He Falls First (Colburn Brothers #1)

Prologue

RYDER

Faster! Don’t look back!” I yelled to Caleb and Tucker as we scrambled across the rocky bluffs and windswept cliffs high above the river, breath heaving, terror in our veins.

The Colburn siblings lived by one rule: if you poke the bear, run like hell. At twelve, I was the oldest and fastest, so I should’ve had a huge lead. After all, if we got caught, I’d be the one he’d go after first.

But since my baby sister, Kiera, had been the one to crash her bike into good old dad’s precious truck, leaving both a dent and a chip in the paint, I had her by the hand, ruthlessly dragging her along with me to keep her safe.

The going was tough thanks to the uneven, choppy terrain that made up the rugged Sonoma, California coastline.

Dirt, sand, and jagged rocks shifted dangerously beneath our feet as we scrambled through wild grass that came up to our navels, and it didn’t help that the night was pitch black thanks to a sky churning with an incoming late spring storm.

Hopefully it made us hard to see.

Except…nope. Over the distant roar of the crashing waves that met the end of the river, I heard pounding footsteps behind us.

“Captain Asshole’s gaining ground!” my brother Caleb warned, right on my heels. “ Shit, how is the old man still so fast? ”

I knew exactly how. Hank Colburn, aka Captain Asshole, aka Dad, was military born and raised, and tough as nails to boot, not to mention mean as a snake.

My heart pounded in my ears from dread and panic.

To our left, the land stretched out to a sharp ledge that pointed over the sea.

Straight ahead were the hidden caves we’d found years ago, where we stood a chance of losing him, since for all his physical agility, Hank suffered from claustrophobia as a part of his post-traumatic stress.

We flat-out hauled ass toward those caves, the horizon rising and falling away, an illusion thanks to the hills all around us.

But then Kiera slipped, her hand yanked from mine as she hit her knees. “Ry!” she cried, and in that split second, I knew.

We weren’t getting away.

But I also knew exactly how furious my dad was. He loved his truck, certainly more than us, more than anything . Twisting, I scooped up my now sobbing sister, tossed her to Caleb and Tucker, and then shoved all of them ahead of me…

Just as a heavy, sweaty hand snatched the back of my shirt with a grip of iron.

I didn’t fight. But, heart thundering in my chest, I also didn’t turn to face Hank, not until I watched my brothers and sister slide past the massive moss-lined boulders designating the caves’ entrance and vanish from sight.