Page 79 of Dreaming About Forever

Jordan and Alicia jumped into his old truck and headed north. They had about an hour of decent daylight left, and every minute counted.

“What’s the worst that could happen? Prepare me, please,” Alicia said after a few minutes of scouring the pastures.

“Not sure we want to talk about that,” Jordan said.

“Right. Should I keep calling his cell?”

Jordan handed over his phone. “That’s a good idea.”

Alicia called his phone one right after the other for the next ten minutes. They were running out of daylight and perimeter.

“Nothing,” Alicia said with a huff after another missed call. “Does he have one of those tracking apps on his phone?”

“I’m sure he doesn’t, but I’ll be adding one after this.” Assuming his dad had another chance to go missing on the ranch. Wolves, bears, mountain lions. The number of predators on the ranch outnumbered them exponentially.

“There!” Alicia pointed toward a red four-wheeler parked near the fence. The intrusive color stood out against the snow on the ground and trees.

As they got closer, Jordan’s gut twisted. There was something dark on the ground, and it had to be his dad. “Call Mom. Tell her to send Clint this way and have help on standby.”

Jordan shifted into park and darted out of the truck before it came to a full stop. He slid to his knees next to his dad. Blood splattered over the white snow, and his dad’s face was covered in red.

“Dad, talk to me. Dad.” Jordan checked for a pulse on his dad’s neck. It was faint but steady. “Tell Mom we need an ambulance, and tell Clint to get out here with the medical kit and blankets.”

He turned to look over his shoulder, and Alicia was standing right behind him with the phone to her ear. He’d assumed she’d stay back at the truck, but she’d followed him.

“Do you have anything in the truck we can use?” she asked while she waited for someone to answer the phone.

Jordan pulled off his coat and laid it over his dad. “Nothing. I’m afraid to move him. I don’t know what’s injured.”

Alicia relayed the information to his family while Jordan assessed his dad’s wounds. Most of the blood seemed to be coming from around his eye. It was already swelling along with his cheek.

“Dad, can you hear me?”

His dad groaned and slowly lifted his hand to his face.

“Don’t touch anything. Just tell me where it hurts.”

Wincing, his dad pointed to his face, then his side.

Jordan lifted the coat, then started unbuttoning his dad’s shirt. “What happened?”

His dad lazily pointed toward the tree line beyond the fence.

Jordan scanned the trees as he worked to unbutton the shirt. “Are we in danger?” Alicia stood right behind him, and his dad wasn’t in any state to help if they were all attacked.

When his dad didn’t answer, Jordan moved to yes or no questions. “Wolves? A bear? Moose?”

His dad gave a soft no to all three.

Jordan opened his dad’s shirt to find a bulging bruise on his right side. Which was more urgent, an open head wound or internal bleeding?

“Dad, spell it out for me. What happened?”

“Chuck.”

Jordan’s vision narrowed, clouded by red and black. His parents’ stupid neighbor had a death wish. “Chuck did this.” The pieces fell into place. The swelling and bruises around his dad’s eye, the bruise on his side. Chuck hadn’t pulled punches or kicks.

Neither would Jordan when he got his hands on Chuck.

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