Fatal Inheritance (17 page)

A light suddenly flashed into her eyes. “Where do you think you’re going?” Neil’s long strides swallowed the distance between them. He grabbed a hunk of her hair.

Pain screamed through her scalp.

He pushed her toward the living room. “You love this house. Isn’t that what you told me?”

He let out an icy chuckle, punctuated by the slosh of gasoline.

A chill shivered down her arms.

“If you don’t produce the rest of my jewelry, your stay will be permanent.”

EIGHTEEN

J
osh pulled up to the makeshift command post behind Bec’s house, where Serenity police had found Neil’s car. “See anything?” He yanked off his white shirt and tugged on a spare black T-shirt.

Wes handed him a Kevlar vest, then held up a stained white glove. “Found this on the floor of the car. Recognize it?”

“Yeah.” Heart racing, Josh thumbed through his keys for the one to the lockbox bolted to his truck floor.

“There are no lights on in the house. How do you want to play this?”

Play this?
This wasn’t a war game. This was Bec’s life. “We’ll scout the situation first.”

“The tactical team’s on its way.”

Yeah, he wouldn’t be waiting. He pulled out his gun and loaded a clip.

Hunter strode up, already outfitted in full tactical gear. He handed Josh a black paint pot and night-vision goggles. “Just saw a flash of light in the second-story window, west wall, second from the back.”

“Does this guy own a gun?” Wes asked.

“I don’t know.” Josh fitted an earpiece and mic and lowered his goggles. “Let’s go.”

He and Hunter stole across the field in silence, an exercise they’d done countless times during night ops the three years they’d served together in the military. But Josh’s gut had never felt as strangled as it did tonight.

At the edge of the yard, he motioned for Hunter to take the front. Within minutes, Hunter’s whispered voice sounded through the earpiece.

“Can’t get a visual.”

“Same here. Doors and windows are locked.”

A scrap of fabric fluttered past his foot.

Josh stooped to pick it up, recognized the silky feel of the dress Bec had worn tonight.
She’s here.

“A light just went on in a second-story window, back of house, west end,” an officer’s voice said over the mic.

Josh glanced at the barn. “Get a sniper in the hayloft.”

“I’ll go.” Hunter said. “Think you can get in through the basement without him hearing you?”

“I can do better than that.” Josh pulled out the spare key Bec had given him. “You in position?”

“Just about.”

Josh listened at the door, then fit in the key. “Command post, on Hunter’s mark, make the call. Patch it to our comms. I want to know what this guy’s saying.” Josh inched open the door, scanned the area. The green, filmy image through his goggles betrayed no movement. He entered. “I’m in,” he whispered.

The smell of gasoline assaulted him. “Get the fire department here,” he growled into his mic. “He’s gonna torch the place!”

“In position,” Hunter said.

“Backup standing by,” command post announced. “Putting in the call now.”

Josh quickly checked the main-floor rooms. Strewn clothes and books littered the floor.

The house phone rang once. Twice.

Come on, pick up.
Josh stole up the stairs.

The ringing stopped. Josh inched toward the bedroom door. What was going on? He tapped his earpiece. Had Neil picked up or not?

“This is Officer Wade of the Serenity Police Department” Josh heard through the comm.

No response.

Back pressed to the wall outside the occupied room, Josh drew in a breath and shot a glance inside.

His heart lurched. Bec stood at the window, gasoline dripping from her hair, down her neck and over her gown in black, angry rivulets.

Josh jerked back out of sight. “You don’t have a clear shot,” he hissed into the mic. “I repeat—”

“Copy that,” Hunter responded, and Josh’s breath left him in a rush.

“Mr. Orner, we know you’re holding Miss Graw against her will. Let her go and come out with your hands up.”

“Rebecca is exactly where she wants to be. In her beloved home,” Neil said in an icy voice and slammed down the phone.

Josh took another peek, and Bec’s gaze shot in his direction.

Her eyes went soft, brimming with emotion he’d thought he’d never see again.

He touched a silencing finger to his lips.

She shifted her eyes to the left and back.

He nodded and moved to the other side of the door to get into a position where he could see Neil. He jerked back at the sight of his own reflection in the dresser mirror.

Neil caught Bec by the hair. “So your boyfriend found you after all.”

Josh’s hands went slick with sweat. He was 99 percent sure Neil hadn’t seen him, that he was referring to the phone call.

Neil lifted an old silver lighter to Bec’s face. “Think he’ll still want you after the flames are through with you?” His thumb flipped back the lid and caressed the lighter’s igniter.

The terror in Bec’s eyes shredded Josh’s heart. Somehow he had to distract Neil enough to ease his grip.

Fire engine sirens split the air.

Neil’s thumb turned jerky on the lighter. “I’m not going to jail. I’d sooner burn with you in hell.”

“Kill the sirens,” Josh hissed into his mic. “He’s antsy enough.”

As if Bec knew exactly what Josh needed her to do, she edged out of his line of fire.

Neil yanked her to his chest. “What are you doing?”

Her gaze lifted to the opposite wall, and the terror slipped from her eyes. “I was trying to see the picture of Jesus better.”

“He’s not going to save you.” Neil clamped his arm around Bec’s waist, holding her like a shield. “Neither is that boyfriend of yours. You want out of this alive—” Neil swiveled her away from the painting “—you do exactly as I say.”

Bec dug in her heels. “Wait. I don’t want you hurt, either.”

“Call him again,” Josh whispered into his mic. “Hunter, get ready to take the shot on my signal.”

The phone rang.

Neil ignored it. “You don’t love me,” he growled. “So don’t bother pretending.”

“I may not love you the way you’d hoped,” Bec said, her voice surprisingly calm. “But I care about you. And Jesus—”

“
Care
about me?” Neil roared and took a wild swing at the blaring phone.

Josh barreled into the room, scooped Bec from Neil’s arm and dived into a roll. “Now. Now.
Now,
” he yelled.

Three shots cracked through the glass and blinds.

“No!” Bec screamed.

Neil clapped a hand to his chest, shock glazing his eyes.

Josh hoisted Bec to her feet and pushed her toward the door, wrists still bound. “Get out.”

His backup charged up the stairs as Neil lifted the lighter. “Get her out of here,” Josh ordered.

Neil’s gaze fixed on Josh, pure hatred blazing from his eyes.

“Let me help you,” Josh soothed, taking a cautious step forward.

Neil flicked on the lighter, an ugly sneer curling his lips.

The lighter tumbled to the floor.

* * *

A roar shook the house. Flames shot out the bedroom door, blasting Josh’s backup off their feet.

“Josh!” Becki screamed from the base of the stairs.

Hunter hoisted her over his shoulder and hustled her out the front door.

Firemen dragging hoses streamed toward the house.

“We have two men down at the top of the stairs. Two men in the second bedroom on the right,” Hunter reported to the chief, setting her down on the back of the ambulance.

The paramedic snipped the binds cinching her wrists. Becki sprang from the ambulance.

Hunter caught her.

She thrashed her arms. “Let me go. Josh is in there. This is my fault.”

Hunter tightened his hold, lifting her off the ground.

She kicked wildly.

He gave her a hard shake. “Racing back in there isn’t going to help. Stay here and let the firefighters do their job.”

Two firefighters came out the front door, each helping a hacking, smoke-blackened tactical officer.

She strained against Hunter’s hold, needing to go to Josh the second he appeared.

But he didn’t.

She watched in horror as flames melted through the second-story window blinds and yellow-brown smoke puffed from the eaves. A couple of firefighters hauled a chain saw up a ladder.

“What are they doing? Why aren’t they going after Josh?” She clutched Hunter’s arm. “They can’t let him die.”

“They’re cutting a ventilation hole to lift the smoke off the guys inside.” He set her back on the end of the ambulance. “Wait here,” he ordered and strode to the rescued officers. Hunter spoke in low whispers.

The other officer shook his head.

No! Lord, please, You can’t let him die.

Her lungs felt raw from the smoke filling the air. Neil’s taunts echoed in her mind. His sick pleasure in dousing her precious home with gasoline, in telling her how it would burn.

Yet, in that moment, all she’d cared about was believing her sister was still alive and seeing Josh again, telling him she was sorry.

Then when he found her and looked at her with such, such...
love,
she couldn’t remember why she’d ever gotten angry with him. She loved him so much it hurt.

He hadn’t returned the jewelry because he was a control freak like her brother-in-law or because he cared more about his job than her. He did it because he wanted her safe, because he was honorable, trustworthy, because he could be counted on. And she never got the chance to tell him.

Tears coursed down her cheeks.

“Hey,” Hunter said. “We’re going to get him out.”

She nodded, willing herself to believe it, feeling a little of the peace seep back into her soul that she’d felt when she’d looked at that painting in the bedroom of Jesus cradling the lamb. She swiped at her cheeks with the back of her hand. “What about my sister? Neil said—” She choked on the memory.

“She’s okay.” Hunter squeezed her shoulder. “Neil beat her up pretty bad, but your sister is one tough lady. She’ll be okay.”

Two paramedics raced to the back of the house, pushing a gurney.

Becki cupped a hand over her mouth, afraid to hope. What if Josh...died? Could she still believe God cared then?

Josh’s words whispered through her mind.
I focus on the things that show me He does.

She closed her eyes, shutting out the image of her grandparents’ home burning.
He saved my sister. He brought Josh in time to save me. He showed me what real love looks like. “Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.”

The Bible verse she’d memorized as a little girl in Sunday School, and never really understood until today, scrolled through her mind.
I’ll believe, Lord. No matter what.

She sensed Hunter moving away and opened her eyes.

He had a finger pressed to his ear, listening intently. “Copy that,” he said, his expression grim.

The paramedics reappeared, pushing the gurney more slowly this time.

Becki’s throat thickened, her feet glued to the ground, her heartbeat reeling. A blanket covered the body on the gurney, including...his face. “Please, God, no.” Tremors overtook her.

Hunter’s warm hand came to rest on her shoulder. “Neil’s choices led to his death, Bec. Not yours.”

“Neil?” Becki swallowed the sudden relief that bubbled up from her chest. She didn’t want Neil’s life to end this way, either. But if that wasn’t Josh...

Too scared to ask after him, she mutely watched the paramedics load Neil’s body onto an ambulance and drive away. No sirens. No hurry. It was too late.

Hunter nudged her arm and pointed to the house.

Firemen surrounded it, anchored by hoses aimed at the upper story. The front door still sat open.

Then, at the side of the house, she saw him.

She picked up her skirt and ran into his arms.

He caught her in a bear hug. “Glad to see you, too,” his voice rumbled close to her ear, husky with emotion or maybe from the smoke.

She wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him as if there was no tomorrow. “I’m sorry. I—”

Josh nudged her head up from his chest and stroked the hair from her face.

She swallowed, her heart tumbling into the depths of his tender gaze. Soot and black paint smeared his face, but he’d never looked better.

He kissed her forehead, her temple, the tip of her nose, her cheek and finally her lips.

Savoring the sweet taste of reunion, she returned his kiss, pouring out her love for him. Finally, she touched her forehead to his. “I came here hoping to find peace in the home I’d once loved so dear. I never—”

Josh released a ragged sigh. “I’m sorry we couldn’t save it, Bec. I know how much—”

She touched a finger to his lips. “You didn’t let me finish.” She nestled into his arms. “This is home.”

EPILOGUE

O
n a sunny May evening, standing in a tux at the front of the church, Josh clasped Bec's hands in his and said the words he'd been longing to pronounce for ten long months. “I do.”

Bec's smile widened, and his heart expanded with sheer joy.

He swept the filmy white veil from her shoulders and cradled her face in his hands, soaking in the promise of forever beaming from Bec's eyes. He lowered his head and...

“Ahem.” The pastor cleared his throat. “I haven't gotten to that part yet.”

The congregation tittered, and Josh looked up with a sheepish grin.

The pastor winked and resumed, “I now pronounce you man and wife.” He paused dramatically. “You may
now
kiss the bride.”

“Finally,” Josh said, and he did just that, smiling against his bride's lips as thunderous applause mingled with laughter broke out.

Josh eased back with a contented sigh. “I love you, Mrs. Rayne.”

“I love you, too,” she whispered.

Josh curled her hand through the crook of his arm and turned her to the still-applauding guests. And sitting beside his sister, with tears streaming down her face, his mom applauded loudest of all.

As he led Bec up the aisle, his heart raced with anticipation, and a little trepidation, over the surprise waiting for her outside—her grandfather's Cadillac restored.

Of course, the surprise paled in comparison to the gift she'd given him last night—suggesting that, instead of rebuilding the farmhouse and selling one of their places, they combine the land...if he still wanted to farm. And maybe use the house settlement to buy back what his dad had sold off, too.

Standing at the back of the church, Mrs. O'Reilly winked at him.

The church doors opened to an honor guard of saluting officers.

Taken up by the display, Bec didn't seem to notice the officer at the curb opening the Cadillac's back door.

Josh gave her a nudge and tilted his head toward the street.

Her look of absolute delight calmed his runaway heartbeat. “Oh, Josh. It's just like Gramps and Gran's. Wherever did you hire it?” Sudden moisture glistened in her eyes.

He squeezed her hand, certain she was wishing they could have shared this day.

“Hire it?” Hunter razzed from directly behind them, already tugging at his bow tie. “He worked us like slaves. Didn't pay us a penny.”

“Worked you?” Bec's forehead crinkled adorably. “That's...Gramps's car?”

Josh nodded.

“But...I don't understand. The lawyer said the insurance company wrote it off after he convinced them to pay a settlement. Did—” Bec's gaze jerked to her matron-of-honor sister. “Did you put the money I gave you into the car?”

“No, I'm as surprised as you.”

No doubt Sarah had been too preoccupied with the intensive counseling she and her husband had recently started after their lengthy separation. “It's your wedding present from me,” Josh explained. “I bought it at scrap value and wangled the guys into helping me repair it.”

“Oh, Josh!” Bec threw her arms around his neck. “I love it. Thank you.”

Curling his arms around her waist and inhaling her sweet scent, his heart soared. “And how does a cross-country tour sound for our honeymoon?”

She pulled away just enough to meet his gaze, her expression suddenly serious. “Do you promise to check the cotter pins before we set out each day?”

“Without fail.”

Her lips spread into a smile more radiant than the deepening colors of the setting sun. “Then I say it sounds like a wonderful adventure.”

Josh dipped his head and whispered against her lips, “Every day with you is sure to be an adventure.”

“Are you saying I'm trouble, Joshua Rayne?” she said teasingly.

“With a capital
T,
Mrs. Rayne. With a capital
T.
”

* * * * *

Keep reading for an excerpt from
Hide and Seek
by Lynette Eason