Page 55 of Beau

“Yeah, Killian’s with me. We had a call earlier about a stray steer on a ranch and we didn’t find anything, so we’re heading back to the department now.”

“I’d really appreciate your help,” Beau said gratefully.

“No problem. Just give me the address and we’ll be on our way.”

After sharing the directions for the abandoned property where Simpson had left the horse, Beau smiled when Luke informed him, they were already turning around and heading there.

As he pulled onto the driveway of the deserted property, Beau couldn’t help but curse again at the sight of how deep the snow was. Since no one lived here, the grounds hadn’t been plowed and any tracks left by Simpson when he dropped off the horse were long gone. Damn it all. And with twenty acres to cover, Beau was grateful for his brother and Killian’s help.

He made it to the old house, that looked like a gust of wind would topple it and parked. He pulled on his gloves before stepping out, then he buttoned his coat, and trudged through the snow to the wood fence.

Beau removed his binoculars from his pocket and scanned the pasture. He was hoping to see some hoofprints, but he didn’t see anything but snow.

“Damn it.” He turned when he heard another vehicle and was happy to see his brother’s truck pulling to a stop beside his. Then he watched as both men stepped from the truck, pulling on their gloves, and then headed toward him. He grinned when he saw Luke shaking his head.

“You are out of your mind, big brother,” Luke said, grinning.

“If this was your case, you’d be doing the same thing.”

“Hell, it’s not my case and I’m doing the same thing.” Luke sighed.

“Hey, Killian.”

“Beau. I hope we can find this horse. More snow is predicted.” Killian looked around. “It can’t have much to eat.”

Beau clenched his jaw. “I know. That’s why I have to find it. If wolves haven’t gotten to it.”

“Let’s go in different directions. Make sure your phones are on, so if one of us finds it, we can let the others know,” Luke suggested.

“Sounds good. I’ll head east,” Killian said. “Maybe we’ll be lucky and see tracks.”

“That would be great, but with the way it’s snowing, they’ll be covered in no time,” Beau said, then looked at Luke. “I’ll head north, take the west, and hopefully one of us will find it.”

As the men went in different directions, Beau held his hat on his head as the wind picked up. He had to be crazy being out in this, but it was part of the job. The horse needed to be found, and soon. Trudging through the deep snow was slow going, but he knew that Luke and Killian would keep going, so he had to. His jeans were getting soaked on the bottom and he was damn cold.

Fifteen minutes passed and his phone buzzed. He looked at it to see Killian’s number and prayed he found the horse.

“Killian?”

“I found a trail of blood.”

“Shit. Can you follow it?”

“I am. I have my weapon ready in case there are wolves. I hope this doesn’t lead to the horse.”

“Yeah, you and me both. Let me know. I’ll keep going for now.”

“Okay.” Killian disconnected.

Beau called Luke and told him what Killian said, and to keep going until they knew for sure that blood wasn’t from the horse. Just then his phone buzzed again, and he took a deep breath when he saw it was Killian again.

“What did you find?”

“It’s a deer. No sign of the horse being here. I’ll keep going.”

Beau sighed with relief. “Okay. Keep me posted.”

“Yes, sir.”

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