Chapter Twenty-Seven
Hours later, Seth and the other two arrived back at his ranch.
They’d spent the entire day searching for Trey Bishop.
They’d combed the saloon, checked with the blacksmith whom he’d been speaking with about a couple of knives, checked with Louise at the boarding house—but no Trey.
Even Burns seemed to have no clue where he’d been staying.
Beyond the saloon the first night he was in town, at least. Or so he had said.
“I’ll take care of the horses,” Seth announced as the trio pulled up next to the corral. “Y’all check on the girls.”
Henry and Jack grunted in agreement and dismounted, tying their horses to the topmost bar of the corral. They began walking to the ranch house, and Seth dismounted from Skip and led him over to the corral, only to see—Suzanna gone?
Suddenly he felt a terrible sinking feeling in his gut.
“Oh, no…” he whispered before tying Skip off quickly. He charged inside, passing Jack and Henry.
“Seth? What’s the matter?” Henry sounded worried, but Seth barely heard him.
As soon as he burst through his front door, he heard sobs. Etta was in the sitting room, crying in the chair to the fire. Ada stood beside her, looking horribly pale, brushing a soft hand over her head. From the looks of it, they’d been crying a while.
“What happened?” Seth barked, frantic. “Where’s June?”
“She’s been missing over an hour,” Etta said. “She’s gone to find him. I know it.”
“She knew we would stop her,” Ada sniffled. “We didn’t even hear her leave.”
For a moment, the world tilted as Seth struggled to process what he’d just heard.
Henry and Jack came in. Seth barely registered Henry’s quiet attempt at calming the women or Jack’s muttered curses as he slammed his hand against the table in frustration.
He was frozen, staring out the window as though he might see her there outside.
“What do you mean she went to find him?” he demanded of Etta, finally snapping out of his daze. His voice was rougher than he intended, and he stepped a little too threateningly toward Etta. Henry moved quickly between Seth and Etta’s seat, but Seth ignored him.
“Why would she do that?” he repeated.
Etta lifted her tear-streaked face. “You know she—she blames herself,” she stammered. “For all of it.” Her voice cracked. “If she went to him, she could fix it. Protect us.”
Ada added, “June’s always been like that. Always putting herself last. She’d do anything to keep us safe.”
Seth’s chest burned. He was furious—and afraid. Of course June would do something so reckless, so selfless.
It was clear that she was strong and stubborn, but this? This was too far.
What was she thinking?
“Doggone it,” he growled, slamming a fist against the wall. The thud echoed across the room, and his knuckles roared in pain. “Why didn’t anyone stop her?”
“She snuck out,” Ada said. “We didn’t know she was gone! She said she wanted air!”
Seth didn’t wait to hear anymore. He was already heading for the door.
What were you thinking, June?
His mind raced through the possibilities of where she might be, but he knew one thing was for certain: he couldn’t lose her. Not now, when he’d just begun to realize what she meant to him.
“Seth, wait!” Jack called after him, but Seth didn’t slow down. Footsteps pounded on the porch behind him as the other two hurried to catch up.
He didn’t care. All that mattered now was finding June.
And he was going to do it, whether anyone else came with him or not. The only thing that mattered was her. He was glad he hadn’t unsaddled Skip yet. His hands shook as he mounted the horse and picked up the reins.
“Where would she go?” Jack shouted from behind him. “How did we not run into her on our way back?” He and Henry both mounted their mares and trotted up alongside him.
“I don’t know,” Seth admitted in frustration. But he didn’t want to sit around and think while Trey could be escaping with June. He tapped his heels into Skip’s sides and set off at a canter down the front drive, the others following closely behind.
If she was on her way to find Trey Bishop, wouldn’t they have seen her? According to the girls, she’d left a little over an hour ago. That meant he and the other men would have seen her on their way back to the ranch…
Seth’s blood went cold. Did she run into him somewhere along the way?
Trey Bishop wouldn’t be staying somewhere obvious.
Not if he was there for malice, which he was, judging by Asher Burns’ account.
According to Burns, Bishop had been staying upstairs at the saloon for a couple of days, but had gone out somewhere else the night before.
He hadn’t even told his right-hand man where he was going.
Something seemed off about that. Seth still wasn’t sure whether or not to trust Asher Burns. Even if Burns planned to skip down with Hazel, it was likely he was still scared of Bishop. Would he really give up all the information he had, knowing it could be traced back to him?
Seth muttered curses under his breath, racking his brain for places Trey might take June that were out of the way, isolated, perfect for holding a captive. Almost at once, he recalled the old abandoned cabin out by the creek, about a half hour ride east.
Maybe there? It had been a hideout for him back when he was younger, before he went off to war.
“The cabin,” Seth said sharply, steering Skip eastward. “If she’s not there, we’ll figure it out. But that’s where we start.”
He was desperate. His breath was already ragged, his gut a whirlwind of motions. He had to stop himself from getting too worked up. Deep breaths. In and out. He was going to have to get it together if he was going to find her.
The only sound he heard for a half hour was the pounding of hooves against the dirt, but Seth’s thoughts were more than loud enough to keep him occupied. June was gone, right when he found out just how much she meant to him. If that wasn’t ironically cruel, he didn’t know what was.
Finally, they entered a thick band of trees at the edge of Seth’s property, and the sound of running water became audible—the creek.
A few minutes later, the cabin came into view at the heart of the woods ahead of them.
Seth dug his heels into Skip’s sides, sending the horse surging forward, until they were just ten feet or so from the front porch.
His heart hammered in his chest as he pulled Skip to a halt. The windows were dark and uninviting and there weren’t any tracks in the dirt. He growled and dismounted swiftly, motioning for the others to stay quiet as they rode up behind him.
He drew the gun at his side and moved toward the door, although he already knew she wasn’t there.
The door creaked when he pushed it open, and the stench of stale air hit him like a slap in the face.
The cabin was empty.
He gestured for Henry and Jack to dismount.
“Check the rooms,” he said before going out the front and around to the back of the cabin.
There were no tracks. No sign of anyone being there. He sighed heavily.
Just then, a sound from behind made him spin around, his gun raised.
“It’s us!” Henry gasped, holding his hands up.
Seth realized he was on edge. He needed to exercise more control. Flying off the handle would do nothing to help June. He nodded and put his gun at his side.
“She ain’t here,” Jack whispered, almost fearfully. “Where to next?”