I had to get him out of here. But how?
“Babe, babe, listen.” I had to keep him rational. “I know you did right by us. You’re a good soul. You don’t have to prove anything to me.”
“No, that’s my point,” he said. He pulled me close enough to whisper urgently, which we didn’t have time for and he knew it. “What I’m telling you is, I’m truly sorry.”
“Aaron.”
“For keeping you in the dark.” His tears were streaming hard, nearly re-energizing him. “I was too scared…of how many people were tied to it. But that’s no excuse. I was getting set to blow the whistle. I was. Today, in fact. At a labor strike here on the ranch. But I needed to hide you and Sierra. And Jed was the only ally. But Jed’s actually…Jed’s actually…”
An evil, backstabbing worm? I knew what he wanted to call Jed. I’d already met several members of his species this morning.
“Babe,” I said, pulling him up to his feet. “You did something I could never hold against you.…You tried to keep our family safe. So now…if I get us through this day…we’ll be even.”
He hugged me. I was about to bawl. The hurricane of emotions was finally catching up to me. And he felt so good to hold. But this wasn’t the moment.
“Now, we need to get out of here.” I grabbed his hand and hurried him to the back. We burst in on Sierra, who instantly perked up. “Mommy! Daddy!” I already knew what must be done, and there wasn’t a moment to spare. I grabbed his orange backpack.
“Wha…?” he said.
“Where is that labor strike?” I asked.
I loved his move of lighting up the derrick. It was a gargantuan middle finger to Jedediah. It was a brilliant way to create chaos. And, most of all, it was a beacon. Of hope. That fireball and its smoke, and now its continual fountain of flames, would be visible for miles around—in particular, for whoever was at the rally.
“Not far—on the other side of the canyon. Behind the ranch.”
There were other derricks on this ranch, just up the hillside. While Jed would be dousing the rig that was on fire, I could ignite another, and then another, one by one, making my way toward the strike. Help was sure to come. It might not be an ambulance at first, but it would be somebody.
Bag in hand, I started heading out.
“Where are you going?” asked Aaron.
“To finish what you started.”
Chapter 27
If I could avoid the wide-open stretch between the main house and the barn, somehow dart between the trees or sneak behind the random tractors parked along the road, I could survive the trip.
But Jedediah was already returning with his shotgun.
I ran to the first outer corner of the house, then peered around the edge to monitor him. The hope was for my dear husband to find a new hiding place so that Jedediah, or whoever came next, wouldn’t get to him so fast.
Uh-oh. Down the long drive, the white vans were roaring onto the ranch, dust rising behind them. Both battered vehicles came to a halt in the middle of the courtyard. “Whoever came next” was here.
Jedediah arrived as men jumped out—six, by my count—including Clay.
That was my cue. While they were distracted, I sprinted up the back area, up into the hillside toward the cluster of derricks.
These two days had taken their toll on my legs: they were now Jell-O, buckling beneath every step. But I didn’t have the luxury of indulging in weakness. Push, Mandy.
Too many minutes later, I tumbled forward into a helpful ditch, then turned around to spy on the activity. Far below, the group had begun to disperse. I’d glanced backward midway through my run, catching glimpses of the men arming themselves with rifles and pistols, Jedediah in charge. He and Clay were gesturing around, probably cataloging all the places I could be hiding. But they deployed their legion of thugs toward the main house.
Where Aaron and Sierra were.
“Do not go in there,” I muttered quietly through clenched teeth.
Time to move. I hustled over to the first derrick, twice as big as it looked from afar. A colossal robot arm angrily punching Mother Earth. I was only too happy to fish out my first stick of dynamite. I drew on years of fieldwork to calculate the most vulnerable spot.
Ten seconds later—boom!
I’d gotten clear but it was deafening. The blast knocked me over, flat on my face, welcoming me to the earth I was avenging. I rose to my hands and knees to look down the slope into the heart of the ranch. All seven gentlemen were now looking back up toward my handiwork. Good.
There were some shouts and gesticulations, then they started coming my way.
Bring it.
I wanted them to march up the hill. All of them at once. I could just run like a rabbit, deeper into the property, toward the derricks, toward the labor strike itself. The first explosion was several minutes ago. Whoever was over at the factory had to have heard something by now, and seen the smoke.
The thug team was getting its fresh orders from Jed. Jed was indeed in charge. Which meant Clay had played me well. Don’t trust Jed, Miranda. He knew that if he lost my confidence, I’d run to whomever he’d told me not to trust. And I did just that. Right into his crystal-clear trap.
But Jed and Clay seemed to be arguing. Then, abruptly, most of the men were sent in the other direction, back into the ranch—all, in fact, except Clay.
Clay was coming toward me. Alone. Which meant he took this personally.
That made two of us.
Chapter 28
Clay came hustling up the hill, frothing at the mouth. There was no question he fueled the vengeance in this troop. If Jedediah was the brain, Clay was the bile duct.
“You’re dead!” he shouted outward.
He didn’t know exactly where I was. I’d been squatting behind a clump
