Page 160 of Captivated

Nope. Don’t go there.

Zeeb couldn’t wait for the coffee to finish brewing. He poured himself a cup, then returned to the porch to sit gingerly in one of the chairs. No sooner had he leaned back than he caught the sound of a horse approaching.

Bet I know who that is.

Sure enough, Rusty trotted up to the hitching post, Robert astride him.

Lord, he looks awful.He’d looked pretty bad when he’d visited Zeeb in the hospital, but this was worse.

Robert sat stiff in the saddle, the reins slack in his gloved hands, his posture erect but hollowed out, like scaffolding without the structure it once held. His face was drawn and colorless in the morning light, the lines around his mouth etched deeper, sharper, as if they’d been carved with a blade. His gray-streaked beard looked suddenly more silver than brown, and there was something brittle about the way he dismounted, as though grief had begun to calcify in his bones.

Zeeb didn’t call out. He didn’t need to. He watched as Robert tied off Rusty, not glancing up once. Robert paused at the creek, and Zeeb beckoned him across.

“I’ve got coffee on. Didn’t expect to see you.”

“Doc told me to go home, rest.”

Zeeb arched his eyebrows. “And did you?” He huffed. “Stupid question. Forget I asked.”

“I’d love a cup of coffee.”

Zeeb gestured to the chair beside his, and Robert stepped up onto the porch, his bootheels tapping on the wooden surface. He sat, not relaxed but appearing like a man who’d forgotten how to sit still, whose muscles only remembered pacing and bracing for news from a doctor or a nurse.

Zeeb stood. “Be back in a sec.” He went into the cabin and poured another cup. He glanced up at the bed. No sign of life yet from Nate.

Let him sleep.

Outside, he handed Robert the cup, then resumed his position, wincing a little.

“I guess I don’t need to ask how you’re doing.”

Zeeb chuckled. “Better than I was doin’ in that hospital, that’s for damn sure.” He pointed to the creek and the meadow beyond. “That’s better’n any medication.” He guided his wrist back into its supportive band, and suppressed a sigh of relief.

“I didn’t sleep,” Robert said, his voice ragged. “But I couldn’t sit in that house. So I saddled up Rusty.”

Zeeb nodded. “Same trail you and Toby always take?”

A flicker of pain, or maybe a memory crawled across Robert’s face. He looked Zeeb in the eye for the first time. “Yeah. Thought maybe… maybe I’d feel him there. Like he’d left something behind on the wind.”

Zeeb said nothing but reached out and clasped Robert’s shoulder. They sat in silence for a moment, both sipping theircoffee, the bubbling waters of the creek and the call of birds greeting the morning the only sounds.

“They arrested the bastards,” Robert said at last, his eyes fixed on some middle distance between the trees and the sky. “All seven. Sheriff’s got ’em in custody.”

“Thank fuck for that,” Zeeb breathed. “What are they chargin’ ’em with?”

“Assault. Battery. Aggravated this-and-that.” He gave a short, bitter laugh. “But no hate crime, no sir. Becausethisstate still thinks what they did to you and Toby was just regular violence.”

Zeeb clenched his jaw. “Nothing regular about what they did. Those bastards knew we were comin’.”

Robert blinked. “How doyouknow that?”

“Cuz they told us they’d been waiting for us to show.”

He made a low growl. “You don’t know the half of it. Clancy switched off the cameras. And you know what those lowlifes claim? That it was a misunderstanding. That you ‘n’ Toby started it.” Robert snorted. “Except that doesn’t hold water. Donna told the police everything she saw and heard. I think Clancy was betting on her backing up his horseshit of a story because he’s her coworker.”

Zeeb barked out a bitter laugh. “Yeah, right. She’s sweet on Walt. She wouldn’t do that.” He peered at Robert. “Have you eaten anything this morning? I can rustle up some eggs.” He smiled. “I can do eggs.”

Robert gave a pale imitation of a smile. “Thanks, but I’ll go back to the house once I’ve finished this. Matt’ll be there soon to make my breakfast. Not that I’m hungry.” He stared into his coffee. “Then I’ll go back. He doesn’t wake up much, but I don’t want him to open his eyes and think I left him.”

---