“Just as I remembered,” I said, pulling out a dusty, worn out book.
“Is that—” Ryder asked with a half-assed grin.
“Yeah, it’s our old code book, back when we tried sending secret messages back and forth.” It had been a silly children’s game, but something about it had always appealed to Boone. He kept at it, even after the rest of us realized it was childish. “I recognized the letters and numbers from the book.”
“There’s something else in there, too,” Ryder said, reaching inside and pulling out a crumpled piece of paper. He opened it, and it was in Boone’s handwriting - his adult handwriting. And it too was in code.
I worked my way through the book until I found the code that matched the style best. It wasn’t that hard, and it made me wonder if perhaps Boone was being just a little too careless until I realized what he’d written.
“It says ‘Remember our secret place’,” I said.
“Our secret place? You mean that cave we used to sneak out to in the woods?”
“Maybe?” I shrugged, biting my lip. “You know, Wyatt still goes down there from time to time to clear his head,” Ryder said.
“Then maybe he’s seen something but just didn’t realize it?” I asked.
I had no pants on. I was standing outside, in a shed with Ryder, wearing a t-shirt and panties. I shivered from the cool draft that blew through the shed.
“We can ask him in the morning. It’s too late to go looking for it tonight,” Ryder said. “We’ll get lost.”
“We won’t get lost,” I argued. “Or are you no longer an expert tracker?”
He smirked. “Oh, I am, but I know you’ve been through a lot today. Whatever is in that cave can wait a few hours until morning, I’m sure.”
“What if it can’t?” I asked, shivering again. It was just chilly enough to be uncomfortable wearing practically nothing. I needed to change if we went into the woods.
“Come on, let’s go inside,” Ryder guided me back, not addressing my question.
I let him usher me back inside, and as soon as I was back in the warm house, exhaustion took hold. He was right, I’d been through a lot that day and it was catching up to me. But I wasn’t about to go to sleep, not without knowing what was in the cave.
“Let me get dressed and—”
Ryder cut me off, motioning for me to sit down on the couch. I wanted to fight it, but my body ached so badly. I relented and sat down beside him.
“Rest for a bit first, Hazel,” he said.
“Only for a bit,” I said. “Then we go and look for the cave.”
“Sure,” Ryder said. He wrapped his arm around me, and I let him. I even leaned against him, resting my head against his chest. I felt so safe and warm beside him. I closed my eyes, telling myself it would only be for a second.
Wyatt
The cool air felt nice against my skin. Being surrounded by nothing but the sound of insects and animals, with the occasional rustling wind, settled my nerves almost immediately. I’d been too hard on Hazel, and I knew it. I shouldn’t have expected her to realize her love for me this fast, not after so many years had passed without us seeing each other. But just the thought that she might love Ryder, and not me, filled me with a jealous rage. All my life I had done things right while Ryder did whatever the hell he wanted. I took care of him, gave up my own hopes and dreams to be there for my brother after our parents died, and he might get the girl I loved too? I knew it wasn’t Ryder’s fault either, but damn, it hurt like hell. But if she was in love with Ryder, why had she slept with me? I was confused as shit and needed to clear my head.
Sticks and leaves crunched under my feet as I walked deep into the woods. The woods, where so many of my best memories took place, seemed like an entirely different place at night than it did during the day. Some would call it eerie, but it still felt like home to me.
I knew the place like the back of my hand and had no fear of getting lost in the darkness. The moon was large and bright in the sky, lighting my way. I walked a familiar path, one I used to walk many times as a kid, one that led to our secret place, a hideout where the four of us would meet once our parents went to sleep.
I walked the path often, even as an adult. Sometimes it was nice to sit in the cave, pretend that nothing had changed, that I was still that twelve or thirteen-year-old boy, waiting for his friends to arrive so the real fun could begin.
The path sloped downward, leading to a small river we’d been swimming in countless times as kids too. All against our parent’s wishes, mind you. They’d have shit a brick had they known we went swimming in those murky waters, but we all managed to survive.
The path eventually leveled out, and the sound of rushing water signaled I was close to the cave. I could almost do the next part of the walk with my eyes closed had I wanted to. But I preferred keeping my eyes open, taking in my surroundings. There were animals in these woods, some big ones too, and I’d need to be aware of my surroundings. My dad used to take us hunting, but over the years, Ryder and I had stopped. There were too many reminders of our dad, and we usually preferred watching the animals over killing them. We might be big mountain men like our father, but we had even bigger hearts, like our mother.
When I reached the river bed, I took a sharp right and walked along it for about a quarter of a mile. This way gave me an even clearer view of the sky, with the stars shining brightly overhead. Maybe my eyes had adjusted to the darkness, or perhaps the moon and stars really were that bright, but it wasn’t that dark. I could see clearly. Clear enough that I noticed something was off a few feet before I got to the cave. I quickened my pace, my eyes fixed on what appeared to be an object sticking up behind a rock. When I reached the cave, I had to go inside it, just a few steps in, and found what had caught my eye.
It was a bag. Just a simple waterproof knapsack built for hiking. At first, I assumed it was probably lost by some hikers, maybe washed down the river or got carried by the wind, but when I picked it up, I realized it was heavy. Too heavy to float or to be blown across the land. Curiosity got the best of me, and I opened it.
“Fuck, Boone, what have you gotten yourself into?” I muttered, lifting out a thick stack of cash. All of them were hundred-dollar bills, and there were more fat stacks in the bag. It was way too much money for someone like Boone to have come across naturally, making me think it all had to do with his ties to the Mob.
I knew I couldn't leave the money there, so I returned the money to the bag and closed it before lifting it. It was heavy, much heavier than I expected it to be. I tossed it onto my back. I jogged through the forest, not stopping for any reason. I had no idea what we were supposed to do with the money, but I wasn’t about to leave it out there in plain sight. We didn’t get a lot of hikers since technically we owned the property, but anything could happen. Boone had hidden it for a reason.
We just had to figure out what that reason was.
I ran back up the steep hill, away from the river, and in the distance, I saw the lights of both houses. I was in good shape, but running through the forest at night with a sack full of money on my back was beginning to wear me out. Thankfully, I was getting close.
The earth flattened out again, and I was home free. I took off running toward Hazel’s house, our earlier disagreement far from my mind. I had a clue, finally, something that might lead us to Boone or help him in some way. Hopefully the three of us could figure it out together.
I opened her creaky back gate and took the back steps up to her kitchen door two at a time until I pulled the broken door open. I ran inside, down the hallway, but stopped as soon as I reached the living room.
Hazel was asleep on the couch in my brother’s arms. His eyes were shut, and they looked so peaceful and happy. Hazel’s words about having feelings for both Ryder and me echoed through my head. Everything from earlier came back at me at once, and I clenched my fists to my side.
So soon after she and I had been together, she was in his arms. I wouldn’t
have expected it to happen so quickly, but there it was. Right in front of me.
Without waking either of them up, I walked out of the house, afraid of starting yet another fight. I needed to clear my head, to be as far away from them as possible at that moment. It was getting late anyway; everything could wait until the next day, I told myself.
The money would just go home with me for the time being.
I’d try to get some sleep, and hopefully things would be better in the morning. Yeah, right. There was a pile of money that Boone had hidden in a cave, and my brother and the girl I loved were getting cozy on the couch.
My house was lonelier than ever before, and I fell into bed feeling lost.
Ryder
“What was that?” Hazel asked, sitting upright suddenly.
“What was what?” I yawned. I hadn’t intended on falling asleep, but we’d gotten pretty cozy on the couch and it had just happened. Hazel was still in her panties and her t-shirt, looking as yummy as ever. Her hair was messy from sleeping on my chest, tousled around her head. Her face was so serious.
“I don’t know, I thought I heard something,” she said. “What time is it?”
I looked at my phone. There were no more messages from Boone, and I didn’t know if that was a good thing or not.
“Just after three in the morning,” I replied.
Hazel nodded and looked around the living room, hugging herself with her arms. Whatever had happened earlier had her on edge, I was sure of it. I hadn’t heard anything, and the house was quiet except for the normal nature sounds outside.
“We should get going to the cave,” she said, standing up and stretching, her toned calves flexing as she did so.
“Why don’t we wait a few hours until morning?” I asked. “The sun will be up soon enough and we’ll have better light.”
“Because I want to see what’s in the cave now,” she answered. “It could lead us to Boone.”
Hazel hurried down the hall before I could say another word. She was damned stubborn when she wanted to be, and I knew there wasn’t much use arguing with her. I waited on the couch for her to come back, and within a few minutes, she was dressed and ready to go. She had on a pair of tight jeans and a red USC sweatshirt. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail and she was awake and ready to go.
“You comin’, Ryder?” she asked me, shooting me a look from the couch.
“Sure,” I said, standing and walking over to her. I smirked and added, “Not like I’d let you go out there alone.”
“How many times do I have to tell you two Neanderthals that I can take care of myself?” She smacked me playfully on the arm, and I pretended it hurt. She laughed, and it was the most beautiful sound I’d heard in a long time. We were getting along again. I wasn’t sure what planets had finally aligned themselves to make that happen, but I wasn’t going to question it for fear of bursting the bubble.
We walked out the back door, side-by-side. I wasn’t about to let her out of my sight. I double checked that I had a knife at my side. I felt pretty confident that I wouldn’t need to use it at this time of night in woods only we knew, but my father had taught us never to go into the woods unprepared.
“So what were you and Wyatt fighting about earlier, if you don’t mind me asking?” I said, holding open her back gate for her.
She looked at me with a guarded expression, and at first, I thought it might lead to another fight, but instead she stopped walking and sighed. “I told him that I had feelings for him.”
“Oh,” I said, not exactly sure how to take that. It hurt a bit, but it didn’t come as a big surprise. I had a feeling the two of them had done something in her room before I got there. Not to mention they’d always been close, but that didn’t mean hearing the truth didn’t hurt. “Why would that make him angry?”
We started walking again, and Hazel wouldn’t even look at me. “Because I also told him I had feelings for you.”
That stopped me in my tracks. “Wait, what?”
“You heard me, Ryder. Don’t make me repeat myself,” she said, walking ahead of me and not bothering to look back.
“You have feelings for me?” I said, hurrying up to her.
“Uh, yeah. Wasn’t it obvious? I’ve always had a crush on you,” she said, side-eyeing me.
“But you also have feelings for Wyatt?” I asked, just for the sake of clarity.
“I do. And that’s the problem.”
“It’s a pretty big problem,” I agreed softly.
Had she chosen my brother because she didn’t care about me, well, I’d have been hurt but it wouldn’t have made a difference. I mean, I’d always thought it was a given that the two of them would end up together. They were always so close. But once I knew she had feelings for me too? That changed everything.
“Yeah, tell me about it,” she said.
We were just nearing the hill that led down to the river when a sound caught our attention. Both of us froze.
“What was that?” she asked.
“It sounded like gunfire,” I said, turning on my heel. “And it came from near our house.”
I knew Hazel could keep up with me and that she would follow as I yelled at her to stay away. She followed close behind me as we reached my house. The chickens were restless, squawking and freaking out. The goats were running around, scared out of their ever-loving minds. Even the horses were neighing and kicking in their stalls.
“You wait out here,” I motioned for her to stay behind the house
I ran into the back door of our home and found Wyatt in the kitchen with a rifle. He was blocking off the hallway, where a commotion could be heard. Furniture was being flipped, items were being tossed, and the telltale sound of a gun being reloaded hit my ears. He tossed a bag my way, a bag that was much heavier than it looked.
“Take this and get out of here,” Wyatt yelled. “Take Hazel with you!”
“I’m not leaving you,” I yelled back. “Come on, exit out the back.”
Hazel hadn’t listened, as I feared. She rushed into the kitchen as Wyatt reloaded the rifle.
“Get her out of here, now!” Wyatt shouted.
“We’re not going without you,” Hazel called back.
Wyatt glanced over at her, scowling in frustration, as I took Hazel’s arm to try and pull her back outside. Wyatt only took his eyes off the intruders for a split second, but that was long enough.
“Fuck,” he screamed, dropping the rifle as blood spilled down his arm.
Hazel yanked herself free, running to Wyatt before I could stop her. She took one look at his arm and her face paled. Not wanting to delay another second, I took Wyatt’s good arm, and with Hazel’s help, the two of us dragged him out the back door. In the commotion, I’d dropped the bag Wyatt had tossed to me. It wasn’t as important as Hazel and my brother, and I’d completely forgotten about it.
“To the truck,” I said.
We had a garage in the back of our house, and from the looks of it, the path was clear. The shooting inside had stopped, much to my relief, but I wasn’t about to let my guard down.
I tossed Hazel the keys as I helped my brother toward the garage.
“I can walk. They got my arm, not my leg,” he said, shooting me an irritated look.
I ignored him. Without seeing the wound, it was hard to know how much damage they’d done to him. All I could see was blood flowing freely down his arm, more blood than I felt comfortable with.
Hazel opened the garage door and started the truck. She sat behind the wheel. I helped Wyatt get into the back as quickly as possible, then I climbed in and nudged Hazel over.
“Get in the back with Wyatt,” I said.
Hazel looked into the backseat, and without a moment’s hesitation, she climbed over the seat and joined him in the back. As I pulled out of the garage, I hit the gas as hard as I could, taking off down the long driveway.
“He’s lost a lot of blood,” Hazel said, her voice frantic. “I don’t know what to do.”
<
br /> “Take off his shirt,” I said, watching the rearview mirror. “Assess the damage and stop the bleeding until we get to the hospital.”
“No hospital,” Wyatt growled.
I didn’t even bother to acknowledge that with an answer. Of course we were going to the hospital; my brother had been shot. But first, I needed to make sure we weren’t being followed. I watched for headlights behind us and saw nothing.
“This doesn’t make sense. Why aren’t they following us?” I asked.
“Do you have the bag?” Wyatt groaned.
Shit.
“No, I dropped it to get you out of there,” I said.
“What? We have to go back,” he told me, trying to sit up. He growled in pain and fell back down against the seat. “Fuck. That’s why they’re not following us. They got what they wanted.”
“What was in it?” Hazel asked.
I glanced back at the two of them. Wyatt’s shirt had been ripped off, exposing the wound. She was using his shirt to apply pressure to the hole in his arm, but it wasn’t doing much. There was just too much damn blood. “Tie the shirt around the wound as tightly as you can, and try to make a tourniquet,” I told her.
“Money,” Wyatt answered my question. “Lots of money.”
“Looks like the bullet hit his bicep. It doesn’t look like it hit an artery or anything,” Hazel said once she’d secured the shirt around Wyatt’s upper arm.
Neither one of us gave two shits about what was in the bag. Wyatt’s well-being was far more important.
“They’ll be able to sew him up at the hospital,” I said.
“No hospital, Ryder. They’ll ask questions,” he groaned.
“So?” both Hazel and I asked at the same time.
“Do you really want the police to get involved?” Wyatt asked.
He had a point. Hazel and I shared a look, then she went back to tending to his wound. Wyatt continued talking, as best he could, wincing with pain every time Hazel got too close to the wound with the napkins she’d found in the center console.
Her Mountain Brothers Page 12
