They made it to the creek, which was fed by the waterfall above and ended in the lake just below them. Jax stopped and began to pace along the stream’s edge, just behind the rocky border someone had added. When a hop in his step became noticeable too, Dec became curious. The kid looked guilty of something.
“What’s wrong, kid? You alright?” With his head slightly tilted to one side in confusion, he was almost afraid to hear the answer.
“Nope!” he said, seeming more agitated, his hop becoming more rigorous.
“No?” Declan knelt down beside him and looked him over, trying to find the problem. “You look fine. What’s wrong, kid?”
Big worried eyes met Dec’s and nearly crushed his heart doing so. “I drank all my water.”
Messing his hand through the boy’s hair, he put his mind at ease. “That’s okay, I have more.”
“No!” he sharply said, now dancing in place and holding himself. “I have to go potty!”
Relieved it was something simple, Declan stood back up, and turned around, “Oh! Then Go!”
Mortified by the instruction he received, Jax quickly fired back, “In my pants?”
“Nooo...just pick a tree and go,” Declan said over his shoulder.
Still confused and worried, Jax was on the verge of an accident that wouldn’t fare well in the cold temperatures or with the kid’s mom. He still didn’t understand what to do.
Dec knelt back down and said, “Jax, just find a bush, or a tree…shoot, a big rock even, and pretend it’s a toilet. Just…pee on it.”
Oddly, permission to pee all over nature brought joy to small children, Jax specifically. With eyes wide in excitement, Jax giggled. “Really?”
To which Declan nodded. “Really!”
Declan gave the little guy his space while he sought out the perfect spot to christen the forest with giggles and laughs…and other things. The loud sigh of relief followed by his fist in the air had Dec laughing. Something else he didn’t do often, laugh. It felt good.
Though they hadn’t been gone long, Jax was little and Declan didn’t want to push it. They had a great time, and Dec was pleased to take Jax on his very first hike, more pleased to be Jax’s new Buddy. The little guy held his hand all the way down the trail and talked a mile a minute the entire walk.
They finally ventured past the tree line to the lake’s beach that ran behind Colton and Meg’s house. His smile faded when off in the distance, he saw Blake’s police SUV parked in front of Lydia’s, lights on. It dawned on him that the other cars scattered around, haphazardly parked, were those of his brothers. Panic raced through him – Lydia.
Needing to move faster than four year old legs could go, Dec swooped the little guy up in one arm and began to run.
“Look! Uncle Blake is at my house!” Jax clapped his hands in excitement while Declan’s heart sunk. “He has da lights on!”
Trying to keep his cool, and of course avoid frightening Jax, he spoke, as if it were no big deal that the cavalry was parked ahead. “Yep. Sure looks like it. Let’s see what everyone is doing there.”
While Jax cheered and giggled, Dick ran alongside them, barking, and Dec did all he could to keep his shit together. He should’ve taken her to work himself. Something happened, and it was his fault for letting her out of his sight. What had he done?
“Lydia?” He yelled, running across the yard, and again when he crashed through the front door. “Lyd…”
He stopped in his tracks when all eyes shifted to him and Lydia herself, seemingly unharmed, charged him.
“Oh, my God! Jax!” She melted into tears, yanking her son from Declan’s arms, sobbing.
In that moment, he realized what he had done. They weren’t there because something happened to Lydia. They were there because Lydia got home and Jax was missing.
He hadn’t called, or left a note, didn’t tell anyone where they were. He didn’t think to. He just broke all of his own damn rules. Any trust he may have gained was gone because of his stupid slip-up.
The fear in her eyes, terror in her expression, crushed him because it mirrored exactly what he felt when running on the beach, thinking she had been harmed. He just couldn’t seem to stop hurting her.
“Lydee, I am so sorry.” Blake and his brothers all stood cross-armed, unimpressed with his weak apology, and totally judging him…as they should. “We were just going on a little hike up the trail. I didn’t… God, I’m sorry. I didn’t think!”
“You’re right – you didn’t think! Declan, you come in here waving red flags, telling everyone to stick together and stay in touch. I thought…” A sob escaped her, and she squeezed Jax a little tighter and closed her eyes, trying to regain her composure.
“I’m sorry. I don’t know what else to say, Lydee. Just, sorry.”
“I peed on a tree!” Jax squirmed from his mother’s arms and jumped up and down in excitement, breaking the tension.
“You…what?” Lydee asked.
“Just like a man, mama! If you have ta go potty in da woods – you just whip it out and go! You don’t get in trouble either!”
The men began to snicker, not only at Jax’s enthusiasm, but also at how much more trouble Dec just got into.
“Is that so? Just…whip it out, huh?” Lydia wasn’t impressed and made sure her side-eye glare at Declan stung.
“Uh huh! My Buddy teached me! You can go in the stream too. Just don’t go in da water, put your hands in da water, or drink da water if you do.” His joyful giggle brought a smile to her face despite how mad she wanted to be in that moment. Jax had a great day, was safe, and had a Buddy.
Declan knew that Jax wasn’t helping him in the least, but as Jax continued to call him his Buddy, he simply didn’t care how much trouble peeing in the woods got him in. The grin he wore was one of pride, and it wasn’t lost on anyone in the room.
“Can I go outside with Dick; I think he wants to go potty in da bushes?”
More snickers followed. It was pretty apparent that there would be plenty of peeing outside going on, and Declan would be to blame, every time.
“Sure, but he better be the only one peeing on anything outside. Little boys go potty in the house.”
That did little to no good as Jax was laughing all the way outside.
“Well,” Liam said, stepping forward, “that’s our cue. Since everything is good here, we should take off.”
He walked over to Lydia for a hug, followed by the rest of the brothers and Blake. She offered each of them a thank you, grateful for their help in her time of need. If anything good could come of their temporary missing persons, it was that help was plentiful and never far away…they just proved that.
“Thanks guys.” Declan said with only side-eyed grunts of disappointment in return. He was on everyone’s shit list.
It was time to face the music. After closing the door after the guys, he turned to face Lydia. He knew he had it coming, rightfully so.
“I’m really sorry, Lyd.”
“I know you are, and since he’s fine, I forgive you. Dec…you have to understand, that little boy is my world, my everything.”
“I know he is. I never meant to scare or worry anyone. When I saw the lights flashing and everyone was here, I thought something happened to you.”
“Dec…”
He held up a hand, asking for a moment to finish what he desperately needed to say. “The thought of anything happening to you and not being here to protect you and Jax, I… I… there aren’t words. So, I can only imagine what you thought when we weren’t here. I’m sorry.”
Tears breeched, as they tended to do, streaming her cheeks. “It was the worst feeling…but anyway, that’s not all. Jax has really, really taken to you.”
“Yeah, it’s mutual. He’s a cool kid.”
“He is, and you’re his Buddy. Declan he’s just a little boy. He can’t handle heart break like an adult. He won’t understand if you’re just gone one day.”
“Lydia, I said I wasn’t leaving
.”
“Today. You aren’t leaving today.”
“Not tomorrow. Not the next day, or the day after that. You’re stuck with me whether you want me or not. And if not, I’ll spend every day making up for everything that hurt you until you do. I’m not here for the weekend. I’m here for good, and I’ll say it over and over until you believe me and let me do forever.”
“Well, I guess we’ll see. Please just keep that in mind though.” She poked his chest, half kidding, and half serious, trying to lighten the mood to avoid any more feelings while still driving her point home. “You hurt my boy, and Tom Boyd will be the least of your problems.”
He watched her leave the room, the sassy sway to her hips giving him a glimpse of something else he’d missed. She hollered for Jax and Dick from the back door, and all he could do was smile – she didn’t say no to forever.
8
Days were passing quickly; nights were long and aching in all of the wrong places. Lydia woke most nights, battling the same nightmare, and Declan came running every single time. Having him near put her at ease so she could sleep in peace. She needed him. She felt safe at night with him nearby, until morning when she would push him away, her guard firmly back in place.
Though only days had passed, they quickly fell into a routine. The past several mornings, Lydia made her way to the kitchen for a cup of coffee that Declan inevitably already had made and poured for her. This morning was different, however. Her coffee wasn’t made or poured, and Declan’s sexy, happy to see you grin was absent from his expression.
He was on the phone, his demeanor tense, posture rigid, and he had the look of fury on his face. He dropped his white knuckled fist to the kitchen counter with a loud thud and said, “Copy that; give me ten,” before hanging up the phone.
“Dec?” she questioned quietly, almost afraid to know what had happened.
“That was Blake.”
“Okay? And?”
“And he was driving through town and noticed the lights on at Outside In.”
“We don’t open for a few hours.”
“Exactly. Someone had been there. He’s there now waiting for us. We need to get down there and see what kind of mess was made.”
“Oh no…” she whispered, trying to overcome the fear attempting to get the better of her. “I’ll call Meg. We can leave Jax with her. I don’t want to scare him.”
“I’ll meet you outside. I’m calling the boys so they can meet us there.”
“You think it was Tom…” A statement, not a question.
“I think it’s odd that an indoor playground in a place like McKenzie Ridge was broken into, so yes…maybe Tom.”
Luke and Wylie beat them there while Liam hacked security cameras from nearby businesses and sent Dace to follow anything odd that popped up.
“It looks like they only tossed the office,” Wylie said, referring to the scattered papers littering the space. “Looking for money, maybe?”
“Maybe, but the safe is intact and untampered with,” Luke surmised. “I assume this is where any money would be stored?”
Lydia nodded, not sure what to say, still consumed by the mess. There wasn’t a single paper left in its rightful place. They were scattered everywhere.
Wylie shook his head in disgust. “Who breaks in and tosses a kiddie playground?”
“No one from town,” Blake responded, clearly pissed off that someone did this right under his nose. “We don’t have problems like this.”
Wylie snorted. “Except for that one time when Everly went missing. Oh and when Beck McCain ran into some trouble. Then there was…”
Blake cut him off. “I get it, O’Reilly.”
Sorting through papers, Lydia plopped in a chair, frustrated. “I can’t tell if anything is missing – I mean my files are everywhere – hard to tell what’s here and what’s gone.”
“I’ll help you get it back in order, Lydia,” Eva said. Eva had been employed by Lydia for several months and stepped up when Jared, her manager, quit showing up. She was kind, great with kids, bonded with Jax right away. Her olive complexion and raven black hair complimented her curves, which seemed to have Wylie’s attention. She was beautiful, young, and Lydia was happy to have her on staff.
“Could it have been Jared?” Lydia asked, thinking about Luke’s statement about it having to do with money.
“Who the hell is Jared?” Declan asked.
“Jared is, or was, my manager. Kind of my right hand around here. He’s the guy who just quit showing up and we haven’t been able to get ahold of.”
“What do we know about this guy?” Luke asked.
Lydia shrugged, as if there wasn’t much to say. “Young, local, good at his job, works hard, plays just as hard. Not really like him to do this, but he is young. Eva stepped up to fill in until we sort him out. Drafted a termination letter – it’s actually in that mess somewhere I’m sure.”
Luke wanted to rule him in or out, fast. “Do you have a file on him?”
Waving her hand around at the mess, she laughed. “Yep! Somewhere.”
“I’ll call Liam. He does all of the background checks, right? He should have something,” Luke said, walking out of the small office to make the call.
“You’re closing for a few days. We’ll put a sign on the door – plumbing or something,” Declan said, becoming more angry by the minute.
“I can’t just close.”
Declan gave his dare you to challenge me on this look. “You can.”
“It’ll be better this way, Lyd’s,” Wylie offered to break the tension. “We need to get a security system in here and one at the house, too, when we’re finished. He’s playing games, so we need to up ours.”
“I can clean this up, Lydee. It’ll be safe if the guys are here,” Eva offered, earning her a wink from Wylie. “Really, I don’t mind.”
Running her hand through her hair, still trying to take it all in, Lydia reasoned through the stress. “Okay. Okay, but only if they’re here, Eva. You know how to reach me?”
“I do. I’ll call the rest of the staff and take care of the notice on the front door.” Eva was happy to help. She was fond of Lydia and Jax and hated to see the stress mounting on her new friend.
“Don’t worry, Lyd’s,” Wylie chimed in with his charming smile and dreamy eyes for Eva. “We’ll watch out for her.”
Already shaken from what had happened at her place of business, Lydia’s emotions were high and she let out a tortured cry when she walked in the front door of her home. Declan pushed her behind him, grabbing his holstered weapon as he did. In the short time they had been gone, someone had been in her home, giving it the same treatment they had given her office.
“You stand right here; you hear me? Don’t move.” She nodded, and Declan moved through the house.
“Dec…” she whispered, frightened to let him out of her sight, paralyzed by the stinging fear.
He turned and signaled for her to stay where she was and not to say a word.
He cleared the rooms, closets, and any other space that someone could hide in, but there was still an odd noise that they couldn’t identify. Following it the best he could, Lydia now right behind him, they found themselves in the kitchen.
There was blood, plenty of it, and a loud scratching noise. Whatever it was, it was coming from the kitchen. But where was it coming from? Another scratch and thud directed Declan to the pantry. With gun aimed and Lydia safely tucked behind him, he tossed the door open and yelled, “Freeze!”
The floor in the kitchen and into the walk-in pantry had been covered in broken plates and glasses. Sitting there, wagging his tail, was Dick, injured, his white coat covered in blood.
“Oh, my god! Dick!” The dog stood at his name, happy to see them, but immediately sat back down. He knew he was surrounded by sharp glass, and given the injuries he appeared to have, he’d learned the hard way. “How did he get here? He was next door with Jax!”
If the dog was here, where was Jax?
The two were inseparable. Declan quickly pulled out his phone, “Logan, Jax? Okay. Yes, he’s here. Break in. No, stay there. Keep Jax there. He can’t see this, and I don’t want you guys walking into a trap.”
Quick to make another call, he paused to tell Lydia that Jax was okay before speaking to whoever was on the other end of the line. “Blake, he was here. Grab the boys. I also need…a vet.”
Within minutes, the place was swarming with police searching the surrounding area looking for their culprit. Wylie had Eva in tow, making good on his promise to keep an eye on her.
“He’s smart – he’s been here before and knows the woods and backroads. He would have come in, just as he disappeared,” Declan reasoned, trying to piece things together.
“Into the endless maze of old Forest Service roads, under a curtain of trees and brush,” Dace added.
“Exactly.”
Luke’s solution was bold and would draw attention, but it fell under his expertise. “We could get a chopper up. Look from the air with better and faster coverage.”
Declan knew this guy, knew how he operated. “Nah. My guess is he was here early, watched us leave and let himself in. He knew we’d head into town and check on his first mess. He’s long gone now.”
“How’d he even get in here?” Lydia said, roaming around the space, taken aback by the mess.
“Broken window – in a bedroom on the north side of the house,” Luke replied, entering the kitchen where they all stood. “That’s why nobody saw him.”
“Nothing but tree’s on that side. Shit,” Wylie said. “We need camera’s up, or he’s coming back.”
Declan’s face reddened as anger consumed him. In a low timbre, he turned to Lydia and said, “Go pack a bag for you and Jax.”
“What? No! I have a mess to deal with…here and at work. I’m not running with my son.”
“I’m getting you two out of here until we have this place better secured. He got too close, Lydia.”
Brother's Keeper V: Wylie (the complete series BOX SET): NEW RELEASE + Series Box SET included! Page 24