Since I didn’t have any pockets, I shoved the phone into Kel’s boot then ran down the hall to the tack room.

I had only the smallest clue what I needed, having been in the room with my sister a time or two. I scoured my brain, desperately trying to remember what she’d put on Sweetheart for our trail ride with her and Allie.

Thank God everything was labeled.

There was a section that said Theodore and in it sat a saddle, a blanket, and one of those things with reins that fit between a horse’s teeth. I started to pick up everything I could then froze, glancing up and searching the corners of the room.

Were there cameras in here? Could I risk a call?

No. The cameras out in the barn might have microphones. And if that woman heard me not following her instructions . . .

A text! I could—

But dammit, what if they were tracking my phone somehow? They’d gotten past the security team once. Who was to say they hadn’t hacked the cell?

Shit. I had to do something. My eyes scoured the room, searching for a brilliant idea. I was running out of time, so I grabbed the only thing I thought was safe.

Snatching up a marker, I wrote on the whiteboard posted near Theodore’s gear:

Please let someone see it.

Then I picked up the equipment and sprinted out of the room.

Theodore was staring at me, and I wondered if he’d kill me when I tried to saddle him. This was the horse that had kicked Kelly in the stomach when she’d been pregnant with Abby.

My sister said it had been a freak accident. That he’d spooked during a lightning storm, that he’d been hurt himself and hadn’t meant to hurt her. She said he was actually a misunderstood sweetheart.

I hoped she was right.

I shoved open the door and slipped inside the stall.

“Fuck,” I muttered. I really hated horses, and I especially hated how big Theodore was.

I dropped everything to the stall floor, jumping when Theodore snorted and pawed the straw with his hoof, but forced myself to calmly pick up the blanket and reach to put it over his back.

He shied away, snorting again and bobbing his head in a way that I knew was not happy.

Allie was out there. I needed to hurry. I had to do this.

Dammit. How was I going to do this?

I needed to channel Kelly. WWKD. What would Kel do?

“Hey, sweetheart,” I said, speaking in the same tone I’d heard my sister use before. “Did some people come in here and scare you?”

He huffed.

“I’m sorry. They’re scaring me too. And I think they scared Allie—” My voice caught, and I swallowed, reaching with the blanket again. This time Theodore allowed me to drape it over his back. “I don’t know where they’ve taken her, but they say I need to ride you out over the hills. Can you help me do that?”

He turned his head slightly, eyeing me as I lifted the saddle and set it atop the blanket. Luckily I was fairly tall for a woman; otherwise, I never would have reached.

“I’m not sure that I’m even putting this on correctly,” I murmured. “You’ll let me know if I hurt you, right? I don’t want to hurt you, Theo.”

He moved so fast that I didn’t have time to react. All of a sudden his head was next to mine, and I stumbled, trying to move back. I knew he’d bitten Justin before. But he didn’t try to bite me.

Instead he rested his head on my shoulder for the briefest of moments and blew air in my ear.

And I felt my eyes fill with tears.

“Thank you,” I said, arms coming up to pat his neck. “Thank you, Theo.”

I buckled the strap around his middle and reached for the reins. Theo let me slip them up and over his head. I didn’t think I knotted them correctly, but it was a joke to think I had a chance in hell of controlling Theo anyway.

The saddle was on. There were reins.

Now I just needed to figure out how to get onto his back.

Kel or Justin had always given me a boost in the past, and I had no clue where the mounting block that Allie usually used was.

And I was running out of time.

I opened the stall door and started to lead Theo out of the barn.

He froze and my heart sank.

“Please, boy. I need to find—” The words stoppered up in my throat when he knelt, seeming to invite me to climb onto his back. I scrambled up, felt the saddle sway slightly as he straightened and barely managed to hold my seat.

But it would do. It had to.

“When we get out of this,” I said, lightly tapping his sides with my heels. “I’m buying you a whole truckload of apples.”

I bumped against the saddle, squinting in the dim light as Theo trotted or cantered, or whatever speed wasn’t quite a full gallop for the hills.

“You can go a little faster,” I said. “I’ll hold on tight.”

He made a horsey noise that was either agreement or disbelief but picked up the pace.

The wind whipped in my face, yanking my hair around. It stung as it slapped against my cheeks and the corners of my eyes.

This was just not for me, I thought as a bug flew into my mouth.

Up and over the hill we went, and I tugged gently on the reins, slowing Theo as I looked for the trail. “South,” I said, mentally going through the old adage Never Eat Shredded Wheat, “is to the right. There!”

I guided Theo to the start of the trail, and he began to walk down the path.

My phone rang in my boot, startling both me and Theo.

“I’m sorry,” I said, trying to retrieve it without losing my seat. “Hello?” I answered once I’d finagled the cell free.

“That was sixteen minutes,” she said.

My heart squeezed. “I’m sorry. I went as fast as I could—”

Her voice sounded positively gleeful. “Do you want me to hurt your daughter?”

“No!” I practically screamed. “Please. No. Don’t. I’ll do anything you want.”

“I wanted you to be where you are one minute ago.”

“I’m so sorry,” I said. “How can I make it up to you?”

“You can shut the fuck up,” she snapped then sighed, not saying anything for a long minute. I wanted to go on begging, pleading, but I didn’t think it would be wise when she’d told me to can it, so I waited, heart pounding, throat tight.

“Ride on this path until I call you again.” She hung up.

I blew out a breath. “You heard her, right Theo?”

He snorted, tossed his head, and trotted down the trail.