Page 108 of Samuel

Sweat dripped down Evie’s face. The black bag over her head was starting to heat up to unbearable levels. Her ownbreath was once again making her gag reflex stretch. Garrett held on to her arm as she sat in the dirt, but as soon as she felt his hands slide down to her legs, Evie reached up and ripped the bag off her head, turning to retch into the grass by her side. Nothing came up, but her stomach ached all the same.

“Careful now, Evie. Don’t want to get dehydrated before you even start your time outside on my beautiful land.”

By the time her stomach stopped trying to leave her body through her mouth, Garrett was standing back up. Her legs were tightly bound together. Sweat was dripping down her back, the sun beating down full force with no covering over her.

“Please, Garrett. Please don’t do this.”

“It’s already done, Evelyn. I’ll be sure to send your cowboy in shining armor out to you once he signs the documents I have for him. Lets hope, for your sake and the baby’s, that he realizes you’re missing quickly.”

Garrett turned, whistling as he walked back to the car. She watched as he opened the driver’s side door, bent over, and stood back up. He took one look at her and chuckled. “You’ll probably want this at some point.”

Like he was tossing a football in a national championship game, Garrett hurled a water bottle towards her. It landed at least twenty feet away, but thankfully it was in the direction Evie had been planning to go. A large tree, with a huge canopy above it, was providing the only shade in the area, and she desperately wanted to sit beneath it.

The engine roared back to life and Garrett tore out of the field. She forced herself to watch until the car was just a tiny speck on the horizon. Evie had no way of knowing just how much property Garrett had, or how far she was from the edge of it, but if she needed to try and walk away, at least she knew which way to go first.

She spent time working to undo the knot from aroundher legs. It was nearly impossible to reach around Jellybean to the rope, but she had to try. Her belly was hard, and her back ached, but she kept going. The damn thing was so tight and just at the edge of her fingertips that all she accomplished was ripping up her skin against the rough rope. It was too hot to keep going down that route. She needed that water.

How the hell was she supposed to get over to it? And then once she had it, she still needed to make it to the tree for shade. Jellybean’s foot pressed out painfully against her side.

“I know, baby. It’s okay. Mommy’s going to rest for one minute. Then we’ll get somewhere cooler.”

Evie laid on her side, so that even with her face in the dirt, she could keep an eye on the water bottle and see the herd in the distance. Her head throbbed as her eyelids drooped. She’d close them for just a minute. Just one minute to rest before she gathered up her strength and figured out a way to get under that tree.

A silent plea called out to Sam from her heart as her eyes drifted shut.

Twenty-Nine

“Your roping skills are getting better!” Sam teased John as they took a break from moving the herd. It was a scorching summer day. Temperatures had to be climbing towards a hundred degrees. The cold water in his canteen felt like an oasis in a desert.

“I’ve been using that setup in the backyard to practice. Didn’t want to get kicked out of the Cooper family before I officially joined.”

“Nobody gets kicked out once Mom claims you. You’re stuck for life.”

John laughed, reaching into his pocket. He held up his phone, wiggling it back and forth with a shit eating grin on his face. “Looks like your sister is already missing me.”

Jealousy shot through Sam. He pulled out his phone, but there weren’t any messages from Evie.

“Hey, baby. Missing me?” John’s face paled. “Whoa. Slow down. What happened? We’ll be right there. Just sit down and wait in the office. Five minutes, Abby. Breathe and I’ll be right there.”

Sam’s heart fell into his stomach. “What’s going on?”

“Get on Jasper. Evie’s missing.”

Sam shook his head, waiting for John to tell him it was a mistake. There was no way he heard that right. “What the FUCK did you just say?”

“Evie is missing. I didn’t get all the details, just that Hank and Daisy are at the office and we need to get back there. NOW, Sam!”

The longest minutes Sam ever lived were on the ride back to the barn. It felt like his heart had stopped beating, but somehow his body kept going. They were barely out of the field next to the barn when Sam jumped off Jasper’s back, running through the barn to the office.

“Where is she?!” he yelled as he burst through the doorway. Daisy’s hand hovered over Abby’s shoulder and his sister’s face was full of tears. Hank stood next to Evie’s desk, holding onto a piece of paper.

“Are you alright?” John ran in behind him, slipping down onto his knees in front of Abby.

“I’m fine. I went to the bathroom. I was only going to be gone thirty seconds. I’m so sorry, Sam.”

“What happened?”

“Someone barricaded the door. I had to climb out the window once I realized what had happened. By the time I got back here, she was gone. I ran up to her apartment, but it’s empty. And I went to the house to see if Mom saw her. She’s on her way down now.”

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