Free Her Bodyguard by Geralyn Dawson Page A

in good health. Luke had a bloody gash on his cheek and a bruise on his temple. His smile was grim, the light in his eyes flat. He handed Billy over to her mother, then stepped back while her parents made a fuss over their son.
    Watching him, Mari’s blood ran cold. She knew. No. Please, God. No.
    Kat.
    Mari’s knees went weak and her head started to spin. She leaned back against the flagpole base for support.
    Having greeted his son, Trace turned to Luke Garrett. “Where did you find him?”
    “He found me.” Then Luke stunned them all by adding, “Mr. McBride, your son saved my life. I am in his debt.”
    Now standing at his mother’s side, Billy buried his head in her skirts and started to sob. The sound brought a lump to Mari’s throat and triggered tears of her own.
    Roughly, Trace demanded, “What happened?”
    Luke looked briefly at Mari and she knew from the brief exchange that they’d hear a censored version of events. “I’d met with an accident and as the fire spread, I lay unconscious in an out-of-the-way place. After his attempts to rouse me proved unsuccessful, Billy ran for help.”
    Trace placed two fingers under his son’s chin and tilted his face upward. In a voice brimming with emotion, he said, “I’m proud of you, son.”
    Billy jerked away and closed his eyes. “No, Pa. I’m bad. I’m a sorry, awful person!”
    Trace and Jenny shared a baffled glance. Mari’s stomach took a nauseous roll. Kat.
    Jenny knelt before her son. “What’s wrong, Billy? Tell us.”
    “Mrs. McBride,” Luke began. “I don’t think—”
    Billy interrupted with a tormented torrent of words. “The man hit him with a whiskey bottle and Kat screamed and she thought he was dead and she bumped the table and the candle fell but she didn’t see. I know she didn’t see. The man made her go behind the curtain and I ran up to the stage but by the time I got there it was on fire. It was on fire, Mama, and I was afraid to go get her, to tell her it was burning. I was afraid.” His voice broke on a sob. “It was smoking and crackling and burning and I was so scared. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. It’s my fault. It’s my fault!”
    Jenny cried out softly like an animal in pain. Trace’s face bleached white. “Ka—” His voice cracked. He cleared his throat, then tried again. “Katrina?”
    Luke said, “I don’t know, Mr. McBride. I didn’t see them leave. It’s possible they found an exit.”
    “They?” Jenny repeated. “Who’s they?”
    “That actor,” Mari said, in doing so admitting her involvement. “Kat met that actor in the theater. I followed her and she and I had…words.”
    After a moment’s silence, Jenny murmured, “The cookies.”
    Her heart breaking, Mari took a step toward her father. He appeared as if he’d taken a mortal blow. “The fire began in that wing. Kat.” He reached for Mari’s hand. Squeezed it hard. “Kat started the fire. Kat started the fire and no one’s seen her since.”
    “I saw it too, Mr. McBride,” Luke said. “It definitely was an accident.”
    Mari felt her father shudder, then he turned a stricken look toward his wife. “I had a feeling, Treasure. I’ve had this goddamn feeling for months!”
    In the face of her husband’s despair, Jenny seemed to draw upon some inner strength. Her spine straightened, her shoulders squared. She rose to her feet and looked her husband straight in the eyes. “Leave it be, McBride. It’s too early to assume the worst.”
    “If she’s not hurt, then where is she?”
    Billy began sobbing anew, and Mari moved to take him into her arms to offer both of them comfort. “Maybe she knows about knocking over the candle and she’s afraid to come home, afraid to face us.”
    “No!” Billy cried. “She didn’t know, I tell you. It was an accident and it rolled under the chair and she didn’t even know! She didn’t come out. I asked that man if there was another door and he said no. She didn’t come out!”
    “What