by Tate James
I turned, craning my neck to look over the back of the seat. I couldn’t see well, so as the vehicle bumped along in the dark, I unbuckled my seatbelt and shifted to my knees. Reaching into the darkness, I grabbed what I thought was a black blanket, but when I touched it realized it was a tarp made of plastic fiber materials—and pulled it back.
“They’re back here,” I confirmed, twisting back in my seat and buckling up once more.
“Good,” Jay responded. I watched the back of his head as we rode in silence. He was so unlike himself right now. It was almost scary. He was acting direct and serious and I realized just how dangerous this was. Poachers were dangerous. They might kill Preston to get what they wanted, and I knew Preston—from what I knew of Preston both before and now—would rather die than let someone hurt one of his animals.
I rested my head against the seat and prayed that we’d find him before anything bad happened.
13
A lone abandoned Jeep sat in the dirt. Jay pulled up alongside it. “It’s Preston’s,” I said, worry creeping into each word. I turned to the two men in the front as they glanced at each other. Jay parked and they both got out.
Wren leaned back inside as I unbuckled my seatbelt. “Do you have your phone?” he asked. I nodded, pulling it out and holding it up. “Trade with me.” He took it from me and handed his own phone over.
“Why?” I asked, confused as I held his phone in my lap.
“The rangers have all of our numbers but not yours. If they call my phone, tell them the situation and have them meet us up here.”
I nodded. “What about you guys? Are you going to be okay?”
Jay rounded the back of the vehicle and I felt the back jerk as he opened it and reached inside. I turned my head, watching him as he slung one shotgun over his shoulder and lifted the other.
“Don’t worry about us, baby,” Jay said with a small grin that was reminiscent of the man I had come to know him as. “Everything is going to be okay. You just stay here and keep your head low. If you see anyone you don’t know, call us. You know your own number, call it. Wren and I will be fine.”
“Just find him,” I begged. I needed Preston to not be stupid. I needed him to come back. We couldn’t figure all the shit out that we needed to if he was dead.
Jay nodded and leaned into the back, pressing a quick kiss against the corner of my mouth. When I turned back as he shut the back latch, Wren reached forward and brushed the tips of his fingers down my cheek. “Don’t worry, sweetheart. We’ll be back soon.”
I sat in the backseat of the car, in the quiet, clutching Wren’s phone between my palms. Sweat beaded on the back of my neck and slid down my spine. I reached back, gathering the layers of my hair in one fist and twisted it up into a bun, tying the messy, unbrushed strands together and tucking them into each other to keep them from falling out. Cool air slid over my newly revealed skin, coming in from the open windows, as I bowed my head.
I waited for what felt like forever. All the thoughts that I had imprisoned in the back of my mind were freed and they rushed to the forefront, scrambling over one another like hungry children wanting my attention.
What if Preston was out there? What if he was hurt? What if the past six years really had been a misunderstanding?
I dropped Wren’s phone in my lap and clamped my hands over my ears, hating that last thought. It was stupid. A misunderstanding? That was too easy—too simple. I mean, I hadn’t been a fucking fairytale princess waiting at the top of some great tower for him for the last six years. I’d had sex. I’d gone on dates. But I also hadn’t forgotten about him. Was it possible that he hadn’t forgotten about me too?
But then, why hadn’t he called? Why hadn’t he tried? Maybe he had been just as scared as I was. We were kids. We were on the brink of adulthood, neither of us quite sure where we were going. I knew we both had our own dreams. I knew he wanted to be a veterinarian. I wanted to be a photojournalist.
My hands dropped down to my lap when I heard something just outside of the car. Something—dread, perhaps, or a nervous sensation—told me to keep my head low. To stay out of sight. I slid down to the floorboards behind the driver’s seat and snatched the phone to my chest. It could be the guys, I realized, but the footsteps sounded off. I couldn’t figure out what it was until something thumped against the ground.
The footsteps had sounded off because of the sound of panting and a heavy object being dragged through the dirt. “Shit, he brought reinforcements,” an unfamiliar male voice said. My eyes went wide and as discreetly as possible, I opened the homepage of the phone and started dialing my own number.
I was halfway through when someone else replied, “It doesn’t matter. Just put him in the trunk and we’ll take the Jeep somewhere and dump it. Hank’ll pick us up when we text him our location.”
I couldn’t say what gave me the fool idea to steal a peek, but I had to know. Wrapping my fingers around the top of the open back window, I tilted my head back and glanced out. Slapping a hand over my mouth to keep from gasping, I whirled around and finished dialing my number as fast as my fingers could move. I put the phone to my ear, my limbs trembling. The image of Preston on the ground, bloodied and bruised wouldn’t escape, though. It wouldn’t be drowned out.
“Jen?” Wren’s deep voice vibrated through the speaker and I realized my mistake. He was too loud. The phone’s volume would be heard from outside. “What is it?” he continued to talk and I was suspended, frozen as a hand reached inside the open window above my head and grabbed me by the hair.
“Look what I found!” the first unfamiliar man called out. I screamed as agony raced through my scalp, he yanked on my hair, pulling my bun from its confinement and jerked out several strands as well as he dragged me out through the window. I kicked and landed hard on the ground, the air whooshing from my chest as pain radiated up my elbow and through my knee.
Horror sank into my bones as my hair was released and I tried to scramble back up against the vehicle. “Found a little mouse, I see,” the other man said, both coming to stand directly over me. My eyes flashed to where Preston lay, prone and unconscious on the ground.
“You reckon she’s a friend of the vet?” the first one asked. My gaze jerked to him and met his dark stare. A shadow of several day’s worth of beard growth made some of his features almost impossible to discern, but I could see the edges of a scar at the base of his neck as it disappeared into the swath of hair on his face.
“Probably,” the second man said as he squatted down next to me. I jerked my gaze from his friend and met his eyes head on. I wished I hadn’t. His eyes roamed down my form with interest. “She sure is a pretty little prize.”
Adrenaline spiked in my veins and I yanked myself away when he tried to reach for me. I slapped his hand away and leaped to my feet. I didn’t get more than a few steps away before he had a handful of my hair again and slammed me, face first into the back of the car. I squeaked out a protest as more pain echoed up my ribs. Breathing felt difficult. When he leaned in, there was hot, vile breath against my cheek as he spoke. I gagged.
“Now, now, little bird,” he said, “where do you think you’re going? Don’t you wanna be nice? If you’re nice to us, we’ll be nice to you.”
“We can’t keep her, Rog,” the other man said. I felt the man at my back lean away and fresh air rushed into my lungs with relief.
“Well, we can’t leave her here,” he argued.
What the hell was I going to do? Fear stretched its dark limbs through me. I couldn’t just wait around for them to decide to kill me or Preston or both of us. Wren had to know something was wrong when I didn’t answer him. He had to have heard me scream. He and Jay would be on their way back. I glanced over my shoulder. The two poachers looked dirty and dangerous, but they were no bigger than Jay or Wren. The only reason they had probably gotten the drop on Preston was because he had been outnumbered. They had another friend out there—Hank, they’d said. I wondered if he knew about Pr
eston or me. I needed to do something, but what…
I just needed to stall until Wren and Jay got here. Maybe I could scare them away. As much as I wanted them in jail, I wanted Preston and me to survive more. Across from me, against the Jeep, Preston’s eyelids flickered. He was waking up. I needed to do something fast.
“The rangers know!” I blurted out. Both men turned and looked at me, the one with the scar scowling in irritation.
“Come again, little bird?” the other one said.
I gulped in a big breath as Preston’s eyes opened; murkiness swirled in their depths. But as he slowly regained consciousness and became cognizant of what was happening around him, his eyes locked on me in true horror.
“The rangers know you’re out here trying to poach the animals,” I spit out. “If you leave now, you won’t get caught.”
“Ahh, but you’ve seen our faces pretty bird. We can’t very well leave you, can we?” the man named Rog said.
Fear shook my limbs as I backed up against the vehicle, pressing my skull against the metal frame as he leaned in close. “I w-won’t tell anyone,” I lied.
“We can’t trust her,” the scarred man snapped. “Tie her up and put her in the Jeep. We’ll just put her with the vet.”
“They’ll notice the vet’s missing, Bo,” Rog replied. “Maybe we should just take her and leave.”
I shook my head. The scarred man—Bo—chuckled. It was a haunting, unkind sound. “Doesn’t look like she wants to go with you,” he taunted.
Rog turned back to me and met my eyes. He grinned, revealing twisted, but fairly clean teeth. “I don’t think she’ll mind so much when I get her in bed.”
I wanted to throw up.
“Well, whatever we’re going to do, we need to do it fast,” Bo growled. “It’s pretty obvious she came with friends. I doubt she’d be sitting alone in the car if she hadn’t. Plus,” he reached inside the vehicle I had been hiding in and grabbed Wren’s phone, “she was trying to call for help.” He dropped the phone into the dirt before me and with a sickening crunch stomped on it, ending all future use for the mangled mess that was revealed when he pulled back.
I met Preston’s gaze and through bleary, swollen black eyes he eyed me back before nodding to the side. I looked over and nearly gasped. Jay crawled on his entire front, not making a sound with the shotgun in one hand. My gaze jerked away so as not to attract attention to him, but I couldn’t deny the sharp racing in my chest; the gallop of my heart was so loud I wondered if everyone else could hear it.
“Just grab her and let’s go,” Bo said as Rog reached for me. I tried to pull out of his grasp, but his fingers sank into my forearm, holding me tight—gripping me so hard that I was sure I was going to have bruises.
“Come on, pretty lit—what the fuck!” Rog yelled as a shot popped off and his arm jerked back, releasing me. Eyes wide, I watched as blood poured from the open wound on his shoulder. He gripped it and leveled his gaze at Wren as Wren stepped around from behind the Jeep. He leveled the handgun in his grip on the man standing at my side. His shotgun dangled from its strap on his back.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Wren warned Bo without taking his eyes away from Rog. Bo froze, his hand hovering just above his own gun at his side. I looked to the ground, where I had last seen Jay, but he was gone.
“Put the gun down and step away.” I whirled around. Jay stood just behind Bo, the barrel of his own shotgun leveled on the back of Bo’s neck. Bo cursed a blue streak, but he did as Jay ordered, slipping his gun out and putting it gently on the ground.
“I suggest you do the same,” Wren said to Rog.
It was like time slowed. A gunshot went off. A shout escaped masculine lips. I grunted in surprise as Rog turned and shoved me before he took off running. On the ground, I turned and watched as Jay and Bo struggled, the barrel of the shotgun raised up in the sky, going off again. The sound cut through the night air, echoing in my eardrums, making my whole world tilt. Wren burst forward, taking off after Rog as he tried to make his escape.
Preston thrust up from the ground and tackled Bo. The shotgun clattered to the ground and Bo grunted under the combined weight of Jay and Preston, his head slamming against one of the Jeep’s tires. I flinched as he groaned low and slumped over. Panting hard, Preston removed himself from the man and as Jay dragged Bo into a sitting position, Preston turned to me and took me in.
“Jen,” he said, falling on his knees at my side. I reached up and wiped away a trickle of blood coming from somewhere in his dark, matted hairline. My fingers quivered as Preston took my hand and held it to his cheek, closing his eyes as we met—skin to skin. Then, when his eyes opened again, he smiled at me. “I thought I told you to stay behind.”
“You told me to stay with Jay and Wren,” I replied in a shaky voice.
“I’m glad you didn’t listen.” Then his mouth was on mine. I didn’t even mind the vague metallic taste of blood on my tongue as I kissed him back. Tears cut a pathway of rivers down my cheeks. Another body thudded next to us and we broke apart looking up.
Wren looked down at us. “Well, now that this is over…” he started, his eyes glittering dangerously as he reached down for me. I let Wren pull me up and away from Preston’s warm body. I let him sink his hands into my dusty hair, dried and covered in dirt. I let him kiss me even more senseless. He pulled away and pressed his forehead to mine, both of us breathing heavy. “I’m so glad you’re safe,” he whispered.
“I knew you’d come.”
“You’re damn right,” he said before a shadow came alongside us. Wren passed me to Jay who did the same, kissing me and holding me close, cuddling his cheek against mine and whispering soothing words in my ear. I had never felt so loved. However, though the dangerous part seemed to be over, the consequences were far from it.
“We have to call the rangers,” Preston said with a groan and a hand on his side.
“You need to see a doctor,” I told him.
He shook his head. “I’m fine, but there’s another member of their little ragtag team out there.”
“You’re not,” I insisted, “and his name is Hank. I overheard them talking about him coming back to pick them up.”
Preston looked down at the two unconscious men at our feet. “That’s not very likely,” he said. “They were probably supposed to message him to let him know it was safe.”
“The rangers will take care of it, baby,” Jay said, smoothing a wide palm down my hair.
I sighed, sinking into his side. I was more than ready to let the rangers deal with it. I snuggled close and looked up at him with pleading eyes. “Can we go home now?” I don’t know when I started thinking of the clinic and house as home, but I had. I wanted nothing more than to get back and snuggle between warm bodies and let this whole thing drift behind me.
“Yeah, baby, we can go home.” Jay pressed a kiss to my forehead as Wren and Preston started moving the unconscious bodies of the poachers into the back of the Jeep. On the horizon, dawn began to spread her long fingers of gold, burnt orange, and fiery red across the sky.
14
I finished the last of my latest article and attached the images of Preston and the guys and the animals to my email before sending it off. A familiar golden-haired tease poked his head into my bedroom.
“You done, baby?” Jay asked.
I turned back and smiled at him. “Yeah, I just finished.” Another head popped in behind him and shoved him back into the hall.
“Alright, I need to talk to her, you go wait outside for your turn,” Preston said.
I sighed but smiled at him nonetheless. Several days had done well for the bruises on his face; he looked like a new man. Though there were still shadows under his eyes, he moved a lot better than he had when we first brought him back. I recalled having to practically sit on him while Wren called in a doctor. Now, I watched as he closed the door and moved towards me. He neither limped nor winced much, but I still kept my eyes on him.
“So,” he started, taking a seat on the bed next to me, “I thought we should talk.”
I nodded. “I think you’re right.” I sucked in a breath, ready to tell him how I felt, ready to rip the bandaid off.
“I want to give us a try again, Jen,” he said before I could say anything.
My mouth hung open and my brain turned to mush as I scrambled to form a coherent reply. “I-I,” I stuttered. I closed my mouth and then my eyes, counting down from ten several times until my heartbeat was under control once more. Only then, did I re-open my eyes and meet his gaze. “If I’m being honest,” I said, “I don’t think I ever really got over you six years ago.”
Preston took my hand. “I didn’t mean to make you think I had left, but I guess...I mean, some part of me was unsure about us. I didn’t know if you wanted more or if it was just a spur of the moment thing.”
I shook my head. “It wasn’t for me.” I bit my lip. “But...things have changed now.”
He sighed, lowering my hands to my lap once more. “Jay and Wren.”
I nodded.
“I know that I fucked this up between us—”
“It wasn’t just you,” I said. I had come to realize my own misgivings. My own faults. I had been a full participant in the miscommunication between the two of us. I hadn’t called or even tried to find the truth. I had just made assumptions.
“And I know that things are complicated now. I know that you’re seeing Wren and Jay,” he continued. “I talked with them.”
I blinked. “You did?” I asked. “About me?”
He nodded. “Jen,” he sucked in a sharp breath, “we want you to stay here with us. In South Africa. I don’t know when we’ll go home to America again, but until then, would you consider...staying? And being...with us?”
“All of you?” I clarified, my mind reeling.
“All of us,” he said.
Never in my wildest dreams had I ever considered something like this happening, but I knew my answer without having to think. There was no way I wanted to give him up. Not him or Wren or Jay. I was too happy here. I loved the new area. The sunrises and sunsets. The animals. The adventure. Tears filled my eyes.