Page 139 of Present Danger (Rocky Mountain Courage 1)

SIXTY-TWO

Discarding his sling, Jack ignored the pain and climbed onto Lilly, one of Owen’s horses.

When he’d heard the crash on the mountain, his heart felt as though it had been ripped from his chest. But he’d learned how to push past the debilitating pain of loss, and he would again in order to find Terra.

She couldn’t die like this. She had to be alive. He would hang on to that hope. It was the only thing that kept him going.

The pain he felt over Sarah’s death and his inability to get to her in time clawed at him but also drove him forward. Compelled him to find Terra, the woman he ... loved.

Owen groaned. “I had no idea he was going to take her, or I never would have rigged a slow oil leak to cause engine failure in his helo. I returned early from a meeting in Bozeman, so he wasn’t expecting me. I simply wanted to stop a madman from destroying more lives. I didn’t think I could get into the house to get my gun without drawing Marcus’s—”

Jack held up his hand, signaling for Owen to stop. “You didn’t know. It’s okay.”

“I only meant to prevent him from flying away and escaping.”

“There’s no time for regret. We can hope they survived. Let’s go find her. Let’s get our Terra back.”

After he and Nathan had left Ruby’s, they headed straight for Robert Vandine’s ranch while Jack tried to reach both Terra and Robert. Neither of them responded. Jack and Nathan were already on their way when they got the message from dispatch—Owen had called to report trouble.

Now Owen urged his horse forward, and Jack followed. At some point they’d have to get off the animals. The area was stony and treacherous, and the horses could slip on the rocks. He’d left Nathan behind at the ranch to wait with Robert and Terra’s father for an ambulance and backup. Jack had grabbed some climbing gear from Nathan’s vehicle, just in case the helicopter dropped in a precarious place on the mountain.

He urged Lilly up and forward, behind Owen’s horse on the trail. “How much farther?”

“I’d say a mile,” Owen said. “I can’t be sure about the location of the crash.”

“I heard it go down.”

Anguish filled Owen’s voice. “I was in the barn looking for a potential weapon when I saw him drawing her out to the helicopter and forcing her on. I shouted and ran after them, but I don’t think Marcus heard me over the rotor wash.” Owen slowed his horse to a stop, then got off. “I think we’re headed the right way. Let’s go in on foot now. The horses could twist an ankle.”

Jack got off Lilly and handed the reins to Owen, who simply dropped the lead ropes to the ground. “I’m leaving them ground tied in case we need them. They’re trained to wait unless otherwise directed, and they’ll come to me on command. Now, let’s go get my sister.”

Jack appreciated that Owen spoke about her as if she was still alive.

Just hang in there, Terra ... We’re coming.

Jack and Owen hurried through the trees, their flashlights set to wide angles. Despite his prosthetic, Owen appeared to keep up with Jack just fine, though Jack was moving slower because of his injury. The bright eyes of wild animals reflected back to him now and then. Jack’s panicked gasps for breath echoed around him, along with his own footfalls.

The pain in his arm stabbed through him, and he stumbled as Owen moved ahead of him. The pain didn’t matter. Only Terra mattered—and getting to that dirtbag Marcus Briggs, or rather, Tony Gray.

Owen slowed. “I see the helo up ahead. Looks like the rotors separated from the fuselage. One’s stuck in a tree. The good news is, the fuselage appears relatively intact. I’m betting the trees slowed the descent, but then he wasn’t able to pull up at the last moment to land using the autorotation maneuver.”

Jack huffed. “English, please.”

“It was still a hard landing, and they could be injured or dead. I suggest a slow approach because he could still be dangerous. Oh, right, you wanted me to speak English. I’m saying he could put a bullet in both of us.”

Jack readied his gun, and Owen did the same. They spread out, each approaching the helicopter from opposite sides, Jack sending prayers up for Terra’s safety.

He crept forward, his heart pounding and breath quickening. He shined his flashlight on the cockpit.

Empty.

Terra could have been thrown from the helicopter. No, no, no, no...

He flashed the light around. “Terra!”

She could be hurt and dying. He rushed around the crash site, taking in the helicopter parts sprawled throughout this part of the forest.

“Terra!” Jack called as he searched.