by A. D. Ryan
“We should probably head back,” I suggested, looking up at the darkening sky.
Nodding, we turned back for the ranch. As we walked along the trail, a sharp whinny pierced the air. Lilah and I froze less than a five-minute walk from the main road, and listened. Off in the distance was another shrill roar of a horse in trouble. It wasn’t often I heard the sound that could only be described as a high-pitched scream, but every so often …
Another cry sounded, turning my gut, and I acted without thinking. I ran as fast as I could, barely slowing enough to look both ways before crossing the road. The combined sound of my heavy breathing and my pulse in my ears drowned out Lilah’s panicked cries for me to slow down and be careful. I couldn’t though, because every time the horse cried out, my heart and stomach clenched; I knew where it was coming from, and this time, he would be stopped.
Slowing once I reached the outskirts of Charles’ pasture, I carefully searched for where the sound was coming from. That was when I saw them: Charles and the Appaloosa mustang in the far corner of the pasture.
My hands flew to my mouth to contain the sharp gasp that burned my throat as I witnessed what was happening. I may have been clear across the field, but I could distinctly make out the red on the mustang’s mostly-white coat, speckled and streaked amongst the black and running down his chest and shoulders. A loud crack was heard and the stallion let out another cry as the weapon Charles was using (a crop or cattle prod, maybe?) came down hard across the horse’s neck.
Where had he been hiding the mustang all this time? It had been weeks since Jensen and I had laid eyes on him; the only horses we’d seen lately were the older and slower ones that were constantly coming and going. And now the mustang was back—or was he never really gone? Why?
“Madison,” Lilah hissed, coming up behind me before I threw my hand up to silence her. “No! Come on; let’s go back. This doesn’t look good. We can go and tell Jensen or your dad or someone. Please.”
I knew she was just trying to keep me from doing something stupid, but there was something telling me not to leave. “You go,” I told her, keeping my eyes trained on Charles and the mustang. I cringed when I saw Vlad at Charles’ side barking and snapping at the huge horse’s legs. The mustang’s eyes were wide with fear and his legs were moving wildly, stomping the ground beneath him in warning a few times before he’d rear up, only garnering him another beating before he’d almost submit; it was an ugly cycle and somebody was going to get hurt—and I wasn’t entirely sure if it would be Charles or the horse. “Go! Tell Jensen.” And with that, I slipped through the fence and stalked carefully through the overgrown field.
“Madison!” Lilah whisper-yelled after me. “Damn it.”
Crouching down low to keep as hidden as possible, I pushed through the tall grass to get a better view. I knew I was trespassing, but I needed to do something. My heart pounded harder and harder with every step I took, my lungs tightening as I tried to keep my breathing quiet and steady, and my hands and legs trembled with the fear of being caught. Stopping when I felt I was a safe distance away, I watched until I couldn’t take anymore. I knew I wouldn’t be able to stop him on my own; I’d need help. Lilah had been right to try and stop me. Why didn’t I listen? I was such a stubborn asshole.
Being sure to stay crouched as low into the tall grass as possible, I started backing away from the scene. I was doing all right, too, until my left foot came down and a twig snapped loudly. I held my breath, clenching my eyes and silently hoping I hadn’t just alerted Charles to my presence.
One at a time, I opened my eyes, only to find Charles and his dog staring in my direction while the mustang saw his opportunity to pull the lead free and run to the far end of the rickety round pen they were in. My entire body froze as my heart leaped into my throat, and my stomach rolled; I’d been caught trespassing by a man who quite obviously had a violent streak, and he had his sights set on me.
“Hey!” he shouted, his voice carrying all the way across his land. “I don’t know who you are, but you realize you’re on private property, don’t you?”
I breathed a quiet sigh of relief when he didn’t recognize me from so far away and took another shaky step backward and away from the mess I had walked into. I crouched even lower, hoping that I could shroud myself completely in the overgrown grass.
“You’ve got about thirty seconds to get the hell off my land before I start shooting!” he warned.
There was no way I was making it back to where I’d left Lilah in that time. I could only hope it was an empty threat. The minute I heard the cocking of a shotgun, though, I found my legs, turning and running as fast as they would take me toward the fence.
Unfortunately, I didn’t quite make it before the first shot was fired.
Chapter 22. Rescue Mission
Ransom moved smoothly around the arena, which was shocking considering how wound up he was as I got him ready for our session. We moved at a steady pace, counter-clockwise, as Tom watched on from the center of the indoor arena after setting up several jumps. Ever since Madison had hurt herself in my first week on the ranch, I’d been working with Tom on getting Ransom over higher and higher rails—especially after learning what Madison had in store for him.
Even though she’d given Ransom to me months ago (something I still had trouble believing from time to time), I had every intention of continuing his training so she could still show him. On paper, he was still her horse after all.
“He looks good, Jensen. Why don’t you try that combination to warm him up, and then we’ll raise them half a foot,” Tom suggested just before a loud bang was heard from far away.
Ransom’s ears perked forward, and his head shot up for the briefest of seconds before he refocused on what I was asking of him. After all, it wasn’t an uncommon sound out here; there were several old vehicles in the area that had a tendency of backfiring, so none of us thought anything of it.
I was just rounding the far corner when my phone vibrated in my pocket. Normally, I wouldn’t answer it, but something felt off. My body stiffened, and my stomach flipped with unease as the phone continued to buzz against my thigh.
“Hey, Tom? Hold up a sec, okay?” I halted Ransom abruptly and stood in the stirrups to reach for my phone. Lilah? “Hello?”
“Jensen,” Lilah whispered frantically into the phone, and my entire body was suddenly on high alert; I could hear the fear in her voice and knew that something was terribly wrong. There was only one other time I’d ever heard Lilah’s voice tremble like that: right after Robert attacked her, and she was afraid he’d come back to finish what he’d started.
I tried to tell myself I was over-reacting, because Lilah was with Madison …
Unless …
The contents in my stomach churned, and my fears were confirmed when she spoke again. “You need to come here now. I think Madison’s in trouble.”
“Where are you?” I demanded, already having my suspicions.
Lilah hummed very briefly. “Um, I don’t know who owns the place, it’s just down the road from you—”
I didn’t need to hear anymore. The phone fell from my hands and into the dirt of the indoor arena. “Tom, open the door … now.” Tom must have heard the distress in my own voice because he didn’t question me, he simply rushed to the arena door that led outside and slid it open, stepping out of the way as I raced Ransom outside.
As soon as we were through the door, I pushed Ransom forward into a gallop, and we rounded the corner to the main stretch of road. I continued to race forward until I saw the dark blond head of my sister. But Madison was nowhere to be seen.
“Fuckfuckfuck!” I called out, nudging Ransom a little more to extend his already long gait. I was at Lilah’s side in less than a minute from first spotting her and had barely stopped Ransom before I dismounted and looked around for Madison, removing my helmet and dropping it at my feet. It wasn’t until I continued to look that I saw Bones at my feet, sniffing the ground like he knew so
mething was amiss. “Where is she? What the hell happened?”
“She went out there.” Lilah pointed to Charles’ pasture, and I flipped the fuck out.
With what had to look like crazy-eyes, I stared at my sister. “And you just fucking let her? Holy shit, Lilah!”
“I told her to wait!” Lilah called after me, her voice full of fear and remorse, as I hopped the creaking fence with ease while Bones slipped through the bottom two rungs and followed me.
I felt bad for losing my cool with her; it wasn’t like this was her fault. No, Madison made the decision to go in there all by herself. It upset me, but the worry I felt was much more prominent.
I had only taken a few more steps before I spotted the top of Madison’s head less than twenty yards away from me. I panicked when I saw Charles scouring the tall, unkempt grass with his pit bull at his side and a shotgun in his hands. It wasn’t until that moment that I realized it wasn’t a vehicle backfiring that I’d heard; it was his shotgun … and Madison was in his field. On the ground.
The contents in my stomach churned again, but I didn’t have time to think pessimistically; I needed to get his attention away from her.
“Hey!” I shouted after signalling Bones to take off, putting my hands up the minute Charles raised the gun to me. I thought for sure he’d see me as non-threatening and lower the weapon, but he only smirked and cocked his head to the side.
“Well, well, well,” he said through an evil chuckle. “If it’s not the Landry’s farm-boy. You realize you’re trespassing on private property, don’t you?”
Quickly glancing toward the area Madison was in, I saw the grass rustle, her head moving carefully through the grass, and I breathed a sigh of relief. She’s fine, she’s fine, she’s fine …
“I’m sorry, Charles. It’s just, Madison and I were out for a walk, and our dog chased a gopher into your field. Knowing that he and Vlad don’t get along, we thought it best to come after him.” The man fucking hated me, that much was obvious by the way he eyed me up and down, and I wasn’t his biggest fan either. I hated that I was giving off the impression of being afraid of him, because I wasn’t. What I was afraid of was the fact that I was staring down the barrel of the shotgun the coward was hiding behind.
“What’s with the gun?” I asked, slowly lowering my hands to let him see that I wasn’t afraid of him. He hesitated to lower it, but eventually did, probably understanding that if he were to shoot me he’d have cops swarming the place. And if his dealings were as shady as Madison and I suspected, well then, that was something he wouldn’t want happening.
“Thought I saw somethin’,” he replied, looking smug, like he knew I was lying.
“Someone?” I amended, feeling pretty damn pissed off that he’d fired a shotgun around—or at—Madison. My vision was starting to blur as I saw red; I wanted to rip this fucker apart.
Charles’ eyes started to scan the area, looking for his trespasser—whose identity I was willing to bet he knew—and my gaze followed over to where I’d last seen Madison. I didn’t see the grass moving anywhere around us, I didn’t see or hear anything other than the slight breeze whistling. Where the hell was sh—
“I found him!” I heard her announce from close behind me.
Charles craned his neck to look around me, and I was hesitant to turn my back on him in order to make sure she was okay. It took everything in me to not turn, but I was afraid of what he might do if I did. It wasn’t until I felt her hand slip into mine, using my body as a shield, that I felt most of my body relax. She’s fine, she’s fine, she’s fine, I repeated to myself again.
I gave her hand a squeeze before addressing Charles again. “Okay, so we’ll be going now.” While I still wanted to rip his head off, I knew I needed to get Madison the hell out of there.
“Wait,” Madison said quietly, and I shot her a look that said, “are you fucking kidding me, right now?”
“No,” I stated firmly, hoping she’d hear just how fucking serious I was about this. “We’re leaving … now.”
Madison nodded, quickly submitting to my demand with a whisper. “Okay.”
We were just slipping through the fence rails with Bones when Madison lifted her head and glared at Charles. “By the way, Charles, that appy stallion isn’t looking so good. You might want to call a vet to come and take a look at him. I’ve got the number of a good one if you’d prefer I call.”
I was struck dumb by her comment, raising my eyes to Charles. “He’s still here?”
For a split second, Charles looked panicked, but he managed to mask it as he backed away. “What goes on around here is nobody’s business. Heed your own advice, farm-boy, and keep off my land.”
Once we were through the gate, I hauled ass to where we’d left Lilah and Ransom partially shrouded by the trees, pulling Madison behind me. “Hey! Slow down; I can’t—”
Probably a little too roughly, I turned around and pulled her into my arms, my hands roaming over her back and down her sides until I was undoing her jacket to see if she’d been hit at all. My hands trembled as they moved over her body, lifting her shirt and exposing her swollen belly slightly to inspect her skin, lifting the hair covering her neck only to find soft, unmarred flesh. She’s fine, she’s fine, she’s fine. I made a few more passes, tugging at her with fear and frustration when she’d finally had enough.
“Jensen, what are you—?”
“What the hell is the matter with you?” I shouted, stepping back and looking at her in a fit of rage. “Do you even understand what the fuck could have happened to you? Do you have no sense of self-preservation, whatsoever?”
“Jensen—” Lilah started to say, but I cut her off.
“He had a gun, Madison. A fucking gun. He fired it … at you!”
Madison looked down at her hands on her stomach, ashamed. “I know,” she whispered.
“DO YOU?”
“Jensen, calm d—”
“Don’t, Lilah,” I warned before turning back to Madison. “We’re going home.”
Madison nodded once, still unable to look me in the eyes. I told Lilah to ride Ransom back to the ranch. He was tired from our session and then our frantic run, so I knew he wouldn’t cause her any trouble.
Not that it surprised me, but it was a pretty quiet journey back to the ranch. Madison walked a few feet ahead of me, staying next to Lilah on Ransom. I didn’t mind, because it allowed me to keep a watchful eye on them both. While I knew they couldn’t possibly get into any more trouble, I wasn’t taking any fucking chances.
“Are you okay?” I heard Lilah whisper to Madison, who only nodded in response. “He was just scared, you know. He gets a little … crazy when people he loves are threatened.”
Madison’s response was short and said with a sigh of defeat. “Yeah.”
Inside my body was a hurricane of warring emotions, and it felt like they were tearing me apart. I hated to hear her so upset, but at the same time, I couldn’t forget that she could have been killed only a handful of minutes ago. It was frustrating that she had been so fucking careless.
When we reached the barn and I saw Jeff emerge from the barn, I took the reins from Lilah after she dismounted and handed them to him. “Jeff, would you mind brushing Ransom down? I need to talk to Madison.” I looked toward Madison, and as she turned to face me, I found that her eyes were slightly bloodshot and red around the rims. In addition to that, she seemed shocked by my clipped tone, but never argued. “Alone.”
Dropping her head, she said goodbye to Lilah and turned for the house.
“Lilah, I know you had a lesson planned, but maybe you should go on home,” I said. “Thank you for calling me. I’m sorry if I seemed angry with you.”
Lilah shook her head. “You were freaked out. I get it.” She paused. “But, Jensen? I don’t think she thought she’d be seen. She may be impulsive, but I don’t think she’d purposefully put herself or that baby in harm’s way like that.”
“It doesn’t change the fact th
at she did, though,” I reminded her before groaning and running my fingers through my hair. “God this day’s been one shit storm after another. First, running into Kaylie earlier—”
“Wait … what?” Lilah asked, completely stunned. “What do you mean you ran into Kaylie?”
“Madison didn’t tell you?” Lilah shook her head. “Yeah, after our appointment this morning, we ran into her. I’m sure Madison just didn’t want to upset you.”
“What happened?” Sighing, I briefly filled Lilah in on the run-in with Kaylie before she slapped me upside the head. “What the hell is wrong with you?” she demanded as I rubbed my arm. “You didn’t say anything while she was ripping Madison apart?”
“Lilah, it all happened so damn fast, they didn’t really give me the chance to—”
Lilah didn’t just stop at hitting me; she shoved me too. “So interrupt!”
“And say what? Madison had it all under control.”
Looking at me like I was stupid, Lilah crossed her arms. “You coulda told Kaylie to shut the hell up and then, oh, I don’t know, walked the fuck away before she said the things she said. Did you even think about how your keeping silent might have made Madison feel?”
I thought back to this morning and instantly felt like shit. It never should have escalated to where it did; I should have just taken Madison and gone home. I already knew that what Kaylie said upset Madison—how could it not have?
“Oh shit, you’re right. What do I do now?”
“Just … deal with one thing at a time,” Lilah suggested. “Considering what happened with Kaylie is in the past, maybe deal with what happened now, and then talk to her about your stupidity later.”
“You’re right.” I sighed. “Look, you should probably head home. It’s been a long day.”
With a nod, Lilah hugged me before making her way to her car. I thanked Jeff once more before heading to the house to talk to Madison, and on my way, I ran into Wayne.
