explosion. “There’s no way a regular helicopter would cause that big of an explosion,” Teag said as we surveyed the damage.
“You think it was a bomb?”
Teag nodded. “Yeah. And flying in got around Sorren’s wardings since it wasn’t magic.”
“A suicide pilot?” The heat kept us from getting anywhere near the remains of the house, but I hoped that if anyone had escaped, we might be able to help get the injured clear of the blast zone.
“Maybe,” Teag said. “Or it could have been remote controlled. No way to tell until the fire stops burning.”
Fortunately, the wind was taking the smoke away from us as we circled the house. Around back, we found a dazed woman lying in the yard. Teag and I rushed over. Her face was red with the heat and her clothing was scorched in places from the blast, but she was breathing, and her eyes fluttered open as we knelt next to her.
“Can you move?” I asked, eyeing how close we were to the house. It was hot enough that sweat was pouring down my face and my skin felt sunburned. Burning embers floated down all around us, and I flinched as one sizzled against my skin.
The woman nodded, and I got under her shoulder, helping her limp far enough away to be out of the range of the embers and upwind of the smoke. A few moments later, Teag joined us. He was supporting a dazed-looking man with a bloody gash on his forehead.
My heart broke as I stared at Sorren’s burning house. There was no way we could possibly go inside without full firefighting gear, and given how hot the flames were and how much of the structure was burning, I wasn’t even sure the firefighters would chance it.
“They’re inside,” the woman rasped.
“Who?” I asked.
“The rest of the staff.”
“How many?” Teag asked. He was eyeing the house, but I knew from the look on his face that he, too, had concluded that going in would be suicide. On my few prior visits, I had only met a butler and a housekeeper. I was betting a house this size needed more people than that to maintain it, and I feared for anyone who had been inside when the ’copter hit.
“Two,” she croaked. “Ben was in the garden with me,” she added with a nod toward the man.
Running footsteps made us turn, expecting an assailant. Instead, a woman with red hair tied back in a thick braid, jeans and a work shirt came from the direction of the horse barn, which was far enough away to be out of danger.
“Patsy! Ben!” she cried out, then drew up short at the sight of us. “Who are you?”
“We work for Sorren, at Trifles and Folly,” I explained. “We came by to drop off a package for him.”
“Well, it’s good you weren’t a little bit earlier, or you and your package would be in there,” she said with a jerk of her head. “I’m Anna, and I take care of the horses.”
I felt sick, staring at the fire as the house was rapidly reduced to a charred shell. Did Sorren have his day crypt under the house? If he did, will the heat affect him even if the flames can’t reach him? And can he get out, if the house collapses on top of the cellar?
In the distance, I could hear sirens. Teag and I exchanged a glance that told me we were on the same wavelength. Detective Monroe is going to have a field day finding us here.
“Get out of here,” Anna said. “Go out the back way. It’s unpaved and unmarked, so you won’t run into the cops and the firefighters on the way out. I’ll see to Patsy and Ben.”
Teag and I nodded our thanks and ran for the car. The sirens were closer, and I did not want to end up in a holding cell while Detective Monroe tried to figure out what to do about us. Teag’s car bumped and jostled as we stayed to the outer edge of the driveway as it circled the burning house, not wanting to leave tell-tale tracks on the grass. We picked up speed as we headed past the horse barn, and followed the two lines of bare dirt that marked the maintenance road. I held my breath as we reached the main thoroughfare, but let out a sigh of relief as I realized it was not the same road we had come in on; this stretch was deserted.