Deceptive Truth: Cowboy Justice Association (Serials and Stalkers Book 4) Olivia Jaymes (urban books to read .TXT) 📖

Jenna never had the chance to respond. Before she could open her mouth, there was the sound of breaking glass. Knox pushed her to the carpet and behind the couch, telling her to stay down. Crouching behind the sofa, her heart racing a mile a minute, she peered around the edge of the cushion and watched as Knox ran out of the house.

Toward the danger.

Maybe it was nothing. A tree branch falling or something like that.

That was it. It was probably nothing at all. Everything was fine. Knox would check it out and calmly come back in the house and tell her that all was well. He'd been overly cautious but it was all good outside.

Except that he'd left the front door open and the slight smell of smoke was beginning to waft through the living room.

Fire?

17

The sun was peeking over the horizon by the time the local fire department put out the flames completely. An acrid scent filled Knox's nostrils and hung in the air along with the wisps of smoke from the smoldering building.

When he had exited the house, he'd seen the orange and yellow flames jumping on the detached garage's roof. The wooden structure went up like tinder, the fire eating at the building until there was only a skeleton and some rubble left behind. The firefighters had done all they could, but in the end their valiant efforts simply weren't enough. The flames had been far too aggressive, and luckily, not deadly.

To Knox, it wasn't a coincidence. He'd definitely heard breaking glass. Had someone given them a warning by starting a fire in the garage? It was a possibility. Right now, the fire marshal was combing through what was left of the dripping and sodden structure to find the cause.

Jenna, Michelle, and Tom, along with Knox had watched in ever growing horror as the scene played out. They were totally helpless to stop the carnage.

All three of the siblings were huddled together, their faces pale and tear-streaked. Jenna looked so shocked and hollow that it was all Knox could do not to pull her into his arms and tell her that everything would be okay. He'd take care of her. He wanted to protect her from the ravages of the world. That's how much he felt for this woman. He'd been slow to put a name to his emotions but clearly, they were strong. Stronger than anything he'd ever felt.

Yet, he had to stand there and do nothing which wasn't in his nature in the least. He wanted to do something, but what? He didn't know except that he wanted to carry Jenna off somewhere where no one could ever hurt her.

But he wasn't a part of their world. They were drawing strength from one another, a close and loving family. And if there was one thing that Knox didn't know shit about that was family. He couldn't intrude on their bond, but he could damn well be there for them if they needed it.

"I guess we were lucky," Michelle murmured, wrapping her cardigan more tightly around her body. "The fire could have jumped over to the house if the wind had been blowing in a different direction."

"I don't feel very lucky," Jenna replied, her voice low. The whole scene seemed eerily quiet now that the firefighting part was done. Only one fire truck remained and there were a few people milling around. A news truck had arrived much earlier and taken video when the flames were at their zenith, but then left shortly after. "Although I suppose that we are."

Tom placed an arm around each of their shoulders, pulling them closer. "We are lucky. We're alive. It could have been so much worse. We only lost the garage and the vehicles inside. We have insurance. It will be fine."

Knox's SUV had been parked in the front of the house and was undamaged, as was Michelle's sedan. Tom's car, on the other hand, and his truck that he liked to drive on the weekend were incinerated. A complete loss.

Tom had already called his insurance company and the adjuster would be arriving at any moment. But Knox had yet to call Detective Bauer. He wanted to hear what the fire marshal had to say first. If the fire was set intentionally, then Bauer needed to know.

My money is on that this was no accident.

If this was some crazy accident, Knox and Jenna would go back to working the case as if nothing had happened. If it wasn't an accident...

He needed to put this family under protection immediately. This might have been a warning, but it didn't mean that the next time would be. And there would be a next time. Someone wasn't going to go to the trouble of burning down a building and then giving up. Whomever had done this wanted Knox and the Waters family to be scared. They wanted them to back off.

Not going to do that.

Even now, Knox found himself striding back and forth around the grounds, his gaze darting from one corner to the other, looking for anyone or anything that seemed out of place. He had that prickle on the back of his neck, the sign that told him that something wasn't right and he needed to pay close attention.

Eventually, the fire marshal walked out of the burned-out structure and stood in front of the family.

"My preliminary findings are that the fire was set intentionally with an accelerant."

That would explain why the garage went up so quickly. They hadn't had a chance to stop it.

"Who would do something like this?" Michelle asked, her voice choked and broken. "Why would someone