Page 40 of Barry

Barry closed his eyes and nodded. “Yeah.”

“I’m letting go,” Ken said, releasing the grip. “I’ll call it in.”

“Let me up, Cap,” Barry said. “I’m okay.”

The hands released, and Barry winced and sucked in a lungful of air as he slid his arm down his back. “Need help up?”

“No.” He pushed up with the other arm and lifted onto his knees. “It’s been months since I lost it.”

Andrew didn’t argue that point but added, “You had good reason to, today.”

“No.” Barry shook his head. That was an excuse, and he was done with excuses. “My response delayed Ken helping her.Fuck.” He glanced at the blood on his shirt. “What did I do?”

Andrew tipped his head toward the door. “Gave Ken a bloody nose.”

His gut dropped. “Great, assault on a cop.” He stood up. “I can’t go to jail, Cap. I have to find her.”

“I doubt Ken is going to arrest you. He knows what you’re fighting against, and it wasn’t him.”

Honey whined as she stood at the door. Mitzi limped over to him. “Shit. Did I hurt her, too?”

“No, she was outside,” Andrew answered.

Barry lifted the little Sheltie. “Son of a bitch.” Her leg was limp. Broken if he’d have to guess.

Andrew flipped open his phone. “I’ll call Doc Macy. We’ll let Kate and Tegan have their day.”

Barry nodded, taking the dog out of the house to Andrew’s truck, and placed her in the seat. He knew shewouldn’t get down or walk around much if she was in the truck. He put Honey in the vehicle, too.

“I got ahold of Doc Macy; he’s coming over.”

Barry glanced over at Ken, who was holding an old t-shirt to his nose. His uniform shirt was drenched in blood. He was on his phone and not looking in his direction. How the fuck had he lost it so completely?

“This isn’t on you,” Andrew said from beside him.

“My reaction is one hundred percent on me.” Barry looked back at the house. “Was it Fish’s brother?”

“I wish like fuck I knew, man. I wish I knew,” Andrew said. They stood in silence as Ken worked on the phone. He moved the shirt away from his face and then tossed it into the back of the vehicle. Obviously, he’d stopped bleeding.

A truck headed in their direction, and Barry watched as it approached. When both Tegan and Kate got out, Andrew sighed, “Fuck, man, I didn’t want to spoil your night.”

“Doc Macy was standing beside us when you called.” Tegan shrugged as Kate moved past him to the dog. “Hey, sweetie. What happened? Let’s take a look, all right?”

“Where’s Kathy?” Tegan asked.

“We think she’s been taken,” Andrew said from behind him.

Kate’s head snapped up. “What?”

“This isn’t to be disclosed to the town,” Ken said as he came up.

Tegan’s eyes widened at the blood on the front of Ken’s uniform. “Holy hell, Ken. What happened to you?”

“I had a small accident,” Ken said, not even looking at Barry. “None of this information goes public until I can control the backlash and talk to her parents. We have a ‘be on the lookout’ issued for her truck, but if it isn’t on any main roads, it could be worthless.” He looked at Barry and Andrew as he unbuttoned his shirt. “We’ll start closest to town and work our way out. We’ll need horses, and I want every search party to have one point of contact. I don’t want a thousand people calling me as we work.” He moved to the back of his SUV and opened it.

Andrew nodded. “I’ll head to the ranch. Everyone is at the party.”

Kate looked up from looking at Mitzi. “I need to take her to the clinic and get an x-ray of the leg. Barry, you can find her.”

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