by Jamie Begley
Back in the present, she thought, If I was raped, I would know, right?
Jessie, you don’t even know how you ended up hanging off the side of mountain, she then warned herself.
Conflicted, she shut the doubts down. The possibility of having been raped was too unthinkable.
Just as her eyelids started to sting as if they were on fire, a gentle palm came to rest on the top of her shoulder, barely touching, just letting her know that he was there.
It was Dustin. She would recognize his touch if a thousand hands were on her body.
A star belonged in a sky, homing pigeons knew where their home was, and her heart had always known where it belonged.
10
“Jessie is being moved into a recovery room, Dustin. You can visit her after the nurses get her settled. She’s going to be here for a while.”
Dustin stepped back from the gurney as the nurses wheeled Jessie from the ER.
Dr. Price gave him a discerning look. “How are you doing?”
“I’ve been better. Is she going to remember what happened?”
“It’s too soon to know. She has a bad concussion, and a fracture in her eye socket and maxillary sinus. A specialist is in there with her now. He doesn’t think she’s going to need surgery, but he’s going to get more imaging to make sure.”
As they talked, they left the ER, walking toward the lobby. Both men came to stop at the multitude waiting to find out how Jessie was.
“We want to see our sister.” Asher had to use his shoulders to push his way through the swarming onlookers. Dustin didn’t have to ask why—the man’s hands were handcuffed behind his back.
Jessie’s brother was so furious that he hadn’t been able to see Jessie that he was practically foaming at the mouth.
“Asher and Holt, I will talk to you privately now if you’ll follow me.” The doctor motioned Asher and Holt toward the hallway.
“Tell Greer and Knox to take these handcuffs off me.”
The doctor stared at his angry features. “Perhaps it would be better to leave them on for now.”
Before Asher or Holt could argue further, Dr. Price walked away.
“That’s not going to go well, is it?” Tate said, coming to stand with him and Greer.
“No,” Dustin agreed. They had only had a brief glimpse of their sister as she had been wheeled into the ER, and Asher had gone apeshit. Holt hadn’t lost it to the same extent that Asher had, but Dustin was smart enough to know that he was seething inside.
“Have they identified the other woman?”
“Not yet. The coroner’s working on it.” Greer moved closer to Dustin’s side as more of Jessie’s cousins streamed into the waiting room. “Knox has his work cut out for him. When he finds out who hurt Jessie, he’s gonna have a lynch mob on his hands.”
Dustin lowered his voice so only Greer and Tate could hear him. “They performed a rape kit on her.”
“Knox is fucked. He hasn’t got a chance in hell. There won’t be a deputy on the force that will back him. Me included. The fucker is dead meat as far as I’m concerned.”
“Me, too.” Tate grimaced. “I wouldn’t mind getting a punch in myself.”
Dustin had more for who had done it than a punch or two. He was going to kill the bastard.
“You heading home?” Greer asked.
“No, I thought I’d stay here until Jessie wakes.”
“Why? Knox is going to stand guard at her door until morning when I get here. He’s not even letting the other deputies take shifts.”
“Why not?”
“Until we know who did it, everyone is a suspect. I guess he trusts me.” Greer shrugged.
Dustin didn’t have to ask why again. Greer wouldn’t let anyone through Jessie’s door if his life depended on it.
“If either of you need a break, call me. I can take over for one of you for a spell,” Tate offered.
“Dustin?” Greer cocked an eyebrow at him.
“I plan on being on the other side of the door.”
“Good luck. Asher and Holt won’t let that happen.” Greer scoffed. “Why do you think I had to cuff the crazy loon? He went nuts that you were allowed in and he wasn’t. I’m going home to bed. Call me if you need me.”
“I’ll leave with you, Greer. I don’t want to leave Sutton alone again until who hurt Jessie is found. She and Rachel are at your house. Cash is there until one of us gets there.”
“It’s too late for me to call Logan. I’ll call him in the morning.”
Greer passed him. “You’ll be in the house when I get up in the morning. The only way they’ll let you stay in Jessie’s room is if you’re in the hospital bed next to hers.”
“Since when have you become Jessie’s protector?”
Dustin didn’t dodge Tate’s question or Greer’s eyes. “I don’t know. Does it matter?” he snapped.
“To us, no.” Tate raised his hands in surrender at his angry glare. “But to the Hayeses, it’s gonna matter a hell of a lot.”
“They’ll get over it,” Dustin said stubbornly.
Greer shook his head sadly at him. “They’ll run you over with Jo’s tow truck before they’d let a Porter take up with a Hayes.”
“I’m not talking about marrying the girl,” Dustin protested. “I just want to be there if she needs me.”
“Keep telling yourself that. Just don’t expect me or Tate to believe you.”
Dustin watched as his brothers left the ER.
He couldn’t explain to himself why he didn’t leave. Finding an empty chair in the waiting room, he thought about how Jessie had probably only clung to him because she was alone and hurt. In her right mind, she would ask him to leave herself.
Conflicted about whether he should stay or go, he had almost convinced himself to leave when Asher and Holt came back.
The cousins all gathered around them as Holt told them the same things about Jessie’s condition as he had been told.
Dustin remained sitting as they talked, staring down at his boots. That was when he saw another pair of boots coming toward him. He looked up.
“Doc said you saved Jessie’s life,” Holt began.
Dustin remained silent, expecting to be told he was no longer needed and should go.
“Asher and I want to thank you.”
“But?” Dustin wasn’t fool enough to be lulled into the belief that the Hayeses were suddenly going to flip and be as polite as any normal person would in their situation.
“There’s no but.” Holt stared over his head at the blank wall. Jessie’s brother was a cold, hard man, but the whole town knew the only soft spot he had was Jessie. “There’s a question we want answered. Seems a little suspicious to us.”
“Really?” With sarcasm, Dustin gave the waiting room filled with Hayeses an expanding glance before focusing on Holt. Then, without warning, he sprung to his feet and reached for the brown leather cord that he wore around his neck, pulling it upward. In one smooth motion, he slipped the small, deadly knife from its sheath.
Before either Holt or Asher could react, Dustin jerked a still handcuffed Asher toward him and turned him until he was behind him with the knife pressed to his throat.
“Nuh-uh. One move, Holt, and I’ll slit Asher’s throat and not give a flying fuck that the janitor will have to clean the mess I made.”
Satisfied that Holt and the other Hayeses had moved back, Dustin stared at Holt meaningfully. “Any other day, I’d kill you where you’re standing for suggesting that I would ever hurt Jessie. Did I lay a hand on you or Asher despite fucking knowing that Asher used one of those pups of yours to lure my son from the house? No.” His sarcastic voice rose until the whole room stopped moving, listening to his words.
Dustin didn’t release Asher as the deputies came into the room with Drake and Bliss. Other than giving his cousin a searing look not to interfere, Drake waved the deputies back while signaling for Bliss to leave.
“I went to your house and warned you both tha
t I was coming after you, and I have. Not one person in this town is stupid enough to buy an ounce of the pot you stole. Nor have you been able to produce a crop worth anything since then, have you? Any part-time job either of you has managed to find was cut short, wasn’t it? You dumbasses aren’t any fun to mess with because you make it too fucking easy.
“You want to blame me for any of that shit, go ahead. I’m guilty. The only reason I didn’t shoot you was because I wasn’t going to spend the rest of my life behind bars instead of raising my son. If Logan had been hurt, not even God Himself would have been able to save you. Asher and you were fair game as far as I’m concerned … but not Jessie. Never, ever Jessie.” His voice cracked at the memory at how she’d looked when he found his childhood friend.
“And neither Greer nor Tate would hurt her. You think you’re the only ones who know Jessie is special? I let her watch my kid for me for years. I don’t even trust Cash enough for that, and he’s my fucking brother-in-law. Hell, I would change places with her in a heartbeat if I could.
“You don’t have to worry about who did that to her, because I’m going to find the sorry piece of shit and make him regret every bruise he put on her, and then I’m going to gut him like a fucking fish.”
Dustin removed the knife, shoving Asher away from him. Not caring about the beating he was about to take, he reached in his pocket to take out the key that Greer had given him, tossing it to Holt before putting the knife back in the neck sheath.
“I told you then, and I’m telling you now, we didn’t steal your pot.” Holt narrowed his eyes at him angrily.
“Don’t fucking lie to me when I just saved your sister’s life.”
“I have it. Holt didn’t have anything to do with it,” Asher admitted, shamefaced.
Holt turned toward Asher, backhanding his brother across the mouth. None of the Hayes cousins tried to help Asher when he stumbled backward at the force of the hit.
Regaining his balance, Asher wiped the blood away from his lip.
Reaching out, Holt grabbed Asher by his T-shirt as he shouted down at him, “You fucking lied to me? Why?”
“I was too ashamed to admit the truth, that Diane talked me into it. But when she told me how we would get Dustin away from the house, I didn’t want anything to do with it. I thought she was still trying to figure out a way for us to do it when I heard Logan was missing and everyone was volunteering to help.
“When I got home from town, I was going to go on the four-wheeler and tell Dustin and help look for Logan, but Diane and Luke were there, and they told me if I said anything, they would tell Knox I was in on it. I was still going to tell Dustin if it would help the boy, but then you called and said he had been found.”
Not fighting Holt’s hold, Asher looked toward him. “Dustin, I was so disgusted with myself that I hid the pot and never tried to sell it. Hell, both Diane and Luke were so scared after what you and Greer did to her apartment that they never came back for it. I still can’t believe I let myself be talked into even thinking about it. But I swear, as soon as Logan’s name was mentioned, I was out. She told me we’d have enough to buy her the ring she wanted, that she wouldn’t marry me unless I could afford it. After that, I wouldn’t have married the bitch with a loaded gun pointed at my head.”
Holt jerked Asher around, unlocking the handcuffs, then threw Asher down to his feet. “You want a have at him, I won’t stop you.”
“Me neither,” chorused around the room.
Dustin stared down at Asher. Any desire for vengeance toward him would have to go on the back burner. He was too concerned for Jessie. She was going to have enough to deal with when she woke and found another woman had been killed by the same person who had beaten her, or if she’d been raped or not. The last thing she needed was to hear from one of her relatives that he and Asher had been in a fight.
“Get up, Asher.” Dustin reached his hand out to help him to his feet, but Asher got up on his own, ignoring his hand.
“I’m sorry my brother didn’t man up and tell the sheriff that Diane and Luke were the ones responsible and stole from your family,” Holt said, giving Asher a harsh glance before facing him again. “The Hayeses aren’t thieves. Since you didn’t accept my offer, I’m going to remind him of that when we get home.”
Dustin saw Asher blanch at Holt’s threat.
“I’m also thankful for what you did for Jessie. That being said, I would appreciate it if you would leave. We don’t need you hanging around Jessie. I’ve watched my sister hankering after you since she was a kid, and I’ll be damned if I sit back and watch you sitting around, feeling sorry for her. She’s a Hayes, and she’s got a pride unlike the other whores you take up with. We don’t need your help trying to find out who did it to her. And if anyone is going to kill the bastard, it’s gonna be me.”
Dustin had never wanted to hit a man more than he wanted to hit Holt at that moment. “You’re upset about what happened to Jessie, so I’ll put that into consideration and not yank what you call a brain out of your left nostril and shove it back up the right. If you wanted me to leave, all you had to do was ask.
“You want to know the difference between the Hayeses and the Porters?” Dustin asked rhetorically. “Tate, Greer, and I learned from our pa’s mistakes about how to treat our women, to become better men. You and Asher just keep making the same pecker-headed mistakes. A real man doesn’t have to show who’s got the biggest set of balls in the county to protect his family; you just get it done. Good luck finding out who hurt Jessie without help. Neither you nor Asher could find a way out of a paper bag without help.”
He was done letting the Hayeses badmouth him. He had borne insults since birth, but he was a grown man and the days of having to turn the other cheek were over. Logan was growing older and would have the same insults turned on him if he didn’t put a stop to it. His pa had always been too concerned about what the town thought, that his customers wouldn’t buy his moonshine or pot from him, so he took every insult thrown at him.
Dustin left the hospital with a swish of a sliding door. I will fucking leave Treepoint before raising my child in the same environment, he thought furiously.
As much as he loved the mountains and living near Tate, Greer, Rachel, and their families, he wouldn’t stand one more disparaging comment directed toward him. There were other towns and mountains that wouldn’t have the power to hurt Logan. They could come for visits, making a new home elsewhere.
So disgusted with Holt and Asher, he was planning on loading Greer’s truck with his and Logan’s belongings when he got home. He was almost to his car that one of the deputies had dropped off for him when he realized he couldn’t leave.
The one thing he wouldn’t be able to take with him was deeply rooted in Treepoint. You couldn’t disturb roots when the plant was fragile and weak, or you risked the chance of losing it. You had to give them time to get strong before you could dig it up carefully and plant it in another soil where you wanted them.
He had stupidly cut off Jessie’s friendship when he was young and dumb. He wasn’t willing to risk getting Jessie back before he could repair the damage he had done. If repairing that damage meant he had to back off until Jessie was stronger, he would.
Over his bout of temper, Dustin grimaced to himself as he got in his car, remembering the hell that he, Tate, and Greer had given Cash when he had come courting Rachel.
“Damn, every dog does have his day.”
11
“Why don’t you go sit on the porch and get some sun? I’ll make us some coffee and sit with you.”
Jessie didn’t look away from the television set at Asher’s offer. “No thanks. I’m watching a movie.”
“It’s on the DVR. You can start it back up when you come back inside.”
“Not right now.” Tugging up the afghan that her mother knitted before she had left, Jessie slid farther down on the couch, hoping to get Asher to leave her alone.
“Come on, sis, at least for me. I
t’s not good for you to just sit here day after day, watching television. You need to get out, you’ve been cooped up for two months. You could go back to work for a couple of days a week, build yourself up to going back full-time,” Asher cajoled.
“I don’t want to scare the kids. Besides, I talked to Bliss. She’s buying the daycare.”
Half reclining on the other end of the couch, Holt slammed his feet off the coffee table to the wooden floor. “The swelling on your face is almost gone and the bruises too. It looks worse to you because you’re constantly staring in the mirror looking for them. When did you decide that you don’t want to own the daycare anymore?”
“Yesterday when she called to ask me how I was doing.” Staring at the television so hard, Jessie was surprised it wasn’t melting into a clump of plastic and parts.
“Jess, all you ever wanted was to work at that daycare. Why would you sell it?”
“It doesn’t interest me anymore.”
“Don’t sell it. You put your blood, sweat, and tears into that business. Give it more time. We’ll get through this—”
She coldly turned to face Holt. “I was the one who was beaten and dumped off the side of a mountain. Not you, not Asher. Just me. And I will never get over this.”
“You feel like that now, but in a few months, you might feel differently. But if you sell the daycare, it’s gone for good,” Holt argued, sitting up on the couch.
“Right now is all that I can think about.”
“We need to find another therapist, because the one she has now isn’t helping.”
Jessie pushed the afghan away, sliding her legs off the couch, irritated that Asher was talking about replacing her therapist to Holt and not her. “I don’t need you to make decisions for me. I’ve been on my own since I was eighteen. If you want to help, go to the store for me. I put a list on the refrigerator. And don’t forget the chips. You ate the last of them.”