by B. B. Hamel
I can tell she doesn’t want to be doing this, but I can’t just walk away. I have to see this place for myself.
“Slick already went through it all,” Avery says. “There’s nothing in there. We can just turn around and go home.”
“We can’t do that,” I say. “If you’re worried, stay in the car.”
“I’m not the one I’m worried about,” she says.
“You don’t have to stress. We’re just going to go take a look around. We won’t stay if it looks bad.”
“This coming from the guy that got chased off the Walker property last week.”
I grin at her. “That was necessary.”
“No, it wasn’t.”
“Anyway, this is important. You know I can’t just let it go.”
She sighs and puts her hand over mine. “I know you can’t. That’s why I’m coming with you. I figure you’ll do this eventually with or without me.”
“Glad you’re coming around.” I grin at her and squeeze her hand.
We head a little ways out of town, down some back roads. It takes a little while before I finally find the little dirt path that leads back toward the property. I pull the car over and we get out.
“This way,” I say, heading onto the path. Avery follows quickly behind me.
“How do you know this is right?”
“This is the address Slick gave you, so it has to be.”
The path is slightly overgrown. It doesn’t look like anyone’s used it in a while, which is good. The forest is slowly encroaching on the road back here, and I can’t imagine why someone would build a shed in these woods.
The path winds its way for a few minutes before coming into a small clearing. We stop at the tree line, keeping behind the bushes, crouched down.
The clearing has two structures. The first one looks like it was a cabin at some point, though it’s almost entirely burned down. The other building is an old shed, more like a barn. It’s almost as big as the house was. I can see some scorch marks from where the original fire tried to get at the shed, but other than that, it looks like it’s in remarkable shape.
“What was this?” Avery asks me.
“I don’t know,” I admit. “It’s supposed to belong to the Walkers, right?”
“Someone must have lived here.”
“Not anymore. That place is completely toast.”
“Wonder when it happened?”
“Who knows? Slick didn’t mention a house.”
“No, he didn’t.”
We sit there in silence for ten minutes, just watching the property. There are no cars and nothing moves at all. I can tell that the grass hasn’t been cut for a couple months at least, but it has been cut or else this whole place would be overrun. That means someone does take care of this building, but I can’t see why.
Eventually, I get impatient. “Come on,” I say. “Let’s go look.”
“Wait,” Avery says, but I stride out into the clearing. “Damnit,” I hear her say before she catches up with me.
We walk fast out to the shed. The front door is slightly open and loose, like it’s barely hanging on the hinges.
“Check out around back,” I say to her. “I’m going inside.”
“Fine, just don’t stay in there too long.”
“Yell if you see anything.”
I kiss her quickly before pulling the door open and stepping inside.
There are a few windows along the outside walls of the place, giving the shed a dim, eerie light. As soon as I step inside, I can see why Slick called it a “shed” and not a barn. There’s an old tractor, an old lawn mower, other gardening and lawn care equipment. It’s all cobwebbed and rusting, but clearly someone used to use this as storage for their tools. There’s a workbench along one wall covered in junk, and racks and boxes pressed up against the walls.
More junk is littered on the floor. I spot old paint cans, oil cans, spray paint, garden hoses, some rope, more old rusting tools. I step carefully, trying not to crush anything or make too much noise. I spot a stack of old newspapers, yellowed and mildewed. I nearly step on a rake as I make my way toward the back wall.
The place is packed as I move deeper in. More junk in piles: wooden clothes rack, a broken washing machine, a jar full of pennies. I don’t even know what some of this crap is, but I do spot something interesting on a rack nearby.
It’s an old laptop. I pull it down and open the lid. It looks like one of those old Thinkpad things most workplaces use. I try to power it on, but it doesn’t do anything. I put it back on the rack, along with old Ethernet cables and other random wires.
There’s nothing here. It’s a fucking miracle Slick found that hard drive. I remember he mentioned a trunk of some sort, so I head closer to the back, eyes peeled.
I spot plenty of boxes full of crap, old baby toys, one of those battery-powered Barbie cars, but nothing useful. I don’t even see any names on anything, not even in any of the moldy books I pick up and leaf through.
Finally I reach the back. It’s the darkest here, and I can just barely make out what I’m doing. I take out my phone and turn on the flashlight, and instantly I spot a trunk shoved up against the back wall.
I head over and go to open it, but there’s a padlock on the front. I pause, surprised at that. Nothing else in here is locked up, and the padlock looks surprisingly new. Everything in this place is rusted, moldy, and rotting, except for this lock.
Someone put that there. I yank at the lock but it’s set in solid. I could probably break the trunk open, but that’s a bad idea. I don’t know what’s in it, and who knows if they’re watching this place or not.
As I go to turn away, I hear something. It’s just a low noise, but then I hear it again. I head over toward one of the window, and the noise comes in clearer.
It’s the muffled sound of voices.
“—leave,” she says, and it takes me a second to realize that it’s Avery.
“Too late for that now,” the response comes.
It’s a man’s voice. My heart starts racing as I move toward the entrance as fast as I can without making too much noise.
I don’t know if they realize I’m in here. As I get toward the door, I grab a baseball bat that’s lying on one of the benches. It’s old and wooden but feels solid as I slowly slide out of the slightly ajar door.
I don’t see anyone. I move around to the right of the shed and I hear the voices again, this time more clearly.
“—blame him?” Avery says. “We’re just trying to find out what happened.”
“You shouldn’t be here,” the man’s voice says. “This is private property.”
“Who used to live here?” she asks. “Was it you, Franklin?”
My heart starts racing even faster. That’s fucking Franklin Walker.
“Don’t worry about that,” Franklin says. “It’s not your business.”
“Fine, okay. I can just go.”
“I don’t think so.”
I peer around the corner, and Franklin’s coming toward her.
“No!” Avery shouts, as loud as she can, and I know that’s my cue.
I run around the corner at Franklin. He doesn’t know what hits him as I swing the bat, connecting with his right knee. It buckles and he screams out in pain as he topples over.
“Fuck!” he screams. “What the fuck!”
“Come on,” I say to Avery.
She runs over toward me. As we race back toward the car, something slams into me as we reach the end of shed.
“Shit,” I grunt as I hit the ground hard. The bat falls from my hands.
“Luke!” Avery screams.
I feel fists slam down into me and I react instinctively. I rage and roar, tossing the body off me, rolling over to the side. He keeps jabbing at me and I hit back, slamming my elbow into his nose. I feel the warm spurt of blood hit my clothes.
“Mother fucker,” he grunts and I get a look at his face: Julian Walker.
He headbutts me in th
e eye and I knee him in the gut, pushing him away. I scramble to my feet and he comes at me a second later, but I’m ready for him. I twist aside and punch him in the ribs and stomach before shoving him to the ground.
“Run!” I shout at Avery. I grab her hand and we’re off, sprinting into the trees and away from the shed.
I hear the Walker boys yelling, but they’re not gaining. We break through the trees as fast as we can, finally coming out toward the road. There’s another car parked behind ours as we jump inside.
I start the engine and slam backwards, crunching my car into theirs. I then pull forward and onto the road, speeding off.
“What the hell just happened?” Avery says, breathless.
“I think they fucking followed us.”
“How? Why?”
“They must know.”
She shakes her head, totally bewildered. “How could they?”
“Where’s your brother?”
She turns pale. “I thought he was out.”
“He must be keeping tabs on you somehow. They followed us and wanted to stop us from poking around.”
“Shit,” she says softly.
“What was Franklin saying to you?”
“Nothing.” she answers. “He was angry, said I shouldn’t be there, it was a mistake to be there. He looked pretty distraught, like he didn’t want to be doing it. When he started coming toward me, though…” She trails off, eyes wide.
“What?” I ask gently.
“I think he was going to hurt me.” She looks over at me, and I can tell she means it.
“Shit,” I say softly. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. You didn’t know.”
“I had no clue they’d get… violent.”
“Nobody could have known.”
I reach out and take her hand. “It’s over. I won’t let you be in danger again.”
“More like I’ll try and keep you safe.” She grins at me.
I laugh softly, the adrenaline coursing through my veins, but the fear and the anger is still there. That was too fucking close for comfort. I had no clue the second Walker brother was there, and I got lucky. He underestimated me, gave me a chance to get away. If Franklin or Julian had realized that I was in that shed, things might have gone much worse.
We got fucking lucky. But now I know they’re coming for me, and they’re paying attention. Which means I’m on the right track.
I’m going to nail those fuckers. And I’m going to keep Avery safe, no matter what.
20
Avery
He pulls up down the block from my house and kills the engine. “Be careful,” he says. “Your brother might know something.”
“You think he’ll go to my parents?”
He shakes his head. “I don’t know. I doubt it.”
I stare at him, my heart still pounding from earlier. I thought I was going to get hurt back there, maybe even get killed, but he saved me. The Walker brothers are going to be pissed, but I realize that I don’t care. I’m more and more convinced that they’re the ones who did this to begin with, the ones that got Luke locked up from the start.
I open my door. “Come with me,” I say.
“I can’t,” he answers. “We can’t be seen together.”
“Come with me,” I repeat, stepping out of the car. Without thinking, I cut across a lawn and head back toward the woods.
I hear Luke’s door open and shut, and he hurries to catch up with me. He doesn’t say anything as we walk into the woods together.
My heart’s beating so fast, and has been since the shed. When the brothers appeared, I thought this was all over, but I should have known better. Luke can take care of me and both of those bastards if he has to, and he proved it today.
What really scares me, though, is the thought of losing him. I kept thinking he’d get killed, murdered right there in front of me, and I wouldn’t know what to do. My whole world was in peril, and I was so scared I could barely breathe. But he got us through it.
And I realize how badly I need him. As soon as we get close to the creek, I turn and face him. I have so many things I want to say to him, so many things he needs to know.
But I don’t get any of that out, because he pulls me against him and kisses me.
I kiss him back, and that’s enough. Desire pulses through me, heightened by what just happened. I fumble with his belt, sliding my hand down the front of his jeans to feel his massive cock stiffening in my palm.
I stroke him and he pins me up against a tree, kissing me desperately. I’m so happy to be alive, so happy that I can keep this going with him. His lips linger on my neck and I pull his cock out, stroking him as he reaches down to unzip my jeans.
“You were perfect,” he whispers in my ear. “I’ll never let them get close to you.”
“I know that.” I gasp as his fingers find my pussy, slowly stroking me.
“This is mine. Every inch of you is mine. I can’t let them take what’s mine, not ever, not again.”
He presses his fingers deep inside of me and I gasp. He kisses my lips, his taste on my tongue, and I can’t help but moan as he slowly strokes me again.
I bite his lower lip as he fucks me with his fingers again. I stroke his cock fast, feeling his thick shaft, his soft tip. I need him so badly I can barely breathe.
He slides his hands out and grabs my hips. He turns me around, pushes me against the tree, tugging my jeans down more, exposing my wet pussy to the cold air.
His hands palm my ass. “Fuck, girl,” he whispers in my ear, pinning me against the bark. “You’re trouble, you know that?”
“Yeah,” I gasp as I feel his cock teasing me from behind.
“Lots of fucking trouble.”
I moan as he slowly sinks himself inside of me.
“But you’re worth it,” he grunts, filling me up.
I grip the tree as he rocks himself in and out of my pussy, fucking me from behind. We’re out in public and I know anyone could walk past and see us, but I don’t care.
He grabs my hips and starts to fuck me. He pins my right wrist up above my head and slaps my ass with his left palm. I gasp as the pain stings and makes the pleasure even better, more enticing as it rolls through me. He fucks me hard and deep, fast and rough. We’re not making love right now, we’re fucking, because we’re alive.
And it feels so good. The pleasure is so much sweeter because of what almost happened earlier. I need this so badly, need the pleasure and the pain of him, need to feel alive. He grabs my hair roughly, slamming his cock into me, sensing my need. I reach back and turn my head, putting my palm on his cheek and kissing him as his cock buries itself into my tight pussy.
I move my hips back, sliding along his shaft. I’m soaking wet, and I should be cold, but he’s fucking me so hard, taking me so rough, that I don’t feel anything but him. He pins me back up against the tree, pulling my wrists behind my back, slamming into me from behind.
“Fuck, girl,” he groans. “I need this pussy every day. This perfect round ass. You know I dream about this ass?” He releases my wrists with one hand and slaps my ass, nice and hard. “Nothing fucking sexier than my handprint on your perfect skin.”
I buck back against him, needing more. He fucks me harder, slaps my ass. I push back against him and that only drives him harder into me, making me hurt, making it feel so fucking good I can barely breathe.
I feel my orgasm growing inside of me, ready to come out. He’s fucking me like an animal, taking me fast and rough. It’s what I need, what makes me feel so alive.
“Come on, Luke,” I groan. “Make me come.”
“You want more?” he grunts. “You think you can handle it?”
“Come on, asshole.”
He wraps one hand around my neck, not tight, but enough to know it’s there. He fucks me harder, ripping into me, and I let the moans escape my lips with wild abandon. I throw my head back, feeling him, feeling it all.
I come hard then, orgasming on his fa
t cock. He fills me rough and deep, railing into me as my body explodes with pleasure, twitching out of control and intense. I can barely handle it, but he holds me there, pinning me in place, ramming his cock between my legs.
I hear him grunt and I feel him coming inside of me. I move my hips, sliding back and forth, riding him as he comes, filling me. I gasp and groan, and we finish together, panting, drawing in air. He wraps his arms around me as he slides out and holds me there, tight against him.
We get ourselves together and he leans against the tree, watching me.
“Are you sure you want this?” he asks suddenly.
I look at him, my head cocked to the side. “What do you mean?”
“What I’m doing,” he says, his face serious. “It’s dangerous. I can stop, if you want me to. We can just… be a family.”
That word sends my heart racing all over again. I want nothing more than to be a family with him. I could move out of my parents’ house and live with him and Max. We can be a real couple, have a real life together. We could put all of this behind us and just live, just be happy, just be a family.
But I can’t ask that of him. I know I can’t, not after what he’s been through. Not after how far we’ve come. We’re so close to getting him what he wants, to finding out the truth. And frankly, I worked hard for this as well. I can’t just back down.
“I’m sure,” I say softly, feeling anything but.
He nods once. “This is your chance. Say the word and I’ll back down for you.”
“No,” I say. “I can’t.”
“You can.” He steps toward me, tipping my chin up. He kisses my lips softly. “You can.”
I take a deep breath. Everything in me yearns for this. “No,” I say again.
He looks intensely sad, but I think he understands. “Okay,” he whispers. “We’ll see it through.”
I nod and he pulls me against him. He hugs me close and I don’t know what I’m thinking, what I’m feeling, but I know this is the right thing to do. We can’t back down. We can’t give up.
We can’t let the bastards win.