Page 59 of Savage Secrets

“What the hell happened here?” Colton ran toward Zach and Opal.

“Carver, Ledger—go!” Hunter’s barked order carried across the ranch and the two men, armed with rifles, peeled off from the others on a manhunt.

Zach spoke up. “Someone disabled both vehicles and set the garage to blow.” The faint wailing of sirens grew louder as the rescue vehicles barreled their way toward the Springvale.

“It’s a wonder you weren’t killed. Your leg—how bad is it?” Colton’s brows drew into a deep furrow.

“Not bad. I have to take your truck. We have to get Rainie.”

Colton jerked his head toward the running vehicle. “Go! We’ve got this.”

Zach gave him a nod and then took off limping to the truck.

“You drive,” he told Opal. He hitched himself into the seat, concealing a groan of pain as he did. Using his leg muscle hurt like hell, but he would be all right. When he told Opal that the injury wasn’t in a bad part of his leg—like the artery—he wasn’t just playing a hero. He would be fine.

Opal gripped the steering wheel, her eyes fixed on the burning garage. Her dark hair hung around her face in an untamed mess, and her arms were bare without her sweatshirt.

He reached out and touched her arm.

She leaped in her seat and let out a small scream.

“Opal, it’s okay. Darlin’. Focus on me.”

She twisted to meet his stare. He counted five heartbeats before her eyes cleared enough to call it a level of lucidity.

“Can you drive? If you can’t, let me behind the wheel.”

She scowled at his right leg. Blood darkened the sweatshirt tied around it. “I got it.”

The engine was already running. With her jaw set, she slammed the truck in reverse and backed up fast. She brakedhard, sending him jerking in the seat, and he gripped the console, feeling more blood flood out of the hole in his thigh.

“Sorry,” she whimpered.

“Just drive. Stay with me, Opal. We have to get to the McMasters’.”

She nodded.

As they reached the end of the drive leading off the ranch, she had to brake again for two police cruisers and wait for the firetruck rolling in.

The garage explosion had shocked him. He’d never seen it coming. Taking off hoses in the engine or messing with battery connections was one thing. But why should he be this shocked? Someone had killed Opal’s father.

They clearly didn’t care who they hurt in the process. Mr. Vale, Meadow and Ivy Gracey, Livia or Demi. And now they were gunning for Opal.

Over my dead body.

He gnashed his molars, and she shot him a look before focusing on the road again. “I’m not surprised the cameras didn’t pick up anything. They didn’t do a great job for the Gracey. Look at all that happened there,” he muttered.

Opal flattened her foot down on the gas pedal and took off at a high speed. On the wheel, her knuckles were white. Her lips were set into a firm line.

He reached out to touch her leg. “It’s all right. We’re going to get Rainie and find a safe place to stay.”

“We have to leave town. I’ll sell the ranch to that jerk—”

He opened his mouth and snapped it shut again. Zach wasn’t a man who backed down from any fight, whether an all-out physical brawl or a legal one. Everything inside him balked at the very thought of giving in to Eli Feldman, whether he was behind the attacks or not.

“We don’t have to make that choice right now, darlin’.”

“No—we have to get you to a hospital!” She threw another look at his thigh. The entire sleeve that was knotted around his leg was soaked with inky blood.

---