Page 67 of Operation: Chosen

“I’m so glad to see you alive.” She flung her arms around his neck. “I was sure they’d just kill me and be done with it.”

Eric had thought the same. What were Herb and Clayton hoping to accomplish by keeping them alive? There had to be something. But was it better than the fiery death he kept envisioning?

“They’ve given me no clues. I don’t know why they didn’t just finish us off at the auction, unless they didn’t want to be found out quickly, which would make sense.”

Ali fished in her back pocket and handed him her phone. “I told Lacy I would send a pin when we stopped. I did, but my battery is almost dead.”

He turned the phone on, and the battery sat at three percent. On his phone, the last minutes of battery life seemed to go the fastest.

“When was the last time you sent a text?” He glanced at the time. He had to estimate what time Clayton had taken him based on when they’d arrived at the auction and what time it was now. That meant he’d been missing for about two and a half hours.

She took back the phone and looked at the text. “When the truck stopped, about five minutes ago. The ride in the trailer was tough. I don’t think people are supposed to be back there when it’s in motion.”

“Not saying people don’t do it, but, no, I don’t think so.” He rested his hand at her waist, needing to touch her and make sure he wasn’t imagining having her with him. “How did you get caught? Herb wasn’t there when we faced Clayton. Is Officer Blake all right?”

She flinched. “I wanted to go after you even though he told me not to. I was worried that if no one went after you, no one would find you. Herb didn’t believe my story about my father. I thought I’d fooled him, but he must have recognized you when we went to talk to him before. You didn’t show your face and I was sure that with the cast, he wouldn’t be able to tell who you were from your body, but I was wrong.”

“It’s all right. We just need to get out of here now. I don’t know where we are in relation to Wayside, but I doubt there’s any way they could know where we are. That means it’s up to us.” Which meant he had to make sure Ali didn’t get hurt in the process.

“The trailer was backed into the barn when we arrived. I don’t know where we are.”

He thought he knew, but couldn’t be certain until he could look outside. “I think we’re back at the abandoned ranch, but I can’t be sure.”

The door swung open, and Herb came in. He pointed a gun at them and dipped the barrel to the floor. “Sit.”

He wasn’t a dog, and getting up off the ground quickly with his arm in a cast would to be difficult, which was probably why Herb wanted him to do it. At least now they might learn why they’d been kept alive.

Ali lowered herself by crossing her legs and slowly dropping to the ground like a queen of yoga. He wasn’t going to look half that graceful and might even look a little stupid. He crouched, his knees cracking slightly at the pressure.

“All the way down, Eric. I’m not having you lunge at me. You might only be five years younger, but I’m not taking any chances.” He cocked the pistol.

Eric complied, though he hated to. That meant Ali would be off the floor quicker than he could be and putting herself in danger first. “Okay, we’re your literal captive audience.” He stared at his former boss, wondering what could’ve happened to the man to make him do this.

“I’ve struggled to find a good horseman after you left. We had it good, you and I. I would find all the pretty horses, and you would make sure they were fit for buyers. Our system worked. But in the last few years, buyers have had less desire to take on the challenge of a horse who’s been neglected. They want a horse they can ride when they have time and ignore or just look at the rest of the time.”

Eric had noticed that the stock of neglected animals was much smaller than when he’d worked for the auction. Not even half as many. Were people taking better care of their animals? If so, that was good, but what had Herb done to keep up his income?

“That’s when I met Kameron at a casino in Wind River. He was passing through Wyoming on his way to Chicago to visit family there. Who knew that high-level gang members took road trips?” Herb laughed. “I never did. But he was a nice enough guy and told me I was missing out by focusing on horses that should be made into glue. I needed to get my hands on good horses and sell them for profit.”

“And that’s how you met Clayton.” Eric filled in the gap.

“Not until about two weeks ago. He doesn’t want to be here, and he’s headed home soon. He’s just staying with me until he can get his brother and get out of here. When I told him that I was wanting a few things from Wayside, he was all for helping me. I never dreamed that one of the things I would want would walk right up to me at the auction. But you didn’t even say hello.” Herb sneered. “I thought we parted on good terms.”

Eric had too. At least Herb hadn’t been dirty when Eric had worked for him. “What do you want from me?”

“I need someone to take care of my horses, especially now that I’m losing over half of my team. Through Kameron, I’ve met someone who is helping me get horses from California. They are virtually untraceable. It’s perfect. But they’re unbroken. Fully wild. I need someone who can break them enough to show them. I don’t care if someone gets them home and finds out they need thousands of dollars in training. That’s not my job. My job is to sell pretty horses.”

“Including mine.” Eric kept his voice low. Angering Herb while he was stuck on the floor was a bad idea. He had no weapon, no shield, no help against a gun and an angry man.

“Yours is so pretty. I could’ve gotten so much money for her if she’d been in better condition when we got her the first time.”

“So you thought that, by taking my horse, I would come find you and you’d…what? Offer me a job?” It sounded ludicrous.

“You forgot one important part.” Herb aimed the pistol at Ali.

Eric flung his arm in front of her. It wouldn’t do much except slow down a bullet, but maybe that would be enough.

“You forgot the part where I tell you that if you don’t take my offer, you’ll die. You see, I’ve gotten very rich this last year. I’m not willing to go back to doing what I was before. Barely able to pay my bills. I only do the other auctions to keep up appearances and keep my tax exempt status. By charging so much for admission to see the horses I want to sell, I make sure that no one gets in who might not be interested or who might be too interested.” He laughed. “And the fee just adds more money to my pocket.”

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