Love Inspired Suspense April 2021--Box Set 2 of 2 Laura Scott (speed reading book .txt) 📖

the sting to disable the bee and taste the honey. But no more kicks and stings, Georgia. I’m serious.”

The team met them outside. “Well, you sure broke up that good ole time in there,” Poppy said. “Maybe you scared them enough that they’ll make a mistake or give themselves away.”

“Or come after Georgia again,” Colt said as he jumped in his truck’s driver’s seat. “If one of them is the killer.”

“You say that as if there might be more than one someone.” Georgia buckled up.

“I think we have one killer and a handful of potential ones. There are entirely too many folks trying to keep secrets buried. So any one of them may be your attacker.”

She’d never thought of someone other than Jared’s killer coming after her. Had she messed with an illegal recruiting cash cow, or had she opened up another can of worms? She didn’t even want to ask the worst thing that could happen, because she was not okay with the results.

Georgia blinked awake, groggy. She’d been dreaming she was nestled next to a bonfire, roasting hot dogs, then the smoke plumed heavy and she couldn’t escape it. Even now it permeated her senses.

Yesterday afternoon and well into the evening, they’d dug into James Kreger. Was he a real person or a fictitious buyer who had purchased the land? Someone had ponied up twenty-five grand to purchase that property. Had Terry Helms skimmed the money from the bank? Taken out a fake loan somehow? It wouldn’t have been too hard to pull off as bank president.

They didn’t have enough for a warrant. Yet. But Mae and Rhett were working on it while Poppy tried to poke holes in families and get them to talk. Harry Benard was dead, so if he was the threat keeping them quiet, what did they have to fear? Nothing. Which meant he wasn’t the threat.

Man, it really did smell like bonfire smoke. So...real.

A warning struck her sleepy thoughts, and she bolted upright.

Orange flames flickered against the window.

Her house was on fire!

TEN

Georgia’s heart lurched into her throat as she bolted from the bed to the door. Colt burst inside as she reached for the knob.

“The house is on fire! Let’s go,” he bellowed and grabbed her hand. Smoke had enveloped the staircase, blinding them. Georgia tripped on the stairs and clung to Colt. When they reached the living room, she bumped into furniture, stubbing her toes and nailing her shins. Sooty air coated her throat and forced coughing. “Down low,” Colt said through his own wheezing.

Wood cracked and popped.

A rafter beam groaned then collapsed to the living room floor with a thundering crash. Embers lit the couch ablaze. Georgia fought inside her own skin to get out. Everything was closing in, and it felt like being cooked on broil in a dark oven.

Her lungs squeezed, and she panted and longed for fresh air.

Colt grabbed a blanket from a basket that had yet to be ravaged and draped Georgia as they slithered on their bellies. “Where do we go?” she cried. What if Colt couldn’t find a way out? What if he burned alive and she had to watch and hear his screams?

Flames licked up the sides of the house and the ceiling, daring them to escape its scorching anger. It had reached around her entire home like a garrison holding them hostage. Someone must have saturated every inch of her place with gasoline before lighting the match.

Charred wood fell sporadically. It was like playing a game of dodgeball, only instead of being nailed with rubber they’d end up impaled and burned alive.

Colt shielded Georgia. But who was going to shield him?

“Hang on to my shirt or pant leg so we don’t get separated. Let’s try the other guest room,” he said as he led the way on his stomach. “Maybe the back of the house isn’t as bad.”

If it had been equally engulfed, she and Colt were doomed.

Sweat poured from her face and down her back. This must be what eternity apart from God felt like. Fire and brimstone. So hot she could barely breathe. Her eyes watered and burned. Georgia crawled blind, unable to detect direction. How on earth was Colt able to lead them?

The house hissed and roared like a fire-breathing dragon. Colt had been using the neck of his shirt as a mask, but it didn’t ease his hacks and coughs. Georgia’s head went fuzzy. The ravenous fire ate up the oxygen with insatiable greed.

Colt ripped the blankets off the twin-size daybed and jerked the mattress from the springs, then shoved it in the door frame, buying them a few moments of time to try to get out the window—flames already swallowed the holly bushes underneath.

Georgia couldn’t swallow. Couldn’t move.

“I’m going to wrap you in the blankets and toss you out, Georgia. It’s your only hope.” Colt’s voice shook with urgency and dread.

“And what about you? I can’t leave you!” She trembled from head to toe as she strained through stinging eyes to see his sooty, sweaty face. A face she’d loved so much. What if he didn’t make it out? What if he was burned to ash? What if he passed out from inhaling the smoke before escaping? Her entire body convulsed with terror, and panic ate at the edges of her synapses.

“I’ll be right behind you. Promise.” He wrapped her in a knit blanket until she felt mummified, then he double coated her with a thick wedding quilt—even her face had been cocooned, leaving her in utter darkness.

Do not panic. You are safe. God is your shield. Your protector. Your rescuer. He walks with you through fire. He’ll walk with Colt, too.

“It’ll give you some cushion, but I can’t promise you won’t feel a few bumps. I’m gonna toss you away from the fire. Clench your teeth to keep from biting your tongue.”

She nodded in the thick covering to let him know she’d obeyed and was ready, but her heart was about to beat out of