“No,” I blurted out.“Of course I’m not okay.I forgot to set the alarm last night because … because …” I growled.“Perché mi hai distratto.Sei una distrazione fin dall’inizio.”She was a distraction.
The barn door opened, and Jagger appeared first—still limping a little—followed by his four older brothers, and one woman with shoulder-length brown hair.She pushed past the men and came straight up to me, wrapping her arms around me in a hug, speaking fluent Italian to me and introducing herself, telling me that they were here to help.“Ciao.Sono Ludovica.Mi dispiace tanto sapere del tuo puledro.Siamo qui per aiutarti a trovarlo in tutti i modi possibili.”
I glanced at Danica, who didn’t at all seem surprised that this woman was speaking fluent Italian.
Ludovica stepped back, with an apologetic smile on her pretty face.I stood there like an idiot, just staring at her.Wyatt McEvoy joined us, wrapping an arm around her, offering me his hand.“Sorry about this, man.Who the fuck steals a foal?”
The woman beside him shook her head, fury burning hot in her brown eyes.
“Vica insisted she meet the other Italian on the island,” Wyatt added.“Wanted to help any way she could.”
“Si,” Vica said, nodding.“Wyatt speaks Italian, but as you know, it’s not the same as chatting with someone from back home.”
My head bobbed.“Sorry … I’m just …”
“We get it,” Wyatt said, dismissing my apology.“This is all crazy and it sucks.”
The tall, dark-haired man beside Jagger, who was their eldest brother, Clint, clapped his hands once to gather everyone’s attention.“All right, so we’re on the hunt for a black, week-old colt, yes?”
Danica nodded.“He has a white star on his forehead.”
“Doubt we’ll run into more than one black foal on the island,” Jagger joked.
Danica rolled her eyes.
“I’ve already called the ferry terminal, and they know to stop and search any vehicles that are big enough to stash a foal,” Clint said.
“Clint,” Vica started, “where do you think someone who stole a horse could even hide on the island?”
“Well, considering we’ve had to search the island for people hiding before, the first place we’re going to check is Bonn Remmen’s land and his old house.Then we’ll hit other vacation homes that are currently vacant.I doubt any islander would risk stashing them, but we can’t rule it out.We’ll go in teams of two.”
“My cousins and Maverick are on their way too,” Danica added.
Clint nodded.“Good.Brooke and Chloe are staying with the kids, and Justine is working at the clinic.But we’ve messaged all our pub staff, and those who aren’t scheduled to start until later tonight are already out looking.”
A message made his phone ping, and he glanced at it.
Meanwhile, I just continued to stand there like a helpless idiot, having a silent anxiety attack, while people I barely knew devised a plan to help me find Midnight.
“I also messaged Cameron Arendelle,” Danica said.“He’s got all the distillery dads out searching too.”
“That was Jolene Dandy,” Clint said, stashing his phone back into his pocket.“She’s started the island phone tree now.By lunch, not a single islander won’t be in the know or out looking.”
Danica offered me a small, reassuring smile, but I wasn’t able to reply with one of my own.
I hadn’t even noticed, but Wyatt and Vica had made their way toward the other end of the barn, and were just walking back to us now.“Looks like a forced entry into the stall across from the one they stole the foal from.”
Vica nodded.“They pried open the door of that horse’s stall from the outside.”
“That’s Ginger’s stall,” Danica said.“She’s so gentle.No wonder they didn’t get kicked in the head or anything.She wouldn’t hurt a fly.”
“They must have left the same way, it would seem,” Wyatt added.He had my security tablet in his hand and was studying it.“There are cameras at all the main doors, and we see no movement.”
“I … I forgot to turn on the alarm,” I murmured, staring at the ground as that buzzing invaded my ears again and my fingers tingled and burned so much that the only thing I could do was curl them into fists.
Thankfully, Clint seemed used to organizing and delegating this kind of thing.So he didn’t wait for me to gather my thoughts.He just launched into creating search party teams.
“You’re with me,” Danica said, sliding her fingers through mine and giving them a little squeeze.
