She kept talking to him, soothing him. Just standing next to the horse eased his trembling, seemed to ease his fear.
“Can you lead him away from Bridger?” Josh asked.
Tory wiped tears from her cheeks. “I think Damon’s dead.” She knew he was. She just couldn’t make herself say it. She pressed her lips together and tried to hold on. “He shot Star.”
“We’ll take care of Star. Can you get him back in his stall?”
It was dangerous and both of them knew it. She silently thanked Josh for having enough confidence in her to let her handle the stallion.
She returned her attention to the horse, rubbed his topknot, rubbed his ears, spoke to him and stroked his neck. Star took a big, deep breath and let it out slowly. When his head drooped down, she took hold of his mane and backed him away from Damon, very slowly turned him around, and led him back into his stall.
Fresh blood oozed down the stallion’s front leg, but the shot had gone wild. A piece of torn flesh hung down, but the injury didn’t look too serious.
“The vet’s on his way,” Josh said, ending the call he’d just made and stuffing the phone back into his pocket.
Tory closed the stall door and walked toward Josh and he enclosed her in his arms. His jaw clenched as he took in the bruise on her face and her swollen lip. He gently wiped a trace of blood from the corner of her mouth.
“Bridger’s dead. If he wasn’t, I’d kill him myself.”
A sound escaped from her throat. There was no doubt Damon was dead. His skull had been crushed into bloody bits and pieces.
She wanted to grab onto Josh, hold on for all she was worth, but she knew he had to be hurting.
“Everything’s going to be okay,” he said, his arms still around her. “You’re safe. Ivy and Clara are with Noah.”
She managed to swallow. “What . . . what about Star?”
“Nunez is bringing something to sedate him. He’s still pretty shook up. We don’t want to take any chances.”
No. Though she didn’t believe the horse would hurt her or Josh, he was injured and upset. They couldn’t afford to take chances.
“Why don’t you go on inside, honey? Ivy needs you. Let me take care of this.”
The lump in her throat ached. She had to go into the house. Her little girl needed her. She looked at Damon and couldn’t make herself move.
She watched Josh disappear into the tack room. He brought out a blue plastic tarp and spread it over Damon’s lifeless body.
He returned to her, eased her back into his arms. “Come on, honey. Let’s go inside.” He glanced over at the lump beneath the tarp. “It’s over, baby. You’ll never have to be afraid of Damon Bridger again.”
Chapter Thirty-Six
Noah had called the sheriff and freed a groggy Mrs. Thompson. She sat next to Ivy on the sofa. Noah was on his way out to the barn when Josh led Tory into the house.
“Mama!” The reunion was tearful. Josh was just grateful that everyone was going to be okay.
Dr. Alejandro Nunez showed up right away and for once Josh was glad to see him. The vet gave the stallion something to calm him, then cleaned and stitched up the wound in the horse’s front leg.
Josh still had a hard time believing what he had seen in the barn. The stallion had been willing to die for Tory. Josh thought that he and Star shared something in common.
The sheriff arrived with the medical examiner and an ambulance. Josh gave Howler his statement, then made phone calls while the sheriff spoke to Tory and Clara Thompson. Josh called Detective Larson and Hamilton Brown in Phoenix, then phoned his brother.
“It’s over,” he said to Linc. “Bridger’s dead out in my barn.”
Linc’s voice roughened with worry. “You kill him?”
“Star killed him. The stallion didn’t take kindly to Bridger manhandling Tory.”
“Christ.”
