Page 58 of Hiding in Montana

“Polly?” His voice kicked up, and he yelled again. “Polly!”

He took her phone and ran at full speed to the dining hall. Going in the back door, he skidded to a stop. “Quinn, have you seen Polly?”

“Not since lunch. She was here for about a half hour, said the ex was coming by around two, and she was going to the main house for coffee.”

That was it. She had to be with Annie. He thanked him and took off at a dead run. His heart was in this throat and he flung open the back door. Mary was the only person in the kitchen. Taking gulps of air, he said, “Where’s Polly?”

Confusion flashed across Mary’s face. “I’m not sure. She was coming up for coffee around four and never showed up. I assumed you had gotten done early and the two of you were together.”

He shook his head. “I just got back. She’s not in the greenhouse and her phone and truck are both there. I have to find her.” Panic squeezed his throat. He knew in his gut something bad had happened. He turned to the door. “Where’s Linc?”

“Hold on. He’s with Annie in the office.” Mary left the kitchen, and he heard her calling for his friends.

The three of them were back within moments, but it seemed like hours.

Linc asked, “What’s happened?”

“It’s Polly. I don’t know where she is, and no one has seen her since lunch.” He paced around the room. “I have to find her.”

Annie had left the room unnoticed but was handing Linc a walkie. “Start calling the hands, see if anyone has seen her.”

Linc sent out a general call for anyone knowing where Polly's location was. Over the next ten minutes, Linc was checking off each report. No one had seen her, and oddly, Jed hadn’t checked in either.

“Could she and Jed have gone off someplace?” Annie asked as she placed a comforting hand on his arm.

“Why would they? They’re both focused on their jobs during the day. Unless they were working in the garden, Jed would take care of the horses.” The words died on his lips and he turned and headed out to the horse barn with Linc and Annie on his heels.

Annie had called out for Mary to contact the sheriff and report a missing person.

Linc pulled open the sliding barn door. Jed’s grooming tools were scattered on the floor, and the place was in a general state of someone working who hadn’t completed the job. “Jed?”

Annie ran the length of the barn, checking each stall. Clint hoped he was working and just didn’t hear them and not crumpled in a ball from being kicked in the head by a horse.

Annie called from the end. “He’s not here.”

Linc called his cell, and it went to voicemail. He left him a message to call in, saying it was urgent. He put his phone back in his shirt.

The walkie squawked. “Quinn here.”

“Yes, Quinn.”

“The hands are coming in, asking questions about Polly.”

“Ask them if anyone has seen Jed. We’re on our way up. And tell everyone to stay put.”

With each passing minute, Clint knew Polly was in grave danger, and he did not know how to help her. Yet.

In the dining hall, most of the ranch hands were sitting at tables, food in front of them, but not eating. Clint, Linc, and Annie burst through the door and idle talk stopped as all eyes turned to them.

Clint wasn’t about to wait for Linc or Annie. “Listen up, everyone. Polly’s phone and truck are at the greenhouse, but no one has seen her since noon when she grabbed her lunch from the refrigerator. She had a meeting with her ex at two. But she was threatened again when she was at the diner. So I have to know, who saw what?”

At first, everyone remained silent. Then Blake Marshall said, “Jed was gonna check on her midafternoon. You should ask him.”

“Jed is missing too,” Clint stated. The band tightened around his chest.

Blake said, “It’s not like Jed would run off with Polly, you know.”

“That thought never crossed my mind, but does anyone know anything at all? Did you see or hear anything?”

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