“We’re not so bad,” Sam said, smiling, even as John glowered at the back of his head, begging to differ. “If you ever want to come by, I’ll give you a tour myself.” He gave John a nod. “We’re a whole new generation. We don’t agree with all of the decisions of the past. And we believe that trust is earned.”
“We’ll see about that,” John said, arms folded.
I bent my head and pretended that a piece of dirt had gotten into my eye. A tear snuck out and rolled down my cheek. Sam and I had never talked about it before, how our thoughts differed from the actions of my father and Jacob Blythe. I’d wanted to give the reservation back its burial ground from the first moment I heard of it. Maybe that was possible once I took over.
Where Will was an enigma, Sam was almost too open, his heart on his sleeve for anyone to squash. But he hadn’t become jaded by it. As much as Dad’s meddling in my love life made me want to tear out my hair, it was true that Sam was a good man. A better man than most.
When I looked up again, Will was staring at me as if I’d spoken my thoughts aloud. I raised an eyebrow, and he shook his head that it was nothing. But it wasn’t nothing.
“My friend is missing,” Sam told Robert. “I’m really worried about her.” He swiped through his phone and turned the screen away from the glare. “Can you help us find her?”
The boy nodded. “I, um, I saw her a while ago.”
“Where was that?”
“My dad was bringing me here after we went to the movies. I saw that lady arguing with some people.”
“Where was that?” Jessie blurted, unable to contain her excitement. “Did you see a car? Was there a red car?”
Robert chewed on his lip. “Am I going to get in trouble?”
Sam put a knee on the ground to steady himself. “You’re not in trouble. We just want to know if you saw anything else.”
“There were two cars. One was red, and another one was black. It was really big.” After a few follow-up questions, Robert had given us a pretty decent description of a plain pickup truck with some kind of aftermarket wheels. John and Sam encouraged him to keep going. “The lady was yelling. I asked my dad if we should help her, and he said that it wasn’t our business.”
“Did you see what else happened?” John prompted before turning towards us. “He didn’t tell me this much, or I would have passed it on to the police.”
“Um,” Robert looked toward the west where the road weaved around a bend. “I saw them driving out towards the river. It was weird because it’s dark, and my dad always said there’s nothing out there.”
Jessie held up her phone. “I’m going to call the tribal police to get back here.” She squeezed Robert’s shoulder. “Thank you, Robert. Thank you for your help.”
My blood was pounding in my ears as I tried to dial Remy. The pancakes churned in my stomach, and I had to press a hand to my abdomen to keep from losing my breakfast as I listened to Tim and Will piece it together.
“But they found her car off the reservation,” Tim muttered.
“They could have driven it there.” Will stared off into the distance. “If it was dark enough, they might have even been able to push it without anyone noticing.”
Jessie checked her watch. “There’s water out there. If she made it to water, she could still be alive.”
“Oh my God.” I spun on my heel and walked away before I lost control in front of Robert. I didn’t want him to think that any of this was his fault. But the thought of Crystal out there for so long in the elements was too much. Yes, she was an accomplished backcountry hiker, but if those men had hurt her, it might be too late. “Remy?”
“Yeah? Sky? What is it?”
Sam leaped up suddenly and dashed over, grabbing my forearm to get my attention. The others rushed over. “Those tire tracks!” He punched the air in frustration. “We followed those damn tire tracks in a circle. I thought it was just kids out fooling around. What if it was that truck that Robert saw? It was in the right spot.”
I could feel Remy hollering on the other end of the line as I covered the receiver with my hand. “I think you’re right. Let me just tell Remy.” I put the phone back up to my ear just in time to hear a long string of profanity. “Sorry. I think we got something. I’m on the reservation, and I need you to get in touch with the Bellfield police. The tribal police are already on their way. We think we know where to find Crystal.”
Chapter 10
Since Jessie knew the tribal police best and had the least association with Crystal, we left her behind to fill them in while the rest of us retraced our steps. I kept an eye out as Sam us flew across the reservation, berating himself under his breath. “I just knew that there was something about those tire tracks. I just didn’t want to sound paranoid.”
“There was no way you could have known. We came across all sorts of tracks and marks.” I held up a hand. “Slow it down a little. Will and Tim are falling behind.”
“I can’t stop thinking about the horrible things that might have happened.”
“Me either,” I admitted. “But it’s not going to help Crystal if we miss something again.”
Sam eased off the throttle as we reached the general area. The land rose sharply before us at an incline that no vehicle short of an ATV would have been able to navigate. “Should we go on foot?”
I opened my door and climbed out. “We’re going to have to.” We hadn’t checked this part of the reservation except to skirt the edge of the small canyon. Jessie said it was so remote and treacherous that even the locals didn’t venture to this part of the river. But maybe that had been its appeal if those men had kidnapped Crystal.
“You’re sure about this?” Will asked, indicating the canyon.
“Yes.” I bit my tongue to stifle a sob as we riffled through the trucks for any gear worth bringing along. I dumped the first aid kit from the truck onto the front seats and handed back anything of value to Tim to put in his backpack. “Here. Ace bandage. Gauze.” A lot of it was too basic for any serious injuries. I tried not to think that Crystal might have any.
Tim paused on the edge of the river, where it descended into a steep drop. “Maybe we should wait until someone who’s been here before can show us the safest path.”
“I’m not waiting,” Sam and I said in unison.
Tim sighed. “I’m not trying to be one of those cowboys, alright? But it’s been a while since either of y’all two were around anything like this.”
“I grew up here,” I protested. “I’ve jumped off Big Yell Bluff!” And by that, I meant that Daniel pushed me while Zane made chicken noises, but that wasn’t the point. I wasn’t going to be underestimated, not with this much on the line.
“Okay, okay.” Tim bent to replace his slip-on cowboy boots with the laced spares he kept in the truck. “I’m just saying that you have to warn a man if there’s a fifty-fifty chance you’re about to fall to your death.”
“Twenty-eighty odds in my favor,” I drawled, though I didn’t blame him for asking. Tim hadn’t asked because I was a woman or because I was a Wentworth. It was because I’d been in the city too long, which was at least something I could understand.
But despite my confidence, I did balk a bit as we skidded down the rocky slope to the first flat area, a plateau of sorts that likely overflowed when the river ran high. We almost kept going when Will darted forward. “Look! Look!” He stood over a jean jacket with the Black Gold Creek logo stitched on the front pocket.
“Don’t touch it!” Tim scolded as he reached for it. “Get a stick or something. Damn. Haven’t you ever seen a crime show on TV?”
We looked around for something suitable to pick it up with but eventually gave up. Will wrapped his hand in his bandana and used it like a glove to lift the jacket. He turned it carefully. “You see anything?”
“What’s that hole?” I asked, cocking my head.
“Oh, Jesus.” Sam hung his head over the ledge and gagged. “Please tell me that isn’t from a gunsho
t.”
I ran over to a bend in the cliff face where it had initially looked like some kind of colored rock bathed in shadow. “It’s blood.” I peered carefully over the longer drop, my hands shaking as I readied myself to see her body on the bank below. But the only thing I saw was a boot with bright turquoise stitching. “And one of her boots is right there.”
“But then, where is she?” Tim asked, pointing below at the last expanse of rock. “There’s nowhere else to go. She’d never make it to the river without a rope or something.”
Will was gazing off in another direction entirely. I knew exactly what he was thinking, and I bet that Sam did, too. “When we were growing up,” Will began explaining to Tim, a newcomer to Will’s life by our metrics, “Crystal was always a bit of a daredevil.”
We watched Tim connect the dots. “You’re telling me that you think she got shot and then followed that ledge?” He tried to follow it with his index finger. It was broken in some places, the lip barely inches wide in others. But it was also short, the only bridge between the two parts of the canyon. An adventurous adult might have been able to jump it had there been enough space for a running start. “That’s impossible.”
“Not if you have small feet and no shoes on,” I said, already shucking my boots and tying my hair out of the way. I rolled my ankle, gritting my teeth at the resulting crunch, and prayed that it would hold steady.
“Hey, you’re not going out there,” Sam said. “Just wait. We’ll call search and rescue.”
Will agreed. “It’s not safe. You don’t even know for sure that she’s over there.”
But I was done letting men boss me around. Before they could stop me, I took a measured hop onto the closest bit of rock. Sam pleaded with me to come back. Tim, thank the Lord, elbowed him. “Shut up. All you’re going to do now is distract her.”
The ledge was wider than it looked, and while the handholds were few, I was able to keep my balance by moving one step at a time. When I reached the last part that could conceivably accommodate both feet, I took a deep breath and leaped the rest of the distance. My knees slammed into the mix of silt and dirt on the far side, my palms shredding as I shed momentum.
“You okay?” Will shouted.
“I’m fine!” I didn’t care about myself anymore. I just wanted to find Crystal. I pushed myself up into a half-crawl and bounded forward into the grass. My ankle twisted at the sudden motion, and lightning spiked through my leg. I stumbled, my ears tearing at the pain. But once the burning dissipated, I vaguely registered that the ache of the past week was gone.
I found Crystal ten feet away, tucked into a sliver of shade beneath an outcropping. “I’ve got her! I’ve got her!” I hurled myself onto the ground beside her and touched her cheeks, feeling the flush of fever where I’d feared finding cold. “Crystal? It’s Sky.” I shook her, noting the shallow rise of her breath, the blood staining the front of her torn shirt.
I gritted my teeth to keep from crying as I saw her swollen eye and the unfastened button of her jeans. “Crystal. You’re safe now. We’re going to get you out of here.” I wanted to cover her, but I knew that Tim was right about the evidence. I waved my hands to get their attention on the other side. “Throw the pack! And call for help!”
“They’re already on their way!” Sam shouted as he tossed the backpack with all of his might. I caught it by one strap and dragged it onto the ledge as my mind sorted through priorities. Water. Wounds. Getting her out of there.
I did whatever I could for those harrowing minutes until I heard helicopter blades. “They’re here, Crystal. Help is here.”
Sitting in the waiting room at the hospital was too surreal. My father was on the fourth floor in the recovery wing. One of my best friends was on the third floor in the ICU. Sam, Tim, and Will were off to my right while Remy sat to my left, his foot tapping and tapping against the white tile.
They’d rushed Crystal into surgery as soon as the airlift dropped her off. It had been hours since then. Aside from the cops stopping in to say that they’d identified the two suspects using Robert’s description of the truck and footage from a gas station, none of us had spoken much.
The rest of the cowboys waited downstairs in clumps spread between the lobby, the chapel, and the cafeteria. That was what I’d always wanted from the ranch, the unbreakable camaraderie binding them all together. I’d heard some of the newer ranchers complain about how long it took to be accepted by the group. For someone like me, always on the outskirts, it was laughable.
Daniel and Zane would have had to concentrate to catch a calf if they’d been there for branding day. No one would have mocked them, though. As men, they were automatically in the club and had to do something heinous to be tossed out. Meanwhile, women like me were one minor error away from banishment.
Crystal was the exception. Sure, being Remy’s daughter hadn’t hurt her chances, but she was talented in her own right. If she didn’t know how to do something, she went and learned. As much as I resented her at times, my respect never wavered. The cowboys who were piled into the lobby obviously agreed.
From what I’d gathered, that many of us weren’t technically allowed, but I think the receptionist had looked the other way. Not only was this an exceptional case, but there was also a Wentworth Cancer Clinic and a Blythe Trauma Center attached to this hospital. I normally didn’t make a habit of flaunting our wealth and influence, but in this case, I wanted Crystal to have as much support as possible.
I’d told Remy about Crystal’s condition to prepare him for what she might say when she woke. I’d also called Beth to deliver the news and give Dad an update, even though he wasn’t lucid enough to stay awake for long.
At last, Crystal was transferred back to her room. “Only two visitors at a time,” the nurse instructed. “She’s still not out of the woods just yet.”
We took turns rotating so that Remy could stay by her side at all times. I was lucky enough to be in the room when Crystal opened her eyes. She blinked at us groggily, her cracked lips pursing into words we couldn’t hear. Remy leaned closer. “What’s that, baby?”
“Dad,” she croaked. She peered down at her body, running her palms over the gown and the random lumps that I imagined were surgical gauze. “Sky.”
Over the next few hours, we pieced together the story as she drifted in and out of consciousness. Crystal had been driving home from a friend’s house when she started having car trouble. She’d pulled over on the shoulder to check things out. When a truck came up behind her, she’d figured it was someone coming to help her.
“They put me in their truck and drove off the road.” Tears welled in her eyes as she spoke. “But my daddy taught me a thing or two.” Crystal grabbed Remy’s hand and kissed it. “I started fighting with one of them. The other one got scared and started shooting. While they were confused, I just ran for that canyon.”
“The doctors said you were so lucky. That the bullet went clean in and out, and all it did was chip one of your ribs.”
“I was so scared that I thought it had just grazed me. It wasn’t until I stopped moving that I saw how bad it was.”
Remy cradled her to his chest. Over the top of her head, he locked eyes with me. “Thank you. You saved her. You saved my girl.”
And that was the story he kept telling for the rest of the day to anyone who’d listen. I felt restored now that Crystal was safe. A few of the cowboys even acknowledged me. “You’re a hero,” Remy told me as I bid him goodbye to get some rest. “I won’t ever forget this. Thank you.”
I didn’t truly believe that my actions had mattered all that much until I ran into Gus in the lobby. Instead of insulting me or making a snide comment, he gave me a wary nod. I was so shocked that I stumbled on my next step.
There would still be miles to go with him and many of the others, but at least I’d proven my commitment to them, if not my mettle. Maybe that was the key to earning my place among them. Instead of trying so hard to show that I was a strong ri
der and a rancher through and through, I could just show them that I cared.
It was an approach I’d never taken before, and the idea that I might be making headway renewed my energy. My high spirits didn’t last long, though, because no matter how much courage I’d mustered today to help my friend, I was still a coward in so many ways. I’d followed my heart home to Black Gold Creek, but there was no pretending that the path didn’t continue back to Will Blythe, too.
Chapter 11
Knowing that Hailey barely got thirty seconds to herself anyway, I was a little guilty about calling her again so soon. “Is Crystal okay?” she asked as soon as the line connected. “Nothing’s wrong?”
“Everything’s fine.” I filled her in as I paced the edge of the parking lot. “It was a close call. She was so dehydrated.” Thinking of that ledge again, I couldn’t believe that she’d even attempted it. She must have been too terrified to have even considered the possibility of falling into the gulley below.
Hailey let out a gasping, relieved laugh. “She always was like a squirrel. Could climb anything.” One of my favorite parts of having such time-tested friendships was the sixth sense we had for each other. When I didn’t hang up or speak right away, Hailey hummed on the other end of the line. “I get the impression that you have something else you want to tell me. Because I appreciate the call, but that could have been a text message.”
I checked over both shoulders to make sure none of the cowboys were lurking about within earshot. “Would you want to reach through this phone and smack me if I told you that I’m having trouble dealing with Will?”
“What do you mean by ‘dealing with’ him?” she sounded indignant. “Did he do something? Is he bothering you?”
“No, no. It’s not like that. More like, you know, I can’t stop thinking about what we used to have. And how it just doesn’t seem fair.”
The Cowboy's Promise: Love Triangle Billionaire Romance (The Wentworth Cowboy Billionaire Series) Page 9
