Page 6 of Deputies Under Fire (Renegade Canyon #2)

Rory heard the deafening blast. Felt it, too, when his body jolted and then lunged forward. He couldn’t stop himself from being hurled into one of the stalls, and he landed, hard, on what was left of the hay-strewn floor.

The impact knocked the breath right out of him, and while fighting for air was a high priority, he was also trying to register what had happened.

Some kind of explosion had torn through the barn.

Debris was falling all around him, and there was the sound of someone moaning. Someone in pain.

Eden.

She was hurt, and he had to get to her. But he couldn’t see her. The air was a cloud of dust, filled with bits of rubble and smoke.

Hell.

Was the barn on fire? He couldn’t see or feel any flames, but at the moment the only things he could feel were the vise-like pressure in his chest and the all-consuming need to get to Eden so he could help her.

Grappling for air, Rory clutched his chest, and he managed to get to his feet. There were more of those moans, but he couldn’t be sure if it was Eden or one of the CSIs. Someone was definitely hurt.

He caught on to what was left of the stable wall so he could try to propel himself forward. Thankfully, nothing in his body seemed to be broken, and he was slowly regaining his breath.

With the much-needed air filling his lungs, Rory had the strength to move, and he glanced around, picking through the heaps of wood and other junk that was scattered pretty much everywhere. He certainly couldn’t see Eden or the CSIs, so he moved out even farther and continued glancing around.

Most of the barn wall directly ahead of him was gone.

The blast had torn a huge chunk out of it, and the gaping hole was large enough to drive a vehicle through.

His stomach dropped when he realized that was the area that the CSI, Lou Garcia, had been checking when he and Eden had arrived.

Rory prayed the guy was all right, but he wasn’t seeing any movement outside.

No movement inside, either.

But he heard that groan again.

“Eden?” he called out.

It seemed to take an eternity for her to answer. An eternity where Rory had to battle the worst-case scenarios to keep them out of his head. He couldn’t lose Eden. He just couldn’t.

“Here,” she finally said. Like him, her breathing was labored, but he could pinpoint her location in the stall next to him.

The stall where Brenda had been left to die.

Rory used his hand to try to wave away some of the cloudy particles that were obstructing his vision. He stepped over some of the pieces of shattered wood and inched his way to the stall.

And he saw Eden.

Alive.

The relief flooded through him. But not for long, because while Eden was on her feet and staggering toward him, the CSIs, Molly and David, were still on the floor. Molly was moaning, and there was blood on her head. But David wasn’t even moving. He was either unconscious or dead.

In the back of his mind, Rory realized the crime scene had literally been blown to hell and back, and that the killer was likely responsible. But he couldn’t focus on that now. He went to Eden, and before he could stop himself, he pulled her into his arms.

She didn’t resist. In fact, she hugged him right back.

“Are you hurt?” he asked.

She shook her head. “I don’t think so. Just dazed. You?”

“Same.” He hoped. The right side of his chest was throbbing like a bad tooth, so he might not actually be injury-free after all.

Rory wanted to keep her in his arms, but he knew that couldn’t happen.

He eased back, managed to take out his phone and called Dispatch to request an ambulance, backup and the county bomb squad.

Heaven knew how long it would take them to get out here, but Rory wanted a thorough investigation on the cause of the explosion.

First, though, he had to tend to the wounded.

Eden was obviously on the same wavelength because she went to Molly, and Rory went to David. He checked for a pulse and found one. Weak, but the man was still alive. Rory wanted him to stay that way.

There were three ragged-edged boards on David’s chest, and Rory gently pushed them aside so he could check for injuries.

Beside him, Eden was doing the same thing to Molly, who was bleeding from what appeared to be a gash on her forehead.

That wound in itself didn’t look critical, but it was possible the woman had a severe concussion.

Once he had the boards off David, Rory spotted the blood.

It was seeping through the top of the CSI jumpsuit.

Not a lot of it, but enough for Rory to know David had been cut or injured by the flying debris.

Thankfully, he was breathing on his own, but he still wasn’t conscious, and he didn’t react when Rory tapped his cheek.

“Lou,” Molly muttered.

Rory looked at the woman to see if she had spotted her fellow CSI, but she hadn’t. Instead, she was looking at that massive hole in the barn wall.

Eden’s gaze met his, and he immediately saw the concern in her eyes. Rory was concerned, too, because it was possible Lou had been right on top of the explosive device when it went off.

“I’ll check on him,” Rory said.

Then, he had a debate what to do. He considered telling Eden to get Molly to the cruiser. But that came with risks.

Huge ones.

Because the killer could be out there, waiting for them to come rushing out of the barn. Added to that, it probably wasn’t a good idea to leave David alone. If he stopped breathing, Eden would need to try to save him by starting CPR.

“Be careful,” Eden told him as he moved away from her.

“You, too.” And he gave her one last look before he started across the barn.

It wasn’t a fast trek to go across the thirty or so feet of space, since there were more of those chunks of wood everywhere. Some of the pieces were now sticking up like giant splinters, and if he fell on one of those, he’d have more than aching ribs.

Rory had no choice but to step on some of the debris. He wobbled a few times, regained his balance and kept moving. He tried not to think that there could be a second explosive device.

No. Best not to think of that.

While he walked, he tried to listen for any sounds to indicate the third CSI was alive. Any sounds of the killer, too, but the only thing he could hear was Eden murmuring something to Molly, and the breeze stirring the trees outside.

Rory finally made it to the hole so he could look out, and he saw yet more debris there as well. What he didn’t see was the CSI. Not at first, anyway. Then, he spotted him about five yards away. Bloody and unmoving.

Hell.

Rory couldn’t see any signs of life, and he started through the hole so he could hurry to him. The sound stopped him.

A sound he sure as hell hadn’t wanted to hear.

It hadn’t come from Eden or any of the CSIs, but rather from overhead. The barn roof creaked, and the sound soon turned into something much louder. Much worse.

The roof was caving in.

“Eden!” Rory shouted.

That was all he managed to get out before all hell broke loose. Wood and steel beams came down with a loud swoosh, crashing onto the floor and creating another of those clouds of debris.

“Eden,” he called out again.

He couldn’t see her. Couldn’t hear her. If she was saying anything or even moving, the sound was muffled by more of the roof falling. From the sound of it, every board and beam of it was coming down, and Eden and the two CSIs would be trapped.

Rory had to rein in the overwhelming urge to run to her. To try to cover Eden with his body and protect her. But he’d never make it to her. With all the wood and steel falling, he’d be crushed.

Or killed.

The roof surface and the support beams were slamming onto the ground, causing the sides of the barn to start shaking. Mercy. What was left of the walls could collapse on them as well.

He had to risk it. He had to get to Eden so he could try to get the CSIs and her to safety. Muttering a prayer, Rory took off, dodging the chunks and sheets of wood raining down around him.

When he was about ten feet away from the place where he’d last seen Eden, Rory finally spotted her.

Eden and Molly were trying to get David through a large hole of the barn.

They were struggling since they, too, were having to avoid getting hit by the falling debris.

Added to that, David was still unconscious, so it would have been like moving dead weight.

Rory continued to move, keeping his attention fixed on Eden, and he was close enough for their gazes to meet when another chunk of the roof came down. He could do nothing to stop it. Rory could only watch as it fell, slamming down right on Eden and the CSIs.

The emotions tore through him. Get to her now. Save her. And he got the motherlode of adrenaline to fuel him forward. Rory figured the roof would continue to fall. Hell, the whole place would, and he might get hit, but for now, his focus was on getting to Eden.

Feeding off that adrenaline, Rory tore his way through the wood, trying to avoid the rusty nails sticking out from some of the pieces. He just kept tossing aside what he could until he saw something.

The lower half of a body.

It took him a second to realize it wasn’t Eden. It was David, and while Eden and Molly had apparently managed to get him partially through the hole, they hadn’t gotten him fully through.

And his legs had been crushed by one of the support beams.

Rory had no idea if the man was still alive, and he couldn’t take the time to find out.

Not when yet more of the roof slammed down directly behind him.

Every second counted now, if he hoped to get out of this alive, so he flipped the beams over and pushed them aside.

Normally, that would have been a much harder task, but it was obvious the wood was rotting.

The moment Rory had David free, he took hold of him and pushed him through the opening. He had some help because Eden and Molly were right there, and they grabbed on to David, sliding him the rest of the way out.

Rory followed him.

The moment he was outside, he lifted David into a fireman’s carry, tossing him over his shoulder. Rory prayed that wasn’t making the man’s injuries even worse, but he had no choice. He had to get them away from here.

“Move,” Rory told Eden and Molly.

They did. They turned and started running. Rory was right behind them, and not a second too soon.

The entire barn crashed to the ground.