Montana Desire

Chapter 31

Grant

Jude and I heard the frantic footsteps before Daniel burst into the room. “You were right.”

“What?”

He pushed his laptop onto the table. “Just got an email on the main Resting Warrior account from a vet named Jane. Says she’s passing on information from Cori about Graham and Joel Pearson poisoning horses. Cori’s being blackmailed, and she needs help. This was the only way to get us the information.”

The vilest curses I knew came out of my mouth, and I was already on my feet, grabbing my keys. “We should check the clinic. If she’s not there, she could already be at the ranch, but it’s on the way.”

They were with me and on my heels. The pain in my back was growing, and I didn’t fucking care. If they touched Cori…

I jumped into the truck. “Give me your phone,” Jude said. “I need her number.”

Daniel slammed the back door to the truck, and we were spinning out of the driveway. “Do we need to call anyone else in?”

“I’m not waiting,” I said, stepping on the gas and tossing my phone across the seat to Jude.

“At the very least, I’m telling them what’s going on. They can be en route.” Daniel was talking on the phone then, letting the others know.

“Don’t bother with the clinic,” Jude said. “She’s not there.”

I swallowed, focusing on the road. “Please tell me she’s at home. Or Deja Brew. Anywhere but there.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him shake his head. “She’s at the Pearson Ranch.”

“How far is that?” Daniel asked.

My words could barely make it out through the tension in my jaw. “Thirty miles.”

Daniel swore. “Go as fast as you can without killing us. I’ll call Charlie and let him know. Tell him to meet us there and to make sure that none of his people pull us over.”

I sped up.

Now it made sense. Something was clearly wrong last night at the party and before she broke up with me. “Fuck, they must have used me.”

“Explain,” Jude said.

“The surgeon.” We hadn’t had time to dive into that before Daniel had burst through the door. “Think about it. They must have some kind of leverage on her. Maybe they used that to pressure Cori. Threatened her. Maybe that’s why she ended it, because in her mind, it was the only way to get out from under that pressure and help me.”

I shook my head, glancing over at them. “The way she was crying after she went inside…” The emotion of those sounds would never leave me. “I’ve never heard anything like that.”

“Well,” Daniel said. “One thing’s for sure. I wouldn’t trust the doctor to do the surgery after this.”

“We don’t know her side of the story,” I pointed out. “She could be pressured, too. I don’t think Peak would have recommended her if he didn’t trust her.”

Jude looked forward down the road as I made a sharp turn in the direction of the ranch. “Worry about that later.”

“What are we afraid that we’re walking in on here?”

I tightened my hand on the steering wheel. “What did Jane say in the email?”

“Only that they were poisoning horses and that Cori felt like she was in immediate trouble. That she was being watched and needed help.”

“Cori was onto them,” I said. “A horse was sick, and when we went to get a blood sample, the horse had disappeared. The next horse that got sick? We got a sample. But she didn’t tell me the results.”

Daniel looked at me in the mirror. “That doesn’t answer the question. What the hell are we walking into?”

“I don’t know,” I admitted. “But she’s a vet. If they’re poisoning the animals, maybe they want her help. But Cori’s never going to kill an animal. Not voluntarily. And…” I hesitated. Because I wasn’t sure if it was something Cori wanted anyone else to know. But in this case, they needed to. I sighed. “After they broke up, the next time she saw Joel, he tried to rape her. A stable hand walking in is what saved her. So, no, I have no idea what we’re walking in on.”

“Jesus.” Daniel scrubbed a hand over his face. “Okay.”

Every mile that passed, the pain in my back grew. It felt like the shrapnel had moved. I didn’t know if it was just time or if I’d accelerated that process. All I knew was that it had never felt like this before.

But it didn’t matter. Cori was the only thing that mattered. And if the bastards were willing to kill horses, humans weren’t a huge step.

“The guys are on their way. Charlie too.”

“Call them back,” Jude said. “Tell them to bring an ambulance.”

My heart skipped a beat. “Why?”

He pointed straight ahead. “Think it’s a coincidence that there’s smoke from right where we’re headed?”

Oh my God. In the distance, over the hill, curls of smoke rose in the sky. And it was only getting darker, thicker, and more visible the closer we got. “Shit. Hold on.”

I pushed my foot down on the gas.

Images of Cori dead were flying through my head. Of the explosion, too. Of my unit mates lying dead in the aftermath. I couldn’t stop them, and I couldn’t slow down.

I had to get to her.

I had to.

We swerved into the ranch’s driveway so fast I felt the truck deciding whether it wanted to roll. The universe was on our side that it did not. But the black smoke rolling just past the trees…

The entire stable was engulfed in flames. Horses were screaming. I got the truck as close as I could without it being a hazard before getting out.

Cori was in there. I knew it. Every bone in my body knew it. The roof was already collapsing.

My body screamed in agony, but I forced it back. I would take the pain—and the injury—if it meant that Cori was okay.

I launched myself into the stable.

Daniel and Jude were behind me, frantically opening the stalls that weren’t on fire and trying to get as many horses out as possible.

Where was she? Where would they have put her?

“Cori!” I shouted her name, but it was lost in the sound of roaring flames.

A piece of burning roof fell, and I dove out of the way, shouting in pain. My back didn’t want to function. Even my survival instinct told me to curl up and not move because it was so fucking overwhelming.

No. This wouldn’t be the way it ended. For me, or for Cori.

I forced myself to my feet and kept moving. They would have put her in a place where they could be sure that she wouldn’t make it out. In the middle. I opened stalls as I went. The horses deserved a chance, even if they didn’t make it.

Panic started to set in. The air was thick with smoke, and I would only last in here for so long.

Where was she?

I wasn’t a praying man, but I did now.

Please. Please let me find her in time.

She wasn’t in the corners—I checked, just in case. But nothing. Straight toward the center. The flames were hotter here, and I felt my body shutting down from smoke and pain.

The central beam of the stable was still standing, and there was something attached to it, swinging, burning.

Rope.

She was there. A beam was in my way, and there was another one on the other side already collapsed. This place was coming down and fast. But I saw her. Facedown on the ground, inches from flames.

“Cori.” I coughed, diving under the beam and crawling to her. She wasn’t moving. “Cori, sweetheart.”

I rolled her over. She wasn’t awake, but she was breathing. That was enough. All we needed was a chance.

Lifting her was the most painful thing I’d ever experienced. My legs shook, eyes and lungs burning. We needed to get out of here right now, or I would be passed out too. I couldn’t drag her under that beam—we needed to go the long way.

“We’re going to make it,” I told her. “You’re going to be okay. You did so good with the email. I love you.”

A huge crack was the lone warning I got before the beam fell. The only thing I could do was shield Cori. It slammed into my shoulders, throwing both of us. I managed to get my body over hers, but at a cost.

Something was wrong. My legs weren’t working right. It was as if they were on a delay. Slower. I was moving through molasses. Or honey.

The exit was around the corner, but it felt like a literal mile. I coughed again. Even low to the ground, the smoke was thick, and I was dizzy. “Come on, Cori,” I said, more to myself than to her. “We’re almost there.”

My legs fought me the whole way as I forced my way to standing. Grabbed her arms and pulled. There wasn’t a chance I could lift her now, and I couldn’t shout. There was too much smoke in the air for that kind of breath.

Time zeroed down to the next movement. The effort I had to give to pull and not faint. Once more. Again. Around the corner.

Light from the outside was shining, barely visible.

I heard shouts, and Jude was suddenly there, lifting Cori off the ground and running. Daniel wrapped an arm around my shoulder, and I leaned on him until we got out of the building.

Air had never tasted so sweet.

Jude laid Cori on the ground, far enough away from the building that she wasn’t in danger. “She’s breathing,” I said, voice rough and ruined from the smoke.

“You got her out,” Daniel said. “You did good. The ambulance is on its way.”

“Good.” I fell to my knees beside Cori, unable to make my legs hold me anymore. The jarring movement of the fall sent one final jolt of pain flooding through my system. It was too much.

“Daniel,” I said. “Call a second ambulance.”

That was all I had time for before the rest of the world went black.