I chuckled. “You have a point there. She was already telling me that we needed to come and talk to you to make sure that Aidan and Elliott got the best possible placement.”
“Now, she can make sure they do.”
A sense of rightness settled deeper into my bones. This was a family I’d never expected, but one that was beyond perfect for me.
My phone buzzed in my pocket. I slid it out. An alert shone on the screen from my security system, but it wasn’t one I’d seen before. I opened the app.
“What is it?” Hayes asked.
“The security system lost power.”
“It has solar-powered backup power.”
An invisible fist wrapped around my heart and squeezed. “Call Shiloh. See where they are.”
I tapped through the app to get more information as Hayes hit a contact on his phone. They should be out on the trails bynow. Not even on the ranch. Yet, I couldn’t take a full breath. Not until I knew that Shiloh was safe.
Hayes’ jaw tensed. “It went straight to voicemail.”
“Call Hadley.”
He did so immediately as I thumbed through my security app. When I finally reached the right screen, I sucked in air that felt as if it were made of barbed wire.Line disconnected.
“Hadl—” A stream of words I couldn’t make out on the other end of the line cut him off. I watched as panic slowly set in. “She’s gone. They can’t find Shiloh anywhere.”
41
SHILOH
I rolled over with a groan.Everything hurt. My body felt as if I’d run a marathon with no training, and my head thrummed in a way that should’ve signaled the hangover from hell. I blinked a few times.
With each opening of my eyelids, light filled my vision, making me wince and cringe. But with each blast of light came glimpses of an unfamiliar space. The panic came in bursts, each blink bringing more and more until it had woven around my chest in a vise grip.
I forced my eyes fully open, taking in the room around me. I lay on a musty mattress on the floor, covered by a ratty blanket. There was nothing else in the tiny room, no furniture or even a lamp. The light came from the window, the single bulb overhead extinguished.
My breaths came quicker as I searched my mind, trying to grab hold of the last thing I remembered. Things came in flashes: my morning with Ramsey, Hadley and my mom, the barn.
I jerked upright as the memory of the hand clamping over my mouth slammed into me. My heart railed against my ribs as if it were trying to break free. This wasn’t happening. Not again.
Tears stung the backs of my eyes, but they weren’t ones of despair or even fear. They were tears of pure fury.
I wouldn’t be a victim. Not again. I’d fought too hard to get my life back.
Pain lanced through my chest at the thought. Images of that life filled my mind: Kai’s rambunctious hilarity, Onyx’s fragile trust, afternoons teaching Elliott about horses, seeing Aidan blossom under Ramsey’s guidance, and truly reconnecting with my family for the first time, giving them a chance to know me.
Ramsey.
It was just one word, a single name, but it had come to mean everything to me, gently spurring on my bravery and helping me find the path that was mine and mine alone.
The burn behind my eyes intensified as more memories swirled. The way I felt completely safe with Ramsey, how my body came alive under his touch, and how I felt myself for the first time in my life.
A single tear slipped free, and I quickly wiped it away as if that would erase everything running through my head. It was impossible, but I didn’t have the luxury of falling apart.
I pushed myself to stand, but my legs wobbled, and my head spun. Whoever had taken me had doused me with chloroform or something similar, and the drug had left behind one of the worst headaches of my life.
I shoved the pain aside and tried my best to focus. I ran over the events of the afternoon. Replaying them, I focused on every detail. I hadn’t heard any unfamiliar sounds as I’d stepped outside. I hadn’t seen anything out of place.
I pictured the horses in the paddock. They’d been grazing, but a few had been focused on a specific direction. They’d seen something. It was a detail I should’ve noticed, but I hadn’t. I’d been too focused on the prospect of a trail ride with Hadley and Mom.