Lynette Eason - Christmas Ranch Rescue

Nathan had the horses and Becca herded the children into the large room she’d set up for birthday parties and other fun activities. Today, they’d have snacks and drinks and restroom breaks. Crayons and pictures of horses were set out to be turned into masterpieces.

“Thanks for doing this, Becca.” Sharon Hyatt, one of Becca’s friends from high school, sidled up beside her. She also boarded a horse at the barn.

Becca smiled. “My pleasure.”

“We almost cancelled, you know.”

“What? Why?”

Sharon shrugged. “Because of what happened yesterday—and the rumors that the sheriff actually got a warrant to search your property for drugs.”

“Right. Well, those aren’t rumors, they’re facts. He did search it.”

“I told the powers that be if there was any danger, you would have called, and that if there were any drugs, the sheriff would have found them. But I didn’t see any point in cancelling. They didn’t like it much, but they like me, so...” She shrugged.

“Thank you for defending me. Yesterday was just a fluke thing.” She hoped. “Someone looking for something to sell—or the drugs I’m rumored to have on the property. I just happened to be in the barn at the time he came looking.” She forced a smile to stiff lips. “There’s no danger here.” Please God, let that be true. “And there are no drugs, absolutely none.” She knew that was true.

Why Donny had had her number in his phone, she didn’t know, and likely never would. Just a strange coincidence. Or maybe he’d called her about boarding a horse and she’d called him back.

She talked to a number of people on a daily basis—new people calling to ask questions about finding a barn or lessons she taught. She didn’t always remember their names. But it didn’t explain the other two times he’d received a call from her number. Or the text. It was just strange. The fact that he’d been in trouble with the law on drug charges before bothered her, of course, but there was no way to connect everything. And that bothered her, too, because she was probably missing something. But what? If Clay couldn’t figure it out with all of the resources at his disposal, what was she supposed to do?

“I’m going to come ride Lady Lou tomorrow afternoon,” Sharon said. She looked up and frowned at the overhanging clouds. “I don’t think today’s going to work, but tomorrow should. It’s been too long since I’ve given her a good workout.”

“She’s a gentle soul and was glad to see you today. Thanks for letting us use her for the kids.”

“Of course.”

Jack walked over and Becca scratched his ears, grateful that everything had gone well with no strange or dangerous incidents. It seemed since her accident, there had been a series of “mishaps.” The mower’s busted brake line, a missing feed bin she knew she’d just filled right before her accident, catching glimpses of strange lights in her barn but no one being there when she investigated. Just weird stuff. Nothing to be afraid of—except the attack earlier—but she had to admit, it was all starting to worry her. “I’m glad the kids were able to ride before the storm hit.”

Sharon nodded and stole a glance at the sky through the barn door. “We’d better get going, though. It’s just sprinkling right now, but the bottom is getting ready to fall out of those clouds.”

Within minutes, the adults hurried the children through the light rain and herded them onto the small bus. All except one. “Wait a minute,” Becca said, “where’s the little blond girl? Jessica?”

Sharon frowned and did a quick head count. “She must still be in the barn. I’ll get her.”

Thunder boomed and they flinched as they ran back to the shelter of the barn. “Jessica?” Becca called.

No answer. Sharon added her voice to Becca’s. Nathan stepped inside and shook his head. Water flew from his hair. “What’s going on?”

“We’re looking for Jessica.” Becca felt a flicker of worry. “Check all the stalls.”

Nathan frowned. “I’ll look around outside. She liked watching the horses in the pasture.”

“But it’s raining,” Sharon said, “she wouldn’t go back out in this.”

“Never know with a kid.” He ducked back out into what had become a downpour.

Becca turned back to checking the stalls. A horse’s agitated whinny brought her attention to the third stall from the end. She hurried to the door and looked in. Jessica stood there, pale and trembling, her terrified eyes locked on something on the ground.

Becca followed the child’s gaze and froze.

Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.

Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.