Page 28 of River Ride

While she ate, Tammy stared at the map on the GPS screen and wondered how long she’d have to wait at the cabin before Eldon came.

“I know he’ll come looking for me. All I have to do is wait for him. It’s our destiny to be together.”

Wild Stallion Ranch. Montana.

6:00 a.m.

Lucy woke up when her phone alarm went off at six. She always got up at six for barn chores with her brothers, and Buckshot would be waiting in the corral for his breakfast. He was always happy to see her in the morning.

As she sat up and tried to wake up, she noticed Tammy wasn’t in the bed. The sheets were cool, so Tammy had been up for a while.

“Where are you, Tammy? You’d better be here or you’re going to be in huge trouble.”

Lucy checked the bathroom across the hall and the door was open. She ran downstairs and checked the house from front to back and no Tammy.

Back upstairs, she felt a little wave of panic in her chest as she ran into Harlan and Virge’s room. She sat on the side of Harlan’s bed and touched his arm to wake him up.

“Harlan. Harlan. Wake up.”

6:10 a.m.

I opened my eyes, and I was looking at Lucy in her night shirt sitting on the side of my bed. “Hey, Lucy. Do you want to snuggle in with me?”

“Not right now. I can’t find Tammy. Get up, Harlan. I need help.”

“Aw, shit, Luce. Where did you look?”

“In the bathroom and downstairs, so far.”

“Okay, we’ll do a search for her before we wake Travis up. I don’t want to scare him for nothing. He ain’t doing the best right now.”

Virge opened his eyes. “Why are you guys talking in here?”

“Lucy can’t find Tammy, Virge. Get up and help us look for her. I don’t want to wake Dad up…just yet.”

“Just yet,” repeated Virge. “Jesus in a nutshell, don’t let this be happening.”

Virge and I pulled on jeans and ran downstairs to help Lucy. She’d already been through the house, so we went out to the barn and checked the bunkhouse and looked through the trees, and on the front porch, and in all the parked vehicles.

Even in the load bed of the trucks. She’d crawled in under the tonneau cover a couple of times to hide.

“Nowhere,” I said.

“Don’t want to tell you this, bro.”

“What?” I looked at Virge and he was white—like puke white.

“Dad’s Bronco is gone.” He pointed at the spot where the Bronco had been parked.

“Fucking hell,” I yelled just as Billy came out the back door.

“What are you yelling about, Harlan?” Billy looked at me with a frown on his face.

“Billy, we can’t find Tammy and Dad’s squad is gone. It was right there.”

“Jesus,” said Billy. “This can’t happen to Travis.” He pulled out his cell and put a BOLO out on the Harrison County Sheriff’s Bronco.

“We have to tell Dad now,” I said. “We’re wasting time.

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