33. Gunner

33

Gunner

I open my eyes, and Montana’s not beside me. When I see the bathroom door open with the light off, I sit up in bed quickly. She’s probably downstairs in the kitchen.

I get up slowly and check my phone seeing it’s seven a.m. I pause, and when I don’t hear a sound in the house, I start to panic.

But there is a noise. It’s so faint I can barely hear it. It’s . . . whinnying. There’s only one thing that could make that noise right now. Violet?

I run to my dresser, getting dressed quickly in an old shirt and jeans, and I run down the stairs, my eyes darting all round the room. “Montana?” I’m met with silence, and I yank open the front door, seeing Violet standing in front of it.

Why is Violet out here? Why is her saddle on ?

I slip on my shoes and go outside, calling Montana’s cell phone. It rings and goes to voicemail, and after the third time, I’m gasping for air.

Violet’s at the door with her saddle on. That means Montana was riding her. And I know Montana wouldn’t just leave her. Someone fucking took her.

“Fuck. Fuck!” I type in my passcode on my phone, pulling up the security footage. I see Montana go into Violet’s stall, feeding her and spending time with her, and then she saddles her up and rides off into the distance.

“Fuck, Montana.” I can’t believe she’d go out without telling me. I’m sweating, and my body’s shaking.

He took her. He took her, and I don’t know where the hell they’ve gone.

I’m gonna find her. I have to find her. I almost close out of the video, getting ready to call Dallas when I see Violet running back to the house alone. “Shit!”

Someone snatched her off that saddle. They had to have. I fast forward, trying to see if there’s anything else when a car blows through the yard, nearly hitting Violet. I pause when the license plate comes into view. It’s a black car. Just like one of the ones we saw at the casino.

I take a screenshot and send it to Dallas, calling him on his phone immediately after. “I need you to find that car right now and get over here.”

“Absolutely. What the hell is going on?”

I run back upstairs just to grab my guns, my keys, and my wallet. “Montana’s gone. Mason took her, and we need to find her before she ends up dead.”

Dallas drives his SUV while I sit in the passenger’s seat. “How the hell did he get her?”

“He pulled her off her goddamn horse while I was asleep.”

Dallas speeds down the highway, heading toward the direction the car was last spotted. I tried to check Montana’s location, but it had been turned off. My girl was smart enough to bring her phone when she left the house, but it didn’t matter. And now I have nothing to go on.

“Why were you asleep, Gunner?! I thought you said he was dangerous. How could you let her out of your sight?” Dallas bangs his fist on the wheel, visibly as angry as I feel.

“I was asleep because I’m fucking exhausted and thought the bastard was gone for good. I didn’t let her out of my fucking sight either. She went out there on her own. And it doesn’t matter at this point. I just can’t let her die. ”

My throat starts to tighten while I imagine what condition Montana’s in right now. My poor girl is probably terrified. I can’t believe I let this happen. I promised to protect her. To look after her. I thought she was overreacting and that he was all bark and no bite. What if I never see her again? What if he kills her slowly? What if she disappears without a trace?

I have to get her back. I’ll spend the rest of my life looking if I have to. But I won’t rest another day until Montana is back home with me where she belongs.

Dallas breaks through my thoughts, lowering his voice. “We’ll find her. Nothing gets in our way, Gunner. Do you hear me? No challenge has ever been too big for us. We will find Montana.”

I bite my tongue, trying to hold it together while images of her getting tortured pop up in my mind.

I sit in silence beside Dallas while he drives, and after eight hours, we end up in Nebraska at some small house in the woods. I see Mason’s car, and I grab the handle to get out of Dallas’, but he stops me, locking the doors. “We don’t know what the hell we’re walking into here, Gunner. Let’s do a perimeter check, and then we’ll go inside.”

I don’t want to do a fucking perimeter check. I want to barge in the house and tear it down until I find Mason, then I want to rip him apart and burn his limbs in front of his eyes.

But Dallas is right. We get out of his car slowly, taking a look around. There’s no yard or fence, This is the only house for miles. Once we make sure we’re clear, we check the car. There’s nothing inside but some rope with blood on it in the trunk.

He tied up my baby and put her in a trunk.

I keep my hand on the trigger of my gun, eager to shoot when we approach the front door. There’s no knocking or pleasantries. We just barge in, weapons high while we storm through.

But I’m filled with disappointment before we get far. “There’s no one here. I doubt they even came in here.”

The house is barren. Dusty. Cold.

Dallas checks repeatedly, going in the rooms and closets, but he eventually gives up too.

We’ve been lead to another dead end. Another empty house with no soul. Except unlike the house Montana and I went to together, there’s nothing here for us. No clue, no note, and no idea of where to look next.