“It’s a brilliant idea. I’ll have to remember it.”
Lucas smiled. With her fear diminished, he found the glowing admiration in her voice gratifying. He finished cutting her free and pulled her up.
The wood hissed and crackled. Fire rioted up the walls, igniting the hay in the loft. He kept a wary eye on the munitions boxes, watching the fire spread, and felt her trembling beside him. “I wonder where Simon is.”
“Simon’s here? Then there’s hope.” Her voice shook.
“No. I sent him on an errand.”
“At a time like this.”
“Now don’t get all balled up with that temper of yours, Rachel.”
“When did you realize my suspicions on Bowman were the truth?”
“I had my misgivings long before your suspicions. I just wanted you to give up your fixation to spy. But you wouldn’t listen. Now you’ve got us in real danger. But fools usually need repetition to understand even the simplest of ideas.”
“You came for me, Lucas. How?”
“You little idiot. Did you think I’d fall for the drug you put in my brandy? I know you like a book. I took hold of Simon and shook him until I thought his teeth would break. He told me.”
“Were you awake the whole time?”
Lucas could see she was truly distressed. He knew what she was getting at, and it gave him pleasure. “Yes. Even though you thought you drugged me, I heard you say you loved me.”
She gasped, and he yanked her into his arms and smothered her with a forceful kiss. “That’s better. Now you have something else to think about.” He grinned. “You can be sure we’ll continue this later.” She pushed at him.
“Lucas, knowing all that, and what I did to you…why did you come for me? The truth now.”
Lucas eyed the flames spreading nearer to the munition boxes. “Because I can’t live without you.”
“I want better.”
“I love you.” He held her close. “I’m in love with my wife. In fact, I thought I’d never love a woman the way I do you.”
He tugged her to the munition boxes and pried one open with his knife. Just as he expected. Guns. Ammunition. He tossed one to Rachel. “Load quickly. And watch my back. There are a lot of vipers out there, and we’re going to make it out of this mess. I don’t plan on dying this way.”
“How do you plan to die?”
“Old. Very old and with you in bed with me doing all kinds of wicked—”
“How can you think about—”
“You best try, sweetheart, because I promise you, you won’t have much time to sleep later.”
Smiling, she cocked her gun. “We are in the middle of a burning barn and you’re talking about…well you know. You’re awfully confident.”
Lucas could almost see her blush. “That, too.” Her smile was all he needed at the moment. He moved to a wall where the fire had not spread and looked out. The Copperheads had vanished, but Lucas knew they were somewhere out there. He could feel them.
Rachel started sobbing. “Jimmy is dead. They shot him.”
Jimmy? Dead?Couldn’t think about that now. The smoke grew thick, his eyes stung, and his throat was parched. Lucas kicked through the planking. Fire rushed up with the additional oxygen. “On the count of three. One…two…three.” They jumped through a wall of fire into fresh sweet air.
An awful crackling and exploding came from behind them. Lucas held tight to her hand. “Keep on running.” He dove with her into a ditch, covering her with his body. A spectacular explosion burst into the air as the fire had found its way to the munition boxes. The whole ground shook and the percussion from the blast deafened them.
Ears ringing, Lucas rose first, shaking his head to get his hearing back. He pulled Rachel up, dodged a bit of soaring barn wreckage on fire that plummeted back to earth.
“Let’s get out of here before our Rebel friends decide to check on their handiwork.” He tugged her forward. Near the house they were met with a volley of shots. He shoved her back on the porch. Woodchips showered over them. She moved to the other side and both fired on those curious enough to come out of their hiding places and scattered them like quail.
