The Millionaire Cowboy's Secret by Karen Whiddon Read Free Book Online Page B

eat a breakfast bar and have a cup of coffee. She had several hours to kill until the promised photo shoot. Heck, she had at least an hour— maybe more—until sunrise.
    Sitting on a chair outside the small trailer, sipping her Kona breakfast-blend coffee and waiting for the sun to come up, she debated phoning the office, but since no one would be there yet, plus she had nothing real to report yet, she decided against it. Other than Matt’s single comment about being licensed to carry, she hadn’t seen a single clue that might tell her if he really was planning to smuggle ammunition across the border.
    They’d seen the receipts and knew he had it, but thus far she hadn’t been successful in locating where he stored it.
    Of course, she hadn’t really expected to find it lying around out in the open, now, had she?
    As she was about to get up for more coffee, Talia’s bark had her stopping. She knew her dog’s barks and this was the warning one. Expecting an intruder, she looked around her carefully and saw nothing.
    A moment later, she smelled smoke. More than smelled it. The air was thick with it, the southern breeze carrying it low and thick, tendrils of gray against the darkness
    The barn! Her first thought was immediately followed by another. Ammunition! If Matt’s stockpile were to catch fire, the explosion could take out his entire ranch.
    She took off running in the dark, heading in the direction of the smoke. The air smelled awful. In her limited experience, that meant some sort of toxic accelerant had been used. Running full-out, she grabbed the hem of her T-shirt and used it to cover her face so she could breathe.
    The horses. She had to get to the horses. But she couldn’t do it alone. She didn’t know if the others had been alerted to the fire, so she yelled for help over and over as she ran toward the inferno.

Chapter 4
    E ven that effort left Skylar gasping for breath and coughing. She didn’t dare waste any more energy.
    Eyes watering, she hurried. Arriving at the barn, she saw it was ablaze. Rushing inside, despite the now-black smoke roiling off it, she heard the panicked screams of the horses.
    Someone loomed up in front of her—Matt, leading one of his terrified horses. She jumped aside, grabbed a halter and entered the first occupied stall.
    Inside, the panicked animal lashed out with her hooves.
    “Don’t halter her,” Matt shouted. “Just release her and my men will herd them toward the door. Hurry.”
    His words made sense. Opening the stall door wide, Skylar used the halter to slap at the frightened mare’s hindquarters. The horse bolted forward, eyes wide with terror.
    Skylar didn’t wait; she hurried to the next stall. Matt rushed past her, doing the same.
    In the next few minutes, she lost track of time, focusing intently on saving the horses one by one. Soon all the stalls were empty except the stallion stall at the end of the barn.
    And the fire had leaped across the aisle from the empty stalls, the hay in the feeding trough already ablaze.
    The staccato sound of hooves pounding the wooden stall door mingled with the roar of the fire. This one, this one last horse, had to be freed. She would not let it roast alive.
    Beside her, Matt’s grimy face showed similar resolve.
    Heedless of the danger, he ran to the stall and yanked the door open. Nothing but black smoke and the bright orange and red of the flames.
    Skylar’s heart skipped as she cursed. No way the horse could survive that conflagration. No way. Heart pounding, she rushed after Matt, whether to offer her assistance or try to drag him to safety, she didn’t know.
    A shape appeared out of the smoke. Burned and terrified, huge nostrils flaring, Matt’s stallion nonetheless let Matt lead him to safety. The instant they were free of the stall, the horse bolted, nearly knocking Skylar out of the way.
    “Come on, hurry,” Matt shouted. “The roof’s about to collapse. Get out!”
    Side by side, they ran for the door.