The Hero I Need

My gut churns hellfire.

She’s heading for Big Fish Lake now. I hook up the horse trailer in record time, and then take the field road winding toward the lake. It’s shorter than going off the main road, at least.

The screen shows Willow tracing circles by the time I’m closing in. I’m not sure if that means she’s lost the trail or found Bruce.

I just keep going as fast as I can, but it’s not quick enough.

Fuck, I need to call her.

“I’ve lost his trail,” she says immediately. “The grass is short, so it’s not lying down through the fields, and there are lots of trees.” She pauses. “I’ve been seeing plenty of fresh horse tracks, though.”

Crap. That means Edison and Edna ran off to their favorite lake retreat for sure.

“On my way, keep your eyes peeled,” I tell her.

“I will.”

My phone dings.

“Drake’s calling me,” I grunt.

“Okay!”

She hangs up and I answer Drake.

“We see Willow and we’re moving in,” Drake says. “Looks like the horses are somewhere close to her, too. We found their trail, and now I can see the lights on the ATV.”

“She says she’s seen horse tracks. I’m about five minutes out. Meet you there.”

My heart is fucking pounding by the time I hang up.

It’ll be a dark damn day for Dallas if anything happens to this town’s favorite horse.

Never mind the fact that Bruce doesn’t belong anywhere in the North Dakota wilds. Scared, lost, he could attack anything in sight, including Willow.

I pound my foot into the gas, scouring the night with eagle eyes.

It seems like ages before I see lights. A pickup with a stock trailer and a four-wheeler driving toward the truck. I drive faster, causing my truck to bounce hard along the rough trail.

The pickup pulls forward and the ATV approaches.

“Drake! I just saw a black horse,” Willow yells as I roll down my window. “Follow me.”

She spins the vehicle around and barrels on.

I have to slow down once I catch up to Drake’s truck and trailer because the rough road narrows.

Can’t see anything around his rig, and it’s driving me nuts.

He stops as I slam on my brakes, throw the truck in park, and jump out.

Willow is ahead of Drake’s truck, and I run past him while he’s climbing out.

“There! Right there,” Willow whispers, pointing into the trees. “See the horses?”

“That’s them, all right. Edison and Edna,” I say with a nod.

Bella, Drake’s wife walks up beside us, along with Drake himself, carrying the long tranquilizer gun.

“See them?” Willow asks, again pointing into the copse of trees.

“Edison, Edna! Meet you at the barn,” Bella says with a whistle.

A horse nickers in reply.

My nerves are just about shot to tatters.

“Careful. We don’t want Bruce to hear,” I tell Willow. “He could be stalking them.”

“I doubt it,” she says, shaking her head. “He’s not hungry, he ate his dinner, so as long as he’s not cornered...he’s not going to treat them like prey.”

“Lady, you’d better be right,” Bella tells her with a wink.

I hope like hell she is too.

For everyone’s sake.

Sure, he’s practically her pet, but I also know he’s a wild beast with instincts that aren’t like any farm animal, much less a house cat.

I keep those thoughts to myself as Bella whistles again.

The horse nickers louder.

“The hell? Why isn’t he coming?” Drake asks his wife. “He always listens to that command.”

“I don’t know, but it’s almost like...he wants me to come to him,” she answers, unsure.

Drake grabs her arm and flings her to his chest.

“Not on your life. I’ll go,” he says.

Bella looks at him with a look that says try and stop me. If it weren’t so damn serious, I’d be laughing. Sometimes I think Drake’s still learning what he’s in for by wifing up an oil mogul’s adventurous granddaughter.

Willow climbs off the four-wheeler and I grab her arm in a flash before she can get ahead of me.

She flashes me an oh, really? look just like the one Drake received.

Without another option, we flank the women as all four of us approach the trees. It’s not too far before we can make out both horses in the dark.

They’re standing underneath a huge oak tree with vast coiling branches that hide the small amount of moonlight exposed by the drifting clouds.

“Hold up,” Drake says, shining his flashlight at the horses and then lashing it around them.

I’m doing the same with my light, wondering if Bruce is somewhere close, crouched down in the grasses.

Maybe that’s why the horses are scared to move, knowing he’ll pounce if they do.

I can’t make out any green-gold eyes in the dark, no movement, nothing that looks out of place.

“Edison,” Bella calls softly. “Meet you at the barn!”

The horse tosses his head and stomps the dirt but doesn’t take a single step away from his post.

Weird.

“Damn, that’s odd. He’s never failed to do it,” Drake says.