It only took until the end of the day for Spencer's world to tilt back on its side once again. In an effort to save one sister, it seemed another had been taken in her place.
Spencer had been searching for Sawyer all morning, then all afternoon, but even Ryan hadn't heard from the girl all day. Said she had disappeared halfway through the night, once everyone was back, and hadn't come back since.
"And you're just now telling me this!" Spencer yelled at Ryan. She was exhausted- from the night before, from watching Rip, from life. Nothing but trouble had come into her life since the Beck brothers made their presence known, but she would have to rally herself once again to find her friend. And clean up yet another fucking mess.
"Well she was texting-"
"Oh my God Ryan, have you never watched Criminal Minds!"
Rip could hear the yelling as he walked over, watching an exasperated Spencer run her hands through her hair. Ryan looked guilty, and concerned, but his eyes were pleading with Rip for some help.
"What's wrong Sweetheart?" Rip asked as he pulled Spencer into his chest. She had grumbled about him getting up but he had reminded her that someone made him the foreman so he had duties to attend to.
"Sawyer's missing. Ryan thinks she's fine because she's been texting but she never came back last night."
Rip looked at Ryan as if to save you're an idiot, while soothing his hands over Spencer's arms. "Well, did you check her location?"
Spencer stiffened, a blush racing across her cheeks as she shook her head, whipping her phone from her pocket. As she pulled up Sawyer's contact, any brewing hope crashed down as 'no location found' blinked across the screen.
"Let's give her until tomorrow morning, if she doesn't show up, we'll search the ranch and start looking in town." Rip offered, knowing Sawyer had been prone to running off on a whim for a day or two before. "You just need some rest Darlin', alright?"
Spencer set a glare on Ryan, before turning her expression to Rip, grumbling but nodding her head.
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Rip chuckled as he turned over in the bed, Spencer sprawled across the space he had recently vacated. He had felt her watching him sleep all night, not surprised she was still concerned his lungs would cave in on him. He merely kissed the crown of her head, letting her rest a while longer before he really needed her awake.
Spencer had been the one to call a meeting with Dan, Thomas, and her father. She knew as well as the rest of them that the threat the Beck brothers posed was mounting, and if Sawyer's random disappearance had anything to do with it, there would be hell to pay. She had turned over in bed, the light peaking through the blinds waking her up as it settled on her eyes. As she peaked at the alarm clock, she bolted out of bed, rushing to get ready. The other two men were bound to be there already, most likely all three of them waiting for her to arrive.
As she hurried down the stairs, however, she saw her father reading over the newspaper at the kitchen island. His head poked up at the sudden noise, stifling a smile behind his coffee cup.
"Rip told me you barely slept, I pushed the meeting back a little so you could rest," John informed her as he pushed an empty mug toward her.
"Oh."
Spencer smiled slightly, taking the mug and pouring her coffee. She didn't bother speaking more, heading out the door to find Beth.
"How ya feeling?" Spencer asked as she sat on the stoop next to her older sister.
Beth chuckled once. "About as good as I look Tiny."
The pair sat in silence for a moment as they gazed out over the ranch. Beth's gaze turned, however, when she saw a sparkle pop from her sister's hand. She quirked an eyebrow, giving Spencer the floor to tell her before she yelled for the whole ranch to hear.
"Did he-?"
Spencer looked at Beth quizzically, but followed her sister's eyeline to her left hand. Oh shit, she thought. Sheepishly she nodded, unsure of how Beth would react. She knew that Rip and Beth had a slight past, the extent of which she never really learned, mostly because the fallout had been on Beth's antics. But she was still concerned about how the woman in front of her would take the news.
Beth smiled, as best as she could given her injuries, but Spencer could see it didn't reach her eyes. "I'm happy for you Tiny, really. You two fit together like two fucking puzzle pieces. It's honestly sickening, but... As long as you're happy, hell that's all I can ask for Spencer."
Spencer laughed as tears threatened to fall, but instead she reached over and held her big sister.
"Did you tell Sawyer yet? I think the only person who may be more excited about this than the two of you is her."
Spencer shook her head, "I haven't heard from her since we came to get you. The boys said not to worry, it's not the first time she's just disappeared. But it feels wrong Beth."
"Then you find her. Fuck them. We Dutton women don't just sit around and wait for these idiots to get their brain cells together, we follow our gut. That's what makes us smarter than them, remember that."
Spencer chuckled but nodded, not moving to leave her sister's embrace to follow her gut quite yet. Not even as two cars pulled up, Dan and Thomas walking out of each with bodyguards in tow.
"Now that's a sight that would scare most men," Dan chuckled as he approached the women on the steps.
"It should." Was all Beth said as she stood from her seat, walking inside to ignore the men.
Spencer rolled her eyes, greeting the men before her as the front door opened to reveal her father. The air grew thick as the three men surrounding Spencer stared each other down for a minute.
"Well when y'all are done with your pissing contest, let me know. I'd like to get this meeting over with before someone else gets hurt."
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Sawyer looked around as she woke up with a jump. She had gotten a call from her father, pleading with her to come home. He had said her mother had been in an accident and it wasn't looking good. Without thinking she ran from the bunkhouse, taking off down the road and toward the neighboring farm she once called home.
Now all she remembered was opening her car door, and pain exploding from the back of her head.
She reached to touch the sore spot, but her hand didn't make it that far. She tugged again, feeling metal dig into both her wrists. The door to her room opened, and Sawyer looked at her father with horror in her eyes. He stepped to her carefully, as if she was a little girl who had been seriously injured.
"Sawyer-"
"You fucking kidnapped me!" She yelled as she pulled on the cuffs attaching her arms to the posts of her bed. "Are you fucking kidding me? I'm gonna kill you!"
"Sawyer! Sawyer calm down, you're going to break your arm!" Her father continued to insist, looking over his shoulder at someone. Jackson entered, and Sawyer's icy glare fixed on him. He walked to her, hands held high as their father left the room.
"What. The. Fuck. Did you two do?" Sawyer seethed as she looked at her brother.
Jackson gulped as he sat on the edge of Sawyer's bed. "I told him this wasn't a good idea, but he wouldn't listen, Sarge."
Sawyer pulled on the cuffs again, threatening to pop her arm out of its socket as Jackson hurried to continue.
"He got a call two days ago. Didn't say from who but we both know the only people that make him freeze like that."
The Becks.
"Dustin, he- he's gone off his fucking rocker Sawyer. I don't know what you two did but he is out for Spencer. But Malcolm called, as some twisted fucking courtesy I guess, and said we had twenty four hours to get you out before you went down with them. With Spencer."
Sawyer's blood ran cold. Spencer had been putting off Dustin's advances for months sure, but to lash out at her family for her rejections? Her brain raced to scramble through every ordeal she and Spencer had gone through since the Beck's made their presence known. She froze, terror spreading across her face.
"They're letting him do this because of the check?" She asked, but her tone was more accusatory than anything. "They're going to let him rip apart the Duttons because she saved Dad's ass and you let them."
"Sawyer no-"
"I told you to cash that check and write it from here! And you didn't fucking listen did you?"
She started to pull on the cuffs, harder and harder until she cried out from the pressure of a pop in her shoulder. Jackson ran to her, trying to get her to calm down so he could set it back in place, but she bashed her head against his.
The room spun as she groaned, but she worked quickly, letting out a silent cry as she gained leverage to pop her shoulder back. Sawyer sucked in a breath, holding in her scream as she worked the same movement to her wrist and thumb. Pain washed over her, although relief swept in after as she pulled her hand from the one cuff, pulling the second over the lip it rested on in her bed frame.
Her wrist would have to wait, she had to get back to warn them, warn Spencer, what was coming to Yellowstone. Sawyer winced as the floorboards creaked, pausing for only a second to make sure no one was coming as she grabbed a pair of old sneakers and shimmied her window open.
"All those years of sneaking out," she laughed to herself as she maneuvered down the roof, sliding her sneakers on before heading for the lattice to carry her to the ground.
The sun was setting over Greenquest, and she knew she wouldn't have much time to get to Yellowstone, but her car would be a dead giveaway for her parents. So she ran, clutching her right arm to her chest as she booked it for the fields that lay to the west of her family's. And she hoped and prayed to anyone who would listen that she made it on time.
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She waited until Rip was asleep in bed, a majority of the house as well, before walking out the door. John was sitting by the fire, startling from his thoughts as Spencer walked past. They hadn't spoken that day, not outside of the meeting. It had gone well, surprisingly well, at least to Spencer, but she couldn't ignore the lingering worry that sank in her gut like oil the longer the day dragged on. She couldn't wait, not any longer. She needed to find Sawyer.
"I'm just going to check on Rebel," Spencer offered, twisting her hands in the sleeves of her sweatshirt as she walked to the door. John didn't offer a response, merely nodding himself as he waited for Tate to come back in.
"Send Tate back up when you get out there, will you? He went out to check on Lucky."
Spencer agreed, turning toward the door and heading to the barn. She smiled as she watched Tate play with his new horse in the pen. It had been months since she had seen Tate, she had been astonished at how quickly he had sprouted up in her absence. Her heart ached everytime she thought about it too long, the guilt gnawing at her as she watched.
A click of a safety behind Spencer had her freezing to her spot, the cool, rounded edge of a barrel laying on her temple. Spencer held her breath, pleading Tate kept his attention on Lucky until she could work her way out of this new predicament.
"Come with me and the boy lives," a gravelly male voice spoke behind Spencer. She shivered as his breath brushed against her neck.
"Okay. Okay, I'm sorry."
She let the man guide her away from Tate, and she continued to hope he wouldn't turn around. He shoved her onto an awaiting four-wheeler, signaling to his accomplice on the front. Spencer refused to cry, refused to give the men even the slightest amount of satisfaction that she was scared. But she fought against the man holding her as she heard Tate yelp playfully behind them, his focus still on Lucky.
Spencer whimpered when the man yanked on her hair. "I'll put a bullet through your fucking brain, the kid's too if you do that again!"
Spencer only nodded, pulling on her hair to try and relieve the stinging from his grip. He chuckled as he pulled harder, twisting his hand to point Spencer's head awkwardly from her body. Spencer ground her teeth together, forcing her body to relax so her neck wouldn't hurt as badly. Keep them focused on me, she continued to think as she fought just enough to keep their attention.
"Auntie Spence?"
No. No, no, no, no. The man holding Spencer against the four wheeler froze, whistling to what seemed to be a third man. Spencer began to plead and beg.
"Please he's just a kid, he- let me talk to him he won't say anything I swear just please leave him alone."
"Auntie Spence is that you?"
Spencer looked at the man, eyes bright with unshed tears as she continued to silently plead with the man. He nodded once, releasing her hair and letting her go. She walked to Tate, quickly working to dry her tears before they fell, plastering a smile on her face.
"Hey Tater Tot! What're you doing out here so late?"
Tate smiled as Spencer pulled him into a hug. "I forgot to feed Lucky, so Grandpa made me come out to feed him before I had ice cream. Who are your friends?"
Spencer went stiff, "They're just helping me look for Sawyer, you remember her right? She hasn't come home in a while so we're just gonna go check for her. How 'bout you run back inside, I know Grandpa had your ice cream ready to go when I came out."
"Okay! Why don't I get Grandpa and we can help you look for Sawyer?"
Spencer smiled, keeping her grin wide to bite back tears as she shook her head. "That's alright kiddo, we can take care of it, thank you though. I need you to do something for me okay?"
Spencer leaned down, whispering into Tate's ear before putting something in his hand and kissing him on the forehead.
"I love you Tater Tot, I want you to give everyone a big hug for me in the morning. I think we're gonna be gone for a while. Can you do that for me?"
Tate nodded ferociously. "I love you too Auntie Spencer, I'll wait right here."
Spencer smiled and nodded, standing to her feet and walking back over to the men with the four wheelers. One went to help her, but she ripped her arms away, sitting on the back without assistance. The further she got these men away from Tate, the better.
"Why's he standing there?" The shorter one asked the leader of the group. He merely shrugged, starting his own ride and beginning to drive off. The shorter man sat in front of Spencer, raising his eyebrow at the girl.
"I told him to wait until he couldn't see the lights anymore," she whispered. "The farther I can get you assholes away from him the better."