Saved by the Rancher

chapter Thirty-Nine


JACK AND CALEB arrived home after dark, the ranch eerily quiet. The Camaro and Mustang were both in Jack’s driveway where they’d left them. Several of the ranch hands’ trucks were still parked outside the barn, indicating the men were out searching the grounds for Jenna with the security guards. Jack hadn’t received an update in over an hour.

The front of the house looked great with all the flowers Lily and Jenna had planted. Jenna had put a woman’s touch on the place. Too bad he couldn’t enjoy it. Nothing seemed right. His insides turned cold. A familiar feeling he’d lived with before meeting Jenna. He’d hoped to never feel this way again. It hit him hard just how much light, warmth, and love she’d brought into his life. He didn’t want to go back to the dark days where war and death intruded on his thoughts. He didn’t want to add anything bad happening to Jenna to his daily nightmare. If something happened to her . . . He couldn’t bear to think about what his life would be without her.

They made their way up the front porch steps. Jack dreaded entering the empty house.

“The flowers look great.” Caleb broke the silence with his mundane statement.

Jack ignored him and went in first. The kitchen light was on, along with a light upstairs, but the house was too quiet. A shiver danced up his spine. His skin went cold.

He ran up the stairs two at a time and checked the bedroom. Nothing appeared out of place, or even changed since he left. All of Jenna’s clothes were in the closet, and the bathroom was clean and orderly.

Where is she?

Jack was losing his mind. No one had seen her since this morning. She could be anywhere by now. He didn’t know what to think, but his mind conjured one nightmare after another.

He met Caleb in the Great Room. “She promised she’d stay here with me. We’re supposed to get married. She wouldn’t leave.”

He paced back and forth trying to think. He replayed their last few conversations in his mind. Nothing stood out. She hadn’t indicated anything about being unhappy with him, or that she wanted to leave. They were happy. She was happy.

“He took her. I know that bastard came here and took her. She wouldn’t leave me.”

“Jack, calm down. We don’t know anything yet. The house looks intact. There’s no sign of a struggle. Maybe she went somewhere and just didn’t say.”

“No. The truck and the Camaro are both here. He took her. I know it. This bad feeling has been eating at me all day. Something’s not right.” The quiet in the house disturbed him. Something tickled the back of his mind, and then it hit him. “Where’s Sally?”

Caleb looked around and shrugged. Jack pulled out his phone and dialed his sister.

“Summer, we’re back. Do you have Sally?”

“No. Sally was with Jenna, like always. I spoke with the men searching this side of the property. No one has seen anything. I’m on my way.” Summer hung up.

Jenna’s gone.

Panic gripped Jack’s heart like a vice, threatening to squeeze the life out of him. He didn’t want to think about all the things that could have happened to her, but his mind conjured one gruesome image after another. She could be dead. He flashed back to her lying unconscious in front of the fire in the cabin and seeing all the wounds down her back and thigh. About to lose it, he dug the heel of his hand into his eye to erase the horrible images.

The guards and ranch hands were searching. Running out of other options, Jack flipped open his cell and dialed.

“Ben, it’s Jack. Where is she?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Where’s Jenna? Did she call you? Is she on the run again?”

“She hasn’t called. Isn’t she with you?”

“I just got back. No one has seen her since this morning. I’m losing my mind.”

“She hasn’t contacted me, and she would. That’s the first thing she does when he’s caught up to her. Did she take her purse?”

“No, it’s on the kitchen counter where she always leaves it.”

“Check it. There should be a set of keys to lockers at a local health club. That’s where she keeps her emergency suitcase and money. If she runs, she wouldn’t leave without them.”

Jack rifled through her purse, found the keys tucked into a slit in the lining. “They’re here. I didn’t even know she’d set this up over the last few months. She shouldn’t have had to do this. She should have been safe on the ranch with me!” he shouted, letting his rage slip the reins.

“She probably hoped she’d never need to use it again. What do you think happened?”

“There’s no sign of her. It’s like she vanished. Where is he?”

“My last report confirmed he got married a couple days ago in San Francisco and left to an undisclosed location for his honeymoon. I’ll call my contact and see if I can get a definite location, or even a rumored one.”

“Do it. I’m calling the sheriff. We’ll need their help searching for her.”

Jack hung up with Ben. Caleb watched him shake with frustration and worry. Overcome with pent-up rage, Jack hauled his arm back and punched the wall. A huge hole gaped where his fist broke through the drywall. He didn’t feel the pain or the abrasions on his knuckles. Without Jenna, he couldn’t feel anything.

“Better?” Caleb asked, worried.

“No. Where the hell is she?”

Summer and Lily walked in the door. Summer’s gaze went from his bleeding knuckles to the hole in the wall. Frowning, she asked, “Feel better?”

Jack glared and tossed the phone to Caleb. “Call the sheriff.”

Jack headed down to the barn to find his men, the guards, anyone to ask if they’d seen anything. He knew the answer, but at least it was something to do. He didn’t even know where to start looking for her.

He’d failed her. That’s all he kept telling himself. He’d said he’d protect her, and he’d left her alone.



JENNA WOKE TO the stars above her. She stared at them for a long while, shivering, she curled up as best she could to keep warm. The pounding in her head wouldn’t stop, she lost focus often. She closed her eyes and opened them again. The stars blurred and fell from the sky. At least, that’s how it appeared in her hazy condition.

Noises came from the brush. She lay very still, unsure if it was someone looking for her, or an animal zeroing in on the smell of her blood. Watching and waiting, out of nowhere came a huge buck. He walked into the clearing about ten feet from her. He stood still, studying her before he turned to look behind him. A doe and faun followed. The deer took off with a leap, sprinting back into the trees. Tears blurred her vision and dripped down her cheeks. A family. Would she survive to have a family with Jack? She wasn’t so sure anymore.

Exhausted after only a short while, she laid her head back and slept.

Help me, Jack. Please, help me.