Chapter Nine #2
The flames shot into the sky. Red and orange. Swirling. Scaring the hell out of her. Black smoke billowed in the air.
“John!” Now she was screaming his name, but John wasn’t answering her. She didn’t see him anywhere, and she knew, she knew he’d been in that garage.
Shelly rushed toward the flames, slipping and sliding across the snow.
The smoke battered at her, and the heat from the flames lanced her skin.
She coughed, choking on the thick, dark smoke.
Chunks of the burning garage littered the ground.
The fire was so hot, and in her mind, she saw John trapped in the wreckage of the garage, burning.
Even he couldn’t come back from death if he was burned alive. Could he?
She didn’t hesitate. Shelly yanked up her sweater to cover her mouth, and she ran into what was left of the garage. Tears streamed from her eyes as she dropped to her knees, trying to find better air, trying to crawl through that hell and find—
Her left hand touched him. She’d thrown her hand out, groping wildly, and her fingers hit his arm. She dropped the sweater she’d used to cover her mouth and both of her hands grabbed him. “John!” Her scream came out as a wrenching gasp.
He wasn’t moving. Blood trickled from his mouth.
From his forehead. Burning boards were over his legs and she could see the ravaged skin of his arms. Covered in blisters.
“I’m getting you out,” she whispered. She kicked at the boards on his legs, making sparks fly and flames dance.
She kicked and kicked until he was free.
Shelly grabbed his arms as the fire raged, and she hauled him back, dragging him across the floor as she pulled with all of her might.
She fell twice. Felt the rush of flames all around her, but Shelly didn’t give up.
She kept dragging him, dragging and dragging until she hit the ground—only this time, she fell into the icy safety of snow.
A wild laugh escaped her. They’d gotten out. A loud, terrible groaning filled the air, and she watched, her eyes still streaming from the smoke and the flames, as the roof of her garage collapsed.
The deputy who’d been assigned to watch her house—Shelly knew he should be arriving any moment.
He would have seen the flames. He would have called for back-up.
She crawled closer to John. “You just need to hang on,” she said to him, but her voice was a croak, weak from the smoke and fire.
“You’re okay.” Her hands smoothed over John’s face. Down his neck. Over his chest.
And she realized that he wasn’t okay. Because John wasn’t breathing.
Her own breath left her in a whoosh. “John?” She pushed her hands against his chest. “Come back. Come back right now. Do you hear me? Come back—”
“Aw, Shelly, sorry, sweetheart, but the dead don’t come back.”
She stiffened at that voice, the low, amused rumble that had come from right behind her. A rumble that was familiar to her because she knew the speaker. She’d known him for years. He was a friend, almost like family. So close. Slowly, her head turned.
And her brother’s partner, Devin Donley, smiled at her.
“It was very impressive to watch you fight so hard to get him out. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I was actually hoping the roof would cave in on you both.
Save me a ton of trouble. But I have to give you credit for not giving up.
You fought like hell, and you managed to get him out.
” He lifted his hand, and she saw the gleam of a knife’s sharp blade.
“Your death in the garage would have been easy enough to explain. Not like they’ve got top notch arson investigators up here.
An accident on a cold night. Sad, but shit happens.
” He sighed, a long and dramatic sound. “Now, though, things are going to have to be different.”
John wasn’t moving. Wasn’t breathing. She was on her knees beside him, and the snow had soaked her jeans. She rose, legs shaking, as she stared at the man she’d trusted for so long. A man who shouldn’t be there. “Y-you were in Atlanta.”
The fire raged behind him.
“No, I’ve been here, the whole time.” His smile vanished, and his handsome face twisted with rage. “Trying to finish you off, but the fucking hero kept getting in my way.”
Devin was the one who’d attacked them? Devin?
“The hero’s dead now.” He took a menacing step toward her. “So that means killing you should be a breeze. So why don’t you just be a good girl and come a little bit closer…”
“Fuck you,” Shelly cried, the words a rough rasp as they broke from her. Then she ran, she rushed away from him and headed toward the driveway. She just had to get to the road. Had to find the deputy who was watching her place. If she could get to him…
“Shelly!” Devin screamed after her. “There’s nowhere to run. No one to help you!”
She didn’t stop. She just ran faster.
And Devin’s laughter followed behind her.
***
Shelly was absolutely fucking adorable. She was running away, leaving giant tracks in the snow for him to follow. Acting as if she still had a chance.
She didn’t.
Shelly thought a deputy was waiting down the road. He knew what she intended to do. Get to the deputy. Get help.
But the deputy was long gone. He’d already taken care of the fellow.
He’d eliminated all of the obstacles in his way.
Devin glared down at John Smith’s body. He’d killed that bastard once before. Or at least, he thought he had. “This time,” Devin muttered, “let’s just make absolutely sure.” And he drove his knife into John’s heart. Shoved it down with all of his strength.
John still didn’t move.
Devin stared at John’s face. “Told Charles you were too close to Shelly. It’s those fucking eyes of hers.
Dark and deep. Sexy as shit.” He yanked the knife back.
Saw blood drip from the edge. “At least you got to fuck her this time.” He stood to his full height.
“Don’t worry, I’ll try to make it quick for her.
I always had a bit of a soft spot for Charles’s little sister.
” Smiling, he turned and began to run after Shelly.
He did enjoy a good hunt.