Page 35 of Wyoming Bodyguard
She took mental stock of her body. Everything hurt, but she didn’t think anything was broken. “I think so.”
With Madden’s palm under her elbow and his arm wrapped around her waist, he helped her to her feet. Worry drew down the corners of his mouth.
Queenie stood near Ace; her saddle lay in a heap on the ground by the fallen log.
“What the hell happened?” She hadn’t been knocked off a horse since she was a teenager, and she’d never been neglectful of putting a saddle on properly.
“It was the weirdest thing,” Madden said, staying close to her side as she limped toward the hunk of leather. “Queenie jumped and the whole saddle slid off.”
Lily patted Queenie’s back as she passed, letting the animal know everything was all right, then knelt beside the saddle.
Madden kept his hand on her elbow and crouched beside her. Keeping her steady, he picked up the leather strap hanging off the side of the saddle. “The cinch is severed.”
“What? Let me see.” She held her hand out for the rough material, and her stomach dropped. “This doesn’t make any sense. Everything seemed fine when I tightened it.”
“Look here.” He ran his finger along the material. “Not a straight cut. Someone must have torn it enough to not make it noticeable when you readied Queenie for a ride but enough that it’d eventually snap. If not tonight, then at some point.”
She shook her head, not wanting to believe someone would purposely try to hurt her. If she’d taken Queenie for a ride alone or the jump her trusted pet had taken had been bigger, the result could have been catastrophic. “Did your phone notify you of anyone on the property today?”
“I’ll double-check, but I didn’t get any notifications.”
Frustrated tears stung her eyes. “How is that possible? Someone had to be in that barn. Someone sabotaged my riding gear.”
“You’re right, but we don’t know when it happened. The cameras just went up this afternoon. If the tear was small enough, it might take days to completely come apart. Maybe we should speak with Charlie again, and I still need to track down Daniel. They might know who all had access to the tack room recently.”
He didn’t say more, but she knew where his mind went. Both Charlie and Daniel had plenty of time to tamper with any of the equipment in the barn.
“We need to get you back home. You have some cuts we should clean, and I still want to make sure nothing more serious is wrong. I’ll come back and get your saddle. We’ll need to leave it here for now.”
Groaning, she leaned against Madden. “Normally I wouldn’t hesitate to ride Queenie bareback, but I don’t think it’s a good idea right now. My head is killing me, my back’s sore and I’m not sure how well I’d stay on.”
“Will either horse let us ride double?” Madden asked. “If not, I’ll help you get on Ace and walk beside you while holding Queenie’s lead.”
A rush of heat washed over her. Riding double made the most sense and would get them back to the cabin much faster. But the idea of being nestled against Madden with his arms wrapped her would knock her over if he wasn’t keeping her upright.
She cleared her throat, forcing her to pay attention on the issue at hand. “Queenie will be fine with both of us, and then we can keep Ace’s gear in place. You okay riding bareback?”
His tightened jaw gave away a hint of reluctance, but he nodded. “I’ll manage. Let’s get you up there first.”
Lily pressed a kiss to Queenie’s nose. “Sorry about this, girl. I’ll give you extra treats once we get home.”
Grimacing, she fisted Queenie’s coarse mane in her hands while Madden circled her waist in his palms and lifted her off the ground. She swung her leg over the horse’s back.
Queenie stood still as a statue.
“Good, girl.” Lily patted Queenie’s neck, the movement making the cuts on her hands scream.
Madden handed her Ace’s reins. “Hold this while I get on.”
She took the loop of leather, guiding Ace a little closer.
Blowing out a long breath, Madden pulled himself up behind her and hissed out a groan.
Concerned, she glanced over her shoulder. “You okay?”
“Yeah.”
The gruffness in his voice didn’t convince her.
