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  She closed her eyes and pulled a hand over her face. “If you ask your father for help and they find out—”

  “I know what happens if they find out.” He’d grown up under the man’s shadow. Yeah, he knew exactly what happened when people found out. “For now let’s hope things don’t get any worse. Who knows, maybe we can get this all sorted out on our own.”

  His reader vibrated again. He turned it on and read the message twice before cursing. “Police just found Mark’s body. Someone slit his throat and dumped him in a refuse bin in town.”

  “So if he was the saboteur—”

  “He wasn’t working alone.”

  Chapter Five

  It’d been a long night. One of the longest Kat had ever been forced to endure. She wished it’d been the pain that’d kept her tossing and turning, but unfortunately the pain had been the least of her concerns. Especially with the pills the doctor had left with Jasper. No, it’d been the fear of an uncertain future that’d kept her awake. And there wasn’t anything she could take for that.

  The only salvation for the entire evening had been Jasper lying next to her. Wrapped in his arms, she almost believed they’d find a way to save her ranch. But, under the light of daybreak, her certainty faded. It didn’t help that sealing a bone hurt like a son of a bitch. Yes, she was out for the actual procedure but she had to wake up at some point. And, boy, when she did she wished they’d just cut the damn foot off. She couldn’t imagine it hurting any worse.

  “Today is going to be the worst of it,” the doctor said as he handed her two pain pills. “By tomorrow you should be able to get up and move around, with crutches of course. Sealing the bone speeds up the process but your body still has some mending to do. Keep the brace on and no weight on that foot for three weeks.”

  She dutifully took her pills before saying, “I want to be up and around today.” She knew she was whining but she didn’t care. Just because her ranch hands could cover her work for a couple of days didn’t mean she enjoyed giving up that much control. Especially when it meant she’d be stuck in bed, staring at a ceiling.

  “And I want to be twenty years younger and have a full head of hair,” the doctor said. “But you’ll be up and around tomorrow and I’ll be an old coot until the day someone finds me stone-cold. Hopefully under one of Jake’s painted women.”

  She snorted as she tried to erase the mental image he’d just provided her. “Without you, he’d probably go out of business,” she said tartly.

  “Please, he’s got enough miners to keep him in those fancy clothes he likes so much. He’d be just fine without me.” He gave her a sly wink before continuing, “Still, he probably does owe me a customer appreciation party or two.”

  The man was quirky to the point of eccentric. No doubt about it. But he had a way of lifting his patients’ spirits. Even as cranky as Kat had been, she already felt lighter. It was either his doing or the pain pills. Or both. They were a pretty strong combination.

  “Fine. Up and around tomorrow and no weight on my foot for three weeks. Now why don’t you get out of here so I can start my thrilling day of staring at the ceiling?”

  The doctor stood but when Jasper moved to walk him out he brushed off the attempt. “I can find my way out, Mr. Lee. I suggest you stay here and make sure she’s a good girl and doesn’t get out of that bed.” He looked back to Kat and smiled. “You have my permission to tie her to it if she gives you any trouble.”

  Jasper laughed as the doctor left. “You heard the man. You going to give me any trouble?”

  The last of her crankiness lifted at the joke. “You wouldn’t dare.”

  “Doctor’s orders.”

  She laughed but put her hands up as if in surrender. “I’ll be good. I promise.”

  “Damn. Oh well, you look like you could use a nap anyway. Maybe I’ll get to tie you up later.”

  Almost on cue she yawned. “Stupid pain pills. Make me tired.”

  “You need the rest and I’ve got a report to send off anyway.” His smile held so much weariness it made her heart ache.

  He had work to do, of course, but she didn’t really want to be alone until the pills finally knocked her out. Even when he wasn’t wrapped around her, his presence made her feel better. She wanted him to stay. And if a few minutes were all she could get out of him, she’d take them. “How did you end up in law, anyway? I mean, with your father being who he is and all.”

  “There’s actually not much difference in what I do and what my father does.” He seemed to catch her look of disbelief as he explained, “My dad is many things, but he’s not a terrorist.” He sighed and his eyes drifted to some point above her head as if he were in deep thought. “Boiled down, he spends most of his time vetting politicians and laws, raising money for legal counsel and helping organize protests and petitions. Of course, he does occasionally put the people in touch with men who are willing to do more than talk when negotiations go awry.”

  “You mean thugs to threaten and blackmail any officials and judges who didn’t want to play ball?” She didn’t mean the words to come out harsh, as an accusation, but she hated it when people sugarcoated their actions.

  Jasper shrugged. “He sees it as leveling the playing field. When you surround yourself with the needy, you feel compelled to help any way you can. The need becomes all-consuming. Eventually when you look at a city, you can only see the corruption and the abuse of power.” His gaze caught hers once more. “I’m not condoning all of his methods, I’m just saying that he has helped a lot of people and he’s never committed any acts of terror.”

  “If he’s done so much good, why not continue the family business and follow in his footsteps?” she challenged.

  “The problems were never ending. He’d put out one fire only to realize another had started behind his back. I started thinking that maybe the only way to really help the people would be to get someone into a position of power. High enough up to make real changes.”

  “So you went into law.”

  “Yep, figured I could help people navigate the channels until I had enough backing to run for office. You know, be a champion from inside the machine.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “Some champion I’ve turned out to be.”

  It was getting really hard for her to keep her eyes open, but she had to say something to make him feel better. “It’s not your fault. One man can’t bring down a system.”

  His chuckle was full of self-deprecation. “That’s what my father keeps telling me.”

  “You don’t have to sink to his level to win.”

  “LMX-3 has Loase and possibly the Land Authority in its corner. Who do you have in yours? If you’d gone to my father, at least you would have a shot at winning.”

  “I have you and the truth. I refuse to believe that’s not enough.” She couldn’t fight against the pull of the medication any longer so she allowed the calming darkness that pressed around her to drag her under.

  She slept until the sound of loud footsteps on her bedroom floor woke her. Her brain felt muffled and her mouth dry from the medicine, but she instantly knew it wasn’t Jasper standing over her. The person reeked of tobacco and stale alcohol. As much as she’d like to ignore whomever it was and continue sleeping, she forced her eyes to open. With all the “accidents” of the past couple of days, she didn’t want anyone seeing her as an easy target.

  “Jake?” Her voice was thick, causing the word to slur slightly. “What are you doing out here?”

  His patronizing smile made her skin crawl. “Heard what happened, wanted to come by and see if I could help in any way.”

  Yeah, listen to her bellyache about how bad things were, just like Mark used to? No thank you. She forced her hand to make a swipe over her face to try to clear off the rest of the haze left by the drugged sleep. “We’ve got everything taken care of for today. And I’ll be up and about tomorrow. But thank you.”

  His brow scrunched together as if he were upset but then the expression diss
olved into a mask of sympathy. “Glad to hear that. I was concerned your guest would be an encumbrance in your current state.”

  “Jasper isn’t a guest and he’s been a big help.”

  Jake sat down in the chair next to the bed and leaned forward as if he were in on some secret. “You don’t have to keep up appearances for my sake. I know he’s here doing an investigation. An investigation, I might add, that can’t be going well for you. Why don’t you let me get him out of your hair before one of these mishaps injures him?”

  Her head pounded but she refused to let Jake see how much pain she was in. The weak were eaten this far away from civilization. And if he knew about Jasper and the investigation, he’d already smelled blood. She refused to add to it. “I don’t gossip about my business. You should know that by now. Jasper can stay here as long as he wants. You, on the other hand, should probably go. Now.”

  The man stood suddenly and glared at her. “Fine. But when something bad happens to him, you won’t have anyone but yourself to blame.”

  “Is that a threat?” Headache or no, she definitely didn’t care for his tone and needed to call him on it.

  “No, just a suggestion. He’s too soft for this ranch in the best of times.”

  “It’s my ranch so it’s my decision. And I already told you where I stand.”

  “You’re going to regret that decision.”

  As he started to leave, bits and pieces of the last couple days started to clear in her head. Mark looked guilty as hell but her conversation with the sheriff had included someone else. And, currently, that person stood in front of her, making threats. “Jake?”

  “What?” He turned back to face her, his eyes cold and hard.

  “Did Mark go to your tavern last night?”

  His gaze immediately shifted to his feet. “Mark?” He shuffled his shoes. “Can’t say he did. Why would you ask?”

  “Just heard he’s been a regular of yours for the past few months.”

  “That he has. Didn’t see him last night though.” He was already backing toward the door.

  “Mighty nice of you to let him blow off so much steam. I can only imagine how tired of hearing about me and my ranch you must be.”

  “That’s what bartenders do.” His hand hovered over the doorknob and his brow had started to sweat. She could tell that he wanted out of the room. And she wanted him gone twice as bad. But not until she’d found out as much as she possibly could.

  She smiled the best she could even as her stomach cramped. “Still, awful noble to lend a friend your ear so often. Especially since you weren’t profiting from it. Heck, I bet it even cost you some customers. Nobody likes to sit around and listen to the same old bellyaching day in and day out.”

  “If they want alcohol on this rock they have no choice.”

  “That’s right. They don’t, do they?” Her head still buzzed with the headache but she continued to push forward. “And there is no thirstier bunch than miners, ain’t that right?”

  He looked confused but didn’t bolt. “Miners are my main clientele. They’re good salt.”

  Of course they were. And almost always single to boot. With such a dangerous job, not many women would tie their futures to them. Not only were they drinking most of Jake’s alcohol but she was willing to bet they were the ones regularly bedding the women too. “Too bad the farmland is so good. If there were more miners, I bet you’d make a fortune.”

  “Farmers are a pretty thirsty bunch as well. Don’t you be worrying about little old me. I’m doing okay.” With that, he opened the door and then slipped out before she could say anything else. But she’d already heard enough.

  She’d bet he did better than okay now. He’d probably be doing fantastic once LMX-3 set up shop though. The company would increase the number of miners by threefold. And the farmers would eventually be forced out because of the land pollution. It would be a windfall for him. And all that stood between him and all that money was her little ranch—unless she did something to stop him.

  Her reader sat on the table next to her. Without much effort, she grabbed it and sent off a message to the sheriff. She thought about sending a message to Jasper but decided against it. The last thing she needed was Jasper confronting Jake. Jasper could take the tavern owner in a fair fight, no doubt about it, but a snake was always meanest when it was cornered. And it would never occur to Jasper to fight dirty. It was one of the things she loved about him.

  The room swayed around her. Loved about him? She respected him, sure. He might have started out lying to her, but since then he’d put himself in harm’s way several times trying to help her. And he’d been honest and upfront with her about his father. That couldn’t have been easy. He truly seemed to have a passion for helping people. And phenomenal sex never hurt. But did that make it love? And if it was love, what would him leaving do to her? Her stomach cramped hard enough at the thought that she felt sick.

  Oh she was screwed. Regardless of what she called it, him leaving was going to hurt. She bit back a gasp of surprise at the burn of unshed tears. Ranchers didn’t cry. They especially didn’t cry over city boys. Ranchers manned up and solved their problems. And she would do exactly that. She would figure a way out of this. Really she should be happy she caught it so early. Now she could limit the damage his leaving would do. She would survive this because she could survive anything.

  As if the universe heard her and decided to take her up on the challenge, the alarm for the house started blaring around her and a mist of water droplets from the sprinkler hit her at exactly the same moment. This couldn’t be a good development.

  She bit off a curse as she smelled the faint wisps of smoke. She’d have to worry about the broken heart later. Right now she had to deal with the snake in her house. She knew who had set this fire. It wasn’t a creative move, but apparently Jake had decided to up the stakes this time.

  Thankfully Jasper had left her crutches in a corner. She could hobble over to them and escape before the smoke became too heavy. Hopefully. Then she’d deal with Jake. Jake the snake. She would’ve laughed at the rhyme had she not been so busy trying to make her way over to her crutches without putting any weight on her broken ankle.

  When she finally had the supports under her arms, though, the struggle wasn’t any easier. The rubber pads slipped on the wet floors several times, pitching her forward with any attempt to balance herself. When she reflexively put her foot down to catch herself, a sharp pain would shoot up her calf and through her body that nearly made her pass out. And she’d only made it to the hallway. For the first time she started to think of her escape in terms of “if” instead of “when”.

  There might still be a chance though. The suppression system wouldn’t seal her in the house. So as long she made it to the door before the fire got to her, she might be okay. Unless someone hit the safety bypass. She shuddered at the thought. There would be no surviving the heavy foam that would coat the house. It would suffocate her as easily as it did the fire.

  She tried to hurry but that only made her crutches slip more frequently. Her escape teetered on becoming an exercise in futility. She’d made it most of the way down the hall when she glimpsed the first flicker of flames licking the walls. But her situation seemed destined to get worse. When she came out of the hall, it was to the discovery that the front room already had flames rolling up the walls and scorching the ceiling. She was trapped.

  Waves of heat from the fire surrounded her, causing sweat to drip down her face and her back. And the thick blanket of smoke made it hard for her to breathe. She should lower herself to the floor and crawl, but her broken ankle prohibited that. Even if she could somehow manage to get down to the ground, the pain would make her pass out before the smoke got to her.

  She always had the answer. With her job, she had to. But now she had none. She leaned against her crutches and surveyed the situation one last time. She was dead if she stayed in her current spot. But she might be able to make it across the front ro
om before the ceiling collapsed on her, if she could go fast enough. Which meant she had to put on her big girl panties and get a move on.

  It was difficult to balance on the crutches while her body shook with coughing fits but she did her best. She’d made it to the middle of the room before she heard the ominous creaking of the ceiling. She tried to push herself faster but one of her crutches slipped. It all happened in slow motion. She was falling in a room currently being devoured by flame and she couldn’t stop. There wasn’t even a way for her to brace herself. In that moment she didn’t doubt the outcome. This tiny slip meant her death. There were no remaining options. Just as she expected to feel the sting of hitting the floor, though, she didn’t. Instead someone lifted her into his strong arms. Cradling her like a small child against a strong chest.

  “Stubborn, impatient woman. Couldn’t wait for the cavalry, could you?”

  She couldn’t make out Jasper’s face through the mask he wore, but she easily recognized his voice. “Determined,” she corrected around a cough.

  Jasper slipped a mask over her head as he carried her out of the room. “What the hell happened? We were all in the barn when we heard the alarm.”

  “Jake came for a visit. I think he’s the one working with the energy company. When I wouldn’t seal the ranch’s fate by sending you away, he decided to up the stakes.” In his embrace she was able to make it out of the house before the ceiling collapsed but, even after the door closed behind them, the suppression system still didn’t seal off the house. “Someone is still in there.”

  Jasper took a deep breath and handed her over to Stan. “I’m going back in. If there’s someone trapped in there, we need to get them out before the whole thing collapses on top of them.”

  “Don’t leave me,” she pleaded.