by Maira Dawn
Dylan let out a long groan at the end of their walk as he dropped onto the bed, a hand covering his wound. He kicked off his shoes, letting them fall to the side of the bed. “So, you gonna be here tomorrow?”
He waited for her snarky answer, and she didn’t disappoint.
“You plan on sendin’ that goon after me if I don’t?”
“If I need to.”
“You won’t. Need to, I mean.” She uttered a long-suffering sigh. “I’ll be here.”
“Goodnight, girl.”
Sue Ellen didn’t answer until she reached the door when she turned back toward him and grinned. “Whatever.”
Fourteen
Confessions
Dylan and Sue Ellen developed an uneasy alliance. Dylan made progress, getting stronger throughout the next day. He was sure being out in the fresh air—in his beloved forest—had something to do with it.
Sue Ellen slapped her arms, unhappy with their surroundings. “What are we doin’ out here with all these bugs? Can’t we at least stay closer to the houses?”
“Sure. When we’re done with this round.”
Dylan gripped his walking stick tighter and picked up the pace, happy he no longer needed to lean on Sue Ellen as much. It couldn’t be easy for her to haul around a guy his size.
Dylan led them through the woods and into the glen where the shooting happened.
Sue Ellen scanned the area, her eyes round.
Though he noticed, Dylan said nothing. Instead, he crouched near the spot he’d fallen after being wounded.
The memory hit him hard.
His pounding heart as he’d waited to see if the shooter would rush over to finish him off.
The white-hot pain driving through his middle like a poker.
His worry the shooter would go after Skye next as he lay there almost defenseless.
He studied the ground but saw little he didn’t already know. He stood and stared across the glen--at the spot he reckoned the shooter had stood. Dylan walked over to it.
Sue Ellen gasped and trailed him.
Dylan scanned the ground for a few minutes before finding evidence of what he suspected—where the shooter lay in wait.
Time had gone by, but there could be no mistaking the bullet casings and cigarette butts.
Dylan turned and stared at Sue Ellen. “Anything you want to tell me?”
Sue Ellen kept her eyes to the ground and shook her head.
Dylan’s eyes narrowed. “You take up smoking?”
“No—no, sir. I ain’t.”
Dylan crouched and ran his fingers along the grass. He found what had caught his eye. A thin gold money clip, minus any money. He frowned.
“What happened here, Sue Ellen?”
“I don’t—I didn’t—” Sue Ellen turned to run. Dylan reached out just in time to catch her, almost losing his balance.
He squeezed her shoulder. “You can tell me, girl. Whatever it is, you can tell me.”
Tears sprang to Sue Ellen’s eyes as she looked at Dylan. She opened her mouth, trembled and shook her head. “I can’t,” she sobbed, “I don’t know nothin’.”
Dylan stared at her for a moment. She couldn’t trust him any more than he’d trusted anyone at her age.
Sue Ellen’s sobs intensified, and she folded in on herself, becoming smaller and smaller.
“You ashamed of yourself, Sue Ellen?”
Her face flooded with color. She gulped and trembled. Her nod took over her entire body, shaking it from head to toe. She sank to the ground.
Dylan looked from the girl to the money clip and back again. This sure wasn’t hers. He slipped the clip into his jean pocket, then leaned down and pulled Sue Ellen up. Dylan put an arm around her and kept his voice soft and comforting. “It’s okay now. It’s done. Nothin’ anyone can do about it now.”
Sue Ellen swallowed hard and opened her mouth, but only nodded.
“You can tell me. You can tell me anything. I’ve made a lot of mistakes myself, so it ain’t like I’d judge you harshly. I know you were out here that day.”
“I wasn’t here. I wasn’t!”
Sue Ellen wrapped her arms around herself. She had to stick to her story—she had to.
She’d thought little of this place—this community—until she realized she could lose it. If they were aware she’d known about the rat among the bunch and didn’t tell them, they’d throw her out. Then where would she go? She wouldn’t survive all by herself.
At her denial, Dylan nodded and walked back to where he laid bleeding that day. He took a few steps to the left, picked something off the ground, and handed it to her. The iPod.
“It was there that day, Sue Ellen.”
She gasped and stepped back, numb with shock. How did she get out of this?
She wanted to run, but even if Dylan was slower than normal, there was nowhere to go.
“I didn’t—I swear, I didn’t shoot you.” Her voice shook.
“But you know something.”
Sue Ellen closed her eyes. Tears trailed down her cheeks, and she wondered how she could be such a baby. Her grandma would have whacked her for sure and left her alone for hours under the stairs in the dark with the spiders.
“Please—please don’t hate me! Don’t throw me out. I wouldn’t make it, and I’d become one of those—those things! I can’t—I can’t—“
Her legs weakened as she imagined them tearing at her—turning her into a useless husk of a person.
“I’m sorry—I’m so sorry,” she mumbled between sobs.
Dylan put a hand on her shoulder. “Sue Ellen. No one is going to throw you out of here.”
“They will.”
“This is my mountain and I’m tellin’ ya—I won’t allow anyone to throw you out.” He patted her shoulder. “Whatever mistake you’ve made--I can guarantee I’ve done worse.”
Worse? Sue Ellen doubted it. She wasn’t sure the shooting had anything to do with Skye and Kelsey’s abduction, but she strongly suspected it. And if that was the case, he would definitely hate her.
“Skye being gone.” She hiccupped. “It might be—I’m not sure—but something I knew—"
“We ain’t gonna know until you tell.”
She eyed him. He was eager to hear what she had to say, but not furious. “I was here, but I was so scared I ran at the first shot. I didn’t know you and Skye were here until later.”
It was true. There was no way she would’ve left knowing Dylan lay bleeding.
Dylan took the news well. It gave Sue Ellen the courage to continue on. Once she started, the story poured out of her.
“You know that guy that died?”
“Ethan?”
“Yeah. Him and Annette fought one day, and I overheard. He talked about someone he worked for—someone who expected some kind of shipment. I thought that was weird because of how things are, you know.”
Dylan gave her a quick nod.
“Annette didn’t want him to go through with it, but he said they had his family. It was the only way to get them back. It was his family or this community, and he’d give us up in a heartbeat to save them.”
Sue Ellen glanced at Dylan to see if he hated her yet, but he seemed okay. But the next part would be the hardest part.
Sue Ellen’s stomach jumped with nerves. “I kept an eye on them. I really did. Nothing seemed to happen. Then he died. So I thought—I thought it was all over. But when Skye—I just don’t know—should I have told you?”
“You should have.” Dylan’s voice turned rough, and his jaw was hard. He hadn’t moved a muscle. He was mad.
Sue Ellen eyed him as she wiped the tears from her face. “If you need to hit me, it’s okay.”
She squeezed her eyes shut and waited.
“Sue Ellen, I ain’t gonna hit you! I thought you knew me better.”
“Yeah, but this is really bad, so . . . “
“I ain’t gonna hit you. Okay?” He grasped her arm to steady himself as he walked. “Let’s go
see Annette. See what she knows.”
As they made their way back to the community, relief flooded through Sue Ellen. She hadn’t noticed its weight until it was gone.
Now she seemed lighter—walked taller.
She wiped the last of the tears from her face, unable to believe that Dylan could forgive her like that.
Somehow he had, and somehow all this emotion had cleansed her, made her feel different—better. Safer, even.
She frowned as she navigated a narrow part of the trail, pushing some thorny bushes out of the way.
Safer? Maybe this light emotion wasn’t only relief.
Sue Ellen glanced at Dylan. Could this unfamiliar emotion possibly be—
Was this what trust felt like?
Fifteen
Pieces
Dylan wearied as they walked up the back way to Annette’s house, but he pulled in another deep breath and continued. There was work to do.
A quick word to the watchman on duty sent him scurrying to find Tom. The sheriff should be here for this.
Dylan put a hand to his aching side as he climbed the stairs to Annette’s porch. The house was dark, but there were few places the woman would be.
Behind the door, something stirred. Dylan put a hand on the hilt of his large knife.
The door opened a quarter of the way. Annette’s face peeked around. “Yes?”
“Annette,” Dylan said. “I was sorry to hear about Ethan. I reckon we haven’t gotten acquainted real well. But I think it’s time we talked.”
“I’m sorry about your injury and appreciate you stopping by, but I want to be alone.”
She started to push the door closed.
Dylan slapped his hand against the wood. “Nope. Ain’t gonna happen. Seems like Ethan’s death and the shooting are connected. Maybe even the kidnapping of Skye and Kelsey. Is that right?”
The woman’s face paled and her eyes widened. “How am I supposed to know anything about that?”
Sue Ellen glanced over her shoulder and murmured, “Tom’s here.”
Dylan appreciated the information, though he’d been aware of that a few minutes ago. The man tromped through the forest like an elephant trodding on bubble wrap.
“Thing is, Annette,” Dylan said. “We know you do. And there ain’t no way I’m leaving here without every scrap of information I can get. Somethin’ you know may help me find my Skye.”
Determination and desperation had stirred his emotions, and he almost broke down.
Annette stared at him for a moment—then she opened the door and waved him in—whether from guilt or pity, Dylan wasn’t sure.
Tom and his deputy, Aaron, piled in behind him.
Annette plopped into an upright recliner, her hands covering her face as if afraid to look at them.
“I told him,” she began, “I told him none of this would work. I told him to ask for help—that was the only way to go about this. I finally had him talked into it. He was going to come to see you the next morning, Sheriff. But then—And honestly, I don’t think it was a natural death.”
Tom nodded. “It certainly was nothing we’d ever seen before, that’s why the Doc was taking so much care.”
“No. What I mean is—someone did that to him. Poisoned him.”
Tom quickly sat back in his seat.
Dylan understood his surprise. He felt gut-punched himself—if Ethan had been poisoned, who had done it?
Aaron ran a hand over his tight curls. “Annette, perhaps you should start at the beginning.”
Annette squeezed her eyes shut as if praying for strength before she began. “Ethan’s family and mine were on the road together—runnin’ to somewhere safe. A gang of men came along and tried to take some of our people. A fight broke out. I lost my entire family on that road.”
She let out a shaky sob. “But Ethan didn’t. They were taken. The leader said he’d bring his family back if he helped find more people to replace them. When Ethan said he didn’t know where any people were, the guy pointed at this mountain. “Head up there,” he told us. “Get me them, and I’ll give yours back.””
Annette held up her hands and shook her head. “I wasn’t for it—told Ethan not to do it, and he was starting to change his mind. We thought you all could help with his family. I think someone realized that and killed him before he talked to you, Sheriff.”
“Why are these people going around takin’ others?” Dylan asked.
“They said there was a group called White Coats offering food, jewels, and gold for healthy people. They are experimenting for a cure.” Annette scanned their faces. “That’s good, right?”
Dylan scoffed. “Then why do they have to kidnap people? If it was a good thing, people would be linin’ up at their door.”
Annette’s hair covered her face as she looked at the ground. “I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry this led to your family being hurt.”
“What do you know that will help find Skye and Kelsey?”
“The White Coats are located along the ocean. I’m not sure where, but you take the highway South.”
The group left Annette and convened outside.
“I hate to say it but what if there’s more like Ethan—traitors here on this mountain? What if someone in the community is working against us and poisoned him?” Tom said.
“It’s possible, but it could’ve been a stranger,” Dylan answered. “Look around. This little glen is the farthest from the center of the community. A stranger could’ve come up the back way like we did today. No one would see them if they were careful to creep in.”
Aaron nodded. “And anyone could have shot at you in that field.”
“I found this.” Dylan pulled the gold money clip out of his pocket. “Look familiar?”
Aaron, Tom, and Sue Ellen shook their heads.
“I think,” Tom said as he stroked his chin, “that we should still be on the lookout for anyone acting suspicious, just in case. We don’t want to be caught unaware again.”
Sue Ellen’s brow wrinkled. “I can help with that.”
When Tom shot her a dubious glance, Dylan defended her. “Take her up on it. The girl’s got a sixth sense when it comes to readin’ people—like I do.” He ruffled her curly hair until she protested. Dylan smiled down at her. “It runs in the family.”
Sue Ellen suppressed a smile, but Dylan could tell she was pleased.
The little group started down their different paths for home. As Dylan and Sue Ellen got closer to the doctor’s cabin, a shadow separated itself from the building.
Dylan’s heart jumped.
Jesse!
Dylan quickly glanced around, but there was no one else. He squeezed the girl’s shoulder and mumbled, “Maybe it’s okay.”
He rushed over to the boy and gave him a bearhug.
Over Jesse’s head, Dylan’s eyes darted around the camp, hoping to see Skye.
But when his eyes landed on Spencer, the man looked at the ground.
No. Not here then.
Dylan looked at Jesse. “What happened? Where’s Skye and Kelsey?”
“We trailed them to a Containment Center. But the men who had them traded them to someone else.”
“What?” Dylan’s stomach hardened.
“They met the White Coats there and gave Skye and Kelsey to them.”
Dylan let go of Jesse and ran a hand through his hair. “Where’s Wade?”
“He talked to the guys who took them. Now he’s following the new bad guys. We came to get you.”
Dylan nodded. “Let me get packed up.”
Sue Ellen came up behind them. “Dylan?”
Dylan turned, a question in his eyes.
“Are you sure you’re ready for this?”
“I gotta be, girl.” At her instant frown, Dylan put a hand to Sue Ellen’s shoulder. “I’d do the same for you. It’ll be okay. Talk to your brother while I get my stuff together.”
Dylan rushed through his packing and stepped back outside, going directly over
to the teenagers. He shoved his pack at Jesse. “Take this to the truck. I want to talk to your sister.”
As Jesse walked off, Dylan turned to Sue Ellen. “Where have you been stayin’?”
She shrugged. “At the cabin.”
Dylan didn’t like it. She needed someone to watch her back. “You doin’ okay there?”
Sue Ellen shrugged. “Gets a little lonely sometimes.”
“Why don’t you stay with this girl here, Bre?”
“Cause she doesn’t like me.”
Dylan huffed out a sigh. “You been mean to her too?”
Sue Ellen scuffed the toe of her shoe in the dirt.
Dylan shook his head and bent to peer into her face. “See what that gets ya? No one around when you need help.”
Sue Ellen bit her lip.
“If you get lonely, go to Tricia’s. She’ll take you in whether she likes you or not. She’s family.”
Sue Ellen scoffed.
“Sue Ellen, you’re sixteen. How about you not shove everyone out of your life just yet? You got an entire lifetime to do that.”
She turned red. “Yeah, well--“
“Don’t say whatever. This is important.” Dylan drew the girl to him and gave her a quick, hard hug. “And that ball you still carry in your pocket? Give it back to the little kid. Got it?”
“Okay, sure,” she said and shrugged. “Why not?”
“And one more thing, Sue Ellen—try to be good. Try to do better.”
Dylan turned to walk away.
“Dylan?”
He stopped and looked back at her. “Yeah?”
“You’re right.”
“About what?”
“About, well, everything.”
Sue Ellen gave him a quick hard hug. “This is a good place. You all are a good family. I’ll try harder.”
She waved him off. “Now go get our girls. I have some apologies to make.”
Sixteen
Seaside
Despite Skye’s best efforts to keep her eyes open, the sway of the truck lulled her to sleep.