Chapter 8 - The Empty Stall
Titan's stall door stood open.
Trailer tracks cut across the dirt behind Barn Two.
Robert's first instinct was rage.
His second was to call the police.
The second instinct won.
Grant's phone was off.
The ranch trailer GPS had been disabled.
But Titan had a veterinary microchip and a separate health-monitoring tag Grant apparently forgot about.
The tag last transmitted near a private training facility sixty miles west.
Robert did not take June.
He did not take Caleb either until police approved his presence because Caleb knew Titan's behavior better than anyone alive.
Emily stayed with June.
At the facility, Grant's trailer sat behind a locked gate.
No Grant.
No Titan in the trailer.
Then they heard a horse strike wood inside the indoor arena.
Police opened the building.
Titan was tied to a crossbar.
Sweating.
Agitated.
Grant stood near him holding a lead rope.
"Nobody come closer."
Robert stopped.
"Let the horse go."
"He's mine too."
"No."
Grant laughed.
"You put my name on every breeding campaign. Every event. Every interview. Now I'm the only villain?"
Caleb spoke from behind the officers.
"You're not the only one."
Grant looked at him.
"You should have stayed gone."
"Probably what you were counting on."
Grant's face twisted.
"You embarrassed me in front of buyers. You treated me like I couldn't ride my own horse."
Caleb stared.
"Titan wasn't your horse."
"He was my father's."
"Exactly."
Robert felt that.
Grant had spent his life treating access as ownership.
Robert had taught some of it.
Grant pulled Titan forward.
The stallion resisted.
Caleb lifted one hand.
"Grant. Drop the rope."
"Why? So he goes to you?"
"So he doesn't hurt himself."
Grant looked at Titan.
For one second Robert saw the child Grant had been.
Desperate to prove he could handle the biggest horse.
Then Titan reared.
The rope ripped through Grant's hand.
He fell.
Police pulled him clear.
Caleb did not run toward Grant.
He went to the horse.
Three-note whistle.
"Bluebird."
Titan stopped.
His entire body trembled.
Caleb moved slowly until his hand reached the horse's neck.
"Home."
Titan lowered his head.
Grant sat against the wall staring.
"He never did that for me."
Caleb looked over.
"Because you kept trying to make submission look like trust."
Grant was arrested for evidence tampering, animal cruelty-related conduct, fraud tied to the rigged challenge, and later charges as the investigation developed.
Robert did not ask officers to go easy.
He did not ask them to make an example either.
He stood beside his son while Grant was handcuffed.
Grant whispered, "You're choosing him over me."
Robert answered quietly.
"No."
Grant looked up.
"I'm choosing not to lie for you again."
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