"Their operation is unraveling; it has been ever since Alicia followed a lightning strike to Jerry Caldwell last year. And then the Senate investigations after Mexico took away some of their funding. People have been kidnapped. People have died. It's coming apart at the seams."
"What if I've put my family in danger?" she asked. "Should I call them? Should I tell them Tania is dead?" As the questions flew out of her mouth, she twisted her great-grandmother's ring around her finger. "I don't want them to worry, but if something happens to them…"
He didn't think anyone would go after her family now, but if they did, Dani would blame herself for that, too, and there would be no coming back from that guilt. "You should tell them. I don't believe they're in danger, because they're already known to MDT. Their names were in the investigations, in the Senate hearings. If something happens to them, it's going to go straight back to MDT. If they'd wanted to take them out, they would have done it before now."
"They might not care at this point."
He thought about that, wondering if the isolated house was still the best place for them to stay the night, especially after what had happened to Tania. "Why don't you call your brother and sister? I'll pack up our things and then we'll find a hotel to stay in tonight, one with lots of people around."
"Good idea."
* * *
After Patrick went upstairs, Dani called Jake. Her sister was staying with her mom, and she thought it was better to start with her brother. "Tania is dead," she said bluntly when he asked her what was wrong. "It's on the news—single person car crash. You can probably see it online."
"Damn," Jake muttered. "Hang on."
She could hear him talking to Katherine in the background, then he came back on the line.
"What do you want to do?" he asked.
"I want our family to be safe, but I don't know how to make that happen."
"I do. Katherine and I will go over to the house. We'll just say we want to spend more time with Alicia and Michael before they go back to Florida."
"That could work."
"Michael and I will make sure everyone there is safe, but I don't think they're going to come after us. I'm more worried about you, Dani."
"Patrick and I are going to stay out of sight tonight."
"Are you staying at his place?"
"We're going to leave in a few minutes and find a hotel. I'll text you later."
"All right. By the way, I heard from Agent Wolfe; he'll be at my apartment at ten a.m. tomorrow."
"I'll see you then. Be safe, Jake."
"You, too."
As she ended the call, she got up and went into the dining room. She closed her computer and put it back in its slipcover and then into her tote bag.
Her ring finger was starting to throb. She didn't know if all the tension was making her fingers swell, but there was a definite pain in the area where the ring was. She tried to move it, but it wouldn't even budge. She felt a desperate need to get it off her finger. She felt almost panicked at the thought that she couldn't do that.
Moving into the kitchen, she decided to try to use soap and water to get it off her finger. As she flipped on the light switch and moved toward the sink, she saw a fiery orange and red light outside the house. It took her a moment to realize it wasn't light; it was fire. The woods around the cabin were ablaze.
Thunder suddenly broke the air.
Or was that the sound of the trees exploding with fire?
Her heart raced. "Patrick," she screamed, running out of the room.
He was coming down the stairs.
"There's a fire outside," she said.
"I just saw it from the bedroom. It must have started from the lightning."
"Was there lightning?"
"I thought I heard thunder."
"Was that thunder?"
She'd no sooner finished speaking when another loud boom rocked the house. The front door blew open and flames leapt into the house.
Patrick grabbed her hand. "We'll go out the back."
They ran through the kitchen and laundry room toward the back door. And then she remembered—the file on her dad was still in her bag.
Smoke and fire was pouring through the house now. "Stop," she said, pulling her hand free from Patrick's grip. "I have to get the file. It's in the dining room."
"I'll get it." He opened the back door, and she saw more fire. They probably had about thirty seconds to get out of the house.
"I'll do it," she argued. "You go."
"No chance." He grabbed her and literally threw her outside.
She stumbled and had to grab on to the back porch railing as Patrick went back for the file. Fire surrounded the house. The heat and the tremendous amount of brush and trees surrounding the property had created a raging inferno.
She started to go back in to get Patrick when another explosion threw her off the steps and onto the ground.
Where were all the explosions coming from?
She couldn't see anything now but fire. She could feel the intense heat burning her skin. Her eyes were watering. Smoke filled her chest. She had to get away, go somewhere—but where? And how could she leave Patrick? She tried to call out to him, but she had no voice.
Blinded by ash and fire, she searched for a safe place to go, hoping against hope that Patrick would make it out. There was no way this fire was an accidental brush fire. It was too big, too deadly. Someone had tried to kill them—again.
But she was alive. Patrick had to be, too.
He had to be
. She couldn't lose him. He was more than a friend, a colleague—he was everything. He was the one who could put her heart back together. She couldn't lose him now. Life could not be that cruel.
Only she knew it could be…
Twenty-One
Patrick didn't know how the fire got so big so fast, but it was everywhere. Holding Dani's bag under his arm, he barreled through the flames, praying that she was all right and cursing himself for putting her into danger in the first place.
When he got into the backyard, there was more fire. He heard the sound of distant sirens. Someone in one of the houses along the road must have seen the blaze and called for help.
"Dani," he yelled, dodging a flaming branch that came crashing down from the trees just a foot away from him.
And then in the midst of all the fire, he felt water.
It took him a minute to realize that it was rain—hot, summer rain.
It came out of nowhere, dousing the fire, streaming down his face, clearing some of the smoke.
Now he could see Dani. She stood twenty-five yards away in a small clearing. She had her arms wrapped around her, as if seeking some comfort from the fear. The rain was pouring down on her head. He ran the last few feet, dropped the bag at her feet and threw his arms around her.
Their kiss was filled with terror, relief, and joy. He went back for another kiss and another, needing to be sure she was all right.
Finally, he pulled back, pushing the wet strands of hair off her face. "You're all right?" He searched her face for the truth.
"I'm okay," she whispered. "I wasn't sure you were. How did the fire get so huge?"
"I don't know. I didn't smell any smoke until I came down the stairs."
"I didn't, either. I went into the kitchen, because the ring was suddenly so tight. It was cutting off my circulation. I thought I could get it off with soapy water and then I saw the fire outside. I guess it could have started from lightning."
"It could have," he said, not wanting to scare her more.
Her wide-eyed gaze met his. "But that would just be one of those coincidences I can't believe in, right?"
"We'll get an answer once the fire investigators look around." He could see the gleam of lights as the fire engines came down the road in front of the house. "Let's go tell them what happened."
"Thanks for getting my bag," she said, putting the strap over her shoulder. "That file is my only link to my dad."
"I knew how important it was."
"But it wasn't worth your life. I'm sorry I sent you back. If anything had happened—"
"Don't," he said, cutting her off. "We're both all right. That's what matters." He put his arm around her waist as they walked toward the front of the house.
For the next hour, they watched the fire department work on putting out the fire, not just in the house, but also in the surrounding brush. The rain had stopped what could have been an enormous wildfire in the making.
When the blaze was under control, they spoke to the battalion chief and then to a fire investigator and a policeman.
Patrick took the lead, choosing his words carefully. He didn't want to get too far into the case they were building against MDT so he simply said that in his business of investigative journalism, he sometimes made enemies. They asked more questions, but he was able to evade most of them. He would give the FBI agent a better story in the morning, but right now he didn't know who he could trust on the local police force.
He needed to call his father. His dad had a deep emotional attachment to the cabin. It had been a special place for his father and his mother. The loss was going to hurt, and he felt terrible that that forthcoming pain was because of his actions. He never should have used the cabin to hide out in. He should have anticipated the danger.
But right now he couldn't waste time on what he should have done. His first priority was to get Dani to a safe place. With the truck destroyed by fire, a police officer was kind enough to drive them to a downtown hotel. As they made their way into the building, he kept an eye out for anyone watching or following, but they appeared to be alone. Still, he wanted to be extra careful.
Dani started toward the check-in desk, but he caught her by the arm and said, "I have a better idea."
"What's that?"
He led her out a back door and into a parking lot area. "There's a hotel next door. Let's go there."
"You think someone followed us from the cabin?" she asked, her gaze darting in every direction as they walked across the parking lot, through an alley and into the side door of another hotel.
"I'm not taking any chances. Why don't you wait by the elevators? I'll get us a room."
"Fine."
He ran a hand through his hair, knowing he looked like something the cat had dragged in, but he hoped that the recent and sudden rainstorm would explain his dampened look.
It took only a few minutes to get a room, and then he and Dani headed to the sixth floor. Once inside, he put out a privacy sign and bolted the locks.
As Dani went into the bathroom, he moved to the window. There was no balcony, no way to access the room from the outside. They were safe. He blew out a breath, realizing he'd been holding it for a long time.
He kicked off his waterlogged shoes and pulled off his damp socks, then sat down on the edge of the bed and took his phone out of his pocket. He'd lost the rest of his clothes in the fire, but he had his phone, his wallet, and he'd shoved his computer into Dani's bag before he'd left the house. All things considered, he was happy not to have lost anything he couldn't replace.
He punched in his dad's number. It was after eleven, and it was quite possible his dad had already gone to bed, but he couldn't let the news wait until morning.
"Patrick?" his dad asked, his voice sleepy. "What's wrong?"
"I'm all right, but there was a fire in the woods, and the cabin got caught up in it."
"What?" his dad said more sharply. "There was a fire?"
"Yes. The fire department came, and I think they're still cleaning things up there. Dani and I just left and went to a hotel."
"You could have come here," Harris said.
"I just wanted you to know that I'm fine, and I'm really sorry about the house. I'm going to do whatever it takes to get it back the way it was."
"Well, it wasn't your fault. It was the lightning, wasn't it?"
"Could have been," he said lightly. There would be time for more explanations later. "I don't want you to worry about anything."
"Should I go out there now?"
"No, the fire department is still cleaning up. Let me take care of this, okay, Dad? I really want to. We'll talk tomorrow, all right?"
"All right. I'm glad you're okay and that Dani is, too."
"Thanks."
Dani came into the room as he finished his call. She'd changed out of her smoky, wet clothes and was now wearing a hotel robe, her skin and hair smelling more like shampoo and lotion than fire.
"You look a lot better," he said.
"I feel better. My throat is still scratchy, but other than that, I'm fine. Who was on the phone?"
"My dad. He thinks lightning started the fire. I didn't tell him otherwise. He said he's glad you're all right. I think he likes you."
"I like him, too, and I feel bad about the family cabin."
"That's on me. I'm the one who wanted to stay there."
Her face was still pale, but she had a bit more color now. She looked weary but still defiant, and he appreciated that. Because he was more motivated than ever to put some people behind bars—as many as he could.
"They're not going to get away with this," she said, sitting on the bed next to him.
"No," he agreed.
"I'm getting tired of people trying to kill us."
"You and me, both, babe. I would like to turn the tables. Tomorrow, hopefully, with some reinforcements, we can do that."
"We will." She put her hand on his leg. "Patrick—I was really scared tonight."
He met her gaze. "Me, too," he said softly. "When I came out the door, and I didn't see you…"
"I felt the same way when you went back into the house. The fire kept popping and jumping and there were the loudest bangs. I still don't know why it was so loud."
"It was raging."
"I've never felt such intense heat."
"Never?" he asked with a teasing light in his eyes.
She grinned back at him. "You think you're as hot as a raging forest fire now?"
"Not me alone, but us together…"
She smiled. "We are pretty explosive. By the way, when you went back in, you threw me on the ground. I have a few more bruises now."