Page 77 of Alive and Wells

That’s never been more true than it is tonight. After more work than I expected fixing irrigation, we stayed out later than normal—well past dusk. Despite having an intimate familiarity with the trails, I prefer not to ride them in the dark. So we take the trip home slow, each man keeping a keen eye for potential dangers. Potholes, stray roots, large rocks.

Jacky’s the one who spots the biggest potential danger. One I had accidentally let my guard down about.

“Were we expecting a visitor?” He points toward the big house and my gaze follows.

A dark-coloured car is sitting with headlights on. There’s not enough daylight to determine the exact colour or make, and we’re too far away to see any people outside. None of that matters.

I know exactly who that is.

The sudden tripping of alarm bells and a sinking feeling deep in my stomach is more than enough for me to no longer give a shit about anything except getting back as soon as physically possible.

“We weren’t.” My spurs hit the mare’s sides, sending her down the hill at breakneck speed. Hell-bent on getting home, I’ll run this horse ragged and, assuming we get there safely, apologize to her later. Right now, neither the possibility of my horse breaking her damn legs or flinging me from a cliff is enough to slow me down. Potential dangers be damned, I’m making her run as fast as she can. Never once easing up even on the tightest switchbacks or steepest inclines. When she fights me—tries to whoa up around corners or near obstacles—I kick harder. Yell harder. Push harder.

It doesn’t matter if I’m bloodied and crawling to Cecily by the time we reach the house. Iwillget there. Iwillget to her.

I assume I’m tearing down the hillside alone until I hear Denny yelling at his gelding to pick up the pace. He and Jackson are right there, with the rest of the men following suit. They must’ve figured out why I took off, and they’re willing to put themselves and their horses in danger to race through the blackness of night with me.

My heart’s pounding and the brutal wind on my face makes my eyes burn. If anything happened while we were gone, I willneverforgive myself. I got too lax about Cecily. Somebody should’ve been with her. After so many weeks filled with empty threats over text messages and no word from people in town about a person matching his description, I had started to think KJ would never materialize. Hell, he’s known she’s in Wells Canyon for a full week andstillnothing. It doesn’t matter now, because he’s at the house. And I’m not.

“We runnin’ for the reason I think we are?” Jackson pulls up next to me as we reach the flat, wide-open field at the bottom of the hill.

“Think so,” I shout.

I glance at my brother and see untethered fear in his eyes. He has as much of a reason to be worried as I do, with Kate and Odessa at the house right now. Even without knowing all of the details, he trusts my fear enough to be scared himself.

Fuck, leaving the girls alone was straight negligence.

Rounding the corner by the stables, I see Cecily and Kate standing on the porch. Backlit by the small light next to the front door. And hovering at the bottom of the stairs is the piece of shit who, based on the expensive car, must be KJ.

Momentary relief flashes across both of the girls’ faces when they see us approaching, and my feet are hitting the ground at a run before Jubilee’s even stopped. I want to kill this fucking man.

But, first, and most importantly: Cecily.

“You okay, darlin’?” I search her face to be sure the nod she gives is the truth.

We made it. We got here in time.

Now. Him. “You KJ?” I ask, and he gives a single, sneering nod.

No need to introduce myself—my fist does it for me. A hard blow lands square in the centre of his face and, based on the immediate blood pouring from his nostrils, I just broke the fucker’s nose.

“I have a gun, asshole,” he says. Holding one hand to his profusely bleeding nose, KJ grabs frantically at the car door handle.

Denny and Red are quick to pull him back, but not before his hand catches on the handle, swinging the black passenger door wide open. Sure enough, there’s a handgun on the seat. Most likely illegally owned—definitely being illegally transported—given the laws in Canada.

No clue why I was ever concerned about this prick putting up a good fight. He may be taller than I am, but his spindly body and perfectly pressed clothing put me at ease. This guy’s never fought a day in his life. And if you’re going to bring a gun to a fistfight, don’t leave it in the fucking car.

“This gun?” Denny lets Red grab both KJ’s arms, so he can look at the gun. “Buddy, the safety’s on and it’s not even loaded. What did you think you were gonna do with this?”

I hear Jackson’s unmistakable howling laugh from somewhere behind me on the porch.

KJ certainly isn’t finding this funny. “Cecily, what the fuck is—”

“No.” I cut him off, stepping to the side to block his view ofmy girl. All of the laughter stops around us. “You don’t talk to her. Me and you are talking now, asshole.”

“She’s mywifeand I’ll talk to her as much as I please.”

I smile, maintaining a hard stare into his dead, evil eyes despite the way the wordwiferolls off his tongue like a slap to my face. “On paper, maybe. But you can be damn sure I know her better than you do, treat her better than you do, andfuck herso much better than you could ever hope to. In every way that matters, she’s mine.”

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