed. But I didn’t want no trouble.”
“Then why did you set fire to the hunting blind?” Ryan said.
“I didn’t! I was as surprised as you were when that happened.”
Brett caught him around the throat and raised him up. “How do we know you’re not lying to us?”
He pulled at Brett’s wrist, trying to free himself. “I don’t know. I can give you the name of the guy I owe money to.”
“And the jewelry you dropped outside the hospital? The locket?”
“I didn’t take no lockets. Not enough street value.”
Brett gave Ryan a sidelong look. Brett’s gut was telling him that Rafe was speaking the truth. Which meant that whoever had attacked their mother and set fire to the hunting blind was still on the loose, and was taunting them with a trail of mutilated family photos.
Time to move on to the most pressing matter, now that he had Rafe all primed and scared.
He got both hands gripping Rafe’s shirt and shook him hard until he heard Rafe’s teeth rattle. “Where is the video footage of Hannah?”
Rafe raised a weak hand and pointed to his desk. “In my laptop. But I didn’t mean no harm with it.”
“You gonna stand here and tell me you didn’t watch us making love? You didn’t watch her in any compromising states?”
Despite his bloody, raw face, one corner of his lips kicked up in a smile. “Of course, but only because I had to make sure she didn’t tell you about the money skimming.”
With nothing in his mind except red-hot rage, Brett slammed Rafe’s head against the footboard of his bed, then grabbed him by the hair and wrenched his head back. “You violated her, you sick prick, and believe me, if it was just you and me in a room with no witnesses, I’d find a way to erase your memory.”
Then Ryan was behind Brett, pulling him away. “Easy, bro. I’ll take it from here.”
But Brett wasn’t quite done. He shoved at Ryan until he released him. Leaving Rafe in a heap on the floor, Brett strode to the desk and yanked the cord from the laptop. He raised it over his head, ready to crush it on the ground under his boot.
Ryan grabbed his arm. “Stop. We need that. Evidence.”
“Nobody else gets to violate Hannah like this bastard did. Not the police. Not a judge. I’ve got to destroy it.”
Ryan’s grip was an unrelenting vise. “Remember Susie? Susie Howard. I’m going to give this to her to process. She’ll handle it with discretion. Nobody’s going to violate Hannah again. You have my word, but we need this so we can make sure Rafe never sees the outside of a prison again.”
Breathing hard, and so conflicted about the right move to make, he let Ryan take the laptop from him. If this meant Hannah’s peace of mind by putting Rafe in prison for the rest of his life, then they could endure the existence of footage of them making love.
With his gaze locked with Brett’s, Rafe stood and brushed his knees off. Brett’s fists twitched with the urge to knock him back down, so he took a step away, then another, backing out of the room.
Rafe wiped his nose with a handkerchief, then found Brett in the doorway and sneered, as though his sniveling had been nothing but an act. “Pregnant women don’t usually get my blood pumping, but tha
t sweet little Hannah is a hot number.”
Brett snapped again. He lunged for Rafe, but was stopped midair when Ryan shoved against his chest and grabbed his arm. Someone else grabbed hold of the other.
“Let me at him,” Brett roared. For the first time in his life, he felt capable of murder.
Ryan and the ranch hand dragged Brett screaming and thrashing into the hallway. Try as he might, Brett couldn’t wrench his arms out of their grip.
The sound of breaking glass cut through their shouts. They turned back toward the room to see Rafe’s legs disappearing through the broken window.
Ryan lifted his gun up. “Oh, it’s on now.”
Chapter 18
The fire was out in no time, as Hannah had predicted, though her mind remained fixed on Brett and Ryan and the battle they were waging. Her stomach twisted into knots in fear for them. Straining her ears listening for police sirens, though hearing none, she pushed all the doors and windows of the stable open, airing the interior out the best she could.
She couldn’t find a switch for the vent fans inside the stable, but the moment she stepped outside in search of one, she was shoved off-balance.
She braced her arms out, cushioning her fall. But Rafe was above her, screaming obscenities. His face was a bloody mess, with both eyes swollen and a split lip. His nose looked broken. Brett did that.
Rafe’s hands tightened around her throat. “You bitch. You ruined my life.”
She kicked at him and swung her arms. She clamped down on his forearm and sank her teeth in. He howled and released her neck. She gasped for air, but there was no time to recover. This might be her one window of opportunity to escape safely. She got her knee up and kicked out, catching him somewhere in his midsection. He stumbled back, smiling.
“I do love fighting women, but it’s time for me to scram.”
Colton's Cowboy Code Page 21