Miracle Jones (38 page)

Blue had set fire to the barn.
She just knew it.
None of the Danners had done it, and it was too much of a coincidence to have been an accident.
He’d even promised to help her get back at her father!

I’m going to help you take care of the Garretts…

She’d been wrong to keep the news about Blue from Harrison.
Because of it, she might have lost him.
Heart heavy, she turned Gray up the Garrett lane.
Harrison had disappeared long before.

It seemed to take forever before she reached the scene of the crime.
Smoke billowed in choking black waves.
Gray stopped short, trembling and snorting.
She slipped off him and tied him to a nearby tree which was safe from the fire.

Harrison’s horse was also tied to a tree, carefully out of range of the fire.
It was snorting and trembling, too, but it was safe.

There were people everywhere, looking like demons running in front of a raging hellfire.
She couldn’t make out Harrison.
Shouts and screams could be heard, people and animals.
A group of men were trying to herd frightened cattle into a field.
The crackle of burning hay was loud even in the roar of the flames.

Then two men were squaring off, and Miracle realized one of the Garrett hands was shoving Harrison back, yelling at him.

“…miserable… son of a… your goddamn fault…”

Harrison, in turn, gave the man a full-force shove.
“Calm down, you fool.
I’m here to help!”

“…Kelsey’s gone… all your fault!”

Miracle ran forward against all common sense.
“Stop!” she screamed.

“Stay out of this, Miracle!
I can take care of myself!” Harrison bellowed in a towering fury.
“Just get the hell out!”

The Garrett farm hand belted him in the jaw the moment he turned Miracle’s way she would have jumped in, but Harrison didn’t need her help.
He threw a left-handed punch that stunned the man enough to crumple him at the knees.
As she watched in amazement, she was suddenly hauled backward and slammed against the bole of a tree.

“Stay right here,” Harrison bit out.
“I haven’t finished with you, and I don’t want to have to come looking for you.”

“But I could help.”

“There’s nothing to do.
It’s too late for a bucket brigade.
We just have to make certain nothing else burns.”

“Blue did it.
I know he did.”

“We’ll deal with that later.
Now stay put!”

It wasn’t in Miracle’s nature to stand around and do nothing, especially at the scene of a disaster.
But she’d heard the warning in his voice.
She’d pushed him to the limit.
She supposed she should rejoice that he cared at all, but she was too frightened of what he would do when he truly calculated all the damage her silence had caused.
Come to that, she blamed herself, too.
How could she have used such poor judgment?

I love him.

She closed her eyes, aching inside.
Her love for him had blinded her reason.
A roar of hoofbeats penetrated her misery, and Miracle opened her eyes, alarmed.
Who…?”

About ten men on horseback burst into the clearing.
Sheriff Raynor and his men.
Miracle had never been quite so glad to see the law.
She rushed forward, intending to help, but Raynor had spied Harrison on the fringes of the crowd.
Dismounting quickly, Raynor strode toward Harrison, his face full of shock.

“Danner!” he bellowed above the noise.
Miracle snatched up her skirts and hurried after him.

Harrison was busy helping others dig a trench between the house and barn.
There was no wind, but sparks were falling, and though the ground was damp, patches of grass were burning and smoldering.

Hearing Raynor, Harrison swiped smoke from his face and frowned.
“Did you find him?” he demanded tersely.

“We found the woman.
Dead.
Tied to a tree and left there.
It was one of the Half Moon whores.
He’d shot her.”

Harrison gaze turned to Miracle.
“He also set fire to this barn,” he said emotionlessly.

“How do you know that?”

“Call it a lucky guess.”

“We’ve got to find him.
Fast.
He’s crazy.
Like he’s got a vendetta against the whole town.”

“No.
Just some of us.”

Raynor’s men pitched in to help.
Miracle wanted to die.
It was because of her that Blue had come to Rock Springs and killed several women.
It was because of her that the Garretts’ barn was burning to the ground.
And it was because of her that Harrison now had a killer stalking him.

She watched Harrison work for several moments, fighting back the urge to tell him to be careful.
Then she stumbled away.
She’d done what she intended to do.
She’d told him all the truth.
The fire appeared to be under control, and most or all of the animals had been saved.

She was untethering Gray when more people arrived to help.
Joseph Danner and Tremaine rode right past her, not even seeing her.
Lexie was next; she’d obviously seen the fire from her own property and had rushed over to help.

Miracle wished she could stay, but she didn’t dare incur more of Harrison’s wrath.
She was responsible for all the tragedy in his life.
And the way he’d stared her down had convinced her he held her solely to blame.

Since Emerald was driving like a madwoman into Rock Springs, Miracle wondered if any of the Garretts knew about the fire.
They’d started the feud again, but it was the Danners who were trying to save the Garrett farm.
Deciding someone should tell Jace, Miracle led Gray down the Garrett drive, determined to go straight to the infirmary and tell him herself.

Kicking Gray hard, she set her jaw and aimed him back down the now familiar road from Danner and Garrett property into Rock Springs.
She had a lot to talk about with Jace, and this might be her one and only opportunity.
She believed now that Joshua was her father.
She wanted to tell him that before she left.

Emptiness filled her heart.
She’d lost Harrison.
No, that wasn’t even the truth.
She’d never had him to lose.
She’d merely been the instrument he used to face his true feelings about Kelsey.
Her own lying had destroyed what little trust and respect he had in her.
She was now no better off than Isabella.

Miracle was so deep in thought she didn’t acknowledge the crack of a broken twig until it was too late.
Gray snorted and shied as a hard arm grabbed her, tossing her to the ground.
She leaped up instantly, but her captor pinned her arms behind her, binding them so tightly she had no chance to reach for her knife.

“Blue,” she gritted through her teeth.

“No, ma’am,” Blue’s voice answered through a grin.
“It’s Gil.
The part about being Blue was a lie.” He spun her around to face him.
“I just told you that to get you on my side.
But since you went and told Danner about me anyway, there’s no need to keep lying, now, is there?”

Miracle was stunned.
“What do you mean?” she demanded.
“How could you possibly know all about me if you aren’t my brother?”

“Blue told me all about you.
He was following your trail up to Rock Springs.
So when he died, I just kept right on where he left off.”

Before Miracle could reply, he stuffed a kerchief in her mouth and tied another around it.
Then he tossed her easily over his shoulder, carried her to a waiting horse, and threw her over its withers, climbing up behind her.

“I just decided I need another woman,” he said in a friendly voice, as if she’d asked another question.
“And you, Miracle Jones, are that woman.”

¤   ¤   ¤

“Where’s Miracle?” Harrison demanded, scowling at the spot where he’d left her.
Her horse was gone, too.

Lexie, who had been running salve into the burns several of the cattle had suffered, glanced at her brother.
He was towering over her, black with smoke and rage.
She was amazed.
Harrison had always been her most good-natured brother, but he looked ready to kill with his bare hands.

“I never saw Miracle.
Was she here?”

“Right over there.
And I told her to stay there.”

“Well, from what I know of Miracle, I guess that was the wrong thing to say.
You can’t order her around.
I’m surprised you even tried.”

Harrison considered setting Lexie straight about Miracle and her murdering brother, but he was too annoyed and distracted.
Where was she?
He couldn’t believe she’d dared to leave when he’d given her strict instructions otherwise.

A sense of uneasiness had him searching the area where she’d been.
Why was he worried?
he asked himself.
The little savage could take care of herself, as well he knew.
And she wasn’t known for listening to his advice, either.
Still, he thought she’d been so racked with remorse that she wouldn’t just take off without telling him.

“I’ll be back later,” he ground out, striding toward Triumph.

“Where are you going?” Lexie demanded.

“To find Miracle.”

Her trail was difficult to pick up, considering the amount of horseflesh that had recently pounded up Garrett Lane and the heavy layer of smoke, which made everything hazy.
He assumed she’d headed for Rock Springs, as the other direction was Danner property and Miracle was also not known for running to safety.
Still, he would have lost her entirely if he hadn’t heard the jingle of a bridle in the underbrush to the north.
He pulled Triumph up short, peering through the dark.

Miracle’s gray plodder was standing just off the road beneath the fan of a thick cedar bough.

“What the hell…?”

Triumph wouldn’t go near the other horse, so Harrison lashed him to a fir tree.
The gray gelding didn’t even flick an ear at Harrison’s approach.
He merely stood with the patience of age and waited while Harrison examined him.

The saddle was slightly askew, as if it had been pulled.
Harrison patted the gray’s neck and glanced at the ground.
Grass was trampled.
He ground his teeth together, wishing for a lantern.
He opened his mouth to call Miracle’s name when he noticed some broken grass headed into the woods.
He’d been around animals enough to know a horse had broken through there, not a human.
So that meant there had been two horses, Miracle’s and someone else’s.

She’s with Blue.
The thought struck him cold, and yet he knew it as surely as if someone had told him.

He stood in utter silence for several moments, listening to the night sounds, trying to quell the panic rising in his chest.
Had she met him here?
No.
Miracle had been sick with guilt and remorse when she told him about Blue.
He hadn’t imagined that.
She wouldn’t have gone with him.
At least not willingly.
He glanced around sharply at the gelding.
Leaving her horse was proof of that.

Brother or no, Blue was a dangerous man.
The fear Harrison felt was totally unreasonable, he told himself as he untied Triumph and leaped onto the horse’s back.
Miracle was damn good at taking care of herself.

He refused to think about the other women Blue had murdered.
Miracle was Blue’s sister.
He wouldn’t kill his sister.
Or would he?
The man was mad – sick.
And vengeful.
Harrison’s heart pounded with growing dread.
If he’d hurt her…

“Get a move on,” he growled to the skittish stallion.

Thankful for the scattered moonbeams that cut through the trees to guide his way, Harrison turned Triumph in the direction Miracle and Blue had taken, his fear escalating to out-and-out horror as he realized his little savage was in serious danger this time.

¤   ¤   ¤

She was going to die.
She knew it.
If not Gil, then the sharp shoulder blades of the horse would surely end her life.
She could scarcely breathe.
The gag was bad enough, but every time the dreadful beast lurched forward its bones caught her in the stomach.