Page 28 of Chance (Wild River Ranch #3)
H e knew what she was going to say as soon as her name flashed on his screen. It hit him like a punch in the gut. Thank god Trace had agreed to ride Jasper home so he could use his brother's truck.
Bracing, he took the call. “Chance? Oh, God, Chance!” Kenzie’s voice bordered on hysterical.
“Settle down and talk to me, Tiger. What’s happened?” But he knew.
“It, it’s Joy, Chance. We weren’t gone that long. An hour and a half, maybe. But when we got home, the front door was wide open.”
“Where’s Joy, Kenzie? Is she alright?” The steering wheel creaked, so he loosened his grip.
“I don’t know, Chance. I..I don’t know. Nothing is missing. Her purse is here. but she isn’t. And… and, oh, God, Chance, Puggles is lying on the floor just inside the door.”
“Fuck!” Rage devoured him. That fucking fucker had his Little girl. “Tiger, hang up and call the sheriff. Tell Sam exactly what you told me. He’ll head that way. I’m almost there. Call Sam. ”
Disconnecting, he punched in Boone’s number. “Yellow,” Boone answered the call as if the world hadn’t just gone black.
“He took her, brother. That fucking detective took Joy.”
“Details. How long?”
Chance sucked in a breath. It didn’t help worth shit. “Not sure exactly, but within the last two hours, probably the last hour and a half.”
“Grif!” Boone yelled, “Get on the camera feed. Time frame today, the past two hours. I need to know who was on the ranch that shouldn’t have been, and I want to know yesterday. Get me?”
“On it, bossman. Any specific location. This is a bigass ranch.”
Chance answered. “The lodge first. After that, I need the footage for the last twenty-four hours for the Castelo pasture. Somebody cut the fence and spooked the bison. Obviously, to get us all away from home. I know who it was. I need to know where he took her. I pray to God he took her somewhere on the ranch.”
If he did, if James had taken her and headed out of state, it would be harder to get to her.
“The ranch makes more sense. Harder for police to get access to private property, and there are plenty of places to hide. We’ll find her brother. I’ve been where you are. Stay calm, and don’t kill him until we have a disposal plan.”
Chance disconnected the call. He didn’t think a disposal plan was too far-fetched at all.
The only thing he knew to do was head back to the Castelo place.
One cabin stood about a mile from where James had cut the fence.
They hadn’t rented it out in years because most guests wanted to be as close to the mountains as possible.
The Castelo cabin had no view to speak so it would be a logical place to hold up.
He scanned the fields on both sides of the road, slamming on the brakes when he returned his attention to the road. A young dark charcoal wolfdog with blue eyes stood in the middle of the road .
“Damn it, Dodger. I don’t have time for this.”
The wolfdog wouldn’t move, even when he blew the horn. He tried to pull around, but the wolfdog moved with him, continuing to block his way.
Letting the window down, he yelled, “Get out of the way, Dodger! Move!”
The dog stared at him, then darted to the north. “About damn time.”
But when Chance started down the road again, Dodger jumped back in front of the truck. No matter what Chance tried, the damn wolfdog put himself in the way. Finally, Dodger darted to the north, looked back at him and barked. When Chance didn’t follow, Dodger ran back to him and did it again.
Chance was a practical man. He wasn’t prone to fantasy and fairy tales. What he was thinking made no sense. None at all.
He wasted precious minutes struggling with a decision that went against everything he’d ever thought to be true.
One final time, Dodger ran back to him, barked his alarm, and took off toward the north. This time, Dodger did not turn back. Chance watched the wolfdog until it was almost out of sight.
“Fuck it,” he growled. Throwing the truck back into gear, he left the road and followed Dodger north.
To be fair, he’d seen stranger things that day, and Dodger had way more conviction in the right way to go than Chance had in the way he had been headed. So, he followed the wolfdog and prayed like hell guardian angels were real.