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ONE

Isla

I wake up, sore, discombobulated, and tied up in the back of my horse trailer. Shaking my head, I try to open my eyes only to realize that one of them is swollen shut. A soft whinny over my head has me peering up to see Starlight gazing down on me.

“Hey, girl,” I manage to croak out through my aching throat.

While she’s too old to still run the circuit, I now show her in the dressage events and use her daughter, Stargazer, to fly through the barrels. She’s faster than Starlight ever was and that’s saying something because Starlight helped me break some records on the circuit when she was at her strongest. Stargazer is blowing through those, and it gives me a thrill to know that my horses are winners.

“What happened?” I murmur, as though she can answer me.

I can feel the trailer moving so I know I’m no longer at the fairgrounds, but the last thing I remember clearly is taking a bottle of water from Gage while I was getting Starlight back in the trailer.

Starlight chuffs and despite the seriousness of the situation, I laugh. “I know, girl, it’s not like I have the ability to understand you.”

Rolling to my side, I find my arms are bound behind my back and it’s been long enough that my hands are numb.

“Let’s get these off,” I murmur, backing up to the steel slats.

This is one of the Triple R’s specially outfitted trailers. Rafe insisted I start using one for several reasons and right now, as I reach the section I was looking for, I’m grateful I didn’t argue with him on switching it out with mine. Because there’s a hidden knife that I activate, which quickly cuts through the ropes at my wrists.

Sighing in relief, I push the button, so it detracts back into the handle, so Starlight won’t accidentally hurt herself, then untie the bindings at my ankles.

As the pins and needles course through my arms and legs, I let out a low hiss of pain. I can’t tell what all my injuries are, but flashes of memory let me know that I fought like a hellcat.

Again, thanks to Rafe and his numerous self-defense sessions he insisted on giving me, I didn’t just cave and take the beating. No, I got my own licks in, which has me grinning in triumph. I suspect, since I don’t remember much else, that the water Gage gave me was drugged, which pisses me off because he’s supposed to be a trusted friend.

We grew up together for fuck’s sake. This level of betrayal has me seeing red.

“Rafe’s gonna kill him, Star,” I murmur, running my hand along her to make sure she’s not hurt.

Seeing no signs of blood except my own on my hands, I sit back down while I try to figure out where I am and where we’re possibly going. We were in New Mexico, halfway between Texas and Arizona, but I don’t know what direction we’re currently heading.

It’s dark out, too, which doesn’t help me see the mile markers. Still, I keep looking out through the gaps in the slats since we are on the interstate because there are usually lights close to an exit. When the truck starts to slow and turn off on an exit ramp, I get excited because I know precisely where we’re at!

“Only about fifteen miles or so from home,” I murmur, resuming the position I was in just in case whoever’s in the truck decides to check on me.

I have the beginning of an escape plan forming. It’ll hurt like hell, but at this point, I don’t care about the pain. Whatever it takes for me to get to Rafe and safety, I’ll do it. The truck pulls into a dumpy motel and parks so I listen just in case anything is said that’ll give me a clue as to what their plans for me are, not that they’re going to succeed.

I’d rip my own wrists out before I’d let them put me in a position to be harmed. Since I like breathing, it’s a testament to how serious I am about getting away.

When the doors open then close, I hear Gage’s voice ask, “Why do y’all not wear your cuts in vehicles?”

A voice I don’t recognize says, “Because, you dumb fuck, we’re in a vehicle! Cuts are worn when we’re riding only, plain and simple. Jesus, I thought you grew up around a club.”

“Should we check on her?” Gage questions.

“Naw, you gave her enough she shouldn’t wake up until sometime tomorrow. If ever.”

The cavalier way the stranger says that sends shivers through my body. I suspect I’m a means to an end, but the question is, whose end?

They walk away and I presume it’s to get a room, but I wait a long time to make sure they aren’t coming back. Thankfully, they didn’t take my watch so after thirty minutes, I go to one of the cart’s hidden compartments and fetch my wallet from where I stored it for safekeeping, my Swiss Army knife, and a bottle of water.

Too bad I didn’t have the forethought to tuck a phone in there as well. I make a mental note to ask Rafe about getting one for future events. Not that I ever want this to happen again, but still, it’s something to consider just in case. I need to try and flush the rest of these drugs out of my system, but as it’s the least of my worries, I push on.

“Okay, Starlight, let’s see if we can do this,” I mutter as I maneuver to the trailer gate. “Sweet,” I hiss out in jubilation when I see they didn’t bother putting on the outer lock.

When Rafe made revisions to this trailer, he made it to where the bolt could be unlatched from the inside as well as the outside. Slowly, I open it and jump down, wincing in pain from the vibration of my feet hitting the concrete.

Then, I lower the ramp as quietly as possible before walking up it to untie Starlight and lead her down the incline. Once she’s on solid ground, I retract the ramps and close the gate so that nothing looks off at first glance. No sense in giving anyone the jump on me, I need a head start without worrying about being chased down. Unless Gage is persistent on checking in on me considering he was told it wasn’t necessary, I should be golden.

I don’t have her saddle on hand since she wasn’t riding in any competitions due to retirement from those strenuous events, but we spent years riding bareback on the ranch for the fun of it, so I know I can do that without any issues.

The question is, how am I getting on her back right now without anything to step up on to give me a boost? I spot a green transformer box that I know I can climb onto, so I lead her toward that, give the command to stay, and carefully hoist myself on it.

“This is gonna suck,” I grit out through my clenched teeth as I grab Starlight’s mane.

Right now, I’m glad Stargazer was in one of the ranch’s trailers because I don’t think I could handle both horses in my current condition.

“Steady, girl,” I say. “Easy does it.”

It takes me far too long to get seated on her back and I’m pouring sweat by the time I manage to do so, but I can’t waste any time, so I click my teeth with my tongue and use the bridle to turn Stargazer toward home.

“This is taking forever,” I moan, pain now thrumming through every bone in my body.

My wrists and ankles were rubbed raw with the bindings that were used, so I now have blood seeping into my shoes and down my hands, which is fucking gross. Because one eye is swollen shut, my head is pounding and I’m now seeing double.

That could be because I’m almost positive I remember being slammed against the sides of the trailer at one point, so I probably have a concussion on top of everything. Not to mention that every breath causes my chest to burn in agony.

By my estimate, I’m around five miles away from the gates at the Triple R, but I don’t think I can ride any longer.

Sliding off Starlight’s back, I hit her rump and say, “Go find Rafe, Star. Get Rafe.” I manage to find some semblance of shelter in some heavy foliage and pass out, mumbling, “I tried, Rafe. I promise, I tried.”