Page 99 of When I Accidentally Snagged a Serial Killer

I check my phone. No new messages. She must still be riding. I lower the hatch, drag the mat back into place, and jog toward the house just as the wind kicks up and thunder rolls in the distance. Fuck.

I call her. It rings out. “Come on, Princess.”

Voicemail. I hang up and call again as thunder rolls closer, and the first fat drops of rain strike the back of my neck.

She doesn’t pick up.

CHAPTER 25

Jubilee

By my second ride, I remember everything. The angle of my heels. The give and take of the reins. The easy shift of my weight when Alice changes direction. My hips find the rhythm so effortlessly, it’s like the past ten years never happened.

Maybe Dad was right about that too. You get back on. Your body remembers. Or…the soul.

Alice carries me along the southern edge of Gage’s property while the October air cools my cheeks. His other surprise was a pair of new riding boots, which go perfectly with my jeans and plaid button-up. I flick my loose braid over my shoulder and adjust my helmet, pretty certain I’ve been smiling for forty minutes straight.

Owen’s property stretches behind us in fenced pasture and rolling fields, while Gage’s is wilder, patches of woods bleeding crimson and copper between stubborn green. Through every deep breath, I purge everything from my mind but the creak of leather, Alice’s steady footfalls, and the smell of damp earth.

For the first time since Friday, I haven’t thought about Joshua Ricketts.

Alice’s ears swivel. I stroke one hand along her neck. “What?”

A colder wind moves suddenly through the trees. The sky has been pale gray all afternoon, but the forecast didn’t call for storms. Unfortunately, a darker mass like a black-blue bruise is rolling in…fast. A distant rumble rolls over the fields, and Alice raises her head.

“Well, shit.”

I turn her back toward Owen’s property, wondering how much meteorologists get paid to be wrong. Alice’s walk quickens as the wind picks up behind us. Leaves skitter across the trail, and branches crack wildly behind us.

Another peal of thunder sounds. Alice’s muscles tighten beneath me. I lower my voice and stroke her neck. “Easy, girl. We’re heading home.”

We make it another hundred yards before the next crack splits directly overhead. Alice wheels. Her front end comes up, my balance shifts, and the only thing I remember is how to fall.

I hit the ground on my side instead of my head. Still hurts like a motherfucker. The impact punches every molecule of air out of my lungs, and for several horrible seconds, I’m curled in wet grass trying to convince my body that breathing is mandatory.

Alice bolts. “No—” Nothing comes out.

By the time I push onto my knees, she’s already disappearing down the trail toward Owen’s property. Good. She knows where home is better than I do.

Raindrops hit my cheek. “Oh, come on.”

I get to my feet and check myself. Nothing broken. Helmet intact. Dignity fine-ish. I pull out my phone, finding two missed calls from Gage. I call him back, and the rain starts coming down before the second ring. Then harder.

“Princess?” His voice is breathless.

“Hey, don’t freak out.” Excellent opening.

“What happened?”

“Alice got spooked by the thunder and threw me, but I’m fine. She took off back home.”

“You hurt?”

“Bruised. Probably going to have an ass cheek shaped like Texas tomorrow, but—ow!”

A hard object smacks my shoulder. Another pellet bounces off the trail beside my boot, and I stare at the little white ball rolling through the grass. “Hail? Are you fucking kidding me?” At least I’m wearing a helmet.

“Jules, where are you?”