Page 10 of Austin (The K9 Files #29)

She might make it before him, but it wasn’t worth pushing Charlie for something like that.

That was another thing that Chris never understood.

He just didn’t have a knack for animals, or equipment, or even a knack or feel for the land.

Maybe in a way he was a fish out of water here, but, even still, it never really occurred to her that he would hate the ranch so much that he would actively work to destroy it.

She didn’t know whether that was anger or something deeper, but the fact of the matter was that Chris was not the man she used to know, and, while it was not terrifying, it was definitely not something she was comfortable with.

They’d had so much fun growing up together, and now it had somehow become something completely different.

Something had changed him. She groaned as she headed back to the barn, then unsaddled Charlie and headed inside.

After eating lunch, she and Austin were about to head out to trace Cowboy’s last day, when Austin motioned at her. “I can ride Charlie if you want,” he offered.

“He’s already been out all morning,” she shared, “so it might be best to take one of the others.”

Austin didn’t say anything and just nodded.

“Surely he should be okay to go back out again, shouldn’t he?” Amie asked, looking between the two of them.

“Maybe so, but there’s no point in pushing him when we could be out for quite a while today, and we have other horses that could use the time riding anyway. We’re heading to retrace Cowboy’s last day before he disappeared.”

“Right.” Amie frowned, then nodded.

Rox continued. “It’s probably better to leave Charlie here anyway.”

“Why is that?” Amie asked.

“Because he was the one I was riding as we took Cowboy around the ranch,” Rox murmured, “and it seems as if, in a way, whatever happened that day affected Charlie somehow. He gets quite antsy any time we get near that certain pasture.”

Austin stared at her for a long moment. “In that case,… maybe we should take him, see what that’s about.”

She shook her head. “No, at least not this time. If I’d realized you wanted to go out on Charlie, I wouldn’t have taken him this morning.” Austin just nodded and didn’t say anything, but she could tell he didn’t like her answer. “It’s not as if Charlie will tell us much,” she pointed out.

He grimaced and tilted his head. “I think you’re wrong there. Charlie probably has a hell of a good idea exactly what went on, but I won’t argue with you. That’s a no-win situation for me.”

Amie hid her smile as she handed them food for the trip. “Seeing as you’ll be gone for a while, take some supplies.”

“We’ve got supplies,” Rox replied, yet took the food her mother handed to her. Rox headed out to the barn and saddled up two other horses. Austin joined her and asked which one he should take, and she pointed to one of the new geldings they had.

“As long as you’ve kept up your riding skills,” she warned, “because he’s not the most experienced horse with a rider.”

Austin shrugged. “Haven’t ridden much in a while, but there wasn’t anything I couldn’t ride, back in the day.”

“You’re not back in the day anymore,” she stated.

“You’re older and broken.” And, with that remark, she swung up onto her horse and headed to the gate.

It was probably poor form on her part, but she also meant it.

If he wasn’t capable of doing the ride, she didn’t want him out there dealing with what they could potentially find.

It was also a long run, and if he wasn’t fit and in shape, she needed to know before they headed out.

When she turned, he was already up on the horse and moving toward her. She checked his gait and then nodded. It didn’t appear that he’d suffered anything major.

He passed through the gate before her, looking back at her. “I get that was a dig for my benefit, and I’m sure you may be thrilled that I came back broken ,” he replied, deliberately using her word, “but, just for the record, there isn’t anything I could do before that I can’t do now.”

And, with that, leaving her ashamed at the words she had used, he took off in the direction they needed to go. They rode silently together for the longest time, and, when they finally got closer, she pulled off to the side and pointed. “I thought I saw him here one day.”

He stopped and frowned at her. “What do you mean?”

“When I was out here a few days after Cowboy went missing, I thought I saw him right here.”

“Did he respond to your call?”

She shook her head. “I’m not sure if he even could though. I just saw him from a distance, and I didn’t get a good look before he was gone, but… it almost seemed as if maybe he was tethered somehow, maybe on a leash or something.”

He frowned at her and asked, “So, you really don’t know who has Cowboy, or you just don’t want to admit who has him?”

She glared at him. “I don’t know who has him,” she snapped, “and I really don’t like the way you’re thinking about it.”

“Come on, Rox. How could I not? After that whole joy-riding deal last night, the person who comes to mind is Chris.”

“I know that,” she snapped in exasperation, “and I’m sure that everybody else has probably thought about that too. But… what would his motive be?”

“To hurt you,” he stated.

She opened her mouth, closed it, then muttered, “It would be pretty sad if that’s all he cares about in life right now.”

“If he’s angry, and, from what I saw out here, he’s an extremely angry man,” Austin pointed out. “He’s not thinking straight and, if he’s got friends egging him on, that makes it far worse and opens the door for a lot more trouble.”

“I know it’s worse,” she agreed, her breath coming out in a harsh groan. “He’s been so angry at Mom since he came back from his time at his dad’s, and I just don’t know how to handle it.”

“It’s not for you to handle. It’s for Chris to handle, and also for your mom, to some degree.

He can be as angry as he wants, but hurting the people you love isn’t good for anybody,” Austin said, “and the only reason for that dog—whether Cowboy or another dog—to be out here and not coming to you is because somebody had it tethered, was training it, or otherwise was doing something to stop him.”

“I know,” she agreed, “but what I don’t know is whether it was really Cowboy or not. As I already told you, it was quite a distance, and just my instincts had me checking it out.”

Austin studied her carefully. “I presume those instincts also stopped you from going after it.”

She winced and then nodded. “I just had such a horrible sense of wrongness about the whole thing,” she whispered, “and ever since then I’ve just felt terrible.

I’m afraid that Cowboy needed me, and I wasn’t there for him.

Jesus,” she muttered, frustrated at the tears coming, as she brushed them away impatiently.

“My father gets angry when my tender heart gets away from me ,” she shared in a mocking tone.

“Don’t let him get to you. I understand why he’s like that, but it doesn’t change the fact that everybody here needs you to have that heart because, without it, what do we have?”

She smiled. “I get what you’re saying, but I think you’ve forgotten how harsh my father can be.”

“I haven’t forgotten. I just think other things in life are more important than always having to live up to Daddy’s image of who you are, or should be.”

She shook her head. “Believe me, after you left, I didn’t have any image to live up to. Dad was devastated.”

Austin didn’t say anything for a while, then nodded. “Your dad and I were pretty close.”

“Yeah, you were, and I wondered sometimes if that wasn’t part of the problem.”

He frowned at her in astonishment. “What are you talking about?”

She shrugged. “I’ve always wondered if I’m not any better than Chris because sometimes, you know, I was even jealous of your relationship with Dad.”

“Are you kidding? In that man’s eyes, the sun itself rises and sets only on you,” he declared, staring at her in shock. “How could you possibly think it could be any different?”

“Because, at the end of the day, he always wanted a son,” she snapped, shaking her head. “I guess I was just very insecure and needing reassurance, and I couldn’t get it,” she admitted. “And now that’s just one more thing that makes me feel foolish.”

“It doesn’t matter how it makes you feel now,” he pointed out, “but it is something you need to deal with before it destroys something in your life that’s special.”

She wanted to say it already had, but his gaze had suddenly narrowed to something ahead.

Austin asked her, “How did the War Dog normally react to being out here? Was he comfortable?”

“Cowboy loved it out here and was great with the other animals. He wasn’t a cow dog, of course, and didn’t have any intention of chasing cattle, but he was always happy to go for a run, always very engaged, very protective,” she shared, sounding a bit nostalgic. “God, I really miss him.”

“I’m not sure that missing him is exactly what we’re looking for right now, but it’s obvious that something here still doesn’t make any sense.” He turned to her. “Are you guys missing any cattle?”

She shook her head. “I can’t say that we don’t miss a few from time to time, but not to rustlers.” He just nodded and didn’t say anything. “Chris wouldn’t do that anyway,” she added, “and no way he would get away with it.”

“I would hope not,” Austin replied, “but that doesn’t mean that whoever is influencing him wouldn’t have those skills and the ability to get away with it.”

She took a deep breath, then nodded slowly. “That could very well be.”

“On the other hand, we don’t know that right now, and, until we do, let’s just keep it as a possibility to consider—but not the only possibility.”

She smiled and nodded. “Yeah, that would be good because I really need it to be anybody but him.”