“Hey.” Max reached for her from his seat in the back. He seemed to sense her fear. His hands were a comfort around her shoulders. “Are you all right, baby?”
She took a deep breath and tried to banish the panic. “I’m fine.” She was all right. She was with them. There was no way Tommy had caught up to her. She’d been very careful since he’d almost caught her in San Diego. It was just the fire that was making her edgy. She just had to stay calm. It wouldn’t do to have her future husbands see her flip out at the very smell of smoke.
Rye pulled up to the house. The smoke seemed thicker than before. It bloomed from behind the house, a gray-and-white cloud growing by the minute.
Max was out of the car in a shot. His face was ashen as he realized what was on fire. “It’s the stables,” he said with an air of disbelief.
Rachel knew those horses meant the world to Max. He’d worked so hard to build his business, and now it was on fire.
“Damn it. I have to go and get the horses out.” He looked at Rye, and his blue eyes stark. “Why don’t you get her out of here? Take her back to Stefan’s. He’s got a security system. Call the fire department on the way.”
Rachel scrambled out of the Bronco. “No, I’m going with you. I can help.” There was no way she was leaving him here to fight a fire and rescue the horses alone. Bliss only had a volunteer fire company. She had no idea how that worked, but she knew Max wouldn’t wait for them. He’d do everything he could to save the stables.
She watched as Max and Rye passed a wary glance between them. Rye reached into the back of the Bronco. He pulled out a shotgun and extra ammunition. After making sure it was loaded, he passed it off to Max. Max slipped the extra ammo in his pocket.
Rye nodded to his brother. “Go check it out. I’ll call in the fire over the radio. If I need to, I’ll get her out of here, but I’d rather stay and help you.”
“All right,” Max replied tightly. His face was a mask of tension as he looked her over and then spoke to his brother. “If I can get the horses out safely, I’m going to. You take care of our girl.”
He gave her a long look before turning and heading out. Max held the shotgun with the ease of a man who knew how to use it. He jogged off toward the stables, where the smoke was billowing into the air.
“Why can’t we go with him?” Rachel held on to Rye’s sleeve like it was a lifeline.
Rye hugged her for a moment and then gently disentangled himself. He moved back to the driver’s side of the car. Rye leaned into the Bronco and pulled out the radio. “I have to keep you safe, Rachel. This doesn’t feel right. Stay close to me.” He pushed the button to talk. “Callie, this is Rye. Are you there?”
Callie’s voice was tinny over the radio. “That’s an affirmative, boss.” Rachel turned away from Rye. She tried to catch a glimpse of Max in the distance. He’d disappeared from sight.
“I need you to call the fire truck out to our place.”
Rye’s voice was calm as she struggled to see how bad the fire was. Her feet itched to run down there so Max wouldn’t be alone.
“And send Logan down here, too. Pull him off of whatever he’s doing. Tell him to bring a couple of extra shotguns with him. Callie, I need you to put out the word—” Rye’s voice died as Rachel heard a hard thwack.
“Rye, are you there?” Callie’s voice spiked with obvious worry.
Rachel turned in time to watch Rye slide, unconscious, to the ground. The handset of the radio swung uselessly against the side of the SUV. She could see he was bleeding. Her heart started to pound. There was so much blood.
“Hello, Liz.”
Rachel’s stomach churned as she saw her nightmare standing over Rye. He had a baseball bat in his hand.
Tommy Lane stood roughly six feet tall. He was all rangy muscle. His face was a testament to hard living, and there was always cruelty in his eyes. He had always reminded Rachel a little of a rodent, since his eyes were too small for his face. They were black and often seemed to have no emotion behind them. That was not the case now. He stood looking her over with a stark possessiveness that made her skin crawl.
It didn’t matter, Rachel thought, her mind racing. All that mattered was saving Rye. God, he couldn’t already be dead. He was still bleeding on the ground. The grass around him was becoming saturated. She started to move toward him, but Tommy dropped the bat and pulled a handgun out of the holster he wore.
“Don’t you touch him.” Tommy’s voice was low and ragged. “You lay a hand on him, and I’ll put a bullet through his brain.”
Rachel stopped. She knew he would do just what he’d threatened. She was surprised to see Quigley wander up. The big dog whined a little as he sniffed at Rye’s body. He licked Rye’s face and tried to get him to wake up. Rye was completely still.
Tommy laughed as the dog tried to wake his master. “Dumb dog. I thought I’d have to shoot that monster when I got out here to set up that little distraction in the stables. The stupid dog just wanted to play. I threw a stick for him a couple of times, and now he’s my best friend. Those boys of yours need better security.”
“Please don’t hurt him again.” Rachel concentrated only on the fact that Rye might be dying. She tried to keep her voice calm. She didn’t want to make Tommy any angrier than he already was. She wanted to run, to get away from here. He was going to kill her, and she doubted it would be a quick death. He would want some revenge on her for running. Her feet remained firmly planted. She couldn’t abandon Rye. If she had a chance to save her men, then she had to take it. They hadn’t done anything wrong except to have the misfortune to fall for her. “I’ll go with you if you leave them alone.”
Tommy’s mouth turned up in a ghoulish version of a smile. “You’ll come with me, Liz. You’ll come with me because you’re mine, and I don’t let go of what belongs to me. You should have learned that by now. My truck is over the ridge, off the road. We’re going to walk to it, and then we’ll go someplace where we can talk.”
She shivered. She knew there wouldn’t be a lot of talking. There would probably be a brutal rape followed by him gutting her. She wasn’t an idiot, but Rye’s still body caused her to agree. She thought she saw his chest moving. She prayed he was still breathing. She couldn’t take the chance that Tommy would finish him off. Max could be back any minute. He would be walking into a trap, and Tommy was a trained professional. Rachel doubted he would hesitate to shoot Max. After all, she realized, he had already shot him.
“You’ve been here for two weeks,” Rachel said. He’d been the one behind Max getting shot, not some hunters.
His arrogant smile was all the answer she needed, but he responded anyway. “I’ve been watching you, Liz. I almost took out your boyfriend. That horse of his bucked, and I missed my shot. I thought the horse would do him in when it panicked, but he must have a hard head. Of course, I had no idea you had the other one on your string, too.” He kicked at Rye’s body.
“Stop, please,” she practically begged as Rye’s body slumped back down. Quigley whined and came to sit at her feet.
Tommy pointed the gun at Rye’s head. For a moment she thought he was going to shoot. “Tell me, Liz, how does it feel to whore yourself out to two men? What kind of woman does that? Did you think I would let you get away with it?”