Page 10 of Distress Signal

Nodding, I reached for the horse’s reins and led him to the nearby water trough.

As a rescue ranch, we took in all kinds of lamed and otherwise wounded animals, as well as ones that were unwanted and abandoned by previous owners. The mini horse, who came to us as a foal, was the king of mischief around here. His most recent escapade involved him breaking free from the barn in the middle of the night and going on a jaunt across nearby fields. Unfortunately, he’d fallen into a ditch and broke one of his front legs. We got him patched up, which meant surgery to properly reset the bones and two months of physical therapy. Finally, though, he appeared almost back to normal—but we were keeping a close eye on him lest he tried to do something similar again.

After he drank his fill, I walked him into the barn and secured him in his stall.

I was about to enter my office when my phone rang, and I peeled off my glove, tilting my hat back to wipe the sweat off my brow before answering.

Sheriff, the readout said.

Couldn’t be anything good if big brother was calling.

“Hey, Lane.”

“You and West busy?”

I glanced at the mountain of paperwork on my desk, then to the manure fork resting against the wall on my left, then down the alley and twelve stalls I knew needed mucking.

Yeah, I had time.

I had a slew of stable boys to do the shittier parts of this job, but sometimes, I liked to come out here and do it myself. As the boss, I didn’tneedto get my hands dirty, but I liked to remind my employees I wasn’t above doing the same hard work I asked of them.

“I don’t know about him, but I’m free. What’s up?”

“I need you to fly the SAR chopper out to a scene. A couple hikers reported a suspicious campsite, but it’s dicey getting in there with anything bigger than an ATV, and it’s several miles off the closest access road. Figured having you to evac if need be was a good idea.”

My dark little brain brightened some at that.

“You think there’s someone there?”

“A woman recently filed a missing person’s report for her sister who was supposedly in the area. Could be nothing.”

Helping someone was exactly the kind of distraction I needed.

“I’ll wrangle West and we’ll be on our way. Send me the coordinates.”

We disconnected, and I dialed my twin.

“Yo.”

“Get your ass up to the house. Lane needs our help on a call.”

“Fuck yeah,” West said. “Anything to get out of changing sheets in these fucking guest cabins.”

I could hear movement in the background, a muffled curse, and West saying, “Peace out, losers!”

“You still haven’t found a new housekeeper?”

“No!” he whined. “Good help is so hard to find.”

“So are brothers who aren’t dramatic as fuck.”

West chuckled. “You love me.”

I did. Loved all my brothers, and Aria, but as twins, it was different with West. Especially given the shit we’d done and seen together in the service. Those kinds of situations bonded you for life, and having endured it all with him by my side was both a blessing and a curse.

“Hurry up,” I grumbled

A door slammed, a loud diesel engine turned over, and West shouted, “Aye, aye, captain!” before hanging up.