Page 29 of Love, Lies, and Whiskey

When the Dark Knights converged on Juliette’s property with trucks, motorcycles, trailers carrying ATVs, and horse trailers, her jaw dropped. “How many people did you call?”

“The whole club. We’re not leaving anything to chance.” As the guys started unloading the equipment and horses, his parents climbed out of his father’s truck. “Come on.” Doc took Juliette’s hand, heading over to them.

Her gaze flicked nervously to their joined hands, then up at him.

Fuck. They were in this together. Taking her hand felt so natural, he didn’t even think before doing it. “Sorry.” He released her hand, silently cursing himself.

“I just…Everything is complicated right now. I don’t want to make it worse.”

“It’s fine. I get it.” That didn’t mean it wasn’t killing him not to be able to give her that extra support as they quickly made their way to his parents.

“Juliette, honey.” His mother opened her arms and embraced her. “You must be worried sick.”

“I am,” Juliette said. “Sorry to bother you all with this. I didn’t know Seeley was going to call in the cavalry. Although I appreciate it more than you can know. Especially after everything that’s happened.”

“Darlin’, you became family the minute you came to stay on our ranch,” Tiny said. “That doesn’t go away because of hard times.”

“Damn right it doesn’t,” Dare said as he and Cowboy came up behind them. “Otherwise they’d’ve disowned me years ago. Get in here, girl.” He embraced Juliette. “We’ll find your boy.”

“Good to see you again, Juliette,” Cowboy said, drawing her into his arms. “Wish it were under better circumstances.”

“Me too,” she said nervously.

“Let’s get a move on before nightfall,” Tiny said.

“Tiny, I’m taking the trail to the west,” Doc said. His father nodded, and as Tiny and his brothers headed for the other men, Doc turned to Juliette. “My mom is going to stay with you in case you need anything. Text me if Lucas shows up.”

“I will. Do you need flashlights?”

“No. We’ve got plenty.”

“Lucas doesn’t have one,” she said shakily.

“He has his phone, and it has a flashlight on it.” He pressed his hand to her cheek. “Don’t worry. We’ll find our boy and bring him home.” He kissed her forehead, his chest constricting.

Doc grabbed a headlamp and headed for his horse as Tiny doled out orders. “Take a good look at the pictures I texted you. You see any teens while you’re out, ask if they’ve seen him. Anyone gets a lead, text it in. If you find him, text it in. Hyde and Taz, get five or six guys and check the school grounds, the ranch where he practices, and the surrounding area. I need a handful of volunteers to check any trails around those locations. Otto and Pep, take as many guys as you need to check out neighboring ranches. Manny, grab a few men and head into town. See what you can find there. Rebel and Ezra, check the hangouts on that list. Dare and Cowboy, you take the trails to the east. Check every stream, behind every bush and tree. Teenagers are good at hiding…”

Doc mounted Romeo, and with a press of heels and a “Heeya!” the horse raced across the pasture. The trail was fairly well worn between brush and trees, allowing him to ride at a fast clip. He scanned the area, but he knew Lucas wouldn’t be that close. At fifteen, the first thing Doc would have done was get as far away as possible from whoever or whatever had pissed him off. His gut told him to head for Devil’s Bend, so that’s exactly what he did.

He followed the trail up a steep incline, calling out Lucas’s name as he weaved between thick pines and around scrub and rocky outcrops. He slowed to look in places where he thought Lucas might hide. He squinted into the setting sun as he rode along the crest of the mountain, his thoughts volleying between Come on, boy. Where are you hiding? and begging the universe to keep him safe. Now he understood why his father got so pissed off every time they’d run off to do something stupid when they were kids.

When he came to the ravine, at the bottom of which was the creek that led to Devil’s Bend, he gave Romeo a minute to study the hillside. Doc kept himself centered in the saddle as best he could, allowing Romeo to find his way down the dangerously steep, rocky incline.

“Attaboy, take your time.” He prayed Lucas had gone in the other direction. If not, he sure as hell hoped he was as good of a rider as Juliette claimed, because an inexperienced rider could hurt themself and their horse.

When they finally reached the base, they followed the creek. Doc spotted hoofprints in the dirt, and the muscles in his neck and shoulders tightened. The ravine curved at a sharp angle up ahead where the water pooled and deepened right before the creek dropped like a cliff into a bed of rocks. He hoped to hell Lucas hadn’t tried to take his horse down that cliff.

He quickly weighed his options. As a skilled rider, he could get around that bend and down the hill faster on Romeo, but if Lucas was around the bend, it might spur him into doing something stupid. On the other hand, if his gut was wrong and Lucas wasn’t there, he was wasting the last precious minutes of dusk.

Erring on the side of caution, he dismounted Romeo, tied him to a tree, and made his way around the bend. Lucas’s horse was tied to a tree, but Lucas was nowhere in sight. Fuck. Doc’s gaze hit the ground, and he saw boot prints leading to the edge of the fucking cliff. His gut seized, his every muscle tensing, and he prayed Lucas didn’t fucking jump.

With his heart in his throat, he went to the edge and peered over it. Lucas was pacing by the creek. Thank Fucking God. Doc did a quick visual scan for injuries, taking in his gait and unbroken limbs.

He quickly thumbed out a text to Juliette. Found him. He’s safe. I’m going to try to talk to him. Then he texted Tiny. He’s at Devil’s Bend. Don’t tell Juliette that. I don’t want her to worry. He looks unharmed. I’ll report back.

Doc looked up at the sky. Don’t let me fuck this up.

As Doc started to make his way down the hill, Lucas spun around, his eyes narrowing. “What the hell do you want?”