Burned

by Stone, Piper

  After only a few more cracks, he released his grip, folding his arms.

  I stumbled backwards, glaring at him for a few seconds until I realized the damn shorts were still pooled around my ankles. “Why did you do that? Why?”

  “Just a reminder.”

  “I told you, I don’t want that. That’s just not me.” What the hell did I know? A warm flush creeping up my cheeks, I struggled to yank the shorts back into position, darting yet another glance toward the forest. “I don’t like dominating men. Okay?”

  He offered the same mind-blowing blank stare.

  “You have no idea how much I appreciate everything you’re doing, but I’m not that kind of girl.”

  Hawk studied me for a time, remaining unblinking. His expression was totally unnerving. “And what kind of girl are you really, Kelly? I’ve heard your stories, but I have no idea who you are inside.”

  I opened my mouth to give my usual retort, then realized I honestly had no real inkling. “I’m not sure any longer. The girl I grew up as didn’t have the chance to find out. Go with the flow was what I was always told.” I wasn’t certain if the look he was giving me held pity of any kind, but I couldn’t handle that level of guilt. Not right now.

  He remained completely quiet.

  “What kind of man are you? Carrying a gun, a rifle in your truck. You don’t trust anyone. Do you? What are you running from?” The flash in his eyes meant I’d stabbed at an old wound.

  There was only a second’s worth of hesitation before he shoved his hand into his pocket, pulling out a cell phone and placing it a full foot away from me. “My personal phone. Security number is 4-3-2-1. If there’s any kind of emergency, you can find my work number. Reception is spotty, but texting will work. Only use this if it’s an emergency. Got it?” With that, he turned on his heel, storming toward the door, refusing to wait for my answer.

  “I’m not going anywhere, Hawk.” I turned back toward the railing, trying to figure out why the spanking had given me... comfort of some kind. I was crazy. I was losing it. I also hated the fact I’d lashed out. I sensed he’d stopped, could even hear his wheels churning, but he wouldn’t say anything. He had no idea how to handle me.

  “I’ll buy you some things while I’m out. Going to your place is too risky. That is, if you want to remain anonymous.”

  Anonymous. That’s what I’d been my entire life. The few words held more emotion than the entire rest of the conversation. By the time I reacted, turning around to apologize, he’d already opened the front door.

  “Shit.” I grabbed the phone, staring at the small handheld, a crazy sense of trepidation filtering into my system. I pressed in his security code, waiting as the screen pulled up. He was right, the reception was spotty at best, but at least I’d have a connection to him if needed.

  I walked toward the front window, carefully peeking outside, watching in the shadows until he drove away, grimacing seeing the condition of the mangled bumper. Leaning against the wall, I couldn’t imagine what he was thinking, but he just might turn out to be my savior after all.

  A nagging inside my mind reminded me that I refused to trust anyone. Without thinking, I searched his phone, checking his last texts. Nothing recent. What about his phone calls? He’d made a single call in recent days. Wait a minute. Last night. Late.

  Who the hell did he call?

  My hand shaking, I dialed the number.

  “Missoula sheriff’s office.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry. Wrong number.” I have no idea how I managed to say anything or if what I said mattered. As I ended the call, holding the phone to my head, I slid down the wall, taking several deep breaths to keep from retching. He’d betrayed me. He was going to the sheriff’s office right now. Oh, God. Oh. Fucking. God. What the hell was I going to do? How could I get out of here?

  I wasn’t even entirely certain where I was. Shit. Shit.

  As Buck approached, whining and attempting to lick my face, I did everything I could to calm my nerves. There was one possible way out of here. It was risky, but something I had to do. “Everything is going to be okay, boy.”

  But it wasn’t. Nothing was going to be all right or fine or fabulous.

  I stood on shaky legs, debating one last time.

  Buck barked once as I continued to look out at the window, making certain Hawk didn’t turn around as I dialed the number, praying to God there was an answer. Finally, on the fourth ring, there was.

  “Hello?” The voice was tentative.

  “Hey.”

  “What in the hell?”

  I held my breath as I thought about what to say. “Look, I need your help, but you have to promise me to do exactly what I say.” As I rattled off a few sentences, a terrible feeling clawed at my stomach.

  This was the beginning of the end.

  Chapter Six

  Hawk

  Lies. Deceit. It was everything I loathed in life.

  Especially my life.

  I should just walk away, refusing to get involved, demanding she leave. That would be in my best interest. Yeah, like I ever accepted my own advice, preferring to take the hard road.

  There was no way I could heed my conscience. Instead, I was following my damn heart, a promise I’d made to myself that I’d never do again.

  She’d not only crawled under my skin but wiggled her way into my heart with her feisty attitude and take-no-shit balls through the under-weaving of shackles I’d placed on myself.

  “Damn it!” I slapped my hand on the steering wheel for the fifth time, furious with myself for leaving the way I did. Maybe for leaving at all, but I had to know what Gage found out. At least the roads had opened up, no sign of any active fire. I couldn’t get her off my mind, not her beautiful face or the lilting laugh I’d heard only a few times. Then there was the sadness in her eyes, as if she’d lived ten lifetimes.

  No matter what Gage told me, there had to be a way of protecting her, if only from herself. She was so guarded, more jaded than anyone I’d met. I groaned at the thought. She and I were like two peas in a pod.

  The drive into town seemed to take forever, my nerves standing on end the entire time. I rolled the truck into the parking lot, tires squealing, the gear barely in park and the engine off when I jumped out of the cab. I nodded to the two deputies that I knew as I strolled in, heading directly for Gage’s office. I also didn’t wait for a response, knocking once before opening the door.

  “Dude. Good God.” Gage looked up from his desk.

  “What did you find out?”

  “Close the door.”

  I heard the glitch in his voice. He’d found something. “What is it?”

  “Why don’t you sit down, Hawk.” His eyes fell to my holster. He knew I was licensed to carry, even concealed.

  “Uh-huh. Just tell me.” I half slammed the door, moving until I was standing over his desk.

  Gage rubbed his eyes and sat back in his chair. “We’ve been friends for a hell of a long time. You’re one of the best men I know.”

  “What are you getting at?”

  “I have a bad feeling you’re in the middle of something.”

  “What the fuck does that mean?” I heard the anger in my voice and sighed. “I’m sorry, Gage. Been a very... odd couple of days.”

  “You’re packing for one thing.”

  I shrugged, darting a glance at my arm. “I do that sometimes.”

  “Where did you meet her, this Kelly Aspen?”

  “That doesn’t matter. Was she railroaded by that damn sheriff from Hamilton?”

  Gage shifted in his seat, opening one of his desk drawers and pulling out a file. “You know I shouldn’t be telling you any of this shit, Hawk. You might be considered a peace officer but—”

  “Cut the crap, Gage. You’ve told me worse, including your thoughts on the sheriff and a couple of the deputies over there.”

  “Not just the deputies or the sheriff. There are a couple of folks on the town council who are more than a bit s
hady as well. No one seems to have enough evidence to oust their sorry asses.”

  I narrowed my eyes and leaned over, eyeing the file. “Meaning?”

  “All I can tell you is that some weird shit is going down in Hamilton, but it’s gonna take someone like the FBI to weed through exactly what. Heard rumors and no, nothing I’m going to tell you. I will say this, whatever Kelly told you, my guess is it isn’t completely the truth.”

  “She said she was assaulted by one of the sheriff’s henchmen in the parking lot where she worked. Suddenly she was the one charged with his assault.”

  “Yeah? Well, did she tell you that there are three witnesses that say she just went crazy, attacking him? Followed him outside and nearly gutted the boy.”

  The news couldn’t possibly be accurate. “What?”

  “I know. Now, he’s going to survive and yes, from what I can tell, Rusty Miller isn’t the best civilian in the world, but things look pretty bad. I don’t know what happened after that, but the girl escaped custody. She was meeting with her attorney and managed to get out of the building, stole a truck, and disappeared. You wouldn’t know anything about that. Would you?” He glanced at the gun again.

  I could tell Gage didn’t want to let the file go and that he knew me well enough to know I was already involved with her. “Something’s not right there. They did something to alter the story. I know in my gut.”

  “Your gut, huh? How long you know this girl?” Gage asked, still fingering the file.

  “What aren’t you telling me, Gage?”

  Gage took a deep breath then exhaled before sliding it over. “I could get into a lot of trouble for telling you anything. This had better be worth it.”

  I hesitated before opening the file, flipping through the records. The photographs were disturbing. A fog floated in front of my eyes. “I don’t understand.”

  “Kelly Aspen hasn’t had a very good life. Tragedy early, then floated from foster home to foster home. She had anger issues. Granted, she had her reasons. Her juve record is sealed of course, but you can tell from the various social worker reports that there was a pretty solid pattern of disruptive behavior culminating with an arrest for trying to jack a car at eighteen. Seems like the judge had pity on her. She only served two months.”

  “Everybody makes mistakes, Gage. You know that.” I lifted my gaze, locking eyes. He knew all my dirty little secrets, the ones that should have kept me from working for the forestry service. After returning from Afghanistan, I’d done my share of stupid shit, including being arrested for barroom brawling.

  I’d almost killed a guy with my bare hands.

  “Everybody can clean up their act and deserves a second chance.” My voice sounded hollow.

  Gage leaned forward. “You know I get that more than almost anyone, and she seemed squeaky clean after her initial arrest until she moved out to California. I had to dig pretty deep to find this and make a couple phone calls, but it seems like Ms. Aspen was caught red-handed in an attempt to embezzle funds from a firm she was working for. The owner decided not to press charges. Nice fellow. He told me he really liked Kelly and hoped she would find a new life.”

  Nice fella my ass. I was certainly going to look into the bastards, finding out what their true motive really was. Greed had a way of stripping away all concepts of humanity. I was also keenly familiar with this kind of crap. Fuck, I was shaking from both anger and adrenaline, and there was no fucking way I was going to believe any of this horseshit. None. “That’s a flat-out lie. She was a pawn in their powerful game much like she was with this fake arrest!”

  Yeah, I was vehement as hell.

  Hissing, I rubbed my jaw, reining in the rage. Gage was only trying to help.

  The tension between us was palpable.

  “Sounds like you’re pretty into this girl, Hawk. I’m not certain that’s a wise choice. No matter what the basic truths, the simple fact is that she’s a wanted fugitive for a violent crime. Considering she already has a record and the fact she ran then stole a truck, I doubt anyone is going to give her a third or maybe fifth chance. Think with your head and not your dick.”

  I dropped the file, glaring at him as I took several deep breaths. There was no sense in lashing out any further. “Answer me this. What if she’s telling the truth?”

  “You mean that she was the one attacked?”

  “Exactly.”

  Gage shrugged, taking his time to answer the question. “It’s possible. I’m not denying that in the least. However, that might be tough to prove since there were all those witnesses confirming Rusty Miller’s story. Granted, if you can find any patrons in the bar she worked telling you otherwise, then maybe you could get somewhere, but...”

  “But what?”

  He stole another glance at the door, his entire body language guarded. There was more going on in aspects of a cover-up. What the hell did Gage actually know?

  “Whatever shit is going on in Hamilton isn’t pretty. This girl might have just gotten herself caught up in some crap. I don’t know and neither do you. Whatever the case, you have to turn her in. Where is she?” Gage’s voice was hushed.

  “How should I know?” I might trust Gage with my life, but I didn’t trust the system as defined by the good folks from Hamilton. “She’s gone. Okay?” I was a terrible liar and my buddy knew it. That had always been one of my problems.

  “Hawk. Do you understand what you could be doing here? This could ruin your career, if not your life. I don’t want to see that happening.”

  “Yeah? Well, what the fuck do I really have, Gage? Tell me that.” I slammed my hand on his desk, stars floating in front of my eyes.

  Gage rose to his feet, giving me a hard look. “Don’t go saying that shit. Goddamn it, Hawk.”

  Another round of impenetrable silence.

  “Then tell me. What do I have to live for?” My question was barely audible. I could see a flash of not only memories but his own pain. Gage had certainly nursed me through several drunken episodes and times when the despair had almost driven me to suicide.

  He looked away, shrugging. “My friend, you have the rest of your life, something that should be precious to you. Especially now.”

  “Well, you thought wrong.” I tossed the file across the desk. “That girl was railroaded and one way or another, I’m going to prove it.” I headed toward the door.

  “Wait. Hawk. Just stop for a second. I’ll make some calls about the witnesses and see what I can find, but I’m telling you that you need to stay away from Hamilton and that sheriff.”

  “Do you want to tell me why, good buddy?”

  “Let’s just say they have certain connections,” Gage said quietly.

  I shot him a look.

  “Meaning, they’re bad news. Real bad.”

  I touched my gun, turning so he could see the seriousness on my face. “I think I can handle it.”

  “Come on, Hawk. Really. You gotta bring her in. I’ll do everything I can, buddy, but you can’t handle this yourself.”

  Oh, hell, yeah, I would and Gage knew I’d stop at nothing.

  “We never had this conversation, Gage. Period. Do you understand me?” I could see the questions in my friend’s eyes and even more concern than before.

  He grabbed the file, tossing it in his desk drawer. “I hope like hell she’s worth losing everything you’ve worked so hard to achieve.”

  “She is.”

  I left the building, more uncertain of what the fuck to do than when I came. Circumstances had changed, forcing me to make a few difficult choices. First things first. I wanted to check out the Cargo Grill and Bar.

  The trip took me less than an hour considering I remained on the back roads, going in excess of seventy miles per hour. I knew the trek well enough. When I managed to find the bar, it was a little after two. Late enough I should find someone in the bar but early enough that the drunken crowd shouldn’t be holding down the joint. Maybe I’d have the opportunity to actually talk to some
one.

  I found the parking lot with only a few vehicles, able to park in the front. I had to admit I didn’t have the mindset to face any of the local law enforcement given my current state of mind. Not to mention my increasing anger. When I walked inside, no one bothered to pay me any attention. The girl behind the bar seemed far too young to be a bartender.

  “What’ya have?”

  “A conversation.”

  Her eyes opened wide and she immediately backed away seeing my weapon. “I don’t want no trouble, mister. I just work here part time. I’m not even supposed to be here today.”

  “Then who is?”

  “One of the other girls. She called in sick. That’s all I know. Okay?”

  I glanced around the perimeter. “Tell me about Rusty Miller.”

  “Oh, crap. Please don’t hurt me. Please. I wasn’t here that night. I only know what I’ve been told.” The girl paled, her lower lip trembling. “They just come here to drink. Yeah, that’s all I know.” And she was lying off her ass, but she was terrified of the group.

  “I don’t give a shit about Rusty and his buddies other than to see them rot in jail. What happened to the girl on duty that night? I’m a friend of hers and I want to see justice done. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

  She nodded over and over again, her shaggy blonde hair bobbing. Swallowing, she inched closer, shuffling her feet. When she leaned over the bar, she spoke in a hushed tone, all the while glancing from right to left. The assholes had obviously terrorized the place.

  “They’re assholes. They come in and take what they want, almost never paying for a drink. Like I said, I wasn’t here that night, but I heard Rusty is real sweet on Kelly.”

  “So, Kelly works here.”

  “Oh, yes. She’s a doll. I mean, a real nice person.” Blushing, she dragged her fingers through her hair. “Anyway, when Rusty wants something he takes it and he wanted Kelly. Kelly doesn’t take any shit. I admire her for that.”

  “You’re saying Kelly didn’t start whatever occurred?”

  “Not from what I heard. You’d have to talk to some of the regulars though. They can tell you.”