Playing With Fire (Tangled in Texas, #2)(92)

Cowboy’s eyes cut to Sheriff Wells, but his expression remained bleak. “This man is not Ted Swanson. He’s the chief’s twin brother, Ned Swanson.”

Mandy blinked. “W-what?”

But Ned didn’t miss a beat. “You killed Ted?” he asked in disbelief.

She didn’t say anything, just stood there staring at the man, as if the likeness of him to his brother had thrown her for a loop. The sheriff stood and took a step toward her. “Miss Barlow, I think you need to come with me.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing and sat there with my mouth hanging open, blinking and gawking at her in silence. Her bottom lip quivered as she backed slowly away. When she stumbled again into the silver tray behind her, she must’ve realized she was cornered and had nowhere else to go.

That’s when I got a whiff of a familiar, yet unpleasant, odor and realized I’d been wrong the entire time. “Y-you did this? You sent me the notes, wanting me to think it was your brothers, but…you put me in that barn.”

“No, of course not. I—”

“Don’t bother denying it. It’s faint, but I can smell the kerosene on you from here.”

Dan’s head snapped to me. “Kerosene! That’s it!”

Though he couldn’t see it, I nodded in confirmation.

But Mandy shook her head furiously, denying the accusation. “We’re close to the same size. I couldn’t have possibly carried you into the barn—”

“You’re a firefighter, Mandy, which means you’re trained to carry 150-pound manikins out of burning buildings. That’s thirty pounds more than I weigh. Besides, who said I was carried into the barn?”

Panic flashed in her eyes. “I…guess I just assumed.”

“Or you were there. I’m betting your whereabouts around the time I disappeared can’t be verified.” The last pieces of the puzzle linked together in my mind. “This was all you. That first night at the library, you weren’t driving past when you saw the flames. You set the dumpster on fire and let me take the blame, didn’t you?”

She stared at me with an unresponsive expression.

“In fact, I’m betting you started the fire at the chili cook-off, as well. You and I were the only ones standing close enough to have caused it. But you knew I’d look guilty. Because who would believe a firefighter started a fire they had to put out themselves? But there’s still one thing I can’t figure out.” I paused momentarily, letting the words hang in the air. “Why? What did I ever do to you?”

She didn’t respond verbally, but her gaze flickered over the end of the bed and directly onto one of the men. Instantly, her eyes filled with tears, revealing the unsaid truth.

“Cowboy?” I asked her. “He’s the reason you did all of this?”

“We were going to be happy. The night Chief Swanson died, Cowboy held me in his arms and told me so. Said we’d get through it together. But then you came along and ruined it by making him feel sorry for you. Just like Janet did to Ted.”

“Is that why you killed them?”

“It was an accident. When Ted called and told me he was leaving me to go back to his wife, I went to his house and found her there. I tied her up and left her upstairs so I could talk to him without her interfering. I only wanted to make myself a drink to calm down while I waited for him to get home. But the only thing I could find was a jug of moonshine. Ted showed up a few minutes later and we argued, so I threw the drink on him and he stumbled. If only he…hadn’t been standing in front of the fireplace…”

“He caught on fire?” the sheriff asked, gently coaxing the information from her.

She nodded with tears streaming down her face. “I tried to help him, but he wouldn’t stop screaming. I couldn’t take it anymore. Everything started burning around me, so I…I…”

“What did you do?” Cowboy demanded, breaking his silence with his accusatory tone.

Her eyes cut to him and then closed as she lowered her head. “I left. But it wasn’t my fault. He did this to himself.”

“You threw the drink on him, and you left him to die,” I said, cringing at her words. “You’re the reason he’s dead. You killed him. Every bit of that was your fault.”

My comment must’ve pushed her over the edge because her eyes took on a glazed look as she turned her cold, steely gaze on me. “No. This is all your fault. If you would have just left after the first warning, none of this would have happened. For Cowboy’s sake, I tried not to hurt you. That’s why I put you in that barn…to get you out of the way. But I should have just lit your house on fire and killed you…because you deserve to die!”

Without warning, Mandy grabbed something from the incision tray beside her, raised it high into the air, and lunged for me. Cowboy threw himself across me, blocking my body with his, as the sheriff and Ned hurdled over the end of the bed to subdue her. They grabbed her and, although she fought to free herself, managed to hold her arms behind her back as the sheriff handcuffed her.

Mandy screamed in protest and hatred filled her eyes. Then she stopped and grinned at me with a sinister look on her face that sent chills scattering through me. “If I can’t have him, then neither can you,” she sneered.

“What’s going on?” Dan asked, confused by the scuffle he heard.