Page 33 of Kobalt

I had seen him working on the barn with the rest of the crew, and I had no idea why he would return after everyone had left. He was the man I first thought looked familiar the day that I saw him. My mind raced, trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together. Where had I seen him before?

“Nah, I got everything that I need,” he remarked, smirking at me as he slowly walked further into the stable.

When his gaze narrowed at me, I recalled exactly where I saw him at—outside of my house when it was broken into and torn up. My heart hammered in my chest, and my stomach tightened in a ball of fear as I realized who he was. All this time, he had been on the farm just steps away. All this time, I’d been watching over my shoulder and dealing with anxiety, because the man I was hiding from had been watching me all along.

Now I was sure that he knew that Kobalt wasn’t here. He had probably been hiding somewhere on the property watching for the perfect moment and knew the exact moment that Kobalt left.

I grabbed a pitchfork that stood right outside of Shadow’s stall.

The man laughed. “What the hell are you gonna do with that?”

His voice was rough, like he’d chain smoked three packs of cigarettes for thirty years, but he looked to only be in his early thirties.

“What do you want? Did Kevin send you?”

He laughed. “Kevin doesn’t have the money or the power to hire a man like me. That was your first mistake.”

Well, at least I knew that he knew Kevin, which meant that only left one other person who’d sent him—Norrell.

“What was my second?” I asked, still stalling as I inched further away from Shadow’s stall and to the rear where Rebel was kept. I knew that it was a risky idea, but it was the only true chance that I had of escaping.

“Thinking that you could hide, and I wouldn’t find you.”

I reached behind myself and unhooked Rebel’s latch as I spoke loudly enough so that he wouldn’t hear the clicking of the lock mechanism being unlatched.

“If it wasn’t Kevin who sent you, then I want to know who sent you and why? I haven’t done anything to anyone, and I really don’t want any trouble. Besides, Kobalt will be back soon, and Harold, our caretaker, is on his way up.”

He laughed. “No, he’s not. Kobalt’s gone to meet with that realtor about the farm he’s interested in. I heard him and Royal talking about it, and one bullet to that old ass caretaker’s head and that problem is solved.”

I shoved the stall door open and tapped Rebel with the pitchfork just as the man finished his sentence. Rebel bolted out in the man’s direction and knocked him over. I rushed to Patches stall, kicked a metal bucket over to startle him, and he bolted from his stall. I rushed to Honey’s stall and clanged the pitchfork against the latch to get the same response, before I ran back to Shadow at the front, who was already riled up over the commotion.

I mounted Shadow, shifted my weight, squeezed him with my legs, and let out his reins. He took off in a gallop, and I whispered a silent prayer that the bullets the man mentioned didn’t materialize and hit the horses or me.

I heard the gunshot ring out just as we cleared the building. Terror gripped my heart before it froze in my chest. I could barely breathe or see, but Shadow knew what he was doing as he raced down the drive and toward the trees. Not long after, I heard another gunshot, but thankfully, we weren’t hit. The other horses had gone further ahead of us, so I knew that they were safe.

I prayed that no one came up from the orchard after possibly hearing the noise. I didn’t want anyone to get hurt because I had brought trouble their way.

Just as we neared the tree line, I could hear a car zooming up behind us. I steered Shadow into the trees to give us an advantage that he wouldn’t have.

Shadow slowed down to a trot before he finally came to a stop. I hopped off him because I could hear the man’s footsteps. I didn’t want to take the risk that he would shoot at us again and injure or kill Shadow in the process. It felt like I ran forever before I found a suitable hiding place.

I hid in a thicket of shrubs and prayed that God would cover me until the man either gave up or help arrived. Help would have to arrive because men like him didn’t give up until they completed their goal. Whether he planned to capture me and take me to someone or if he planned to kill me, I wasn’t sure. I was hopeful that he didn’t plan to kill me right away, because he’d had ample opportunity the day that he was outside of my home, the days before that when he was just watching me, and just now, but he hadn’t taken that chance. That led me to believe that maybe he was supposed to take me somewhere or to someone, yet that wasn’t a risk I wanted to take.

“Come on, beautiful. You don’t have to make this hard. I promise, I won’t hurt you.” He spoke in a smooth, comforting voice, as if he believed that would coax me out of hiding.

Another shot rang out after he spoke those words, and he laughed. An animal scurried from behind a tree, and I placed my hands over my ears.

He kept calling for several minutes, and the more he called, the closer he drew to me. I struggled not to cry out loud, although tears leaked down my face. It felt like my body was shutting down on me, and I feared that I was about to piss my pants.

“There you are, beautiful.” My mouth dropped open as my body trembled in terror. He winked and kneeled before me. “That was nasty business back there, baby girl. I could’ve gotten hurt by one of those animals or even killed by that crazy one. That wouldn’t have been good at all, but, thankfully, I’m still here to complete my mission.”

“Please don’t hurt me,” I begged.

“I don’t care how you get it, but I guess I’ll give you a choice. You want this bullet between your eyes, or do you want the chance to run? That way, you won’t even see it coming. By the time you feel anything, it will be too late.”

I saw the shadow creeping from behind, but I still struggled to breathe, still strained to remove my gaze from the man’s.

The closer the shadow crept, the oxygen returned to my lungs, and my brain cells fired off again. Yet, I kept my gaze trained on the man.