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His feet wouldn't move fast enough.
46
Her heart beat so fast she thought she'd pass out. It was that distressed sound she'd heard this morning when Spencer had the antenna in the barn. They were scared.
She opened the service door and stepped inside. She flipped the light switch on, but nothing happened. Up and down she clicked the switch, but the lights wouldn't go on. She pressed her hands to her back pockets, but she'd forgotten to grab her phone. "Shit."
She opened the tack room door and turned the switch on in there. Enough light glowed out to illuminate a portion of the barn. Enough for her to make her way to the horses. That's when she heard, "Don't take one more step toward these horses or I'll kill all of them."
"What?"
"You heard what I said."
Her brain scrambled. Who was this? His voice was familiar. "Case, is that you?"
She dared to take a step closer. Her eyes were beginning to adjust but the fear running through her body had the goosebumps on her arms raised higher than a kite. Her breathing came in spurts. "What do you want?"
"I want you to stop meddling in things that don't concern you."
Her brain snapped and cleared. "Craig?"
"I want you gone. You've created a mess that will take me years to clean up."
"The change is happening, Craig. You can't stop it."
"The fuck I can't.” His face came into view. It was contorted, his mouth was a set line of determination she’d never seen before. “This is my mountain. Do you understand? Mine. It's my birthright. I waited years to be the president of Hickory Hills. My father was part of the resistance that formed the BRR. I'll not step aside and let some little bitch that never set foot here before suddenly waltz in and take it all away from me."
"I haven't taken anything away from you. The people want change. Your people want peace."
"WE HAD PEACE." His voice was so loud the horses spooked and kicked the stalls.
She swallowed the hot rock that had formed in her throat but she conjured her true negotiating voice. "Can't you see they want something different?"
"It's not your concern. You don't even live here. You’re just the whore that buck inside the house is using until he gets all he wants from you."
Her body shook as his ugly words spewed from his nasty mouth. "Gerard and Jasiah want peace."
"They don't fucking know what they want. Gerard is spineless. My wife's family wasn't raised to take over something as important as this. They are not my blood. Not my seed."
"But they are now in charge. In your absence they are in charge."
"What the fuck is wrong with your head woman? I'm not absent. I’m standing right here."
"But you aren't up there."
"I know where I am you fucking twat." His breathing came in short bursts.
Her stomach rolled. She was also just about finished with his name calling. She'd dealt with a scared stubborn horse and was successful. She'd deal with this asshole now. A sound came from the back of the barn and Craig whirled around. It was the first time she'd actually seen where he was standing.
Harper kicked at her stall again and Craig yelled. "SHUT THE FUCK UP YOU MISERABLE BAG OF GLUE."
Everleigh inched forward. She knew where he stood now. If the horses would calm down she could hear him too, but they were stressed.
Another noise sounded from the back of the barn and the back door slid open. "Who the fuck is back there?"
"Craig. This stops now."
"Gerard. You've got to be fucking kidding me. You're not going to stop me from doing anything."
