On top of that, his older brother CJ—and their mother’s once favorite—was in jail awaiting trial on numerous felonies, including attempted murder and second-degree manslaughter. Their mother had already alienated both of his sisters, Tilly and Oakley, leaving only himself and his younger brother, Ryder, still at home on the ranch.
This was definitely not the time to drop his bombshell on her and the man she’d openly despised for years. Brand, clearly the product of a secret affair, didn’t want this getting out. His family was the talk of the county enough as it was, one reason he and Ryder had always kept a low profile. They’d worked the ranch, avoiding the drama that was often going on up at the house—or in town.
As he started toward his bedroom closet, he caught a glimpse of movement outside. He stepped to his window in time to see a figure creeping along the side of the house, headed for the stables. Her back was to him, but as hungover as he was, he could still tell it was a young, shapely woman. Her head of long black hair fell almost to her shapely behind, a behind tucked nicely into a pair of jeans.
Clearly, she was sneaking around looking for something. He frowned, not sure he was up to dealing with a thief, given his hangover. But he realized he was probably the only one not off working somewhere on the ranch or in town today—other than this trespasser.
Given little choice, he pulled on jeans over his naked, still-damp lower body, going commando, and rushed barefoot to the door before she could get away. Time to find out what she was doing sneaking around the Stafford Ranch.
HOLDEN’S FIRST INSTINCT after reading the strange note was to call the sheriff. But he couldn’t shake off the feeling that this was some kind of prank. A sick joke. He had to make sure that Holly Jo was missing. He tried Elaine’s number. By now she would have reached the school.
His call went directly to voicemail. He left a message for her to call right away. He knew she wouldn’t have turned off her phone, which meant she had to be on it. He tried not to panic as he chastised himself for not letting the girl get her own cell phone. He’d said she didn’t need one, but right now he wished more than ever that he could call her. He just needed to hear her voice.
Holly Jo would think he was silly or senile when she heard his relief. He could just hear her. “Really, HH?” she would say. After she’d recently found out his middle name was Hank, she’d taken to calling him HH rather than Holden. “I’m fine. What did you think had happened to me?” she’d ask, laughing.
Just as he started to try Elaine again, his phone rang. With a flood of relief, he saw that she was calling him back.
“Tell me you have Holly Jo,” he said before she could speak.
Those next few seconds waiting for her reply were interminable.
“She’s not here, Holden. I can’t find anyone who’s even seen her. Her regular teacher was out sick and the substitute teacher didn’t report it because of the short day at school.” His heart dropped like an anvil from a plane. “The bus driver said she wasn’t waiting at the end of the ranch road. I’ve been trying to call a classmate of hers who also wasn’t in school today. Why would she skip school on a day when she knew I was picking her up early to go shopping in Billings? She’s been looking forward to this for weeks, and now...”
“Elaine.” She must have heard the anguish and fear in his voice, because she stopped talking abruptly. “I need to get off the phone to call the sheriff. I’m afraid Holly Jo’s been kidnapped. I got a note. Please come home. We have to find her and get her back.”
“No,” Elaine said, her voice cracking. “Oh no.”
He disconnected and made the call, silently praying to a God he’d abandoned years ago after his mother had died. “Stu,” he said the moment the sheriff answered. Sheriff Stuart Layton and Holden’s son Cooper had been friends since they were kids, spending endless hours on the ranch together. “Holly Jo’s been taken.”
“Holden? What do you mean taken?”
“Kidnapped. I got a note. Elaine went to pick her up at school, but she never arrived. She wasn’t at the bus stop when the driver came by. No one has seen her.”
“Sit tight. Don’t touch the note again. I’m on my way.”
As he disconnected, he saw his son Duffy standing in the doorway of his office.
“What’s this about Holly Jo?” Duffy asked, looking worried.
He pointed to the note lying on his desk, and his son stepped into the room to read it. “Stu said not to touch it. He should be here soon.” As Duffy scanned the oddly shaped words from a safe distance, Holden could see that, like he himself had originally, his son wanted to believe it was a sick joke.
“You’re sure she’s missing?”
“Elaine went to pick her up. She never made it to school.” He saw his son’s expression. “What?”
“There’s this boy at school,” Duffy said. “He’s been giving her a hard time. Gus Gardner, Joe Gardner’s kid from the Montgomery Ranch.”
“Why is this the first time I’ve been hearing about this?” Holden demanded.
“I handled it. I talked to the boy.”
“And?” he demanded.
“And nothing. Holly Jo got mad and took the bus home instead of riding with me. She said I embarrassed her. She also said that I didn’t know anything. But it was clear to me that something was going on between them.”
At the sound of a vehicle, Holden got up from his desk and rushed to the door. He kept telling himself that this wasn’t happening. Holly Jo would turn up. But what Duffy had told him made him even more worried. So much went on in a child’s life that the parents never knew about. He hated to think of things he’d done that could have gotten him killed growing up that he’d never told his father about.
He’d made so many mistakes with his own children who were now adults. He had hoped that he could do better with Holly Jo. But he feared he might have already done something that was now jeopardizing her life.
“Duffy,” he said as his son stormed toward the door. His youngest son didn’t bother to look back as he rushed out, headed for his pickup. “Don’t go off half-cocked and do something we’ll all regret,” he called after him. But if Duffy heard, he didn’t respond as he roared off, no doubt headed for the Montgomery Ranch and Gus Gardner.
Holden swore as he watched Duffy swerve to miss the sheriff’s patrol SUV now speeding toward the house.
AS BRAND SNEAKED around the side of the house, he saw the woman head for the stable. He frowned. What was she looking for? All of the hands must be out somewhere on the ranch, he thought as he ran barefoot to the back of the stable and carefully opened the door. Stepping into the cool semidarkness, he spotted her silhouetted in the open doorway at the other end of the structure. He couldn’t wait to see the look on the young woman’s face when he caught her.
He just wished he wasn’t so hungover. His head ached, and he feared he might not be thinking clearly. He listened but could hear little over the sound of birds in the stand of dense cottonwoods that lined this side of the river. A cloudless deep blue sky hung over the mountains and river that formed the Powder River Basin. He breathed in the summer day, even though it was chilly here in the stable wearing only a pair of jeans and nothing else. He wished he had at least pulled on his boots.
She stood as if also listening. She didn’t look as if she was here to rob them, especially all by herself.
On his way to the stable, he’d noted that his pickup was parked where his friend had left it last night. He couldn’t see any other vehicles—let alone another person other than her on the premises. His head and stomach churned at the memory of all he’d had to drink last night—and what he’d done. He realized that from the moment he’d opened his eyes this morning, he’d been waiting for something bad to happen.
Given how he felt, maybe accosting a trespasser wasn’t his best idea. The thought made him grin. Even hungover, he told himself he could handle this slightly built woman as she started to move away from the open stable doorway. He spotted a coiled lariat hanging on the wall, scooping it up as he moved soundlessly after her.
She must have sensed him, though, because as he cleared the doorway, she turned. He already had the loop in the lariat ready as she started to run. He’d spent a lifetime lassoing cattle and horses and fence posts. Throwing a loop over a slim young woman was child’s play.
The moment the rope dropped over her, he pulled hard, bringing her to an abrupt stop. By then, he was stalking toward her, coiling the rope as he moved, ready to demand answers. He couldn’t imagine what she was doing here, let alone what she might be looking for. But in a few moments, he would find out.
He wasn’t sure what he’d expected when they finally came face-to-face with each other. If not fear, at least concern at being caught. Her wolf-gray eyes did widen a little. But the corner of her mouth turned up slightly as she cocked her head at him as if in amusement. It gave him a moment of pause, but not enough to make him stop closing the distance between them. Nor did he allow any slack in the rope. He had her. She wasn’t getting away.
