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“This is the Stone’s property. Private land. We’re supposed to be the only fucking ones out here today.”
Chance pulled out his cell, running his fingers over the numbers in Braille. He dialed Kaylyn’s phone. It rang once and then her voice mail came on. “Fuck, Jaris. Kaylyn isn’t picking up. It went straight to voice mail.”
“I’m calling the Stones.”
He dialed Kaylyn again. Same result. “God, please let her be okay.”
“Emmett’s phone is ringing, buddy.”
That was a good thing since reception was spotty on the ranch. Maybe that was the reason he’d gotten Kaylyn’s voice mail so quickly. She might’ve been in a dead spot.
“Hey, Emmett. This is Jaris. We heard a fucking rifle fire out here. We can’t get ahold of Kaylyn and the dogs are gone.” Jaris paused. “So nobody should be out here? That’s what we thought. We’re out on the sunrise road. She parked about a mile before the waterfall. We’re about two miles up the road from her and we’re headed her direction now.” Hearing Jaris pause again, Chance felt every tick of the clock. “Fuck. Please hurry, Emmett.” Jaris clicked off his phone. “Chance, Emmett’s on his way but he is in town with the boys and his brothers. It’ll take too much time before he can reach Kaylyn.”
“We’ve got to get to her, Jaris.” His heart pounded hard in his chest.
“Agreed.”
As they headed down the path, Chance thought about shouting commands for the dogs to return, but decided against it. Until they knew who had
fired the rifle, it was best to keep quiet.
Kip Lunceford had leukemia and wanted Belle’s bone marrow. The killer was still on the loose, and Belle lived on this ranch. Like it or not, there was a distinct possibility that the gunshot they’d heard had come from that bastard or one of his cohorts. He and Jaris had no other choice but to try to reach Kaylyn, regardless how difficult it would be without Annie and Sugar.
“If the dogs made it back to Kaylyn, she’ll be headed this way.” Jaris was clearly running through a myriad of possibilities, hoping she was safe.
“That’s true.” But after hearing the yelping, his gut told him they hadn’t.
Several minutes passed in silence. No dogs. No Kaylyn.
“Did you hear that?” Jaris asked, suddenly stopping on the path.
He listened intently, focusing all his attention on the sounds around him. “That’s a truck, but it doesn’t sound like Kaylyn’s.”
“I know.”
“Wait, Jaris. That’s two trucks.”
“I hear them, too.”
It sounded like the vehicles drove off in opposite directions.
They hastened their steps to Kaylyn.
When they got next to the waterfall, he heard Jaris stumble.
“Fuck.”
“You okay, Jaris?”
“Fine. Just a dip in the fucking road.”
Chance’s pulse shot hot through his veins. They had to work together to get to Kaylyn. “Let’s lock arms. It’ll help stabilize us.”
“Good idea, buddy. Don’t forget the path curves to the right up ahead.”
“I remember.” Being without Annie was proving more difficult than he’d imagined, but it didn’t matter. He had to get to Kaylyn and make sure she was okay.
Suddenly, they heard honking.
