“Hello?” I said again. “Jedediah?” I went toward the shuffling noise.
From the hallway, I saw him. He was standing right there. A big, grizzly man, with white hair. His back was to me. He didn’t turn around.
None of this felt right. None of this looked right, smelled right, sounded right. He’d have to have heard me yelling in his house a moment ago, but seemed unaware of my presence.
I was far enough away to do the following. Based on pure instinct, I quietly turned to Sierra and I gestured shhh. She complied, seeing the look on my face. I nudged her gently toward the side room right beside me, a hiding spot.
Then the homeowner turned around and looked squarely at me. His expression was not friendly. Neither was the shotgun he was holding down by his side.
I was tired of meeting men in this way. That this town ain’t big enough for the two of us macho manure. We should’ve hugged each other and danced around the living room in circles—that’s how I’d pictured this meeting. But he was silent.
“Are you Jed?” I asked. “I’m Aaron Cooper’s wife. I’m Miranda.”
He was just watching me. Cold.
“C-can…” I stuttered. “Can I use your phone?”
He muttered, “Don’t have one.”
He doesn’t have a phone?
“Look,” I said. “I’m sorry to intrude. There’s no need for a gun. Do you have a cell phone I could use? Aaron is hurt. Badly. Can you help me find Jed?”
He kept looking down at me. He stood six foot three, easily. Viking big. An older man, but one who could torque a lug nut with his bare hands.
What was he doing? My husband was going to die. We didn’t have another house we could get to soon enough. We didn’t have anyone else we could trust.
And then I looked behind him and noticed a phone line on the wall.
The line was cut. Severed. A fresh incision that wasn’t made last year or last month; it was made two minutes ago. He saw me see it. He now knew that I knew that he wasn’t a nice person.
He said, “I am Jed.”
Chapter 25
Jed headed for the front door. With his shotgun. Toward the SUV. Toward Aaron. “No!” I shouted. “Wait!”
He didn’t stop. I knew he would figure out where Aaron was, if he hadn’t already.
I felt helpless. I needed a gun. For someone who’d never even held a gun prior to yesterday, I certainly got addicted fast.
I picked up Sierra, moving her to safety and looking for the gun rack I knew had to be in the house somewhere. None in this room. None in the hallway.
“Can you wait for me here?” I said to Sierra.
“Yes, Mommy.”
No weapons in the living room. My panic tripled. “Are you my little angel?”
“I’m your Mister.”
“My…?” I asked, kicking open a back room door.
“Mister,” she repeated. “Of Transportation.”
She made me want to weep like a spigot. “Yes! I’ll be right back, okay? I need to help Daddy.”
Running to the kitchen for a knife, I looked out through the living room window and saw that Jed was already at the SUV.
“Aaron!” I screamed. It was like a TV screen whose channel couldn’t be changed. I froze.
Jed had his shotgun aimed as he crept forward the last few steps to the car. The tinted window was up on this side of the vehicle, meaning he couldn’t see inside, but he held his gun aimed directly at the back seat.
With no warning, blam blam!, he blasted two shots through the window.
“No!” I screamed.
He yanked open the door. I could see directly into the back seat where Aaron would be.
Where Aaron wasn’t.
Jed was looking at an empty back seat. He leaned in to check the rear compartment, came back out and looked around. The structures on the ranch were spread out, with not many places to hide.
Where was my husband?! That was the pertinent question.
And then we got our answer.
Boom!
What sounded like a building being thrown into another building was actually a fiery explosion big and bright enough that even in the middle of the Arizona daylight, you could see the flash, toward the main gate. A fireball the size of a warehouse had just plumed. The derrick underneath it was now a geyser of fire.
Aaron apparently knows his way around an oil well.
Chapter 26
Jed stood there gawking at the spectacle. It was nice to see someone else caught off guard for a change.
Then he started heading toward the mayhem, a man on a mission.
To whatever degree he’d previously wanted Aaron dead, it was imperative now. I saw him cock his shotgun as he stomped toward the flaming derrick. I frantically ran back through the house. If I hurried, I could intercept Jed.
I imagined Aaron would’ve set off the explosion, then hobbled over to some bush to collapse. I sprinted through the house and burst through the back door.
And that was as far as I’d have to go to collide with the love of my life.
Aaron and I banged into each other headfirst and both grunted.
“You…But…Which…Did…?”
“How…? I…If…”
Then I kissed him.
Passionately. Both of my hands gripping his collar. My body pressed against his. Which felt way better than I’ll ever admit in a court of law.
Then we got down to business. He had the orange backpack from the SUV. Those rods I saw earlier—duh, Miranda—were sticks of dynamite. Should’ve known.
“Fear is an amazing motivator,” he said.
“I thought that guy was a friend. That’s Jed. Jed Branch. But we need to get out of here as fast as—”
He took a step forward then lurched and lowered himself to the ground. I crouched beside him immediately. “Aaron!”
“I’m…I’m so sorry,” he said, the adrenaline wearing off, barely able to speak. “Last year I found…puzzle pieces…people getting sick, families asking questions. By the time this…this…awful picture emerged…they were killing anyone who knew even one percent of it. I couldn’t risk…letting anyone know that I knew. Which meant…trying to protect you by…” He started
