She paled and he felt a small tremor run through her. “Miss Kay is the only mother I’ve known; she won’t hurt me.”
Jared leaned in close, holding her gaze. “Then why are you trembling?”
Sparrow ripped away from him and paced the confines of the small kitchen/living room area. “You are asking me to walk away from my life.” But the words were delivered in a shaking voice, as if she already realized that the life she was talking about was no kind of life.
“Yes. I am. And I'm asking you to start a new one with me.” Jared stopped breathing the moment the words were out of his mouth. He’d never come this close to declaring any sort of intentions toward a woman, but Sparrow was as different from the other women he knew as lava was from ice. Something about her drew him in, made him lose control and like it. He wanted her.
She stopped pacing. What was she thinking? He really didn’t want to have to drag her out of here, though he would if she continued to resist. Still, for some reason, he wanted her to want to come with him.
“What about my family?” Her words were whisper thin and Jared found himself drawn to her again.
“Kaitlyn Crowe is no one’s family. She might have given you the means to support yourself, but what else has she done? Did she put you to bed at night? Cook your meals? Did she take care of you when you were hurt?” From the look on her face, Jared already knew the answer.
“I know what she did to you and your brother wasn’t right, but she gave me a home. Me, a whore’s kid. She gave me a chance when no one else cared.”
“She took you in because she owed your momma. Do you really think she won’t punish you for this?” He wanted to shake some sense into her. Get the stubbornness out of the girl.
“I don't know.” But the way she said it told him she did know.
“I think we both know it won’t be pretty. I won’t leave you behind, Sparrow. Not again.”
Sparrow didn’t answer. Instead she studied him with those huge golden eyes, as if searching for something. It seemed like an hour before she answered. “Give me five minutes. You better get your boots out of the bedroom.”
Sparrow disappeared into a different bedroom this time. Jared retrieved his boots and do rag from the bedroom floor, and quickly put them on. By the time he sat down on the living room couch to wait, Sparrow marched into the room, knee-high snake boots strapped up her legs. A small bag, one that couldn't hold more than a couple sets of clothes, was slung over her back.
“I mean it Sparrow, we're never coming back here. You need to take anything that you want. I can even carry something.” He had the feeling he would be carrying his brother out of these woods, but a bag of clothes wouldn’t add much to his load.
“Got everything I need right here, sugar. I travel light.” Her tone was so matter of fact, he had no doubt she meant it. Her lifetime of belongings amounted to less than what most women would bring for an overnight stay at a hotel.
Sparrow carried more weapons than she did clothes.
Heck, she’d only been back in his life for a day, and she was already challenging his understanding of women.
“I gotta make a quick stop on the way out. Squirrel’s cabin isn’t too far out of the way.”
Jared grabbed her arm. “We don't have time. Plus, I can't risk him alerting anybody.”
Sparrow yanked her arm free and lifted her chin. “I ain't leaving without telling him goodbye. Out of this whole place, he's the only one who ever really cared about me. He was willing to kill you and hide you from Miss Kay just for me. Believe me, he won't tell a soul.”
“I'm putting my foot down. My answer is no.” Frustration welled inside him. Grown men followed his commands. This little scrap of a girl would have to do the same.
“Well, good luck finding your brother when you don't know shit about this place.” Sparrow crossed her arms over her chest, the movement pushing her full breasts up, mounding over the top of the low-cut shirt.
“Shit. Fine. Lead the way. But I'm telling you right now, if I even suspect Squirrel’s going to alert anyone, I'll silence him.” Damn stubborn woman.
“Good thing you won't have to worry about that. Now follow me. Keep quiet and keep low.” He followed Sparrow to the back door. Rather than just swing it open, she cracked it, listened for a spell, and peeked out. Then, apparently satisfied that no one was watching, she opened and stepped down.
Jared's breaths puffed in the cold air. The night would provide plenty of camouflage for their movements; the moons spare light filtered through the trees in a kaleidoscope of dark and light. Jared quietly closed the door and turned just in time to see Sparrow all but disappear into the woods.
She was silent, and would’ve been completely invisible if not for her white shirt. Jared felt a small twinge of guilt for asking her to leave her home. She moved like she belonged here, like she was part of these woods.
The pine trees grew thick and their needles carpeted the ground, masking the sound of their footsteps. Jared stayed close to Sparrow, but he continued to cover their exit. The cabins behind them were dark and silent, most of their inhabitants passed out drunk or high. Still, Jared didn’t relax even after the camp disappeared from sight. His instincts were pulling tight inside him, warning him to stay alert.
A few minutes later, they arrived at what Sparrow had referred to as Squirrel’s cabin. To Jared, it looked a sight more like a shack barely held up by rotting wood. She held up her hand for them to stop just inside the tree line. “Keep watch out here. I don't want you to scare him.”
Jared grabbed her arm. “Don’t be long.”
Sparrow nodded and he let her go, watching her disappear into the shack before he turned to scan the surrounding area. He tried to imagine what it must've been like growing up here in poverty, forced to work in the mines or deal drugs to survive.
For the first time Jared counted himself lucky to have come back. He’d escaped once, and he would do it again. Only this time he had Sparrow, and for some reason, she made him think about the future instead of the past.
Chapter 10
Squirrel slept on a narrow cot against the far wall of his cabin. He probably wouldn't know how to sleep on a real bed even if it was all he had. She took the moment to study him. Memorize his features. The long scraggly gray beard. The deep weathered lines carved into his tanned face. His old gnarled hands that had always been gentle with her.
Her heart ached, but she knew deep in her soul that her time on the mountain was over. Just like she knew that Squirrel was an old man, set in his ways, and would never survive anywhere but at his home. She shook him, but he only snorted and then resumed snoring. Sparrow shook him harder until he finally cracked open one eye. “You done lost your mind, girl?”
His gravelly voice made Sparrow smile through the tears pricking her eyes. “No, Squirrel. I got to talk to you, though. I need you to wake up.”
She half expected him to tell her to go away and come back in the morning, but he sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes, moving a sight slower than he once did. “I figured out who he was,” she said. “He's Jared Crowe. He's the heir to Crowe Mountain.”
Any traces of sleep disappeared from Squirrel’s eyes completely and he slapped a hand on his bony knee. “I knew it. Knew I’d seen that boy before.”
“We think Miss Kay has his brother hidden away somewhere. I'm going to help Jared find him.”
Squirrel stood up and grabbed his shotgun from beside the bed “I'm coming with you.”
Sparrow placed a hand on his shoulder, urging him to sit back down. “No, you're going to stay right here. You're gonna go back to sleep. Because…because I'm leaving with them.”
Squirrel’s weathered face looked sad, but there was understanding in his eyes. “I knew you weren't for this life, girl.” He grabbed her hand, his rough calluses soothing instead of scratching her skin. “I’m sure gonna miss you.”
Sparrow swallowed back tears. She’d known he would understand. He always did
. She threw her arms around him and hugged him tight, his bony shoulders pressing into hers. “I'm gonna come back for you as soon as I can. I’m not leaving you in this place.”
Squirrel sighed and she felt it all the way down to her toes. For the first time in a long time, his weathered face reflected his age. “I can’t leave this place. Don’t know nothing else but these woods. Don’t you worry, old Squirrel was surviving long before you was born, I’ll continue to after you’re gone.”
Tears pricked her eyes, burning like the acid they were. “I’ll miss you. You're the only person I ever loved.”
“Don't be going all sentimental.” Squirrel pulled away, but she saw the sheen of tears in his eyes. Her heart squeezed and the pain spread out over her ribs.
He lifted his leather necklace with the bear claw hanging from the center over his head and handed it to her. Squirrel called it his good luck talisman, and she’d never seen him take it off. That claw was from the first bear he’d ever killed.
“You take this,” he said. “You take this and remember old Squirrel.”
Sparrow reverently placed the leather thong around her own head, not bothering to try and hold in the tears any longer. The bear claw hung down between her breasts, over her heart.
“I'll never take it off,” she vowed.
Squirrel nodded, “And don't you forget the things I taught you. Just cause you ain't living in the mountains no more don't mean you ain't gonna have to fight to survive.”
Sparrow pulled him to her for one last hug, knowing it would probably be last time she'd ever see him. “I'll never forget you. I love you.”
“You better go on. Daylight’s coming, and if you're gonna get out of here, you're gonna have to move it.”
“You take my trailer, move out of this old cabin as soon as the shit settles, okay?” Sparrow pulled away, her chest aching with grief, and wiped the tears from her eyes.
“You bet. Been waiting for my big break.” He winked at her and all the lines on his forehead disappeared for the moment. She could see the spirit still strong in his eyes. She wrapped her hand around the bear claw and left, leaving a giant chunk of her heart behind in that cabin.
Jared stood waiting for her at the edge of the clearing, his back to her. “Let's go.” She knew her voice was raw with tears, but she didn't care. She would force herself to look to the future, but she would never forget where she came from.
She would never forget her past.
* * *
Sparrow had been crying. He could see the sorrow on her face plain as the moonlight spotting the ground. But he kept his mouth shut. He would comfort her later, when they were safe. Right now he had to focus on finding Hoyt and getting them all off Crowe Mountain alive. Before the sun rose. “Which way?”
Sparrow pointed east. “Follow me, it's not far.”
She took off at a brisk jog and Jared followed, trusting her sense of direction. She ducked and dodged and swerved between trees, and he followed in her footsteps, thankful for her fast pace. Now that he finally had an idea of where his brother was, he couldn't stand to wait another minute. He wanted to full out run, but knew he’d more than likely injure himself if he tried to make his way through the dark forest like that.
They emerged into a small clearing around a shack not much better than Squirrel’s. Sparrow took another step forward, but Jared jerked her back into the cover of the trees. “Wait. Watch. If he’s in there, there could be someone keeping guard.”
Once Jared was sure no one was walking sentry in the yard, he crept around the perimeter of the trees, Sparrow fast on his heels. The shack was almost completely submerged in the dark woods. There was barely enough room on the sides to walk, and the small yard had maybe a ten-foot clearance out front. He crossed to the side of the shack, backing up to the wall and ducking low. There were no windows. Jared checked the back—no door. The only entry was in the front.
Jared inched his way to the front and peeked around the corner. The small porch stood empty. He took a deep breath, held up a hand for Sparrow to stay put, and stepped onto the porch. The roof listed to the side. Jared froze. A few heart-stopping seconds passed, but when nothing else happened, he crept carefully forward, trying to avoid the most rotted floorboards. When he got to the door, he paused and listened. There were no sounds from inside. He leaned against the wall next to the door and sucked in a breath, fighting the chill creeping up his spine.
Silence could mean his brother wasn’t even in there. Or that he was asleep. Or unconscious. Or dead.
Please let him be okay.
“Hey, I’ve got your back.” Sparrow appeared beside him, her voice a hushed whisper.
“I’m going in first. You stay out here until I clear the room.”
Not waiting to see if she agreed with his orders, Jared raised his pistol and gently nudged the door with his free hand. There was no resistance; the door swung open without a hitch.
A sense of foreboding stole across his shoulders, tightening the muscles there. His senses went on heightened alert. If they were holding his brother captive here, they would have posted a guard. At least locked the door. Something. Which meant the cabin was either empty or his brother was already dead. Fervently praying for the first, Jared stepped inside, sweeping his pistol around the one room shack. A barrel topped with an extinguished lantern and a coil of rope rested in the corner of the room. A chair with a table in the back. Then he allowed his gaze to lock onto the object in the center of the room.
There was just enough illumination from the moon to highlight the figure of a body suspended from the ceiling. Jared shoved his gun into his waistband and ran forward, his stomach rolling with fear. He knew before seeing Hoyt’s face that he was the one hanging there. Limp.
Jared quickly felt for a pulse, a heartbeat, anything, but his hands were shaking so bad all he did was scrape against bare skin. “Dammit.”
Without warning, a light flared from the back corner and Jared jerked his gaze up, ready to attack, only to see Sparrow flicking on a battery powered lantern. Jared turned his attention back to his brother and the sight before him stole his ability to breathe. To think.
He knew it was Hoyt. He had the right blond hair, size, and stature, but the blood and swelling covering his body made him almost unrecognizable. A long deep cut sliced down his left cheek from temple to jaw. Strips of flesh hung from his back as if he'd been…skinned.
“What did they do to you?” Rage expanded inside him until he felt like a pressure bomb about to explode. His baby brother. He’d failed to protect him. Failed to save him.
“Oh. My. God.” Sparrow approached Jared, but he barely recognized her presence.
Jared almost wished his brother were dead. He couldn’t imagine the agony he had been through. The rage forked through his veins as he lifted his fingers once more to check for a pulse. He found one, weak and fast, but fucking real, and his knees almost gave out right then and there. “He's alive.”
Blood dripped from Hoyt’s body onto the floor.
“We have to cut him down.” Sparrow pulled the knife from her hip. “Jared, you need to get behind him and brace him. I'll cut the rope.”
Unable to form words, unable to do anything more than stare in horror at his little brother, Jared simply obeyed.
His brother shuddered and moaned, causing him to freeze in his tracks. Sparrow stood directly in front of Hoyt now, the knife clutched in her hand. Slowly lifting his head, opening the one eye that wasn’t completely swollen shut, Hoyt mumbled, “No more. Don't let her do this to me anymore.”
What had he said? Don't let her do this anymore? Jared’s gaze shot to Sparrow in time to see the shocked expression on her face. Her nervous honey colored eyes cut to his.
Hoyt heaved and tried to struggle. “Oh God, not the knife.”
Then someone else spoke from the doorway. Someone Jared had hoped to meet when he had his gun locked and loaded. Jimbo said, “Good job little sister. Now we got them both.”
/> Realization dawned. It was a trap. It had been a trap all along. Jared felt disbelief and rage and hatred well up in his gut. “You did this?”
Everything she’d said to him had been a lie. Everything. And he had fallen for the oldest fucking trick in the book. “You little bitch. You’re gonna regret this.”
Sparrow flinched back. “Jared, I…”
Jimbo cut in, “You’re smarter than I gave you credit for. When you came up with this plan, little sister, I didn't think it would work, but I'll be damned. Miss Kay is definitely going to promote you now.”
“It’s about time too.” Bob appeared beside Jimbo, thumbs hooked in his oversized overalls.
Sparrow’s gaze flipped wildly back and forth between the two men. Her innocent appearance was so disgusting now that he knew the truth. “No, I swear—”
“This is the big break you’ve been waiting for. Both Crowe brothers trapped together. Easy to make ‘em disappear now.” Bob took a step closer, as if the deal was done.
The monster inside Jared broke loose. Cold lethal calm settled over his body and he knew what he had to do. Sparrow knew about the gun tucked in his pants, but Jimbo didn’t, and he was the bigger threat. Before either of them could prepare, Jared launched across the room, ripping the gun from his pants and pistol-whipping Jimbo across the face. The huge man fell hard and fast to the ground, unconscious, blood leaking from his temple. Jared reared back and kicked Bob in the jaw. The skinny man dropped to the ground, his lifeless body, giving an outlet to the rage eating at his guts.
Sparrow gasped and Jared aimed his pistol straight at her head. “Nothing but evil on this mountain. I trusted you, and you did this to my brother.”
She held her hands out and he spied the roll of knives strapped to her waist. Awareness slapped him. She’d bragged about how good she was with a blade, and apparently she’d expertly cut off strips of his brother’s back to prove her efficacy.
Men of Mercy: The Complete Story Page 59