I urged Devon to keep moving, but he only took two more steps before pausing, focusing completely on Rowan this time. “I’ll come for you.”
“I just wanted to save my dad.” She blinked when more tears filled her eyes, and they dropped to her cheeks, running down them in streams. “I’m sorry.”
Devon swallowed but said nothing, almost like he couldn’t get any words out.
Lisa had joined me, and together we urged him to keep moving. Everyone but Doug was already waiting in the cars, and Rowan’s ex stood on the opposite side of the truck, next to the open driver’s door. Like Devon, his expression was pained.
Doug got in when we reached the vehicle, but he didn’t shut the door right away. Lisa climbed in back, and I followed, not letting go of Devon as I did. Even though he hadn’t shown himself to be impulsive before now, I was afraid he’d change his mind and do something rash. Afraid his emotions would get the best of him in this instance. So, once I was inside, I tugged on his arm, urging him to climb in after me. Thankfully, he did, although a little reluctantly, then he pulled the door shut.
Doug shut his as well, and a second later the truck’s engine roared to life. Already, Brian was pulling away from the barns, with Gabe right behind him, and Doug followed in silence. I barely paid attention to where we were going, though, I was too focused on Rowan, staring at her as we passed and even turning in my seat once we had so I could watch as she faded in the distance. Heath’s arm stayed around her the entire time, the barrel of the gun pressed to her head all the way up until she disappeared from sight.
No one uttered a word until we were on the main road and driving away.
“Tell me everything you know about those people,” Devon demanded. “Now.”
Shifting uncomfortably, Doug’s fingers flexed on the steering wheel, but he didn’t look away from the road. “What makes you think I know anything?”
“It was obvious,” I said, jumping in. “And it was more than just a brief interaction when Gabe went to the hospital, so don’t bother trying to use that line. Those two know each other. Admit it.”
He blew out a long breath and glanced over his shoulder at us, his hands gripping the steering wheel tight enough to turn his knuckles white.
When he still didn’t say anything, Devon leaned forward and reached over the seat separating them, grabbing the collar of his shirt. “Talk.”
Doug swore, and the truck swerved.
“Stop!” Lisa called. “Let him go before we wreck.”
Devon eased his grip, allowing Doug to regain control of the vehicle, but didn’t release him. “I’m not playing around.”
“Fine.” Doug tried to jerk away, but Devon didn’t let go. “Shit. Let me go before we have an accident. I’ll tell you what I know.”
Acting as if it took a lot of effort, Devon eased his hold on the other man’s shirt. Doug jerked away, shooting a glare over his shoulder before focusing on the road again. His hands were wringing the steering wheel, but I couldn’t see his face to know if it was nerves or irritation.
“I don’t know a lot, okay?” He ventured another look over his shoulder, this time focusing on me like he thought I might be the most willing to listen. “They have history that goes back to before the zombies, although I’m not sure what.”
“Gabe and Heath?” I asked.
Doug was once again focused on the road when his head bobbed.
In front of us, the other two vehicles had gained some distance, but we weren’t far enough back to cause anyone to worry.
“I met these guys after I got back from college, remember?” Doug continued. “With the exception of Max and me, they all knew each other before and were already together when I met them. It’s just blind luck that I bumped into them, and to be honest, I was so excited to not be alone anymore that I didn’t ask many questions. They told me what happened, that the leader shot at them and refused to share, and I got the impression they had some history, but they didn’t elaborate, and I didn’t ask. It wasn’t until later that I realized it was more than just a couple run-ins after the dead came back. They knew each other before all this.”
“How well did they know each other?” Devon asked.
Doug’s shoulders rose then fell. “I don’t know for sure. They never told me much, I just overheard a few snippets of conversation and came to the conclusion myself. Like I said, I was happy to have a group of people to watch my back. It’s scary as shit out there.”
“Happy enough to join up with just anyone?” Lisa asked, speaking for the first time.
She was directly behind Doug, her brown eyes narrowed on the back of his head as she listened. Like me, I could tell the small interaction we’d witnessed had her suspicions riled up, and I was already aware of the fact that she wasn’t thrilled about Gabe’s group. It had seemed like a blessing when we bumped into them in Meijer, but within an hour of joining them at the elementary school, I’d started to have my doubts. Gabe ran things with an iron fist, delegating all the domestic duties—cooking, watching the kids, washing clothes—to the women. As if they weren’t able to handle more.
“No.” Doug gave Lisa an irritated look via the rearview mirror. “And Gabe isn’t as bad as he seems. I get it, okay? He comes across as a bossy asshole and a little sexist.”
“A little?” Lisa snorted as she ran her fingers through her brown hair, twisting it at the base of her neck the way she so often did.
“Okay, yeah, I understand. But it wasn’t really a big deal until you guys showed up. The other women didn’t want to go out, anyway. They wanted to stay at the school where it was safe. They were happy to.”
“Except for Lane,” I pointed out.
“That’s a whole different story.” Doug looked in the rearview mirror again, this time focusing on me. “From what I heard, she’s been a pain in the ass since day one. Before that, even. Apparently, she and Gabe never really got along. Isn’t the fact that he let her tag along even though he doesn’t like her proof that he’s an okay guy? And the kids! He’s saved all those kids!”
Doug slowed the truck so he could turn left, pausing as if hoping his words would sink in. He had a point. Gabe had made it pretty clear he wouldn’t turn kids away. Still, it didn’t mean he wasn’t an asshole. It could have just meant he had a soft spot for kids.
“Lane doesn’t like the other men because they covered for her husband when he was screwing around on her,” Lisa said, her sour expression giving away her feelings on the matter.
I remembered Lisa saying she and her husband had divorced years ago, but she’d never mentioned why, and I hadn’t asked. Seeing the look on her face, I found myself wondering if he’d cheated on her. It seemed to happen a lot—or so I’d heard. My own parents had never actually been together, and the foster families I’d lived with had still been married and happy as far I could tell. Although who could guess what went on behind the scenes. Most people were good at hiding who they truly were.
Doug met Lisa’s gaze in the mirror. “Seriously?”
“Yup,” she said, the word popping out of her mouth.
He let out a low growl of disapproval. “My girlfriend’s dad left her mom for his secretary. It about killed her.”
“This the girlfriend you left Rowan for?” Devon didn’t even try to mask his anger.
Doug practically twisted in his seat. “I broke up with Rowan before I asked Jessie out. Would it have been better if I’d kept going out with Rowan even though I had feelings for someone else? Wouldn’t that have been the real asshole move?”
Devon’s jaw tightened, but he said nothing, which pretty much confirmed Doug had done the right thing. Honestly, the little bit of time I’d spent with him, I had to admit he seemed like a nice guy. Rowan was hurt, and that was understandable, but like with a lot of her responses to things, she was reacting based on her feelings. Doug didn’t deserve it.
“Forget all that.” I waved my hand as I scooted forward, leaning over the seat so I could see Doug.
“Do you know anything else about Heath?”
He shook his head, but I could tell he was thinking by the way his mouth scrunched up.
After only a few seconds, he said, “Look, I wish I could tell you more, but I didn’t really pay that much attention when they talked about it, and I wasn’t worried. We were planning to avoid them. As far as I was concerned, that should have been enough.”
I sat back, turning the whole thing over in my mind the way I did a math problem. Gabe and Heath had known one another before all this, and it was a small town, even smaller now that most of the population was gone. It wasn’t too far-fetched to think Gabe had shown up at the hospital hoping to find another group to trade with and found Heath, a man he didn’t like, in charge. It also made sense why they refused to trade. But there was still something bothering me about the whole thing. If there had been bad blood between the two men before the apocalypse, which Doug seemed to think was the case, there was no way Gabe would have told him about the animals. But he must have, otherwise Heath wouldn’t have known where to go.
“Why did Gabe tell Heath about the animals?” I looked from Devon to Lisa, waiting for an answer that made sense.
“Who says he did?” Devon asked.
On the other side of me, Lisa was frowning, her head tilted as if she, too, were trying to work out a puzzle.
“Because,” I said, “it’s the only thing that makes sense. They drove up with enough trailers to haul all the livestock away, which means they knew where the farm was and how many animals there were. It was premeditated.”
“She has a point,” Lisa said. “They were prepared for a fight, too.”
Devon was frowning, his eyebrows pulled together as he thought it through.
Doug, however, was shaking his head. “I just can’t see Gabe telling Heath. Why would he?”
“Were you with them when they went to the hospital to check things out?” I asked. “I only heard an abbreviated version of what happened, but there has to be a reason.”
“No. Only Gabe, Rick, and Brian went,” Doug said. “But I know what happened.”
“Tell me,” I persisted.
He sighed, sounding more tired than annoyed. “From what I was told, Gabe and a few others went to the hospital hoping to get some medical supplies. They had no idea the place had been taken over by another group, so they were caught totally off guard when they got close and someone opened fire. They managed to raise a white flag—a shirt or something—and make contact, which was when Gabe realized it was Heath. He said he knew right away that the asshole wouldn’t want to work together, but he tried to convince him anyway. Told him they could trade. Help each other out. Heath told him in no uncertain terms to go fuck himself.” Doug winced and glanced back at me. “Sorry. Go screw himself.”
I would have smiled if I wasn’t so busy thinking. I was, though, and Doug’s version of the story had only brought up more questions.
“Okay, so even if Gabe told Heath about the animals in hopes of trading something—milk or eggs or something else—it still doesn’t explain how the other group knew where the barn was. There have to be dozens of farms around here, right?” I looked from Devon to Lisa, then met Doug’s gaze in the rearview mirror. “So how did they know?”
“I don’t know,” he replied.
“Me neither.” I sat back, frustrated that I couldn’t solve the puzzle in front of me but unable to push away the nagging suspicion I was missing something big.
“We’re going to get some answers,” Devon said, nodding at the windshield as the school came into view, “and soon.”
Doug said nothing as he turned into the parking lot.
The gate in the poorly constructed barricade had already been opened so the other two vehicles could drive through, and people were climbing from the truck Gabe had been driving. I tensed when I spotted Hank among them, his dark, shaggy hair falling over his face and shielding his eyes from view. The teenager bothered me more and more with each interaction we had. He was always watching people, always slinking into rooms so quietly you didn’t notice his presence until he was practically on top of you. He’d even walked in on me the last day at Rowan’s house. I’d specifically told everyone I was going upstairs to change my clothes, but he’d acted totally shocked when he’d opened the door to find me shirtless. His reaction had seemed legitimate, just the right amount of surprise and embarrassment, but he’d stayed too long, hadn’t looked away like he should have, and the quiet way he’d stood there had caused a shiver to run down my spine. Since then, I’d been trying to keep an eye on the teen, especially since he seemed to have attached himself to my sister. I wasn’t ready to bring it up to the others—although Rowan and I had briefly discussed the situation—because I was still trying to work out in my head exactly what it was that bugged me about him. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but I was definitely on alert.
I was still thinking about the teen when Doug pulled into a parking space beside the other two vehicles, putting the truck in park. The second he had, Devon was shoving the door open and hopping out, and I rushed to follow, pushing my concerns over Hank aside as I focused on the current crisis. Rowan.
Devon looked ready to explode as he charged across the parking lot, and I hurried to catch up. Nearly everyone who’d gone with us had retreated into the building with the exception of Gabe and Brian. Max had been on watch, so he’d been the one to open the gate. Now that it was shut, he was on the way over, and Rick and Ari had come out of the building at our arrival, and Gabe was already in the process of telling them what had happened when we approached.
“Heath, the asshole.” Ari’s slightly boyish face twisted with fury.
Standing next to the uber-pale Brian, Ari’s brown skin looked twice as dark, but it was an illusion. Brian could have passed for a ghost, he was that fair. His complexion combined with his hulking frame were intimidating, but he wasn’t alone in that. All these men were big. Muscular. From twenty-something-year-old Max with his easy smile and thick, dark hair, to fiftyish Rick, with his distinguished good looks, olive skin, and salt and pepper hair.
“He gave us his word.” Gabe ran his hand over his head, the short, dark hairs rubbing against his palm as he stared at the ground. His mouth was scrunched up, his brows furrowed in thought. “This is bad.”
“We should have known he’d pull something like this.” Rick’s gaze moved past the others to the front door of the school. “We all knew he wasn’t trustworthy.”
I followed his gaze, not sure what to expect, and found Lane standing about eight feet away, her arms crossed and an unhappy frown on her face.
A scuffle, followed by a grunt, drew my attention back to the men. Devon had Gabe’s shirt in his grasp, the fabric knotted in his fist as he pulled the other man closer until only a couple inches separated them.
“Who is he? I want to know. Now.”
Brian and Rick had moved to their friend’s aid, trying to pull Devon away, but they didn’t seem to be making any progress. All of these guys looked like they spent way too many hours in the gym, but Devon’s fury seemed to have given him some kind of edge over the others, and he easily held them off as he glared at Gabe. Interestingly enough, Max and Doug didn’t make a move to help Gabe, and while Ari looked irritated by the situation, he didn’t rush to help his friend either.
“Back off, man,” Brian was saying, his booming voice accentuating his hard features and making him seem even more like the villain in a Marvel movie.
Devon didn’t look away from Gabe.
“He’s my ex-husband.”
I spun to face the speaker, unsurprised to find Lane heading our way since I’d already seen her standing there, but still floored by the confession.
She reached Devon and put a hand on his arm. “Let him go. Gabe’s a prick, I’ll give you that, but you’re not going to get anywhere by beating the shit out of him.”
Devon hesitated, his gaze on her, but he finally released the other man.
&
nbsp; Gabe stumbled back, catching himself just before he fell. He pulled on the hem of his shirt, trying to ease out the wrinkles, and glared at Devon.
“Did you know he was there?” Lane asked. “I know you went to the hospital, so you must have.”
Gabe didn’t meet her gaze, instead choosing to focus on something just past her. “I did.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Why would I?” He cleared his throat, met her gaze briefly, then looked away again. “After what happened, I knew you’d just be hurt and pissed off, and you were already so mad most of the time. I figured not telling you that your asshole ex-husband tried to shoot me and then refused to trade with us was the smarter thing to do.”
Lane only rolled her eyes.
“I think an explanation is in order,” Lisa said, her brown eyes focused on Gabe. “Because I have to be honest, no matter how I look at this, I can’t figure out how this all played out. How did Heath know where you kept the animals?” She turned her gaze on Lane. “And how did you end up with these guys if they were such good friends with your ex?”
“Friends?” Gabe straightened, his focus moving to Lane. “Is that what you’re telling people?”
“You were friends,” she argued.
“Before all that shit with Anie went down. You know as well as I do that we ditched the asshole once we found out he was screwing around.”
Lane looked away, her gaze on the ground like she couldn’t stomach the idea of looking at Gabe, and Lisa and I traded a glance. I didn’t know who Anie was or why Lane would have lied about Gabe’s involvement in her ex’s infidelity, and I honestly didn’t care. What I cared about was figuring out who these people were so we could decide what to do about Rowan.
A moan broke through the awkward silence hanging over us, and I glanced behind me. Three zombies were crossing the lawn in front of the older section of the school, their hands out and grasping at air as they stumbled our way, and I scanned the barricade. The cars Gabe and his men had brought here weren’t big enough to keep people out, but it would work on the dead despite the poor workmanship. It was one of many things that needed to be addressed—especially now that we had the threat of Heath’s group hanging over us.
Far Series | Book 3 | Far From Lost Page 2