Page 110 of Hit the Ground
Her first swing crashed into the side of the trunk with a metallic clang. Kent stumbled back, throwing his arms over his face.
“Where’s my son?” Shelby’s demand ripped through the hot, heavy air. The tire iron came down again, splintering his brake light.
“I’m sorry.” Kent’s voice cracked, his back hitting the car as he cowered, hands trembling in front of him. “Shelby, I’m sorry. I wasn’t gonna hurt him, I—”
“Don’t say my name!” She swung again, and her aim was true. Kent screeched as the iron slammed into his bicep, and Shelby’s whole body shook. “Give me my boy back!”
“I just needed some money,” he tried. “Then I was going to bring him back. I swear it.”
I stood a few feet away, my phone limp in my hand. Maybe I should have tried to stop Shelby when she raised the tire iron to hit him again, but…I didn’t want to. This man had taken Jesse. When he fell onto the ground, yowling in pain, I could only think he deserved exactly what he was getting.
And still, my pulse thundered with the only words I couldn’t let myself speak out loud.
Where is Jesse?
The thought hadn’t even finished forming when a faint, muffled thump came from the car.
My breath caught. I shouldn’t have even been able to hear it. Not between Shelby yelling and Kent’s begging, but I had. There was no denying the second thump.
I darted around Shelby, past Kent’s pathetic whimpering, and yanked open the driver’s door. My fingers fumbled across the dash until they found the trunk release. With a sharp click, the lid popped.
“Jesse,” I cried, rushing to the back.
Shelby froze midswing, her eyes snapping to me then the open trunk. She dropped the tire iron with a clatter and lunged forward.
There he was. Our sweet boy, curled up in the dark, his face streaked with tears.
“Mom!” Jesse’s scared, broken sob cut me in two.
Shelby had him out of the trunk and in her arms in the blink of an eye. Her fury melted into raw, desperate love. Jesse was almost as tall as her, but she held him to her chest and rocked him like a baby as he clung to her, her own tears pouring down.
“I’ve got you, baby. I’ve got you. I’m here.” Between comforting murmurs, she kissed his hair and promised he was safe.
Kent was a sniveling heap in the dirt, clutching his arm, muttering apologies no one wanted to hear. If I’d had it in me, I would have kicked him for good measure, but all I could do was stagger back until my shoulder hit the hot metal of his car. My legs were close to giving out as adrenaline fled my body. Leaning there, I let my own tears spill, quiet and unstoppable, my chest heaving as the terror drained out of me.
Jesse was safe. That was all that mattered.
Then, faint at first, the wail of sirens drifting over the lake got louder as they drew near.
Help was coming, but my chest was still achy and hollow. There was only one thing that would make it better.
I needed Caleb.
Chapter Forty-four
Caleb
Iwipedsweatfrommy brow, urging my UTV through the far pasture, scanning the fence line for stragglers. Cattle still wandered loose, and every second I was out here felt like chasing shadows. It was an exercise in frustration, and I was about ready to throw in the towel for the day.
From nowhere, Bill’s truck came barreling over the ridge in a plume of dust, sending me on high alert. He never drove like that unless something was wrong.
I braked hard as he slid to a stop beside me and jumped down before the engine cut off, his face ashen under the brim of his hat. “Caleb…I don’t know how to tell you this. Jesse’s been taken. Seems Shelby’s man, Kent, has him.”
The world tilted sideways. For a second, I couldn’t breathe. “What? Explain.”
More information rolled out of him in short, frantic bursts. “Alice called me when she couldn’t get in touch with you. She’s with Shelby. They’re following Kent. Shelby thinks he’s headed toward Elkhorn Lake. Sheriff’s on the way—”
I didn’t hear the rest. My hands were already on the wheel, my boot slamming the pedal to the floor. The UTV lurched forward, engine growling, tires spitting dirt.
