Chapter 17
Owen parked down the block from a two-story home. “Stay here with Wyatt. Hopefully, Mason will come easily.”
“You can’t leave me tied up like this,” Wyatt complained drunkenly.
“If he keeps it up, stuff a rag in his mouth,” he ordered Elias. “For damn sake, do not untie him.”
“He says it hurts him,” Elias argued. “Can’t you untie it a bit?”
“It’s not tight,” Owen sighed. “He’s drunk, sitting in his underwear with his ass hanging out. Unless you want him arrested, you’ll keep him in the van.”
“Fine,” Elias agreed. “Hurry up.”
Owen shut the door and walked the block. He stood outside and watched Mason sitting in front of the TV. Two red-headed little boys ran around the couch, dangling rubber snakes, trying to catch his attention.
“Damn it, Mason, don’t end up like Dad,” Owen muttered, watching the boys grow more aggressive as his brother ignored them.
Walking up the concrete steps, he rang the doorbell and waited. When no one answered, he rang it again and ran down the stairs to peek into the window, checking to see if Mason moved from the couch.
He saw his brother sitting with his eyes closed as one of the boys tugged on his arm and pointed toward the door.
“Damn it. Why did I have to be the big brother?” Owen said, stomping back up the steps and taking out his lock pick.
As he put the tool away, the door opened, and a redheaded little boy said, “Hi.”
He glanced inside, expecting his brother to show himself. When he didn’t, Owen knelt to the little boys’ level.
“Hi, I’m Owen. Can I speak with your Daddy?”
The boy shook his head.
Tousling the boy’s overgrown hair, he said, “I’m your Uncle Owen. I’m coming in to see your Dad, all right?”
“No…,” the little boy sent him a worried gaze.
“Are you sure. I promise I’m here to help,” he said, pushing the door wider and walking inside the older home. Toys and clothes covered the floor. He heard the TV, but it seemed low, given he saw his brother watching it.
“Food?” Nathan asked.
Glancing at his watch, he frowned. At eight thirty in the evening, the boys should’ve eaten, bathed, and tucked into bed. “No. After I speak with your daddy, I’ll get you something to eat,” he assured him.
Nathan shot off into the living room. The twins babble in their own language.
“Who dat?” Noah asked, pointing at Owen as he entered the living room.
“Hello, Mason,” Owen greeted his brother.
Mason’s eyes widened in surprise before he turned back toward the television. “It’s time you leave the way you came in,” Mason said angrily. “You have no right to come in here.”
“You’re my brother, damn it,” he spat.
“He said a bad wood,” Nathan whispered.
“He a big boy,” Noah explained. “Dey can cuss.”
“Oh,” Nathan said, listening to his brother.
The scene reminded him of the countless times he guided his brothers through childhood.
Walking farther into the room, he took a seat opposite Mason. “I’m here to bring you home. It seems you need some help,” he said quietly. “Elias told me about your wife. I’m sorry, brother.”
Mason narrowed his eyes and turned toward him.
“You don’t know anything. How can you be sorry when you made no effort to get to know any of us?
Bring me home, my ass. Let me guess, you suddenly need something from me.
Did Elias tell you about Dad calling and begging me to help him?
Why didn’t he visit me or call? I’m done with the Wolfe family. ”
“I can’t answer all those questions,” he replied. “Maybe you’re right. I didn’t reach out sooner. As you recall, when I left, my brothers blamed me for my mother’s death. It never occurred to me you ever wanted to see me again.”
Mason’s eyes grew weary. “Yeah, we did. We hurt, Owen. In less than fifteen minutes, our lives changed. They split us up. We needed you, and you took off with no warning. I waited for you to return, thinking you’d realize your mistake, but you didn’t.”
“I’m here, now,” he said quietly. “It seems like I came at a good time. Your children haven’t eaten, and it’s eight thirty at night.
From their appearance, they didn’t get a bath.
When’s the last time they got their hair cut?
You lost someone special, and I understand you’re in pain, but the boys need their dad. ”
“You think you can walk in here and tell me what they need?” Mason sneered, glancing at his watch almost in surprise.
“No. I came to bring you all home. We can help you with the boys. Did you know we have a little brother named Conner? He wants to meet you,” Owen said quietly. “Wyatt’s in the van outside. He needs us, Mason. He’s a drunk like Dad.”
Shaking his head, Mason glanced at Owen. “How the hell did you talk him into coming?”
Nathan said. “Bad woods.”
Mason closed his eyes, seeming in pain over his son’s words.
“Do they know?” Owen asked quietly.
“No. They’re too young,” he said defensively.
“They know something’s wrong. It’s not fair to make them think she went out for milk and never returned,” he said, glancing at his nephews, who sat in the corner, playing with their trucks.
Mason peered at Owen. “I know. It hits too close to home, ya know? Every time I get the strength to say it, I recall you telling us about Mom.”
“Whether you know it or not, we need each other. I’m not lying to you.
They’re doing an autopsy on Dad. Leslie doesn’t think he died from natural causes.
The sheriff doesn’t seem too concerned about it.
It’ll be another week before we can bury him.
I stopped by the lawyer’s office, and he won’t read the will until we’re all present.
Cade has a stick up his butt. Wyatt’s sitting in the back of the van wearing nothing but a pair of underwear with a hole in the a--.
You get the meaning,” he said, nodding toward the boys.
Mason chuckled. “It’s like old times. How did you get him to cooperate? What will you do if Cade doesn’t show?”
“I gave Wyatt a bath in the creek, and he didn’t have any clean clothes. It kind of reminds me of your house,” he said, scanning the floor full of clutter. “Do you have anything he can wear until I get him home?” Owen paused. “I need your help, Mason, even if it’s for one last time.”
Mason sighed and ran his hand through his hair. “Maybe I can come in a couple of days. I don’t have anything packed. I’ll have to call Lucy and cancel her.”
“We have everything we need on the mountain. Grab clothes for the boys, you, and the dumb ass in the van. You can text Lucy on the drive to pick up Dillon. I didn’t drive all this way to listen to Elias tell me about the inner workings of the dark web.
I don’t know what happened to him. He’s turned into a huge ninny. ”
A minute later, they heard Elias shouting. They rose and gazed out the window to see Wyatt running down the street in his holey underwear. The streetlights provided a spotlight for the show as they watched Elias try to catch Wyatt, falling into the bushes.
“Owen, help, he got loose,” Elias yelled as he gazed at Mason’s house.
Taking a deep breath, Owen sighed heavily. “You have thirty minutes to get packed while I handle the two jackasses. We’ll stop and pick up dinner, but give them a snack while you gather everything. I don’t know what I’ll do about Cade.”
They watched as Elias grabbed Wyatt’s hand. Trying to get away, their younger brother possessed enough strength to pull their nerdy one and run him into a light pole.
Rubbing his forehead, Owen started for the door. “Bring a first-aid kit and a bottle of acetaminophen. I’m getting a headache,” he said, slamming the door to get his brothers. It felt like old times.
Thirty minutes later, Owen pulled into Mason’s driveway.
“Do you think you can manage him now?” he asked Elias as his brother held a rag to his face.
“He busted my nose,” Elias complained. “We have to go to the hospital.”
“For what?” he exclaimed. “They’ll stick a piece of gauze up it. Geez, what happened to you? It’s a nosebleed.”
“Damn it, he broke it. The bone’s throbbing,” Elias whined.
“Mason’s bringing a first-aid kit. I’ll getcha patched up when I get everyone settled,” he assured him. “Stop bellyaching about it.”
“Then you sit with him next time. He literally gnawed through the plastic,” he exclaimed. “Something tells me he’s used to running from the police. You didn’t see how he evaded me.”
“I witnessed enough to know you’re both idiots,” he said, slamming the van door and heading to help Mason with the bags. Surprisingly, his brother didn’t put up much of a fight.
“My truck. Gimme,” Noah screamed as Nathan yanked the toy away.
“Mine.”
“No, mine,” Noah wailed. Tears ran down his cheeks as if the world ended.
“Hey, little man,” Owen said, scooping him up in his arms. “Do you want to go on an adventure with your uncles? I’ll let you ride in the special seat I got for you.”
“Me too?” Nathan asked, staring up at him and tugging on his jeans. “Wanna go.”
“Sorry, I don’t let truck stealers ride with me,” he said grimly. “Maybe if you gave him back his toy, I might have another seat with your name on it.”
Nathan thrust the toy near his brother, and Owen heard the kid’s stomach growl. Mason turned the corner of the stairway, his arms loaded down with bags, toys, and books.
“Did you feed them?” he asked angrily
Mason stopped and gazed at his boys guiltily. “I forgot,” he said lamely.
“Let’s get the kids settled,” he said briskly, carrying Noah and his truck to the vehicle.
Once he buckled the boys in and added the luggage to the back, he approached an uneasy Mason, who ran back to lock the door.
“I know we have a ton of shit between us, but I’m only saying this once. Those boys aren’t puppies or guinea pigs. They’re your kids. You may have lost their mother, but they’re your responsibility. Don’t let me find them hungry again, you got it?”