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“The hell it isn’t,” I snarl and bulldoze past him.
Charlie stands when he sees me. I cup him by the face and search his eyes. “You okay?”
He shakes his head. “No, we’re not fucking okay.” His voice is frustrated.
“What happened? You hit ice?”
“No. Someone tried to run us off the damn road.”
“Start talking,” I order. “Now.”
Anger creases his face. “We were headed back to the ranch and someone sideswiped the truck. Came out of nowhere. He hit me on the left and it aimed us right at the cliff’s edge. I pumped those goddamn breaks, but he came back and hit me once more for good measure.”
Charlie pulls Ruby up beside him. He looks more shaken than she does. And I know why. He almost lost her. Again.
A swear blasts out of his mouth. “Motherfucker tried to run us off the road, I’m goddamn sure of it. I barely got Ruby out before I got myself out.”
“Trying to play hero,” Ruby admonishes softly. With a grunt, Charlie tucks her under his arm.
A white-hot anger claws its way under my skin. Beside me, Dakota tenses.
“No sign of the other vehicle,” Richter says, stepping into the circle. “Guy fled the scene.”
“You see the guy?” I ask Charlie.
“Bastard had a trucker hat pulled low.” Charlie growls and shakes his head. “I gave Richter the best description I could.”
“No other witnesses? Plates?” I ask, glancing toward the smoking truck.
“No. Not even a partial.” Richter nods my way, knowing I’m not happy. “His car got it bad too, so we’ll be on the lookout for an older Tahoe with front-end damage. We’ll find it, Montgomery.”
“You need a hospital?” I look at Charlie, not missing his fingers on Ruby’s wrist, monitoring her heartbeat.
“No,” Ruby says before Charlie can answer. Then, seeing us all stare at her, she draws herself up and glares at Charlie. Her bottom lip sticks out in a stubborn pout. “Cowboy, no. I’m fine.”
“Come on.” Dakota holds out her arm to Ruby. “We’ll give you a ride back to the ranch.”
Charlie and I watch them walk off. Then I lean into him. “I want everyone in this family staying close. You hear me?”
“Things are fucked.” Charlie drags a hand down his dark beard. His eyes flick in the direction of Ruby. “They have been ever since Koty set foot on the ranch.”
I stiffen. “You asking me to turn her out?”
“Fuck you, Davis.” A muscle jerks in his jaw. The punch of his finger in my chest rocks me back on my boots. “I’d never ask that. I’m asking you to find this guy. Fix it.”
I take a step closer to him. Our gazes clash. “I always fix it.” My hand balls into a fist, trying to tamp down the growing shadows. The guilt. “And you goddamn know it.”
His nostrils flare. “Then do it.”
Richter’s loud boom sideswipes the rest of our conversation. “Charlie, a statement.”
“Find him,” I order Richter, swinging his way. “Fast.”
As Richter steps up to Charlie, I walk over to the side of Dead Fred’s Curve and stare down over the rocky side of thecanyon. The deep crevasse, the terrifying drop. Nausea wells in my stomach.
Ruby and Charlie—they never would have made it.
I stiffen when a hand slides over my shoulder. “This is my fault,” Dakota says in a low voice. She leans in, her body warm and firm against mine. “It’s him. I know it is.”
