Roping Ray Mccullen. Rita Herron

sign of horses inside, though. Thank God.

      Still, if they didn’t contain the blaze, the animals could be in danger.

      He ran back outside, gulping in fresh air as he hurried to the second barn. Smoke thickened the air, the wind blowing fiery sparks into the grass by the second barn and quickly catching.

      Dammit. Where was that fire engine?

      Knowing he couldn’t wait, he dashed inside the barn. Three horses stamped and kicked, pawing at the stalls to escape. Smoke seeped through the open doorway, making it hard to breathe.

      He jogged to the first stall, unlatched the gate and yelled at the horse to get out. “Go on, buddy! It’s all right.”

      The black gelding sprinted through the barn and outside. A siren wailed, and he ran to the next stall. The big animal was pawing and kicking wildly, obviously panicked.

      “Shh, buddy, I’m going to set you free.” He opened the gate, then jumped aside as the horse charged past him.

      One more to go.

      The siren grew louder, then the fire truck careened down the driveway and roared to a stop. Ray had reached the third stall, but the terrified horse stomped his feet. “Come on, boy, we have to get out of here.”

      The horse raised its front legs as he entered, whinnying and backing against the wall. Suddenly wood cracked and popped, and flames rippled along the floor in the front.

      Then the scent of gasoline hit him.

      Dammit to hell, had someone intentionally set the fire?

      The horse jumped, his legs clawing at the air, his fear palpable.

      “It’s okay, boy,” Ray said, forcing a calm to his voice to soothe the terrified animal. “I’m here. We have to go now.”

      The horse whinnied again, and Ray pulled a rope from the hook and inched his way closer, speaking softly until the horse dropped to all fours and let him approach.

      He gently stroked the horse’s mane, comforting him as he lifted the rope and slipped it around his neck. He slowly led him from the stall and out the back door.

      Rescue workers jumped into motion shouting orders and dragging out the hoses. Brett’s truck barreled up and screeched to a stop.

      Ray patted the horse’s back and eased the rope from his neck. “Go, boy, get out of here!” He slapped the animal, sending him into a gallop across the pasture.

      Ray swiped sweat and soot from his face as he hurried toward the firemen and his brother.

      * * *

      SCARLET WAS STILL shaking over the encounter with Bobby an hour later. She massaged her wrist where he’d grabbed her, knowing she’d have a bruise on it tomorrow. And not for the first time.

      Bobby had resented her from the moment Joe McCullen had brought her home to live with Barbara.

      She hadn’t understood his reaction at the time. She’d been bounced from foster home to foster home and then she’d finally moved into the group facility, so being brought into a real family had thrilled her.

      Until Bobby’s resentment had festered and he’d started making her life miserable.

      First it had just been ugly comments, the surly attitude at meals and school. Then the more sinister threats he’d whispered when he’d sneak up behind her in her room.

      She shivered and pulled on flannel pj’s as she recalled the time she’d crawled into bed and discovered a rattlesnake under the covers. Another time she’d found her bed full of spiders.

      A month later, he’d tricked her into going with him in the car one night, then he’d left her stranded in the woods alone, with no way to get home.

      Worse, there was the time he’d nearly drowned her in the pond.

      Each time he’d threatened to kill her if she told anyone.

      And Barbara...she’d doted on Bobby. Had felt sorry for him because he’d been deprived of the McCullen name and the opportunities that had accompanied it.

      Although Joe had supported Bobby and tried to bond with him, it hadn’t been enough for Barbara or her son.

      She’d believed everything Bobby said and justified his bad behavior with a joke about boys being boys. She’d acted as if Bobby’s violent outbursts were normal teenage behavior. And she’d blamed Joe for not being around all the time.

      Barbara’s own resentment over the fact that Joe would never marry her had blinded her to her precious son’s sadistic side.

      Just as she had every night since the snake incident, Scarlet turned down the covers and examined the bed to make sure no creepy crawler was waiting for her.

      She breathed out a sigh of relief that the bed was clean. But Bobby’s cold look haunted her as she closed her eyes. He wouldn’t be satisfied until he learned what Joe had left him.

      Even then, would it be enough?

      And what would happen when he finally came face-to-face with his half brothers?

      * * *

      RAY RAN TOWARD the third barn to check for more horses with Brett on his heels. The first barn was completely ablaze, as flames climbed the front of the second.

      Wind hurled smoke and embers through the air, wood popping and crackling. The firefighters were blasting both buildings with water, working frantically to contain the blaze.

      “What the hell happened?” Brett yelled as he yanked open the barn door. “How did this start?”

      Sweat poured down Ray’s face. “I don’t know. The first barn was on fire when I arrived. I ran to the second one to save the horses.”

      Together they raced inside to free the terrified animals trapped in the stalls. The horses stamped and whinnied, pawing and kicking at the wooden slats. A black quarter horse protested, but Brett had a magic touch with animals and soothed him as he led him into the fresh air.

      Ray eased a rope around a palomino that was balking and slowly coaxed him through the door and outside, then away from the fire.

      “Go on, boy,” Ray yelled as he removed the rope and patted the palomino’s side. The horse broke into a run, meeting up with the other animals as they galloped across the land.

      Sweat trickled down Ray’s neck as he and Brett rushed inside to free the last two horses.

      When they’d rescued them, he and Brett stood and watched the firefighters finish extinguishing the blaze.

      “I can’t believe this,” Brett said, coughing at the smoke. “We just got these buildings finished and settled the horses in last week.”

      “The insurance was taken care of, right?”

      “Yeah,” Brett said with a scowl. “But this will cost us time. I was hoping to start lessons in the spring.”

      And time meant money. Not that Brett didn’t have some from his rodeo winnings, but he had invested a good bit into building a home for him and Willow and their son.

      “At least we didn’t lose any horses,” Brett said. “I couldn’t stand to see them get hurt or suffer.”

      That would have been a huge financial loss, too.

      Ray gritted his teeth. “I smelled gasoline, Brett.”

      Brett’s gaze turned steely. “You mean, someone intentionally set the fire?”

      “We’ll have to let the arson investigator determine that, but it looks that way.”

      Brett reached for his phone. “We should call Maddox.”

      Ray shook his head. “Wait. He’ll be back day after tomorrow. We can handle this until then.”

      Brett