CHAPTER TWO
Kol
ARE WE READY TO ROCK?” I ASKED, LOOKING DOWN AT MY daughter, who always kept me on my toes. Especially when it came to her attire.
Skylar hadn’t disappointed this time. She wore a plastic tiara, complete with pink and purple gemstones, paired with tactical goggles, making her blond hair stick out in a haphazard array.
She had a magenta feather boa over her camo shirt that read: Don’t Mess with Me, I’ve Got Uncles.
And she did. Four, to be exact. And any one of them would do anything to keep her from harm.
She lowered the goggles over her eyes. “Let’s smash some stuff.”
I swallowed back a chuckle. “I hate to break it to you, Little Princess, but we are past the smashing phase and into the rebuilding one.”
“Aw, man,” she complained.
This time, I couldn’t hold back my laugh as I crouched to her level. “But look at all we’ve accomplished.”
I scanned the garage attic, trying to see it through my girl’s eyes. She’d helped me in fits and starts before getting bored and seeking entertainment with her besties: Tink, the mini-Highland cow, and Pepper, the goat. But I was damn proud of all we’d accomplished.
“It looks …” Skylar’s nose scrunched. “Empty.”
My mouth curved. “That means it’s time to build it back up.” And I had a specific vision in mind. Just in case.
Sky looked up at me with mischief in her eyes. “Do I get to use the big saw?”
I tried not to let my overprotective streak strangle my response. Letting out a breath, I studied my eight-year-old. “What are the rules?”
She instantly stood at attention. “Hands only where you say. Goggles on. Never use power tools with Uncle Mav.”
I pressed my lips together to keep from laughing at the last rule, even though it was probably the most important one, given my youngest brother’s reckless nature. “All right, then. Let’s do this.”
I helped Skylar onto the stool where she could help me position the two-by-four.
Her hands wouldn’t be anywhere near the table saw blade, but she would still feel like she was a part of things.
Empowering her with knowledge and skills that she could carry with her for the rest of her life was one of my favorite things.
“Let’s chop it, Daddy!” she said gleefully.
Grinning, I started up the saw, and we began sliding the piece of wood across the table, perfectly in line with the mark I’d traced. The moment we made the cut, I flipped off the saw. Sky took one half, and I took the other.
Setting the piece on the floor, she flipped her boa over her shoulder. “Teamwork makes the dream work.”
“Couldn’t do it without you.”
She beamed up at me. “That’s because I’m the best helper around.”
“That, you are.”
And she proved it by helping for the next hour until she got bored. “Can I go play ninja warrior with Tink and Pepper now? I put in a hard day’s work.”
I coughed to cover my laugh. “A real long one, huh?”
She blew out a breath. “The longest.”
“Go play. I’ll have an ice-cold chocolate milk waiting for you when you’re done.”
“Better make it a double.”
That had me groaning. Having an uncle who owned a bar had its downsides.
But Skylar was already grabbing her Nerf gun and running down the stairs.
I knew the sounds by heart: her footsteps on the staircase, when they hit the final landing, the back door to the deck slamming.
A peal of laughter lit the air then, a different sort of noise—the kind I always loved to hear. I straightened to peer out one of the back windows. My natural inclination was to check on my daughter, but her laughter always called to me. I never knew what I’d find.
Tink, the mini-Highland cow, let out a bellowed moo and raced in a circle. Sky dropped into a roll, letting a Nerf dart fly at the target across the yard. It hit the center of the bull’s-eye.
The roll itself hadn’t been careful. She’d hit the ground with enough force to jar her tiny form, making me wince. I crossed to the window and leaned out of it. “Careful, Little Princess. Precious cargo, remember?”
Sky flipped up her tactical goggles. “Gotta roll with the bumps to get where you’re going.”
My eyes narrowed. “Says who?”
“Grampa Way Way.”
Of course he had. My great-uncle, Waylon, was many wonderful things.
The kind of generous that meant giving a home to five brothers whose world had been ripped apart in the worst possible way.
The sort of protective that meant putting any townsperson in their place without a second thought for sending one of us Archers a side-eye.
The type of caring that meant making sure all of us had the kind of support we needed as we healed.
Even to this day, his home, Twisted Oak Ranch, was a refuge for most of us.
Orion, Maverick, and I all had homes here.
And Dex was in the process of building his with Brae.
The only holdout was Wylder, who had an apartment over his bar.
But Waylon had truly given us all a place where we could simply be, without fear or prying eyes.
He was also reckless with a side of being a character and a half. And I constantly had to make sure he wasn’t getting my daughter involved in something that could result in broken bones or an arrest record.
“Grampa Way Way also had you combing the woods for Bigfoot tracks for three hours yesterday. Maybe he’s not the best person to be taking advice from.”
Sky grinned, exposing a missing tooth that was just starting to grow back, and made some sort of Star Trek sign. “The truth is out there.”
“You sound like Uncle Mav,” I shot back.
“You mean she sounds like a genius,” a new voice cut in, and I turned to find my youngest brother, Maverick, filling the entryway to the garage attic.
We were just about the same height, hovering around six foot four, but Mav’s form was slightly leaner than mine.
It came from his hours working on wildfires and house fires alike—all that gear weighing him down day after day.
“Uncle Mav!” Skylar shouted from below. “Come play target practice with me and Tink.”
Mav grinned as he joined me at the window, eyeing the target. “Sweet shot, Little Princess. I’ll be down in a minute.”
Sky gave him a salute and headed into another roll that made my spine ache.
Maverick shook his head. “You know, she scares me a little.”
“She should,” I grumbled. Though I was grateful for it in many ways.
My girl could protect herself. Being raised by six men with no feminine influence to speak of meant that Skylar was a commando with a glittery twist. The blend was uniquely her.
But I couldn’t help but fear that I wasn’t giving her something she needed.
It was just one of the many worries that kept me up at night.
What would happen when she got her period or had her first crush?
Would she feel comfortable talking to me about that sort of thing?
Would she resent me if she ever found out why her mother had really dropped her on my doorstep and refused to be a part of either of our lives?
“Earth to Kol … are you having some sort of stroke?”
I snapped back to the here and now at Mav’s voice. “Sorry. Spaced.”
One corner of Mav’s mouth lifted as his dark-hazel eyes—the ones we all shared—sparked with mischief. “I really hope you don’t space while holding power tools.”
I scowled in his direction. “Only with your hand in the path of the saw.”
Maverick shook said hand as if he’d hit it. “Sky must get her ruthlessness from you.”
My gut twisted. That’s what her mother would’ve said.
“It should serve as a good reminder not to mess with me.”
“Who says I’m here to mess with you?” Mav asked, affronted.
“Your general presence at any given time.”
Maverick was always on the lookout for trouble.
It usually came in the form of some adrenaline-inducing sport.
Everything from BASE jumping to free climbing to skydiving.
He was on a mission to live life to its fullest. Some part of me knew it was because he’d come so close to losing it.
But I shoved that thought down. Because if I thought about how close Mav had come to dying, how close all my brothers had, I’d be forced to think about how I’d failed them all.
“I was coming to check on my big bro. Wanted to see what he’s been locking himself away with during the rare moments he’s not working these days,” Maverick challenged.
I couldn’t help but wince. I’d been logging some seriously long hours as of late. Ever since that day—the day I’d found Nova.
The image haunted my waking hours and the few sleeping ones I managed to grab. Her emaciated form chained to a goddamn tree. Her pleading words: “Let me go.” They were etched in my mind forever.
And all of it together was the reason I was working those long hours after Sky went to bed.
The monster who’d tortured Nova might’ve been dispatched to hell where he belonged, but that wasn’t enough for me.
I needed all the answers, to know everyone Travis Moore had hurt.
Killed. Whether there were more victims we had yet to find.
I was just grateful that my role as a Forest Service investigator allowed me to stay on the case.
The truth was that the nearest California State Police office was an hour away, which made it hard to have boots on the ground.
And our Juniper County Sheriff’s Department was in disarray after one of their officers had turned out to be a serial killer and their sheriff had been involved with an illegal drug operation.
I’d become the best—and really, the only—option for continuing the investigation.
I sent Mav a pointed look. “You know why those hours are long.”
“I’m just giving you shit,” he said quickly. “You got anything new?”
He wasn’t quite as invested as I was. No one could be. Not when I was the one who’d found her. I was the one who’d held her hand as she slipped into unconsciousness. The one who’d filled her lungs with air when they stopped working. No one could feel the weight of this case as much as I did.