Page 105 of Ruthless Enforcer

“Fire department is on the way,” Harper says.

“Which means this party is over.” Luke hauls me up to standing. “We need to move.”

I stare at the house for another second. Somewhere inside that inferno is the man we've been hunting.

Maybe.

The thought comes from nowhere, but I don't have time to examine it. As we head back to the vehicles, I pull out my phone and call Blackthorn.

Clara answers on the first ring. “Gabriel?”

The sound of her voice hits me somewhere beneath the ribs. “I'm here, Duchess.”

Her breath leaves her in a rush. “Are you hurt?”

“We're fine.”

“What happened? We felt something here.”

Fuck. Of course they did. “Turner rigged the house. It went up while we were inside.”

“Gabriel.”

Just my name, but I hear everything in it. I look back at the inferno as another section of roof collapses into the flames. “I'm okay, sweetheart. I'm coming home.”

“Good.” The relief in her voice is stark. “Because I'm not finished with you yet.”

Despite the smoke in my lungs and the ringing in my ears, I smile. “Yeah, Duchess. I'm counting on it.”

74

CLARA

Iend the call with my heart still hammering and turn to Emma. “They’re coming home.”

75

GABRIEL

We don’t get news until ten o’clock at night.

We’re all at Blackthorn, in the family room. Clara cuddles next to me on the couch. She hasn't moved far from me since I walked through the door, and I'm not complaining. My lungs still burn from the smoke, there's a fresh bandage around my forearm, and every time I look at her, something inside me settles.

Similarly, Jake and Emma share a large chair where she’s sitting on his lap. Mason went back to the stablemaster’s cottage, where he lives with his girl. Luke’s sitting on the floor in front of Harper’s chair, eating another sandwich. Getting nearly blown up has given him an appetite.

Harper's phone rings. Picking it up, she glances at the screen and immediately straightens. “It's my contact at the fire department.”

The room goes quiet.

She answers. “Garrett.”

We listen to half a conversation.

“Where?” A pause. “How sure are you?” Another. “Okay. Don't touch anything you don't have to. And call me when you know more.”

Harper hangs up. Her face tells me before she opens her mouth. “They found a body.”

Luke stops with a beer halfway to his mouth. “Alive?”