“Keep low and hurry,” Seth finally said. Before he’d even finished they started running toward the main house.
They were barely halfway there when she spotted Roy coming out of the backyard. “It’s okay,” he said. “It’s not real.”
Shelby couldn’t imagine what Roy meant by that, and it only made Seth run even faster.
As soon as they reached the porch she saw Jewell, but because of the steps and posts, she couldn’t see what had taken the color right out of the woman’s face.
“It’s not real,” Roy repeated, leading them up the steps. “Jewell, you need to get inside.” When she didn’t budge, Roy took her by the arm and led her to the kitchen.
The porch stretched all the way across the back of the house, and it was lined with white wicker chairs, plants and even a porch swing.
And beneath the swing was a body.
Shelby’s heart jolted even though she kept reminding herself that Roy had said it wasn’t real. But it certainly looked real, like the other bodies they’d discovered over the past couple of days.
This one had a mask, too.
Of Seth’s face.
“Get inside,” Seth told her and, as Roy had done, he maneuvered Shelby into the kitchen with his mother.
Jewell and she didn’t go far, however. They stayed right in the doorway looking out while Seth and Roy went toward the “body.”
“I didn’t touch it, but if you look closer, you’ll see it’s not real. It’s just clothes stuffed with mulch and straw from the flower beds,” Roy explained. “It wasn’t here last night when we went to the hospital.”
A chill rippled through Shelby. This meant someone had gotten onto the ranch. The killer. Or else someone who worked for the killer.
Seth studied the body for only a few seconds before his gaze whipped around the backyard and the rest of the property. A few ranch hands were out in the nearby pasture, but they didn’t seem to alarm him or Roy. So they must have known the hands. And that meant there was no sign of the person who’d left that fake body. A fake that no doubt was designed to scare them.
It’d worked.
Shelby was scared.
It had been bad enough to see masks of her father and her own face, but now the killer was using Seth’s image. Of course, she’d known Seth was likely a target right along with her, but it drilled the point home to see what the killer intended.
“How could the killer have gotten all the way to the house?” Shelby asked no one in particular.
Seth tipped his head to the fence on the far side of the large pasture. She’d remembered him saying that an attacker could get in that way. And he or she apparently had.
“I’ll ask the hands if they saw anything,” Roy volunteered.
“And I’ll call Cooper to let him know,” Seth added. “For now, though, I think we should all stay inside.”
Seth was already moving Roy in that direction, but he took it a step further. Once they were all in the kitchen, he shut the door, locked it.
“You had the security system armed the whole time you were at the hospital?” Seth asked.
Roy nodded. “All the windows and doors are wired so if any of them had been opened or broken into, the alarm would have gone off, and the security company would have called us.”
That gave Shelby a little relief. At least it probably meant someone wasn’t inside the house, waiting to kill them.
Probably.
No doubt that slim hope was why Seth kept them in the kitchen, away from the windows, while he called Cooper to report the incident. Roy also made a call to one of the ranch hands, and he told him to ask around to see if anyone knew anything about the fake body.
“None of the ranch hands would do anything like this,” Roy explained when he ended the call. “I trust them, and we haven’t hired anyone new in months.” He paused. “But someone could have cut through the pasture and made it to the porch. There aren’t any security sensors back there.”
Yes, and the person easily could have come on foot, carrying just the clothes and mask since they’d used the bedding cover to stuff the garments.
“We need to check the grounds,” Seth insisted.
Roy nodded and made another call to one of his ranch hands. He asked for a thorough search of every part of the grounds and the outbuildings. Roy also asked them to look for any tracks leading to the house. It hadn’t rained in days, so maybe this monster had left footprints.
“The kids,” Jewell said on a gasp. “They’re at Colt’s.”
That prompted another call. This one from Seth to Colt. “Are you okay?” Seth immediately asked the deputy.
Since Seth didn’t put the call on speaker, Shelby held her breath, waiting. Jewell did, too, and even clutched Shelby’s hand.
“They’re all right,” Seth relayed to them several moments later when he finished the call. “Both Colt and Tucker are there with their wives, Cooper’s wife and the kids. They’re locked up and with the security system on. Colt’s going to call the hospital and alert Blue and Austin.”
Shelby didn’t know either man very well, but since they were both lawmen, she hoped that would be enough protection for Rayanne and Rosalie.
“Cooper’s on his way here?” Shelby asked.
Seth nodded. “But he wants to stop by Colt’s first. He said to call if we spotted anyone or anything else suspicious.”
Of course Cooper would want to see his wife and son to make sure they were all right. Shelby understood that. Especially since her sister, Laine, was also at Colt’s. There’d been no indication that this killer would go after anyone else in the family, but that could change.
After all, the killer had made it all the way to their doorstep.
“I want to go through the house just in case,” Seth said. “All of you should stay here.”
Shelby stepped in front of him. Her first instinct was to stop him, but the truth was the place did need to be searched since someone could have jammed the security system and sneaked in.
“It’ll be okay,” Seth added, and he dropped a quick kiss on her mouth.
Since Jewell and Roy were standing right there, they saw the kiss. Probably knew what was going on between Seth and her, too. Which made Shelby give their relationship some thought as she watched Seth walk out of the kitchen.
Exactly what was going on between Seth and her?
Yes, they’d slept together, but it was entirely possible that when this ordeal was over, whatever this was between them would be over, too.
Not exactly something she wanted to consider.
Nor did she have time to give it another thought, because Roy’s phone rang.
“It’s Arlene, the horse trainer,” Roy told them and answered the call.
Shelby couldn’t hear what the woman said, but she could tell from the way Roy’s face dropped that it wasn’t good news. Seth must have seen it, too, when he hurried back into the kitchen.
“What’s wrong?” Seth immediately asked Roy.
“One of the hands found a body near the back fence. A real body.”
That took the air right out of her lungs. With all the other deaths, Shelby figured she should be semi-immune to that slam of adrenaline. But maybe a person never got immune to that.
Roy paused. “It’s a man’s body, but he’s got a mask of Whitt on his face, so the hand can’t tell who it is.”
“Tell him not to touch the body or the mask,” Seth insisted. “We might get lucky and there’ll be some trace evidence. I’ll get Cooper and a CSI team out here. Oh, and tell the ranch hand to come back toward the house. The killer could still be out there.”
Oh, mercy. He was right.
“I’ll call Cooper,” Jewell volunteered, and she hurried to the house phone mounted on the wall over one of th
e counters.
While Roy finished his call, Shelby took hold of Seth’s arm as he moved toward the door. “You can’t go out there,” she said.
“I’m not, but I need to keep watch.” Seth’s gaze met hers. “It’s possible the body is a ruse to get me out of the house and away from you.”
Of course it could be. This idiot had tried everything else to kill them, and she didn’t even know why.
“I’ll reset the security system so the alarm will sound if anyone breaks in,” Roy volunteered. “Then I’ll make sure all the windows and doors are still locked.”
“I’ll go with him,” Jewell insisted, and she took two guns from a cabinet over the top of the fridge. She handed one to Shelby and kept one for herself. “Maybe you won’t have to use it,” she added.
But the words had hardly left her mouth when Jewell froze. “Do you smell that?”
Shelby didn’t. Not at first. But it didn’t take her long to realize what had put that alarmed look in Jewell’s eyes.
Smoke.
There was barely a trace of it in the air, but it was indeed there. And it didn’t seem to be coming from anywhere in the kitchen. Nothing was on the stove or in the oven.
Seth must have smelled it, too, because he hurried to one of the windows, looked out.
Then he cursed. “Someone set fire to the porch.”
Chapter Fifteen
Seth’s first instincts were to hurry out onto the porch and try to stomp out those flames. He could see the fire snapping around, and it could spread to the rest of the house.
But the fire also could have been set to draw him outside.
Or maybe not.
After all, a gunman could have shot Shelby and him, Roy and Jewell, too, when they had been on the porch earlier.
So what was this fire all about?
He doubted it’d started by accident. In fact, there could have been some kind of incendiary device concealed inside the clothes. In hindsight, he should have given the fake body at least a cursory inspection, but he hadn’t wanted to destroy any potential evidence. Even more, he’d wanted to get Shelby, Roy and Jewell inside.
Hell. The killer could have been out there that whole time, watching them. Waiting for the perfect moment to strike.
Behind him he heard Shelby calling 9-1-1 to request a fire truck. He also heard Roy hurrying back into the kitchen.
“There’s another fire on the front porch,” Roy blurted out.
That was not what Seth wanted to hear.
He remembered the timer on the bomb at the jail. Had these fires been triggered by some kind of timer, as well?
It was the only thing that made sense.
That was because he’d been keeping watch out back and hadn’t seen anyone set fire to the dummy. Not only that, with the ranch hands milling around, the killer probably wouldn’t have risked being seen. The timers could have been set during the night when there was less chance of being caught.
Roy pulled a fire extinguisher from beneath the sink, but Seth stopped him when he rushed toward the door.
“It’s a trap?” Roy asked.
“Could be.”
A trap that might succeed if the fires overtook the house. One way or another, the killer could be forcing them outside.
Seth had another look at the back porch and yard. Two ranch hands were running toward the house. No doubt ready to help with the fires, but they also could get killed.
“Stay away from the windows and doors,” Seth told Shelby and his mother. “I’ll try to put out the fire on the back porch. Roy, disarm the security system and cover me.”
Roy nodded, punched in the code on the keypad by the door. With his gun still in his right hand, Seth took the extinguisher in his left.
“But you could be shot,” Shelby quickly pointed out.
Yeah, it was a real concern, but Seth tried not to let that concern show too much. “Roy will keep watch.”
Shelby was still protesting when Seth hurried out on to the porch. “Take cover,” he shouted out to the ranch hands. “A gunman could be out here.”
Seth knew both men, Quint and Darnell, and they’d worked at the ranch the entire eight months he’d been there. The men ducked behind a detached garage.
“What do you want us to do?” Darnell asked.
“Work your way to the front porch and try to do something about that fire there. But be careful.”
The men nodded, and, using the buildings and vehicles for cover, they started toward the front of the house.
Seth tried to keep watch, but it was hard to see through the billowing smoke. Hard to breathe, too, when the wind whipped that smoke right at him.
He aimed the extinguisher at the fire and started coating the area with the thick foam. It was a battle, however, that he was quickly losing. The flames were going out, but the smoke was getting worse.
“There’s another fire,” Quint shouted. “It’s on the east side of the house, and it’s already pretty bad.”
Hell. And judging from the volume of smoke, there was probably a fourth fire on the west side. This piece of dirt was obviously trying hard to get them out of the house.
Seth’s attention went to the vehicles. With the exception of Roy’s truck, the others had been outside all night. The killer could have planted another bomb or device in any of them. And this time the timer might not fail. That meant he had to get Shelby, Jewell and Roy to the truck. There probably hadn’t been enough time to plant something on it.
He went back in the kitchen, hoping this plan wouldn’t turn out to be exactly what the killer wanted them to do. “Roy, we’re leaving in your truck. Give me the keys and I’ll move it right next to the porch.”
Shelby opened her mouth, no doubt ready to tell him that was a bad idea. But it must have occurred to her that all that were left for them were bad ideas. Staying put could be fatal since they could be burned alive or die from smoke inhalation. At least this way they had a chance.
Seth took the keys, raced back onto the porch and jumped off near the truck. Quint had been right about the fire being bad on that side of the house. The flames were already eating their way to the second floor. It wouldn’t be long before the fire department got there, but Seth wasn’t sure they’d make it before the whole place was engulfed in flames.
Still keeping watch around him, Seth got in the truck and said a quick prayer before he turned the key in the ignition. No explosion. The engine started right off. Thank God.
He didn’t waste a second. Seth sped to the porch and brought the truck to a stop directly in front of the steps. Too bad it was also directly in front of the thick white smoke. Coughing and trying to cover their mouths, Shelby, his mother and Roy came out of the kitchen.
Each step they took seemed to take an eternity, and Seth’s heart stayed right there in his throat.
This had to work.
The three were so close. Already on the steps when the shot tore through the air.
No. Not this. Not now.
“Get down!” Seth shouted to them, and he turned to see who’d fired at them.
Because of the smoke, he couldn’t see anyone, but he was certain it’d come from the west side of the house. Before that even had time to register in his head, another bullet slammed into the truck.
This one from the east side.
They were caught between two gunmen and two fires. Any of which could kill them if he didn’t do something fast.
“Stay low, but try to get into the truck,” Seth told them.
But the gunmen clearly weren’t going to let them escape. More shots came at them. All from the west side. And all the shots went right into the truck engine. It didn’t take long to do exactly what the shooter had set out to do.
Disable the truck.
Seth cursed and looked around for plan B. The garage was too far away, but the equipment barn was close enough.
Maybe.
It was also the place where a killer could be hiding, knowing that he or she had given them no other way out.
Another shot came. Not at the frenzied pace of the ones that’d been aimed at the engine. This one landed on the porch. Much too close to Shelby and the others.
“This way.” Seth motioned for them to make their way to the truck. Yes, the engine was shot, but they could still use it for cover. “Crawl beneath it and then get into the barn. But I need to go in there first.”
To check for a killer.
Once the three were beneath the truck, Seth barreled out the door and hurried into the barn. He stepped inside, gun ready, and he had to take a moment to let his eyes adjust to the darkness. A light switch was in the tack area, but that was yards away. Too risky for him to try to get there, especially since Shelby and the others were still outside.
Seth’s gaze whipped from one side of the barn to the other. It wasn’t as big as some of the others on the property, but this one was filled with tractors, mowers and other equipment.
Plenty of places for a killer to hide.
He wanted to check them all to make sure it was safe.
But he didn’t get a chance to do that.
Outside, he heard some strange sounds. A sort of thud, as if something had hit the ground. It didn’t take him long to figure out what exactly.
A tear gas canister.
And not just one of them but two, and they both started spewing the choking gas right around the truck.
* * *
SHELBY’S EYES AND THROAT were already burning from the smoke, but the cloud of tear gas made it a thousand times worse. Her breath just stopped, and with her chest pounding, it felt as if she was on the verge of a panic attack. Everything inside her was screaming for her to run and get away before she suffocated.
With a firm grip on her gun, Shelby scrambled out from beneath the truck with Roy and Jewell right behind her. Seth was in the barn entrance waiting for them, and the moment they were inside he pushed them behind the wheel of a giant tractor.
A Lawman's Justice (Sweetwater Ranch Book 8) Page 15