Chapter 42
Chapter Forty-two
Cormac
I checked the clock one more time.
Still late.
Not worryingly so, but Zara was pretty good about keeping on schedule, and I wouldn’t expect Zane to be willing to stay out any longer than he had to. They should’ve been back an hour ago, and Zara wasn’t answering my calls on the walkie.
Javier wasn’t in his office when I checked, the lights shut off for the night. I was too antsy to sit and wait for them to come back, so I decided to head down to the barn and meet them.
Just as I turned from Javier’s doorway, Melanie started down the hall, a clipboard clutched to her chest. Her steps stuttered when she spotted me.
I moved to the side, holding my arm out. “Go right ahead.”
“I’m just returning the schedule to Javier’s office,” she said, tucking her hair behind her ear.
“He’s not in.”
“Oh, I know.” Her tone was as dry as the desert, but she’d been angry with me since I’d broken up with Victoria, and there was nothing I could do about that. As long as she did her job, we could coexist.
She went on. “He had to leave early for a doctor’s appointment. He put me in charge of the guide schedule in case any guests had questions.”
“I see.” I nodded toward the clipboard. “Zara took Mrs. Keller out on the east trail, didn’t she? They’re not back yet. I was thinking about riding out to meet them to make sure all’s well.”
Annoyance flickered across her features as she peered down at the clipboard. “They—” Cutting herself off, she sucked in her cheek, making her lips purse. “Actually, there was a last-minute change. They ended up taking the north trail out to the ridge.”
“Really?” I scratched the back of my neck, confused. “The north trail is a lot more challenging.”
Zara and Mrs. Keller could handle it, but Zane wasn’t a rider. I wouldn’t have expected Zara to make a choice like that. It might’ve been Mrs. Keller’s idea. She could be quite convincing when she wanted to be.
She shrugged. “That’s probably why they’re late, but you should ride out there and check. You know, to make sure they’re not in trouble. You never know around here.”
“Right.” I nodded, tamping down the edge of panic slicing into my gut. It’d do me no good to let my imagination run away from me. “I’m going to do just that. Thanks, Melanie.”
She gave me a tight smile. “Of course.”
She looked like she had something else to say, but when she didn’t come right out with it, I spun on my heel, done with waiting around. I booked it down the hall, through the lobby and out of the resort.
Outside, the air had cooled. The sun hovered low, stretching long shadows across the grounds, but there was still a good deal of light. I wasn’t worried.
Well…not really.
When I reached the barn, a couple hands were watering the horses. They noticed me, giving me waves as they went about doing their jobs. I moved straight for Dusty’s stall. She lifted her head the moment she saw me, soft-brown eyes alert, ready for anything.
“Hey, girl.” I reached for her halter. “We’re taking a quick ride.”
I worked as fast as I could at securing her saddle without getting sloppy. I checked everything twice out of habit then grabbed a flashlight and clipped my radio to my belt.
Still nothing from Zara on the walkie.
Tom, Caleb’s right-hand man, was heading into the barn as I exited. He flicked the bill of his hat. “You headed out on a ride?”
“Meeting up with Zara,” I explained. “They should have been back over an hour ago. I thought I’d head out on the trail to make sure they’re doing okay.”
“You never know what could keep ‘em. No doubt they’re on their way.”
“No doubt,” I agreed without feeling it. “We’ll probably all be back soon.”
“I’ll keep a lookout,” he said, sending me on my way.
A few minutes later, Dusty and I were moving at a steady lope toward the north trailhead.
A ways out on the trail, I spotted a plume of smoke rising in the distance, though, as far off as it was, it wasn’t too concerning. A few years back, a wildfire had burned about four-hundred acres on the ranch, but it hadn’t come anywhere near any of our structures or animals.
Fires happened. The land out here was so dry in the summer it became a tinderbox. A bolt of lightning or the smallest spark could burst the tumbleweeds into flames.
Worry niggled at me anyway. Seemed like a bad omen to see that smoke when Zara was out here, running late, not answering on her walkie.
I pushed Dusty a little faster.
If they’d taken the overlook route, I should’ve seen them by now. Out here, there weren’t a lot of places to hide.
I saw nothing. No riders. No glint of tack. Just empty land as far as the eye could see.
“Zara,” I muttered, scanning the horizon again.
Maybe they’d slowed down. Maybe Zane had complained his way into a break. Maybe—well, there were a lot of possibilities. More than I could think of.
I rose slightly in the saddle as we crested a small hill.
Still nothing.
I was losing light fast. Dusk always came quickly out here. One minute, it seemed like you had time, and the next, it’d all run out.
I reached for my radio. “Zara, you copy?” All I got was static.
Clipping the walkie to a strap on the saddle, I swallowed the surge of frustration.
Zara was responsible. Smarter and more capable than anyone I knew. If something was wrong, she would’ve called it in.
Unless she couldn’t.
The thought hit hard enough to steal my breath.
I nudged Dusty forward again, angling toward the ridge proper. If they’d run into trouble, they’d likely have stopped near higher ground.
“Dammit,” I breathed.
We reached the first bend of the north trail, where the path narrowed between rocky outcroppings. Dusty’s ears flicked back and forth, listening. Her nostrils flared, and I suspected she could smell the smoke on the breeze.
“Easy,” I murmured.
Dusty was as calm as they came and sensitive to her rider. Normally, that was a good thing, but my being on edge made her skittish. When a bird burst out of the bush beside us, Dusty startled, shying hard to the left. Her front hooves scrambled on loose gravel.
I grabbed for the horn, but momentum had already taken over. Her hindquarters slid, and my weight shifted wrong.
“Whoa—”
My boot caught the stirrup as she lurched, and there was no stopping my fall.
The ground came up, brutal and unforgiving, air slamming from my lungs as my shoulder hit first. My head snapped back against dirt and rock, and my leg twisted beneath me. For a split second, everything went white.
In pure panic, Dusty bolted in the opposite direction, hooves pounding away.
“Dusty!” I tried to shout, but it came out strangled.
She was gone in seconds. Only when she vanished did I remember my walkie was clipped to her saddle. Dammit.
I rolled onto my side, dragging in a painful breath. My shoulder screamed. My hip wasn’t much better. My leg was—well, I was pretty sure it was fucked.
The sky above me had darkened another shade. For a moment, I lay there, blinking at the first faint star appearing overhead, and thought Zara would have loved how pretty the sky looked right now.
It was the thought of her that cleared my mind enough to realize I couldn’t just lie here. But when I tried to push myself up, hot, bright pain shot from my knee down to my toes. Sweat pricked my forehead, and tears blurred my vision.
This wasn’t good. This really wasn’t good.
I’d move. And soon. I had no other choice. I’d just lie here a little longer, save up my strength, then figure things out.
The sun dipped lower.
Smoke continued rising.
And I lay there.
Just another minute.