Elusive Echoes (31 page)

"Sean!" Her scream was lost in the howl of
the fire. She tried to run in again, only to find it was Joe's
hands on her, firmly tugging her back. She pointed to the stable.
"Sean's in there—the horses—he went in to get them out."

Ryan sprinted toward the blazing building.
Flames licked out of the windows and curled over the roof. On a
cloud of yellow haze, a shadowy figure emerged from the building
just as Ryan made it to the door. Sean was leading two horses. Mel
ran forward to grab one of the leads.

"Lacey. Come on baby."

Thrusting the other horse's lead into her
hand as well, Sean disappeared back inside the inferno. Ginger
squealed and struggled, pulling Mel up almost off her feet.

"Mel, this way!" Ricky called from the other
end of the cow barn.

Spurred into action, Mel pulled the pair
away from the burning building. Ricky tugged open the metal gate to
the stock pen and helped Mel coax the horses through the chute and
around the side of the barn into another pen.

She sprinted back, hoping to spot Sean, but
instead found Joe pulling burning chunks of wood and hay away from
the doorway with a pitchfork. Another shadow came through the door.
This time Ryan led two horses. Mel recognized the older geldings,
Buck and Galaxy. Grabbing the leads, she pulled the nervous animals
across the alley to the other enclosure and turned the geldings
into the same pen as Lacey and Ginger.

Ryan had disappeared by the time she got
back. Screaming and crashing sounds emanated from the interior of
the stable, and Mel's pulse increased to heart attack level. The
black smoke choked her. All around them, cinders and ash rained
down. Flames framed the edges of the roof now. The outline of the
building was barely discernable in the clutches of the writhing,
roaring monster consuming it.

The whole stable was going to cave in any
minute.

Ryan stumbled out, coughing, looking a bit
disoriented.

Mel stared at the glowing orifice, watched
the coiling tendrils of gold snaking into the night, and willed
Sean to appear.

Joe yelled something to Ryan, but the fire's
angry bellow drowned out his voice. Ryan shook his head and moved
toward the door, jumping back as flames at the top of the doorway
twisted out and up into the darkness.

Giant white flakes of snow began to drift
downward. Blowing ash mixed with the fluffy flakes, forming swirls
of snow and ash. It was impossible to tell which was which.

The fire was a wild, pulsing serpent now,
its white heat burning along Mel's skin. Sean was somewhere in the
heart of that beast.

A huge shadow filled the doorway and Sean
rode out on Domingo's back. The horse no sooner cleared the doorway
when he reared and kicked his front legs. Sean's jacket was around
the frightened horse's head, covering his eyes. As Sean rode him
across the alley between buildings to the other enclosure, Ricky
took off to help control him.

The unmistakable sound of a horse screaming
in pain and terror came from inside the conflagration.

"Dev!"

Mel dashed through the stable doors into her
worst nightmare. Above her, hundreds of golden-orange vipers hissed
and crept across the ceiling. Smoke stuck in her throat, tasting of
burnt wood and hay. Mel fought for each breath. Incessant howling
completely surrounded her. Dizzy with disorientation, she twirled
in a circle. What direction had she been traveling in?

The alarmed horse shrieked again, then
again, and she pinpointed the direction. Mel felt her way along the
heated wall toward the sound. Rhythmic thuds were sandwiched
between screams as Dev kicked at the walls of his stall.

By the time she stood outside of his box,
Mel could barely make out more than a shadow. The frenzied horse
reared and threw himself at the back stable wall. Mel shrugged out
of her jacket and grabbed the lead from the hook on the stall door.
When she touched the latch, searing pain assaulted her hand and she
screamed. The giant horse on the other side of the door answered
her in kind.

Her heart thudded uncontrollably fast, but
she tried to keep her voice soothing. "Come on, baby boy. Let me
just snap a lead on you, and I'll get you out of here." She clucked
her tongue and kept talking to Dev, unaware of exactly what she was
saying, just making sounds that seemed to calm him.

She managed to get the lead on him but it
took three tries. He tugged backward hard, shying away from each
new lick of fire, obviously disconcerted by the growl of the blaze.
Mel threw her jacket over the big horse's head and loosely tied the
arms beneath his chin. One agitated foot kicked out, grazing her on
the shin.

Sudden tears filled her eyes at the sharp
stab of pain radiating upward. She limped toward the stall door,
tugging the horse's lead.

"Come on, Dev. Come on, big guy."

He balked at the stall door, rearing blindly
and shaking his head in an attempt to dislodge her jacket. She
couldn't persuade him to move forward and she didn't have the
strength to force the issue.

"Please, baby, you have to come out with
me." Coughing, crying in pain and frustration, she had to keep
trying. She wouldn't give up and let Dev die in such a horrible
way. "Come on, big boy. It's okay. I'm here with you."

A large, soot-covered hand closed over hers.
Sean, adding his strength and persuasion to her touch. Together
they managed to get the horse through the stall door and into the
wide hallway. Flames reached for them from the walls, edged along
the floor, chasing them out into the cold night.

It took both of them to get the agitated
horse across the alley. Sean walked them further down to a
different enclosure before tying the lead firmly to the metal fence
rail.

"He was the last one," Sean yelled over the
roar of the fire.

The volunteer fire department had arrived.
The building was a complete loss, so the battle turned to the task
of protecting the other outbuildings.

Mel looked beyond the aging pumper truck and
saw Denny skulking at the entrance to Dev's trailer. With a growl
low in her throat, she ran at him, and launched herself from about
five feet, tackling him to the ground. Because she caught him by
surprise, he ended up on his back. Mel punched him once with her
right, again with her left, another time with her right. She felt
his nose break under her fists. Then someone pulled her off
him.

Sean shook her until she stopped fighting
his grip. He shoved his face into hers. "What. Are. You.
Doing?"

"This is my
brother
." Mel looked
beyond Sean to where Joe was helping Denny to his feet. "He's Denny
DeVayne, and he promised no one was going to get hurt." She pulled
free of Sean's grip and approached the brother she loathed. "What
are you doing here, Denny?"

"You weren't supposed to be here. You never
close the bar this early. Why'd you change the plan? You were
supposed to stay away tonight and keep your boyfriend occupied like
you've been doing." He moved toward Mel but Joe restrained him.
"Why did you have to save that freakin' horse? You knew he was
supposed to die. You knew the plan, sis. We can't collect on his
insurance unless he's dead."

She stared at Denny, struggling for
understanding. What was he saying? Another growl issued from low in
her throat, and Mel tried to go after him again. Black rage took
over, and she had no doubt that she would kill him. Sean held her
fast by the waist, her feet barely touching the ground. Denny aimed
himself at Mel, but Joe yanked him backward, forcing some distance
between them.

The red and blue lights of the sheriff's
cruiser lit up the yard just as the first arc of water left the
pumper truck to hit the raging flames.

****

Handcuffed and Mirandized, Denny sat in the
back of DC's cruiser. His last taunt to Mel before the door closed
on him was a slice into her heart.

"You didn't keep to the bargain, sis. Too
bad. You'll never find your kid now."

"You working with him, Melanie?" DC's face
showed a mix of professionalism and friendship. Mel tried not to
hold it against him that he had to ask. After all, she had been
more or less working with Denny by covering up his presence here at
the ranch.

"I knew he was in town, but I didn't know
until tonight that he was pretending to be Dev's attendant." She
shivered, more from nerves than the cold, although steadily falling
snow stuck to her eyelashes.

"I'll take him in tonight." DC gave her a
hard stare. "Why didn't you trust me, Melanie?"

Mel dropped her eyes and gave a
half-shrug.

"I've gotta tell ya, girl," continued DC. "I
have no choice but to question you tomorrow."

"Please." Mel laid an urgent hand on DC's
arm. "I need to talk to him."

"You can see him tomorrow."

"Please," she repeated, desperate for
answers. "He says he knows where my baby is."

The sheriff cursed under his breath. "Two
minutes. And Mel, I'm standing right here, so anything I hear will
go in my report."

She nodded, then yanked open the car
door.

"Where is she?"

Denny turned to look out the other
window.

"I hate you!" Mel screamed. She would have
gone for him again but DC held her back. "Where is she? Where's my
little girl?"

Her brother turned cold eyes on her and
laughed like he'd lost his sanity. "You stupid, naïve child. You
really believed I ever knew?" He laughed again and DC gently pulled
Mel away from the car. With a flick of his wrist, he slammed the
door.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Mel. We'll try to
sort through the bull." He tipped his hat and got into the
cruiser.

Mel fell to her knees as the car drove off.
Tears rolled freely. She'd been such a fool to trust Denny even a
little bit. At the noise behind her, she turned to see Sean
watching her, his eyes frozen chips of green. She rose slowly and
walked to where he stood.

"I'm sorry. I should—"

"Don't," he snapped. "Don't talk to me with
more excuses and rationalizations tonight, Mel. I've had about
enough of your lies and schemes."

He turned his back on her, moving off toward
the horses. Ricky and Ryan were already leading them into the extra
stalls in the cow barn.

Mel watched Sean walk away, and acknowledged
the coldness that settled in her gut. She hugged her arms around
her waist, knowing life would never be the same again. Sean hated
her. And he had every right to do so.

A leather jacket was laid over her
shoulders. Though it was warm against the chill of the night, it
did nothing to take away the coldness inside her. Turning, she
looked up into Joe's soft golden eyes.

"He was scared he'd lost you tonight."

She shook her head. Her own voice sounded
small to her ears. "No. That's not it. I let him down. He thinks I
did this—caused it. He thinks I was helping my brother." Mel didn't
bother stemming the tears.

Joe steered her toward the house. "Let's get
you inside and cleaned up."

Chapter Eighteen

"Your arms are like ice." Sandy fussed over
her but Mel felt nothing.

"She's in shock." Justin set a cup of
steaming black coffee in front of her. "This'll help warm you."

The dark liquid sloshed against the edge of
the cup. Mel's unsettled stomach echoed the sentiment. Bile rose in
her throat and she pushed the cup away a little too violently. Some
of the contents sloshed over the edge. "I'm sorry." Mel tried to
rise so she could clean up her mess, but Justin settled a hand on
her shoulder and gently shoved her back into the chair.

Sean's father crossed to the sink and
grabbed a sponge, quickly dabbing the spilled coffee.

"I-I'm sorry. I can't drink that." Mel
rubbed her forehead with her left hand. "Can I just have some
water, please?"

Sandy set a tumbler of water on the table.
Mel reached for it, winced when she made contact with the glass,
and quickly switched hands. She laid her right hand in her lap,
under the table and out of sight.

"You're hurt. Let me see." Sandy's voice was
sharp and firm.

Mel eased her hand out from beneath the
table for her friend to examine.

Sandy turned the palm up and cried out.
"When were you going to get this taken care of?"

For the first time, Mel looked at the hand
causing her so much pain. The skin of her palm was white and
ragged, with areas of blood showing in patches beneath the torn
skin. The outer edge of her thumb was angry and red with a line of
pale blisters extending toward her wrist.

"It's nothing," she murmured, trying to
reclaim her hand.

Sandy held firmly on to the hand. "Mel,
these are deep second degree burns."

"You're an EMT. Can't you just bandage it
for me or something?"

Sandy turned the hand over, shaking her
head. "You have to have these looked at in a hospital. How did this
happen?"

"The latch on Dev's stall. I had to open it
and it was hot."

"Does it hurt?"

"Just a little. It's no big deal."

"You can lose the use of your hand with
burns like this." Sandy moved to the storage area and brought out
the medical kit. "If you get an infection, you can actually lose
your hand."

Mel shrugged. What did it matter anyway?

"I'm going to clean this and then it's the
hospital for you." Sandy looked over her shoulder at Joe. "Go get
Sean. Tell him he needs to take Mel to the emergency room."

"No!" Mel nearly shouted the word, then felt
foolish as everyone turned to look at her. "He's busy seeing to the
horses. I'll take myself." After all, she'd taken care of herself
for years with no help, which was proof she needed no one.

Sandy laid out the items she would need:
sterile saline, medicated gauze, a basin. "Mel, he's going to want
to know."