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“He’d probably have gotten a kick out of this if he were here,” Boone finally added.
Eli sighed. He couldn’t remember the last time all three Murphy brothers were together. Hell, he was pretty sure neither of them had seen Ash in years.
“I miss him too,” Eli admitted. “But I’ve tried to reach out—”
“And you only get a response from his tour manager? Just because he’s a rich and famous country rock sensation doesn’t mean he wouldn’t enjoy a good old-fashioned stakeout with his brothers, right?” Boone let out a knowing laugh, but somehow Eli could tell he wasn’t quite smiling. “Maybe we need to try harder,” Boone added.
“Yeah,” Eli told him. “Maybe we do.”
Suddenly Boone’s face lit up, his monitor’s small screen flickering on. At the same time, Eli’s phone buzzed on the counter, a notification from Midnight’s stall door sensor.
“We got motion!” Boone whisper-shouted.
“Shit!” Eli hissed, realizing part of him was hoping the would-be thieves would simply give up and let him get back to his life. But where would that leave him? Always looking over his shoulder? Always wondering if there’d be any sort of justice—or, at the very least, closure—for what happened to Tess and Fury.
Both men sprang from their stools, Boone ready to block the barn door with his bike and Eli ready to sneak in from the rear. But just as quickly as the sensor alarm had gone off, it suddenly stopped.
He checked his phone. The alarm had been disabled.
“Dammit!” he growled. “Beth is in there!” How—after everything—could she be so reckless?
Boone swore as well, and the two men took off out the door of the guesthouse.
A clamoring of shouts sounded from the barn.
“She’s got the mare!”
“Rope her!”
“Yah! Midnight, go!”
The mare squealed, and before Eli and Boone could even think to block any entrance to the barn, Beth and Midnight burst into the arena, jumped the fence, and took off in the pitch-dark toward the woods. And whoever else was in the barn took off after them on a motorbike that would quickly outrun a scared horse trying to find her way in the dark.
“Give me your keys!” Eli demanded, and Boone stared at him, jaw agape.
“That wasn’t the plan!” Boone replied.
“Fuck the plan, Boone! I left Cirrus at the guest ranch, and those assholes are after Beth. I’m not letting history repeat itself.”
Boone must have realized there was no arguing with him because he stuck his hand in his pocket and produced the keys.
“Do you even know how to ride?” the younger Murphy asked as his brother snatched the keys.
“You showed me once,” Eli called over his shoulder.
“Jesus, Eli! That was, like, four years ago! And…and you need a license!”
Eli didn’t have time for technicalities. “I’m sure it’s just like…” He stopped in front of the vehicle and muttered the rest to himself. “Like riding a bike.”
He was about to turn back to his brother to tell him to call 911, but Eli already heard sirens way off down the road.
Beth. She’d not only gotten to Midnight in time, but she’d somehow managed to call the authorities before she gave chase.
Eli affixed his brother’s helmet, hopped on the bike, and slipped the key into the ignition. He surprisingly remembered how to shift into gear, and with a small but noticeable lurch forward, he was off.
Boone yelled something at him as he passed, not that Eli could hear him. He was sure it was something along the lines of Be careful! or Break my bike, and I break your face! But he guessed it was likely some happy medium between the two.
All that mattered to Eli was that Beth and Midnight made it home safe. So he rode, following the waning light of the motorbike ahead of him, his own headlight becoming increasingly dim in what seemed to be a growing fog.
