Something is wrong.
He looked at the passenger seat. His gear bag sat there, zipped tight. The ticket to his future.
He looked at the plastic bull in the cup holder.Bodacious.
"Damn it," Ryder growled.
He hit the brakes. The truck hydroplaned, sliding sideways on the slick tarmac before the tires caught. He wrestled the wheel, swinging the nose of the heavy Ford around in a wide arc across the double yellow line.
He slammed the accelerator.
He was going back.
Not because he was staying. But because he couldn't leave while the sky was trying to drown the people he had left behind.
He drove north, fighting the wind that tried to push the truck into the ditch. The rain intensified. It was a biblical deluge.
His phone buzzed on the seat.
He snatched it up.
Elena.
His heart stopped. She never called him. Not since the day he arrived.
He swiped the green button.
"Elena?"
"Ryder!" Her voice was a scream, barely audible over the roar of the wind on her end. "Ryder, is he with you?"
Ryder went cold. "Who? Is who with me?"
"Leo! Is Leo with you?"
"No. I'm... I'm on the highway. I left, Elena. I told you I was leaving."
"He's gone," she sobbed. The sound was a jagged tear in the fabric of the world. "I went to his room to check the windows because of the storm. His bed is empty. His backpack is gone. The window is open."
"He ran away?"
"He left a drawing," she cried. "A drawing of the ranch. He's coming to find you, Ryder. He thinks... he thinks he made you leave. He thinks if he learns to ride the horse, you'll stay."
Ryder felt the blood drain from his face, leaving him lightheaded.
"He's walking to the ranch?"
"He has to be. But the creek... Ryder, the creek is over the banks. The bridge on County Road 9 is underwater. If he tries to cross..."
"I'm coming," Ryder shouted. "I'm ten miles out. I'm coming."
"I'm in the car," Elena yelled. "I'm trying to get to the lower road, but the mud is too deep. I'm stuck."
"Stay there!" Ryder ordered. "Don't get out of the car. I'll find him. I swear to God, Elena, I'll find him."
He threw the phone down.
He floored the gas pedal.
