“How’s he doing?”
I look over at Truett again. His skin is gray, and there’s blood on his lips now. That’s not a good sign.
“Not good,” I admit. “We need to get to the ranch fast.”
“Copy that. We’re right behind you.”
I didn’t even notice they’ve taken position to keep us safe on the road. The next twenty minutes are the longest of my life. Every time Truett’s breathing gets more shallow, every time his head lolls forward, I’m sure I’m going to lose him. But somehow, he hangs on.
“Stay with me, brother,” I keep saying. “Aubree’s coming. She’s going to fix you right up.”
Truett’s eyes flutter open at the mention of her name. “She shouldn’t…be involved…” he whispers.
“Yeah, well, too late for that now.”
The lights of Grizzly River Ranch finally come into view, and I’ve never been so happy to see home in my life. I can see headlights already in the driveway. Aubree and Nora beat us here.
I pull up right in front of the house, not caring about the gravel I send flying. Carson and the others are right behind me,their trailers still loaded with stolen cattle, but that’s a problem for later.
Aubree comes running out of the house before I even have the truck in park. She’s changed out of whatever she was wearing at the bar into jeans and a sweater, her honey-blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail. Behind her, I can see Nora carrying what looks like a medical bag.
“How is he?” Aubree asks as I jump out of the driver’s side.
“Unconscious. Lost a lot of blood.” I run around to the passenger side and carefully open the door. Truett’s head is lolled back against the headrest, and for a terrifying moment, I think we’re too late.
But then I see his chest rising and falling, shallow but steady.
“Help me get him inside,” Aubree says, all business now. The woman who was probably laughing with her friends an hour ago is gone, replaced by someone who knows exactly what needs to be done.
Together, we manage to get Truett out of the truck and into the house. Nora has already cleared off the kitchen table and spread clean towels across it.
“Put him here,” she directs, and we carefully lay Truett down on his back.
Nora immediately starts cutting away his shirt to get a better look at the wound. Her hands are steady and sure, and I’m reminded that although she’s just a vet tech, we all have a lot of different experiences out here in these rural areas.
“The bullet went through,” she says after a quick examination. “That’s good. No need to dig it out. But it nicked something on the way through. He’s lost a lot of blood.”
“Is he going to be okay?” I ask, even though I’m not sure I want to hear the answer.
Nora looks up at me, her deep brown eyes serious but not panicked. “I don’t know yet. But we’re going to do everything we can.”
As she and Aubree get to work, I step back and let them do what they do best. Outside, I can hear Carson and the others unloading the cattle and trying to get them secured. The whole job was a disaster, but at least we got something for our trouble.
But looking down at Truett’s pale face, I can’t help but think that no amount of money is worth this. We should have quit while we were ahead.
The problem is, it might already be too late for regrets.
NINETEEN
AUBREE
My hands are shakingas I help Nora work on my brother.
“We need medicine.” She winces as she works to stitch up his wound. “If we don’t get him some antibiotics and painkillers, he’s going to be in a world of hurt.”
“Where can we get it?” I question, going over every option we have at this time of night in a town as small as Grizzly River. It hits me like a Mack truck. “Atlee. She can get it for us.”
Nora squints. “I don’t want to get her in trouble, but she does owe me. It would be pretty easy for her to fudge records too, especially since she’s been doing inventory. I know she went in late the other night to start on it when no one was there.”
