Chapter Fifteen #2
The barn seemed like the logical place to start. Willow spent half her life there, checking on horses, working with residents. But as he walked through the main aisle, calling her name, dread built in his gut.
Crew poked his head out of a stall in the back. “Hey, Dutch. What’s going on?”
“Have you seen Willow?”
“Not since early this afternoon. Is she back with the feed yet? Apple was pretty upset about only getting a partial feed.”
Decker’s blood turned to ice. “Back with the feed? What feed?”
Crew picked up on the roughness in his tone and stepped out of the stall he was cleaning. “The specialty feed for Apple. Willow said she’d take care of it.”
“Fuck! When did she leave?”
“I heard her truck start maybe three, four hours ago.”
Panic tried to claw its way up Decker’s throat, but he forced it down. He had to find Carson.
He rushed out of the barn and sprinted to the office. The golden yellow light glimmered in the windows, highlighting the snowflakes in the air.
He burst through the door. Carson whirled, immediately reading Decker’s face. “What’s wrong?” he barked out.
“Willow’s not here. Crew says she left hours ago to pick up feed.”
“Call her.”
He whipped out his phone. The line rang three times and went to voicemail. He tried a second time, then a third.
“Fuck! She’s not answering her phone.”
Carson was already pulling up a screen on the laptop. “We have trackers on all the ranch vehicles. GPS and satellite. Hold on.”
The other brothers materialized as if summoned, crowding into the office as Carson worked. Decker gripped the edge of the desk, fingers whitening on the wood, trying to ground himself while his mind screamed that something was very wrong.
“Calling the feed store now,” Colt said, phone to his ear. They all heard it ring and ring before going to voicemail. He lowered the phone. “Store’s closed.”
Of course it was. They closed at four p.m. today.
“Tracker’s pulling up.” Carson’s fingers flew over the keyboard.
“Gas tank status shows she’s not out of fuel.
Speed data says she wasn’t driving erratically.
She didn’t seem to be in a panic or have an emergency.
We can see she went to the feed store. But that’s her last known location. ” His tone sounded hollow with concern.
“Maybe she’s just out of cell range?” Theo’s brows lowered like a storm cloud over his gray eyes—eyes so much like Willow’s.
Denver’s expression was equally as grim. “The trucks have mobile hotspots specifically so they can’t lose service in remote areas. We know how it can be in these mountains.”
“We’ll drive her route.” Carson already had his keys in hand. “See if she’s broken down somewhere the signal can’t reach.”
When they scrambled, the whole house was in a flurry of activity. The women poured into the living room, asking what was going on. In as few words as possible, Decker conveyed that Willow was missing.
Decker and the Malone brothers piled into two vehicles. Decker rode with Carson, watching the GPS tracker on the laptop between them as they navigated the snow-covered route to town.
The tracker showed Willow’s truck had made it to Willowbrook Feed and Seed. That should have been reassuring, but the pit in Decker’s stomach only grew deeper.
“I don’t fucking like this,” he grated out. “We need more on Cal Hensley.”
“I know you think he had some designs on Willow. Dammit, we need a team dedicated to just the ranch.”
“He’s going to fucking regret it if he did something to her.” He curled his fingers into a fist.
“She’s not on the side of the road.” Colt’s voice came through the walkie-talkie the men carried in every vehicle. “No accidents reported on the police scanner either.”
When they reached town, the feed store was closed, dark and empty. Just as they expected.
No sign of Willow’s truck anywhere.
“Her truck’s not here. The tracker was unplugged.” Even as Decker said it, he knew it to be true. Ice flooded his veins. “Not a malfunction. Someone physically disconnected it.”
His hands were shaking, adrenaline and fear mixing into a deadly weapon of mass destruction.
They searched the area around the feed store, the loading dock, every alley and side street. No truck. No Willow. No signs of struggle, no indication of where she might have gone.
“I’m calling the police,” Theo barked out.
“And tell them what?” Carson’s voice was tight with controlled fury. “That our sister’s been missing for four hours? They’ll tell us to wait twenty-four hours before filing a report.”
“The tracker being unplugged is evidence of foul play.” Theo’s voice rose.
“We call the police, and we lose time while they ask questions we can’t answer yet.
” Decker’s response came out cold, tactical, the SEAL taking over where the terrified boyfriend wanted to fall apart.
“We need to find Calder Hensley. Cal. The guy from the feed store. The veteran who wanted into our program.”
Carson was right—they needed a bigger team. With Oaks and Gray still in Colorado, they were spread too thin.
Carson’s order grated out. “Find him, Theo.”
“Already on it,” came the reply.
Colt and Theo continued to drive every road, through the small town, the countryside and through the mountain passes while Carson and Decker paid visits to every employee of the feed store.
Not one of the five employees knew where Cal lived, only that he drove an old truck that had seen better days.
When the store owner told them the same thing, Decker’s hand snapped out of its own accord. He grabbed the owner by the shirt and backed him against the wall.
“Are you sure you don’t know where he lives? He works for you!”
Carson gripped Decker’s shoulder. “Let him go.”
“Not until he tells me what he knows.”
The man’s face mottled red like he was about to expire. He shook his head frantically.
“Decker!” Carson’s command broke through the haze of rage inside him, and he released the man, stepping back before he could shake him senseless.
The man’s chest heaved and he looked between Decker and Carson “I don’t know where he lives. He was sleeping rough when he first started working for me. Tent on the mountain. That sort of thing. He never gave me a real address. He picks up his check every other Friday.”
They returned to the ranch to continue their search. And Decker was losing his goddamn mind. He paced from one end of the office to the other. When the walls closed in on him, he paced the hall, listening to the team’s voices echoing in spurts as he passed, taking in every word they said.
They worked through the evening and into the night, unraveling every thread they could find on Calder Hensley while simultaneously coordinating with local law enforcement. But as the hours ticked by with no leads, no sightings, no contact, the hope that they’d find her quickly began to fade.
At midnight, Carson sent Decker to bed. “You need to rest.”
His mouth opened on a protest.
Carson cut across him. “You’ve been up for twenty-four hours. You’re no good to her exhausted.”
“So have you.”
“I napped on the plane. We’ll keep working.”
His heart throbbed with pain and remorse. Christ. He’d just found Willow—just made her his. Now he could lose her.
Just like Delilah.
No, not like Delilah. He had loved that woman, but this…
Willow was his heart and soul.
His shoulders sagged as he went to their room—their room now, not just Willow’s—and stood in the doorway, staring at the bed they’d shared for only a handful of nights. Her scent still lingered on the pillows, vanilla and that unique scent that made his chest ache.
He’d promised to protect her, that he’d always keep her safe. And he’d failed. He’d left her unprotected while he’d gone off to play hero for someone else.
Decker sank onto the edge of the bed, his head in his hands. The lump in his throat swelled until he could hardly breathe.
Somewhere out there, Willow was scared and alone, possibly taken by a man who’d been planning this for months. And Decker had seen all the signs, had felt his instincts screaming warnings, but none of it had been enough, or in time to stop it.
No matter what his boss told him, he wouldn’t sleep tonight. Wouldn’t rest until he found her. But as he sat in their empty room, surrounded by evidence of the life they’d just started building together, he made himself a promise.
When he found her—and he would find her—he’d never let her out of his sight again.