Free Bitter Wild by Jennie Leigh Page B

straightened and looked
down at her hand. Jack got off his horse and walked up behind her.
    “What
did you find?”
    She
turned around and showed him. She held a leaf that was almost totally covered
with a thick, dark fluid that Jack instantly knew was blood. She didn’t say a
word. She didn’t have to. Jack could see the worry etched on her face. She
dropped the leaf, then turned around when the dog emitted a low whine. It was
standing several yards away. Casey and Jack headed toward it and quickly
located another drop. The dog took off and Casey didn’t hesitate to swing onto
her horse and go after him. She was almost out of sight by the time Jack
managed to haul himself into the saddle and go after her. He could hear Skip
cursing behind him and knew his partner wasn’t enjoying the run. Jack wasn’t
about to let Casey out of his sight, though. Ahead of him he saw her slow up
and within seconds he’d caught her.
    She
dismounted and examined the ground beside a tree. Jack got down and noticed
that this time there was considerably more than a smear of blood. Whoever had
left it behind had been seriously hurt. The dog was rooting at something a few
feet away and Casey walked over to investigate it. Jack tied his horse to a
nearby tree, then took hold of the reins of Skip’s mount as it trotted up. Skip
was getting off the horse when Jack heard the dog bark once. He spun around in
time to see a figure break cover and take off at a dead run. Casey was at least
forty feet away from where Jack stood, which put her just a few feet away from
the other person. Jack reacted instinctively. He let go of Skip’s horse and
reached for his gun. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as he watched Casey lurch
into motion. She called out to the dog, ordering him to wait. Immediately the
dog dropped to its haunches. Jack got his gun drawn, then hesitated when he
realized Casey wasn’t running away from the person, but toward them. She was
chasing them down. He called her name, then did the only thing he could do when
she didn’t so much as slow down. He went after the pair. Jack felt his
adrenaline surge as he chased Casey and the other person through the trees. He
was amazed to realize that Casey was gaining on them. What the hell was she
thinking? He had visions of her catching up to the person and it turning out to
be Jester. He could kill her before Jack even got a chance to get near her.
That thought spurred him to move forward even faster.
    Casey
didn’t allow herself to think about the searing pain that tore through her leg
with every step she took. She focused instead on the figure in front of her. He
was running as fast as he could and she knew he was running blind. He was being
fueled by pure terror. That’s the only thing that explained why he was running
at all. She’d have tried to call out to him to stop but she knew it would be a
waste of much needed breath. The only way to stop him was to catch him and
bring him down. So that’s what she was going to do, whatever it took.
    Jack
watched as Casey steadily closed the gap between herself and the man in front
of her. Finally she was close enough to reach out for the man, but she didn’t.
Instead she took two more steps and simply launched herself forward. They went
down hard in a tangle of arms and legs. Jack didn’t slow down. He saw Casey and
the man struggling. He was fighting her hard. Casey’s head snapped back as the
man drove an elbow into her chin. Jack felt fury sweep through him. Casey
didn’t let the blow daunt her, though. She threw herself onto the man, using
her weight to help hold him down. Jack came to a skidding stop a few feet away
and brought his gun up. He couldn’t risk firing with Casey in the way, like she
was. Before he could yell at her to get away, he heard her start talking in
between gasps.
    “Stop
it, Terry! It’s me, Casey!”
    She
repeated herself a couple of times and finally the man beneath her fell still.
Jack had gotten a good enough