by Marla Monroe
“Okay, let’s go.” Granger had his rifle and had emptied his pack, as had Marty.
“Do I need to get my pack?” she asked.
“No. We’re just carrying these in case we come up with something we want to bring back. Besides, your shoulder is still healing.” Marty dropped a quick kiss to her forehead before turning her to face the door where Granger stood waiting on her.
The two men kept her between them everywhere they went. She wasn’t allowed to go off even two steps away from them. It was kind of cute at first, but it didn’t take long before she was aggravated. What could happen to her five steps away?
They located another house some thirty minutes later. Granger stomped up on the porch and knocked on the door to make sure there wasn’t anyone inside.
“Hello? Anyone here?”
No one called out, and they didn’t hear any movement inside. Granger shoved open the door and eased inside. She and Marty waited outside while he made sure it was safe. Several seconds later he stuck his head out the door.
“Come on in. Looks like someone was stocking up, but no one’s been here for a long time. There are spider webs everywhere. Be careful where you walk. There’s been squirrels or raccoons living in here at some point. Stuff’s all over the place.” Granger disappeared back inside the house.
Marty helped her up the steps so she didn’t lose her balance with her arm in a sling. When she walked into the dimly lit room, she started coughing at the dust in the air. Granger had stirred it all up just walking through the mess on the floor. Newspapers and stuffing from pillows had been shredded and piled up in different places. No doubt they were old nests for something. She didn’t want to look in them to find out in case there was anything still lurking.
“What a mess,” Marty muttered under his breath.
“Yeah. Don’t fall over something.” Granger had cleared off the table and set his pack on it. “Let’s load up what we can and then come back for the rest.”
Since she wasn’t carrying anything and couldn’t reach a lot of the cans, Destiny wandered around the little house while they gathered what they wanted to take back. They were going to pile the rest on the table to make it easier to pack up on the next trip.
There was only one bedroom and one bath across from the living area. The bedroom held nothing but men’s clothing. Judging by the size, he’d been on the small side. When she found a picture in a drawer of an older man and probably his wife, she figured the house had belonged to him. He looked about the right size to wear the clothes. She couldn’t tell that anything had been taken. There were no empty hangers or spots in the drawers like he’d packed up and left. The bathroom appeared untouched as well, with an old fashioned shaving brush and mug along with a razor sitting on the counter.
She searched beneath the counter and came up with a very nice first aid kit. She carried it back into the kitchen. The men were stacking the last of the provisions on the table.
“What did you find?” Marty asked.
“First aid kit. Looks like an old man lived here alone. There weren’t any women’s clothes, so he must have been a widower. A picture showed a man and woman in their sixties,” she said.
“Guess he took off when things got bad out there.” Marty said.
“I don’t think so. He didn’t pack any clothes or toiletries if he did. Nothing’s missing,” she explained.
“That’s weird. Makes you wonder if something happened to him while he was out somewhere,” Granger said. “Let’s go. I want to have time to make a trip back to get the rest of this stuff.”
They left the cabin with Granger closing the door behind them. The trip back to their house was uneventful and much faster. Granger had her resting while they unloaded their packs, then after a quick meal of beans and water, they hiked back to the house to finish appropriating the supplies they’d found.
“Don’t wander off, Destiny,” Marty said when she told them she was going to sit on the front porch.
The dust inside was killing her allergies and making her eyes itch. She brushed off the chair, and after making sure it would hold her weight, Destiny sat down and looked around at the overgrown yard around the house. The gravel drive was almost obscured with weeds. She listened absently to the guys’ low murmurs as they worked. Something glittered in the grass just off the side of the porch. She got up and walked over to see if she could tell what it was, but she didn’t see it from there.
Destiny walked back over to the chair, and sure enough, sunlight bounced off of it from that angle. She kept her eyes where she’d seen the sparkle and stepped off the porch to see what it was. When she got to that spot, she bent down and picked up a metal box of some type. Most of it was still shiny. It was only about three or four inches square but rattled when she shook it.
“What did you find?” Marty asked, stepping out of the house onto the porch.
“I don’t know. It’s a box of some kind. I wonder why it isn’t covered in rust. Look, most of it’s still shiny.” She held the box up.
“Bet a raccoon tried to carry it off and dropped it. I’m pretty sure I read somewhere that they like shiny things,” Granger said as he closed the door to the house behind him.
“Well, I’m keeping it. I want to see what’s inside once we get back to the house.” She started to walk toward the front of the house where the porch steps were and heard a low growling noise.
“What was that?” Marty hissed out.
“Don’t move, Destiny.” Granger’s voice held enough worry in it that she froze on the spot.
Chapter Nine
Again the animal growled, only louder this time. Destiny realized it was coming from under the porch. Sweat broke out over her body at the continued growl and chuffing noises coming from less than three feet away.
“What the fuck is that?” Marty asked.
“I don’t know. It sounds like a cross between a bear and a wolf. There isn’t enough room under the porch for a bear. I’m not sure about a small wolf though.” Granger eased a few steps closer to Marty. “Destiny, honey. Don’t move. Don’t give it any reason to come out.”
“I’m not moving,” she whispered.
Destiny wasn’t sure how she was even breathing right then. Raw fear had her frozen to the spot. If they decided she needed to run, she wasn’t sure she would be able to make her legs move.
“I’m going to walk over there, Destiny. Just stay calm and be ready to move if I tell you to, honey,” Granger said.
“Wait.” Marty stopped him. “How good are you with that rifle? I mean, are you a really good shot with it or not?”
“I’m good.” He looked at Marty for a brief second then nodded. “You’re right. I need to be ready to shoot if it attacks.”
Marty nodded and stepped off the porch. When the animal didn’t make another sound, Granger stepped off right behind him. They both walked slowly around the front of the porch toward Destiny. Granger walked in a wider circle than the other man. When Marty was about five feet from her, the growling started again, so he stopped.
“How are you doing, ladybug?” he asked.
“Okay.” It came out in a whisper as if she couldn’t get enough air inside her lungs to speak louder.
“Granger?” Marty said the man’s name, but nothing more.
“I’m in position. Just don’t either of you move toward the porch. Destiny. Take one slow step toward Marty.”
“I–I don’t think I can move.”
“Sure you can, honey. Just look at me. Look right at me.” Marty held out a hand toward her.
Destiny tried to move but couldn’t make her muscles unfreeze. They felt as if they were glued solid so that she couldn’t bend at all. The animal was silent right now, and that was a good thing as far as she was concerned. If she moved, he’d start growling again. No, she didn’t want to move.
“Move, Destiny!” Granger bit out in a deep growl.
She began to pant as she slowly forced her leg to relax enough she could
bend her knee and move a step closer to Marty. She was in the middle of taking another step when the growls became more ferocious sounding.
“Stop!” Marty yelled.
“It’s going to bite me, isn’t it?” Destiny cried out as she tried to stop the shaking from taking over.
“Shh, honey. Calm down. Just take a deep breath and blow it out. We’re going to get you out of this. Listen to us and do exactly as we tell you to. It will be fine.” Granger’s voice no longer sounded uncertain or worried. She leaned on that strength and slowly stopped shaking.
“Good girl. Now slowly take one step closer to Marty. Only one, Destiny,” Granger said.
She slowly moved one foot closer to Marty and stopped like Granger had said. No sounds emerged from beneath the porch. Maybe it had moved farther under the house, or maybe it was even escaping on the other side.
“Okay, take another step toward Marty. Only one, Destiny.”
She closed her eyes and settled her nerves before taking one more step away from the porch. Again, all was quiet. She was tempted to go ahead and run to Marty, but Granger had said to only take one step. She was going to follow his directions. He’d promised to take care of her.
“Good girl. You’re doing a great job, Destiny. Now take another step toward Marty for me, baby.” Granger’s voice held a soothing tone that kept her nerves quieted when all she wanted to do was run screaming into the woods.
“Okay. Now one more step, and he’ll have you, Destiny. One slow step.”
She stared into Marty’s eyes, willing her foot to move. She took one last step, and Marty pulled her into his arms and turned all at the same time. She heard the enraged growl behind them as Marty sprinted toward the woods, giving Granger a clear shot. They were depending on him to stop whatever it was from getting to them.
The crack of the rifle firing jarred her hard enough she nearly fell from Marty’s grasp. His hands bit into her skin in an attempt to hold on to her. Another shot, and the world around them was silent. Marty continued to run until Granger’s yell to come back stopped him.
“Are you okay, ladybug?” he asked.
She buried her head in his neck trying hard not to cry in relief. She knew she was hurting her shoulder, but she couldn’t let go of him for anything right then.
“Destiny? Honey. Talk to me.” Marty’s voice took on a worried note.
“I’m okay. What was that?” she asked in a shaky voice.
“I don’t fucking believe it!” Granger’s voice carried to them from a good fifty yards away.
Marty started walking back toward the other man. Destiny wiggled in his arms, trying to get him to let her down.
“Stop moving around before I drop you, ladybug.”
“Put me down. I need to walk. My shoulder hurts.”
It was all she needed to say. He immediately let her down easy and tried to look at her shoulder.
“Stop. It’s fine. It just hurt like that.” She wrapped an arm around his waist and urged him closer to where Granger was crouched next to what looked like a small bear or beaver.
“What is that?” she asked, keeping Marty between her and the carcass.
“I think it’s a fucking wolverine,” Granger said, a note of awe in his voice.
“I thought that was a TV show.” She frowned at the mostly brown and black fur covering the animal.
“Look at these.” Granger held up the animal’s overly large foot to where five claws stood out stark against the black fur.
“Look at his teeth.” Granger carefully held the animal’s head up so that they could see the dagger like teeth.
“I didn’t know wolverines were this far south. I thought they were mostly in Canada,” Marty said.
“They have a small showing down here in the north part the US, especially in the Yellowstone area. I guess with everything like it is, they’ve expanded their areas now. They used to be nearly extinct at one time.” Granger dropped the body back to the ground. “That thing was fucking fast. I was worried I wouldn’t hit it.”
“I’m sure glad you did.” Destiny shivered looking at the thing. As much as she hated that Granger had to kill it, she was much happier with it dead and them unharmed.
Granger suddenly pulled her into his arms and hugged her close. He was careful of her shoulder, but he didn’t let her go right away. She felt him bury his face against her neck in her hair.
“I was scared to death that thing was going to get you before I could kill it. You sure you’re okay, darling?” he asked, his voice muffled by her hair.
“Yes. I’m okay. Thank you both.” She looked over at Marty, who had a strange expression on his face.
Granger pulled back. “Let’s get back to the house. It’ll be dark in another couple of hours.”
“Come on, Destiny. I want to change that bandage and be sure your shoulder is okay. It’s never going to heal at this rate,” Marty teased, the strange look from seconds earlier gone now.
“You two are going to think I’m a trouble magnet as much of it as I seem to bring down on you,” she said only half joking.
“Nonsense. None of this has been your fault. Now keep up, ladybug, or I’m going to carry you.” Marty popped her lightly on her ass.
Destiny looked over her shoulder and glared at him even as she rubbed her butt. It hadn’t really hurt, but he didn’t have to know that.
* * * *
Marty followed close behind Destiny, afraid for her to get too far ahead of him even if Granger was right in front of her. She hadn’t been more than four feet from the porch and them when danger had nearly taken her from them. Sheesh, he hadn’t realized what it would mean to be responsible for someone out here. He’d essentially been responsible for thousands of people at one time when he’d been active on the force. This was far more difficult than he’d have thought.
Then the sight of her in Granger’s arms earlier had him questioning himself as well. It had felt right to see the other man holding her and taking comfort from her. Where was his sense of outrage and anger that someone he cared about as much as he’d come to care for Destiny was being held and caressed by another man? It didn’t make sense.
When they made it back to the house, he ushered Destiny into the bedroom.
“Granger, why don’t you load everything into the Jeep except what we need for tonight and in the morning? I’m going to redress her wound, and she needs to rest for a while before we eat.” Marty started unbuttoning Destiny’s shirt.
“Hey! Wait. I can do that. Turn your back,” she demanded.
Granger grinned an amused smile at him and left them to start loading everything up. Marty sighed and turned his back.
“You know I’ve already seen you without your top, ladybug. Isn’t this a little silly?” he asked.
“Don’t remind me.”
He could hear her moving around behind him. Then she sighed and told him he could turn around. She lay on the bed with the covers pulled up under her arms so that everything but a small expanse of cleavage was completely covered. He couldn’t help but smile to see that she’d folded her jeans and shirt on the night stand. That meant all she had on beneath the covers was her panties. His cock got the picture right away.
Trying not to groan out load, Marty swallowed and carried the first aid kit to the bed and sat next to her.
“Let’s get this bandage off and see how it looks. Have you felt like you’ve been running any fever or anything?” he asked as he gently loosened the tape holding the gauze in place.
“I don’t think so. Other than aching most of the time or hurting if I jar it, I don’t think anything’s changed.”
When he had the old bandage off, he noticed that there was some slight drainage he didn’t like the color of. They didn’t have access to any antibiotics. Only a few people in the larger cities could get those now. There was only one drug manufacturer still working at the moment. They’d have to make do and pray it didn’t develop into a full-blown infection.
&nbs
p; “What’s wrong? You’re frowning,” she said with a worried expression.
“Nothing. There’s a little drainage, but I think it’s fine. I’m going to clean it again just to be safe. Think you can stand it, or do I need to wait on Granger to help you be still?” he asked.
“I can take it. Let’s get it over with.” She smiled up at him, but he could see dread edging around her mouth.
“I’ll be as quick as I can. Hold on.”
He watched as she grabbed the sheets in her hand and turned her face away so she didn’t have to see what he was doing. Marty hated doing anything that hurt her, even if it was for her own good in the long run.
He poured alcohol onto a fresh piece of gauze then held it to the wound, gritting his teeth at the soft whimpers she was making. He had no doubt there would be tears in her eyes by now. He hated this. When he wiped at the raw wound, she squirmed, but she held her shoulder still.
“Almost done, honey. Hold on just a few more seconds.”
Once more he saturated a new piece of gauze and repeated the procedure. Tears welled up in his own eyes as he dabbed at the wound then patted it dry and applied a new dressing. Once he’d finished taping it down, Marty gathered the dirty supplies and bagged them up to be buried outside. Then he kicked off his boots and lay down next to her, pulling her gently into his arms.
“I’m sorry, Destiny. I’d rather cut off my own arm than hurt you,” he whispered in her ear.
She sniffed. “I know. It had to be done. I’m okay, Marty.”
He held her close for a little longer until he felt her drift off into sleep. As he listened to her soft breathing, watching the rise and fall of her chest, he realized that he’d misjudged how he felt about her. He was pretty damn sure he was in love with her. How had it happened so quickly? And what did that mean in the whole scheme of things? Granger was as much a part of her as he was. He had no idea if the other man loved her or not, or if she loved either one of them, but like it or not, there were three of them.
His mind ticked around to how he’d felt back at the other house when Granger had held Destiny as if he’d nearly lost his best friend. Why had he been okay with that at the time? Was it just because of the situation? Or did he really think that the three of them could make something work between them? He should be furious about Granger holding her. He considered her to be his woman, but something inside of him acknowledged that she was Granger’s, too. What in the hell was he going to do?
