by L. L. Akers
Jake raised his eyebrow and tilted his head.
“A Urination,” Grayson blurted out loudly. He slapped his knee and guffawed loudly, amusing Jake and getting another smile from him.
Puck ran by, chasing fireflies as Ozzie pranced around him, both of them blissfully happy. They took off together around the back of the house, disappearing from sight, but not before Grayson noticed the limp seemed to be worse the longer Puck ran around. Earlier the kid had told them Jenny had kicked him. That made Grayson feel a little bit better about the girl. If she could kick that hard…
As though he could read Grayson’s thoughts, Jake nodded his head toward the direction Puck had gone. “That kid is something else.”
Grayson nodded and smiled. The boy was growing on him.
“How old is he?” Jake asked.
“He said eighteen or nineteen, I forget which. Hard to remember he’s that old when he acts like an overgrown child.”
Jake cleared his throat. “So, you think he’s safe to be around the women, and Graysie?”
Grayson gave it a moment’s thought before answering, “I’d say so. He seems pretty harmless. But he’s not going to stay here. He’s got a home, and he’s got Jenny there to keep him company.”
“That’s the reason I asked you. I didn’t want to mention this earlier in front of anyone, but he’s got a young woman over there that’s not his sister, or family, and she’s around his age, and he mentioned to me he liked to touch her hair, so it sounds like he’s sweet on her. You’d think she’d be meeting his er…needs.”
Grayson rubbed his jaw. His sore tooth was starting up again. In the excitement of Jake arriving, he’d forgotten it. Or maybe the pain had dulled, but it was roaring now. “I’m not sure he has those kinds of needs. He’s really like a kid—in a man’s body. He might not be playing with a full deck, but he doesn’t have a mean bone in his body. And he’s still an innocent. I think kissing is about as far as he’d go. He probably has no idea there is anything further than that.”
“I don’t know about that,” Jake answered. “When we came up the road today, I saw him first, before he saw me. He was sitting against a tree at the edge of your property.” Jake stopped, covering his embarrassment with a half-smile. “He had his britches down.”
Grayson shrugged. “Maybe he was taking a shit?”
Jake shook his head. “No, man. He was beating that thing like it owed him money.”
Grayson wrinkled his nose and cringed. “Oh no. I could’ve lived without that scene in my head. Seriously? In my yard?”
He and Jake both laughed out loud, but really, it worried Grayson. Maybe that girl—Jenny—wasn’t so safe there after all. Puck might be child-like in his head, but physically, he was a big man. Having urges and not understanding them could be dangerous. It might be best if Jenny came over and stayed with them, especially now they had other women here, until Puck’s mama came home.
Still, he hadn’t made an attempt to meet her yet, and Puck hadn’t offered to introduce him. He’d need to move that up as a priority; maybe in the morning.
Jake cocked his head. “Did you hear that?”
“I heard something. Maybe an owl?” Grayson answered.
“Ozzie,” Puck yelled from behind the house. “Ozzie!”
Jake and Grayson stood up and ran off the porch, and around the house, just in time to see Ozzie take off like a bat out of hell through the field behind the house, with Puck following behind.
“Grab your gun, Grayson! I’ll follow them,” Jake yelled as he took off in pursuit.
31
Graysie
Graysie ran like the hounds of hell were after her. The branches slapped at her without mercy. Briars and brambles left her cut and bleeding. Water streamed from the corner of her eyes and splattered back to wet her face. She sprinted, adrenaline feeding energy to her tired limbs. She darted faster and faster through the trees, barely feeling her feet on the ground.
There!
She could see a break in the tree line and caught a glimpse of a pasture as she dashed closer and closer, finally seeing the outline of a farmhouse beyond it—dark and squatting—the windows black except for the moonlight reflecting off them, giving the house a threatening, sinister appearance, as if it lay in wait for Graysie to reach it.
But that farmhouse was far less threatening than the woods.
Moonlight peeped in as she raced on, and the bigger trees mimicked the shadow of a man, jumping out to frighten her over and over again; she didn’t know if he was chasing her or if it was her imagination fueled by terror.
Panting with effort, she pushed on almost to the edge where the woods would finally release her into the field. She stopped for a moment, sucking in air and feeling a little bit of relief.
But it was short-lived.
Before she could step out into the field, the forest exploded all around her.
She stumbled in the dark. Her feet tangled beneath her and she crashed down toward the forest floor. She squeezed her eyes tight as she fell, realizing he'd won the game. He was right behind me the whole time. Now the son of a bitch has me. She twisted her body before she hit the ground, trying to land on her back.
She'd still fight.
She’d fight like a man, just like her daddy had taught her.
Just before her head hit the ground, she opened her eyes and saw him; a dark blur barreling toward her—
32
The family
Graysie struggled to pull her pistol out from behind her as time slowed. The dark blur flew at her and she screamed, just before the shape of a man emerged and collided with the blur—Ozzie!—in the same split second she pulled her pistol free, pulled back the hammer and squeezed the trigger.
The gun loudly boomed, barking death.
The blur twisted in the air and barreled toward Graysie.
Man and dog went down in tangled heap.
Graysie scrambled to her feet at the same time as Ozzie, who crawled out from under the man’s arm and nearly flew to her, almost knocking her back over with his enthusiasm.
Filled with terror at what she’d done, she dropped the gun with a little toss, as if it were too hot to hold. She rubbed Ozzie’s head with both hands, checking to be sure he wasn’t hit. “You okay, boy?”
Ozzie was fine, barely winded even. She realized the farmhouse she’d seen from the back was her dad’s house. She was a lot closer than she’d thought coming in the back way.
The man on the ground moaned and Ozzie ran back to him, nudging at his leg.
Graysie stepped closer and pulled Ozzie away by his collar. “Watch out, Ozzie!” With the limited moonlight, Graysie couldn’t see much of his face, but he didn’t look like a tweaker. He was huge. Healthy.
Not like the sick guy in the barn. But the fact was he was out in the middle of the night, on her dad’s property, chasing either Ozzie, or her. She’d never seen him before. He had to be with the other guy.
“Who are you? Were you chasing my dog?” she yelled at him, fear making her voice shake. “What’s your name?”
The man hesitated and then moaned, “Fuuuucking Pu—” his words broke off as he screamed in pain through clenched teeth. He grabbed his wound. Blood seeped through his fingers.
Like a cold shower, anger replaced Graysie’s fear for a moment. He was trying to hurt Ozzie? What kind of freak would hurt a dog, especially a sweet dog like Ozzie? She had to be sure that’s what he was saying. “What?”
The man didn’t answer. He moaned and tried to roll over.
A different kind of fear knotted inside her. What if he dies? Am I in trouble? But if he was with the guy who attacked her, it was self-defense. Graysie yelled at him, “Look, were you with the meth head in the barn?”
He answered with a whimper.
The fear in his voice made Graysie feel stronger. She nudged him with her foot. “Who are you? Were you chasing me, or Ozzie?”
“Fucking Pu—” he yelled through clamped teeth, bre
aking off again with a sob, not able to speak through the agony.
“Stop cussing my dog!” Graysie screamed at him.
Ozzie stepped up to him again and sniffed, and then buried his nose in the man’s side, pushing at him. Graysie pulled on the dog’s collar, bringing him to a safe distance. He jerked free again, running back to the man and licked his face. He whined.
“Ozzie, leave him alone. He can’t hurt us anymore.” Graysie reached for Ozzie again, and to her shock and surprise, the man twisted and rolled to his stomach, and struggled on the ground.
He was trying to get up.
She jumped forward and grabbed Ozzie’s collar, forcefully pulling him away from the man. She had to get away. She had to run.
Gripping the collar, she frantically looked for her bag and her gun, both hidden in the darkness on the ground. She whipped around to check the man again. He was on all fours now, wobbling and moaning. His blood puddled beneath him. He fell back to the ground again, but continued to struggle.
A glint of moonlight reflected off the gun. She snatched it up and took off, abandoning her bag, pulling at Ozzie with all her might. She cut to the side of the field that met the road, hoping to draw the creep away from her father’s house, in case he was able to get up. If she could make it to the other side of the road, they could disappear into those woods and quietly circle back to her dad’s.
Finally, Ozzie stopped resisting and ran with her. He loped easily beside her frantic leaps through the field. Her heart beat rapidly, hammering in her chest. The tweaker was still out there too. He could pop up any minute.
She threw a glance over her shoulder, hoping not to see the bloody man behind her. No sign of him yet. She pushed harder, and felt a stitch in her side. Her blood pumped loudly in her ears; that’s all she could hear. It was as though all other sound ceased.
Digging deeper, she pumped her arms back and forth as she pushed through the discomfort. Finally, the dirt road appeared through a thin stand of trees, just across a ditch.
Not breaking her stride, she ripped through the trees and jumped the ditch, seeing Ozzie slide to a halt out of the corner of her eye as she leapt. Too late to stop, she went airborne and landed on the dirt road, skidding in bits of tiny gravel on her knees…directly in front of a screaming monster hiding behind two blinding beams of light bearing down on her. A cloud of red dirt followed it as it barreled down the road growling toward her.
Her bloodcurdling scream rang through the air as she hunkered down on her knees, holding her arms over her head, just as she heard her father’s voice in her head calling out for her in a scream that matched her own.
Finally, the monster came to an abrupt stop, inches from Graysie as she knelt, head-down between the glaring twin beams. A moment later, the monster was silenced.
She held still a moment, still not daring to believe she was still alive, and then turned her head and tried to peek through her fingers at her newest foe.
“Graysie!”
She whipped her face the other way toward the familiar voice—it wasn’t in her head after all—and nearly fainted with relief to see her dad running down the road, with her Uncle Jake right behind him.
Grayson slid in the dirt, gathering his daughter in his arms. “Graysie, are you okay?” he breathlessly asked, as he hugged her.
“Dad!” She clung to him, her head against his chest, willing it to be true. She was home? This was real? She wasn’t dead? “I’m okay…but there’s a—”
“Grayson!” a voice yelled above them.
The both looked up to the astonished face of Olivia, Emma, Gabby, and an old man, all standing over them, lit up by a tractor’s lights.
Grayson scrambled to his feet and pulled his wife to him with one arm, and dragged Graysie up with the other, pulling them both in and squeezing them to his pounding heart. “You’re home? You’re both home?”
Olivia joyously laughed through her tears and nodded.
“You’re home!” he said again, this time believing his eyes. The cold knot he’d carried in his stomach for days on end finally loosened, and tears pricked at his eyes, and then ran unchecked down his cheeks.
He turned to see Gabby run to Jake as Olivia finally let loose with a stream of chatter, spilling the goriest details of their journey to her husband in such a rush that she couldn’t be understood. He smiled down at her and waited for her to take a breath.
“Jake!” Gabby screamed.
Jake jogged as fast as he could with his bum leg, eating up the space between them. They flew together with enough force to nearly knock them down. Jake threw his arms around his wife and twirled her through the air. “I knew you’d make it!”
Gabby laughed, trying to choke back her cries. “It wasn’t easy. It was a rough trip,” she said, her voice breaking. She pulled him in tighter and held her breath, trying to keep the tears in.
Jake hugged her harder. “You’re okay now. I’ve got you.”
Gabby turned to see Olivia chattering while Grayson looked down at his daughter in confusion, trying to hear what she was saying, as she and his wife both competed for his attention. “Dad, there’s a ma—”
The night erupted in voices all going at once, and Ozzie jumped up on Olivia’s leg to get her attention. She fell backward onto the road and the dog jumped on her chest as she fought to keep his kisses off her face.
Grayson pulled away from Graysie’s grasp. “Just a minute, sweetie.” He reached down to pull Ozzie away from Olivia and held a hand out to his wife, pulling her back up. The dog barked loudly and happily and ran in silly circles around them, ducking and diving with his tail in the air, overjoyed to see his mistress, and seemingly over the moon to have his family all together again.
Olivia cooed and chattered to her dog as he ran around her. “I missed you too…”
Jake squinted his eyes at the light and yelled over the dog barking to Gabby, “Who’s that man at the tractor with Emma?”
Grayson fought back tears as he watched Ozzie run circles around their little family, together again, and then he looked around, suddenly remembering what had brought him out here. “Where’s Puck?” he asked out loud, mostly to himself, knowing the dog couldn’t answer him.
Graysie again yelled something, her words lost in the chaos as everyone ignored her.
Elmer pulled his hat off and scratched his head at the chaos around him. It brought a smile to his old mug, until he noticed Emma standing alone, a tear rolling down her face.
He and Edith had enjoyed hearing all about Emma’s husband, Dusty, and her son, Rickey.
So, where were they?
He stepped over and pulled Emma to him, giving her a one-armed hug, sheltering her beneath his strong arm as she sadly looked around in confusion. “Where’s Dusty and Rickey?” she finally yelled over the ruckus to Grayson.
That caught Grayson’s attention. He gently pulled away from Graysie, ignoring her chatter, and swiped a hand over his face, feeling terrible for ignoring his little brother’s bride. He didn’t want to be the bearer of bad news right here and now, but she deserved an answer as she stood sad and alone. “Dusty and Rickey are—”
Graysie stuck two fingers in her mouth and whistled, piercing the air just the way her dad had taught her to do if she ever needed him. She had their attention now.
“Hey! Listen to me,” she shouted.
The crowd silenced and Graysie erupted in a flurry of words. “There was a man… in a barn, not far from here. He attacked me and chased me. I hurt him. Maybe broke his arm—no, wait. He wasn’t the one chasing me. There was another man. He came after me.” She paused and took a breath, then shook her head in frustration.
She looked around in confusion and saw Ozzie. “There were two men. I lost one at the barn. The other one came at Ozzie. Or maybe Ozzie attacked him. I don’t know.”
Grayson grabbed her shoulders and looked down at his daughter, examining her from head to toe. “Where are they now? Did they… hurt you, Graysie?”
She dropped her head to stare at her feet, not able to look her father in the eyes. Her shoulders sagged and her body tremored and then shook like a leaf.
Everyone watched silently as Graysie fell apart. Grayson squeezed her shoulders. He looked firmly into her eyes. “It’s okay. You’re okay. You did well. I’m proud of you.”
Graysie tried to shake off his hands, but he didn’t budge. “N-n-no. You d-d-don’t understand. I… I d-d-did something terrible. The second man… O-O-Ozzie was trying to s-s-save me from him. And he cussed him. He cussed our dog…called him a f-f-fucking pup, so I kicked him when he was down.” Her hands shook as she reached behind her and pulled out her father’s gun. She carefully handed it to him, stock first. “But before that…I didn’t just fight back, Dad. I sh..sh..shot him. I shot a man,” she finished and then collapsed in his arms.
Grayson held his daughter and looked at Jake in shock. Jake stared back with wide eyes. “Are you sure he said fucking pup?”
That’s all, folks. It had to end somewhere… we’re past 300 page in print now! I hope you’ll keep reading the series. The next book, Shoot Like a Girl, is available to purchase now!
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