Tanner grunts something and takes off after Holden, his movements stiff and uncoordinated. He’s not running so much as lurching, each step a clear struggle against whatever his bodyis trying to expel. As I watch, he steps directly on Holden’s discarded hat, his foot sliding on the brim, and nearly goes down. He catches himself at the last second, arms windmilling, but the damage is done.
The sheriff pinches the bridge of his nose. “Christ Almighty.”
We all move after them, following the chase at a more measured pace. Holden has a decent lead, but he’s not exactly in peak physical condition. Tanner, despite his compromised state, is slowly closing the distance.
Then Holden scales the fence into an enclosure.
“I wouldn’t go in there if I were you!” I shout, but it’s too late. Holden is already over the top, dropping down into the stall with the kind of desperation that overrides common sense, and running, except he freezes halfway across the corralled area.
Brutus is standing at one end of the enclosure, massive and motionless, watching this new intruder with the cold calculation of a born predator. The bull’s head is lowered slightly, his dark eyes fixed on Holden, nostrils flaring with each slow, deliberate breath.
The silence stretches.
Well, fuck…
Then Brutus stamps one enormous hoof against the packed dirt, and the sound is like a gunshot in the morning quiet.
“Fucking idiot,” my father breathes beside me.
We reach the fence just as Tanner climbs it, huffing and puffing, his face now a concerning shade of gray.
“We have to get him out of there,” Sheriff Cade says urgently. “That bull will kill him.”
Tanner, apparently having a death wish, attempts to get into the stall, starts wobbling, and, without warning, begins hurling out his breakfast.
Everyone groans and looks away.
“Tanner, you fool!” The sheriff grabs his deputy by the back of his collar and hauls him down. He lands on his side, coughing.
He wipes his mouth with the back of his hand. “Cade, I’m not?—”
“Enough!” The sheriff’s voice could cut steel. “You show up to work in this condition, barely able to walk straight, and you can’t even do your job. Consider yourself suspended. Immediately. We’ll discuss the details later.”
Tanner sputters a protest, pushing himself to his feet, but the sheriff has already dismissed him, turning to face the rest of us with desperate urgency.
I’m already moving along the stall before I consciously decide to act. Not that this asshole Holden deserves saving, but he does need a healthy dose of humiliation, as well as having everything taken from him. “I’ve got an idea.”
I circle around to the side of the enclosure, away from where Holden is frozen in terror. Brutus tracks my movement with those calculating eyes, but his attention remains primarily fixed on the intruder in his territory.
“Hey!” I vault onto the lower rung of the fence, making myself visible. “Over here.”
Brutus’s head swings toward me, and for a heart-stopping moment, we lock eyes. This close, I can see every detail of the animal that’s haunted this town for decades. The scars from past battles. The powerful muscles bunched beneath his hide. The intelligence in those dark eyes.
“That’s right,” I call out, keeping my voice steady. “I’m the one you want. Not that pathetic sack of shit in your stall.”
The distraction works because Brutus takes a step toward me, then another, his attention shifting away from Holden.
“Run!” I shout at him. “Get to the fence! Now!”
Holden doesn’t need to be told twice. He breaks into a desperate sprint toward the far side of the enclosure, legs pumping, arms flailing, pure terror propelling him forward.
But Brutus is no fool, because the moment Holden moves, the bull’s head whips back around. In less than a second, he calculates the angles, dismisses me as the lesser threat, and launches himself with terrifying speed at the fleeing man.
“Oh, fuck.”
I drop down from the fence inside the enclosure and scan the area frantically. There, near the gate, a stack of plastic barrels used for various training exercises. I don’t think. I just move.
I sprint toward the barrels and grab one just as Brutus closes the distance on Holden. The man is screaming, high-pitched and hysterical, his hands reaching for the fence that’s still too far away.
