Page 4 of Shadow of Deceit
Oh, man. She’d been through so much and had put up a huge wall to fend off any additional hurt when she had a heart of gold underneath. Ryan had gotten through the tough exterior in high school and wanted to hold her. To comfort her the way he’d done after one of her father’s many rampages. But she’d ended things with him. Rejected him, and his touch wouldn’t likely be welcomed.
He looked over her head and searched for words to keep her from rushing to the resort. But what could he say to make her see the danger she could be in when she didn’t care about anything he had to say?
Maybe he could paint a dire picture. “You may be right about the letter coming from your dad, but are you willing to risk your life on it?”
She recoiled as if he’d slapped her. “I appreciate your concern. I really do, but I doubt anyone is waiting to pounce on me at the resort. Now I have to go.”
She revved the engine, and he reluctantly stepped back. She flung her arm over the seat to reverse onto the street. He had no idea why she’d reacted in such a strong way, but he did know he’d failed her. Maybe seriously failed when her life depended on his help.
Back when they’d been a couple, he hadn’t lived by his faith. Her either. He didn’t know how she stood on it these days, but Ryan had God to turn to. The One who never disappointed anyone and offered the perfect solution to everything.
Ryan focused on the impressive stand of Douglas firs in the distance and lifted his face.
Please keep Mia safe and let her see my sincere desire to reconcile our past.
At the screech of tires, he snapped his head back to catch Mia’s car shooting down the street. His gut tightened. Sure it did. She’d bolted on him again. How could it not be tight? But despite that, the familiar sight brought a brief smile. Mia might dress all prissy and girly now, but she remembered how to handle a car like a NASCAR driver.
Oh, yeah, she’d always been a little spitfire. Rebelling against her father. Getting into trouble left and right. Calming down some the year they were together. Taking up again the last few days she’d remained in town after they’d split up, maybe as a way to show everyone she didn’t need him.
And shedidn’tneed him. Not now, anyway.
Instincts and the desire to do the right thing with Mia told him to jump in his truck and follow her. He wouldn’t. Not with the threatening message. For that he should go see his brother. Get law enforcement involved.
Ryan could talk with her later—iron out the past. But not if the person behind the letter made good on his threat and ended her life.
2
At the end of Evergreen’s driveway, Mia disconnected her call with the 911 operator and leaned her elbows on the steering wheel of her car, hands covering her mouth. Dense smoke clung to the resort’s sign and surrounding treetops like cotton candy on a stick. The air was thick with fumes, not the sort of pleasant scents drifting from a campfire, but serious gusts of blackness settling into the open car and irritating her lungs.
Ahead, the barn flared in oranges and reds as if a meteor had streaked from the sky and plunged into the building. Heart beating erratically, she let the advice of the 911 operator settle in. Move to a safe location. Wait for the fire department to arrive.
That’s what she should do, but what if Ryan still kept horses in the barn? If they were trapped, she couldn’t sit there and do nothing. She had to try to rescue them.
She raised the car’s roof then scrambled out. Intense heat slammed her face—forcing her back a few feet. She listened for cries of distress as she ran the length of the barn and circled the backside.
Embers shot into the air. Explosions—bullet-like pings—struck the walls. The heat and caustic air seared her lungs. She raced around the other side. Howling screams from the consuming fire eased, and the heat receded a bit, allowing her to inch closer to the acrid smoke seeping through cracks in the walls.
A noise sounded from inside. A whimper. Quiet. Muffled.
Her imagination or a person?
Panting from exertion and the thickened air, she stopped and leaned closer to a window.
There it was again. A terrified mewl. A kitten or maybe a small child.
She grabbed a large rock. Shattered the window.
Blistering heat whooshed out. She lurched back and ripped off her jacket to hold it in front of her face.
“Is someone there?” she called, and swiped thick sweat from her forehead.
“Help!” The voice was tiny and high, fragile like a porcelain doll.
Who in the world?
Jacket over her fingers, Mia cleared the largest shards of glass and plunged her head through the opening. Her eyes instantly watered, her nose stung.
“Where are you?” she yelled through drying lips and squinted against the bitter smoke.
