Chapter 44
Chapter Forty-four
Caleb
I wiped sweat from my brow, urging my UTV through the far pasture, scanning the fence line for stragglers. Cattle still wandered loose, and every second I was out here felt like chasing shadows. It was an exercise in frustration, and I was about ready to throw in the towel for the day.
From nowhere, Bill’s truck came barreling over the ridge in a plume of dust, sending me on high alert. He never drove like that unless something was wrong.
I braked hard as he slid to a stop beside me and jumped down before the engine cut off, his face ashen under the brim of his hat. “Caleb…I don’t know how to tell you this. Jesse’s been taken. Seems Shelby’s man, Kent, has him.”
The world tilted sideways. For a second, I couldn’t breathe. “What? Explain.”
More information rolled out of him in short, frantic bursts. “Alice called me when she couldn’t get in touch with you. She’s with Shelby. They’re following Kent. Shelby thinks he’s headed toward Elkhorn Lake. Sheriff’s on the way—”
I didn’t hear the rest. My hands were already on the wheel, my boot slamming the pedal to the floor. The UTV lurched forward, engine growling, tires spitting dirt.
My boy. My son. Jesse.
The words pounded through my skull in rhythm with my heartbeat. All I could see was his face. All I could feel was the terror clawing at my chest. I pushed harder, faster, the machine bucking beneath me as I tore across the fields, cutting every corner I could.
Hang on, Jess. Just hang on. Your dad’s coming, kid.
I was halfway across the last pasture when a mare bolted out of the tree line, wild-eyed and spooked.
“Shit—” I jerked the wheel hard. Too hard.
I skidded sideways, caught the edge of a rut, and tipped. The world snapped into chaos, the sky and earth flipping in a blur. My shoulder slammed against the roll bar, air punched from my lungs, then nothing but the violent tumble and the roar in my ears.
When the UTV finally crashed to a stop, silence rushed in, broken only by the ringing in my skull and distant rumble of Bill’s engine. I tried to move, but white-hot pain lanced through my chest. Black danced at the edges of my vision, and hot copper filled my mouth.
Jesse.
That was my last thought before it all dimmed then faded to nothing.