Chapter Thirteen
Marti
Unsurprisingly, we didn’t talk about it. Any of it. Not the fact that there hadn’t been a sighting of my brother in a long time, and I really should probably move back into my own apartment.
Not the fact that I didn’t really know what we were, even though I slept in his bed every single night, and he held me all the time.
Not the fact that, even though we’d been close several times, we still hadn’t kissed, and I was pretty sure everyone in town thought we were a couple.
There was a part of me that was starting to wonder if it was all for show. Maybe he wanted everyone to think we were a couple rather than be seen as my bodyguard. Was it all part of the plan to keep me safe or possibly draw out my brother?
I hated to admit it, but Rendi was right. We really needed to sit down and talk about everything. Not knowing anything about anything was really messing with me.
He took me to work and took me home. On weekends we went to the store and shopped, and occasionally some of his work friends would stop by, and then on Sundays I’d go to his church, which had turned out to be the big one in the middle of town that pretty much everyone else in the community went to.
It was no wonder the entire town thought we were a couple. I just wished I knew what we were.
The door to the bathroom opened as I was making my way to the back of the diner, and Mrs. Coston smiled as she tossed her paper towels in the trash, looking perky and sweet as always. “Hey, did your brother come talk to you?”
“What?” I whispered, the words taking a moment to sink in. The smile and probably the color dropped from my face, the sudden feeling of fight or flight making my knees weak.
“Whoa. Are you okay?” She moved toward me quickly, gripping me under the arm on one side as my best friend slid up next to me to grip the other.
“You said her brother?” Rendi asked quickly, the seriousness not usually present in her voice, obviously alerting Mrs. Coston.
“Yeah. He was out in the parking lot. He asked if she was working today.”
I needed... I needed.
They’d managed to get me to the end of the hallway, and I desperately searched the dining area for Sutton, but he wasn’t there.
He was probably out in his car today. He did that sometimes when he had other things he needed to handle for his company.
I’d worried I was keeping him from something important sometimes, but he’d assured me that he could do almost everything from the diner or home.
“What was he doing?” I finally asked, just as Langston glanced up at the three of us, immediately springing to his feet and making his way over.
“He was on the bench by the trees, smoking. I think your boyfriend went out there to talk to him.” Mrs. Coston’s voice rose as she said that last part, probably starting to realize that my brother’s presence wasn’t a welcome one.
“What?” I ripped away from them, stumbling toward the window, but Langston gripped the back of my shirt as I tried to slip by, holding me in place.
“He saw us through the window. He was heading out there while I was heading in.” Mrs. Coston sounded frail all of a sudden, and one look at her face told me she knew the situation was bad.
I tried to pull away from Langston, desperate to get to the window or even the door. Sutton had gone to confront Jackson. While I had no doubt Sutton could take him, I also knew that my brother was mean and snakey.
“Marti,” Langston said sternly, his voice harsher than I’d ever heard it, and I suddenly understood why Rendi had been terrified of him the first time she’d seen him. Sometimes it was easy to forget how massive he was. “Stay here.”
My paralysis only lasted a moment, and in probably the most coordinated move I’d ever made, I slipped right out of the shirt he was hanging on to, absently glad I always wore a tank top under my Livy’s Diner tee.
I raced toward the door with Rendi not far behind me, and I had no doubt when she jerked the empty barstool down as she ran by it, she was being the best friend a girl could ever have and buying us time so we could be gone before Langston could snag us.
There were only six cars in the parking lot, and Sutton wasn’t in any of them. The bench at the edge of the trees where Mrs. Coston had seen and talked to Jackson was empty as well, but I had no doubt which direction I needed to be looking, so I took off for the path that led to the creek.
During the summer, several kids had used it to go down to the creek when it got really hot. It was a popular place for teens, but this time of year it was deserted. That was where Jackson would go, especially if he thought he needed to lose someone in the woods.
I didn’t even think about the danger I might be in as I ran down the path, barely even aware of the thorns scratching at my bare arms. I didn’t even notice the chilled temperature of the October air. That cold front had come through, so our highs were only dancing around the upper fifties.
None of it mattered. If my brother appeared right then, I’d plow through him. The only thing that mattered at that moment was finding Sutton and making sure he was okay.
I pushed between two thick cedars, not bothering to duck like everyone else did when they went down there, and just on the other side, I finally saw him. Sutton was struggling to get up from a sitting position on the ground, his hand pressed against his side in a way that made my stomach drop.
“Sutton!”
His eyes widened as he saw me, and he immediately started looking around us as I dropped to a squat next to him. “What are you doing out here?”
Langston and Rendi plowed through the same trees I had, Rendi doing her best to slow Langston, holding on to his shirt much like he had mine, but she was using two hands and even pulling what looked like with all her might, he was still dragging her like she weighed nothing.
I wasn’t sure if his shirt was ever going to be the same, though.
I ignored Sutton’s question as I looked down at where his hand was still pressed to his side, my heart dropping at the darkened spot on his near black shirt. “He’s bleeding!”
“It’s not that big a deal,” he grunted as he worked to stand again, and even though I wasn’t sure if he should, I didn’t think he was supposed to be working so hard either, so I helped, just as Langston got to us, and lifted on the other side.
Langston frowned down at the spot on Sutton’s side. “What happened?”
“He snuck up behind me and stabbed me.”
“What?” I squeaked, my chest squeezing as a knot formed in my throat.
“Not deep,” he said quickly. “I heard him at the last second and moved.”
Langston gripped the hem of Sutton’s shirt, forcing him to move his hand while he inspected the wound. “It needs stitching.”
He dropped the shirt, and Sutton immediately pressed his hand back against it. We both cringed.
Langston could probably have carried Sutton back down the path by himself, but once Sutton was on his feet, he was perfectly capable of standing by himself.
I hadn’t really seen the wound that well when Langston had checked it, but he only seemed to flinch when he had to duck under something, so as freaked as I was, I was consoling myself with that knowledge.
By the time we made it back to the diner parking lot, Sutton looked pale, and it was clear he was hurting, but thankfully, Wellston and another guy I’d only met briefly were there, talking to a frantic Mrs. Coston. They all turned and froze as we walked up.
“Sut! What happened?” Wellston demanded, already moving to the back door of his SUV and opening it. “We just pulled in, and Mrs. Coston came running out talking about someone being on fire.”
“What? No, I didn’t. I said they all went looking for the man that was smoking.”
“Who called you?” Sutton asked, as he gingerly climbed in the back seat.
“Nobody. We were just coming to grab some food, and tell you that Bill Green came back with some information, but Karnee intercepted him, and they left together.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Langston growled, letting his head fall back on his shoulders. “Why was she there in the first place? You’re supposed to run her off.”
Wellston looked guilty but cleared his face quickly when Langston straightened back up, looking at him.
“Listen, if I tried to run her off every time she showed up, looking for information, that is all I’d do. I just don’t let her come in.”
“You don’t, but Ripley does,” the other guy, whose name I was pretty sure was Pace said matter of factly.
“What?” Wellston and Langston snapped in unison.
Pace shrugged, looking back and forth between the two men in surprise. “You know how she is.”
Langston looked dark as he pinned Pace with a terrifying glare. His voice was a deep growl as he asked, “How is she?”
“Who is Karnee?” Rendi demanded, her face completely indignant as she slapped her hands on her hips and faced Langston.
He frowned at my friend, but ignored her question, as he let his glower move back over to Pace, waiting.
The other man waved his hands quickly out in front of him, shaking his head. “Oh no. Don’t look at me like that. I just meant your sister is persistent and sneaky and charming.”
Wellston snorted, giving Langston a smirk. “Definitely doesn’t seem to run in the family.”
“You have a sister?” Rendi’s voice was high with disbelief. “I don’t know why I thought you spawned directly from hell. It’s weird to think of you with a family.”
Wellston and Pace chuckled. Sutton grunted then groaned, but Langston just gave her a dry look. “I don’t have a family. The rest of them are all dead.”
Rendi didn’t even flinch, but I sure did. Sometimes I envied my friend’s ability to bluff. She might not show it, but I could tell by the color in her cheeks that she felt bad about saying that.
“Oh. I’m telling Mom you said that,” A new voice said, and we all turned to find a short, curvy brunette with giant, innocent eyes and a huge smile, standing next to an older man who looked vaguely familiar.
“She switched to a wooden broomstick, so she’d stop bending them over your big, stupid head. ”
“Holy crap,” Rendi whispered, her eyes wide as she looked back and forth between Langston and the girl who was almost definitely his sister, Karnee. “This is weird.”
It was. Karnee somehow looked just like him but feminine and tiny, and she was smiling from ear to ear.
Rendi gasped, turning to Langston. “And also, your family isn’t dead?”
He shrugged, face not changing at all. “Guess not.”