Page 46 of Her Guarded Hero

“Aurora, stay inside and call nine-one-one.”

“What’s happening? I don’t see anything.”

“It’s an explosion.” He said as he pulled on his jeans.

Come on Aurora, snap out of it. She went to her nightstand and grabbed her phone as Dalton left her room.

She could hear him on his phone, but she couldn’t make out what he was saying. Then the attendant picked up and she explained her emergency. The front door slammed. Within seconds she heard the roar of Dalton’s truck as he peeled out of the gravel drive.

* * *

“Where are your boys?” Dalton asked as Tate sat stone faced in the cab of his truck.

“They’re on horseback on their way to Hal and Erwin’s cabins.”

Dalton could see the fire now, it clawed at the night sky. His powerful truck bounced over the field, easily eating the distance to the flame.

There were four cabins, two hundred yards apart, it was the structure on the far left, closest to the forest, that was on fire. He saw horses and men. Dread licked down his spine as they pulled near, he only saw three men battling the blaze.

“Only three,” Tate muttered.

Dalton eased off the accelerator as he got closer so that he didn’t spook the horses. Tate was out the door before the truck even came close to slowing down.

Dalton was in mission mode. There was no way he believed this was an accident. No way in hell this was some kind of gas leak or kitchen fire. He slammed the brakes on his Chevy then shoved up the invisible piece of the front bench seat that housed the high-tech gun safe. He pressed in the security code and pulled out a pistol, rifle and night vision scope. Ned was not going to get away with this. He was going hunting.

Dalton ran to where four men were fighting a losing battle to put out the flames. Erwin was almost dead on his feet. He needed medical attention. Dalton realized this wasn’t his cabin it was Hal’s.

Pulling the hose out of Erwin’s hands, he shoved it at Rhys.

“I’ve got to try to get in there again,” Erwin shouted.

Dalton looked the haggard man over. It was clear that he had at least second-degree burns. “Have you already tried to get into the cabin?”

“Yeah, but the fire was too hot. I thought I heard Hal yelling for help,” Erwin sobbed.

“He was dead as soon as the explosion hit.” Being harsh was being kind in a situation like this.

Erwin dropped down onto the ground, his head between his knees, hands over his head.

“He was my best friend.” Erwin’s shattered words were broken by fits of coughing.

“I need to leave you here, are you going to be all right?” Dalton asked.

Erwin waved him away. “Go find the fucker who did this and kill him.” He started coughing again. Dalton looked up and saw that Rhys and Luke were working hard to make sure that the fire didn’t spread to the forest beyond. Tate jogged over to Dalton.

“You’re loaded for bear,” Tate observed.

“You and I both know that Dumb and Dumber are probably watching. I’m going to go gather them up,” Dalton snarled.

“Not without me, you’re not.” Tate held up a rifle he’d gotten from God knew where.

“You need to be on watch to ensure that nobody takes pot shots at your boys or the first responders. Aurora called them, they should be here soon.” Dalton looked over toward the ranch. He still couldn’t see another horse headed this way, but he figured she’d be coming soon. “I told Aurora to wait at the ranch.”

“Like that will work,” Tate said in disgust.

“Exactly,” Dalton agreed.

“Be careful,” Tate called after him as Dalton headed for the tree line. His heart ached for Aurora, know how much she would hurt when she realized her friend Hal was dead. After that he concentrated on the task at hand. He melted into the forest and immediately felt at home. Dalton had already been all over the ranch, including this forest. He knew that it was at least a mile back before it butted up to a rural highway.