Spicy Lasagna Murder: Book 13 in The Darling Deli Series Read Free Page B

group of people under the food tent. A few people turned their heads her way, but no one made a move toward her or the barn.
    “Someone needs to help them!”
    Frustrated at how useless the crowd was being—really, they were going to record the blaze instead of trying to help?—she glanced at the barn again. The smoke was thick, but the fire didn’t seem to be that big yet. If someone was inside—if she hadn’t been imagining those men—then they might be confused from smoke inhalation. All she would need to do would be to go inside and guide them out. It would only take a few seconds—a minute at most. As long as she was careful and remembered where the door was, she would be okay. She couldn’t very well just let whoever was inside suffocate to death.
    Moira took a deep breath, spared one last glance toward the car to check on David, then ran toward the open barn door. She tried to remember what to do in a fire. Stay low , she thought. Smoke rises. And if your clothes catch on fire, stop, drop, and roll.
    One thing she hadn’t counted on was how impossible it would be to breathe. As she stepped into the barn, she felt as if she were stepping into one of the deli’s ovens. The air was scalding, and the smoke began choking her from the very first breath she took. Flames rushed up the walls around her, and above her head the beams groaned. Coughing, she looked around for the men that she had seen.
    She found the first body slumped against a stall. His eyes were open and staring, and she knew immediately that he was dead. She hurried over to him anyway, crouched low in an effort to find some breathable air. Her eyes were tearing from the smoke and heat as she checked his pulse, first on his wrist, then on his neck. Nothing. She turned to look for the other man. The beams above her groaned more deeply and she flinched, tensed to run toward the door if the building gave any sign of collapsing. Then she heard a moan.
    She rushed toward the sound to find Farmer Samwell sprawled half out of a stall next to an old riding lawn mower. He had a cut on his forehead, and gazed at her with unfocused eyes.
    “Mr. Samwell,” she exclaimed. “You have to get up. We need to leave.”
    She tugged on his arm, but it was fruitless. The farmer was a big man, and there was no way she could carry him, or even drag him very far, not half-blinded and barely able to breathe as she was. Still, unwilling to leave him to his fate, she pulled on his arm. If she could just get him over to the barn door, she could call for help…
    With a terrible scream, the beam above her gave out. Moira jumped back, but the end of it caught her on the shoulder, knocking her down. Something else landed on her arm, and she felt rather than heard her bone snap. It took her body a moment to acknowledge the pain, but when it did, she almost blacked out. She coughed and tried to get up, knowing that if she stayed in here much longer she would be as good as dead, but the beam pinned her to the floor. She tried to scream for help, but all she managed was a hoarse whisper.
    Through the flames that were rising all around her now, she thought she saw a dark form watching her. The person turned away after a moment and faded into the smoke. After that, everything went dark.
     

CHAPTER FOUR
    Holding her right arm gingerly to her chest, Moira accepted the water offered by the paramedic, grateful to see that he had already opened the bottle for her. Her throat was parched and sore, and the water felt amazingly good as it slid down her throat.
    “Mr. Samwell and the other man?” she croaked. “Are they…?”
    “They didn’t make it, Ms. Darling,” he said gravely. “I’m sorry.”
    “What about the third person?”
    “What third person?” he asked, shooting a look of dread back at the smoldering remains of the old barn.
    “He was standing on the other side of the flames,” she said. “By the other door.”
    “Ma’am, the rescue team didn’t see anybody