Family Sins

Fourteen

Bowie accelerated once he passed the city limits. There was no telling how long his mother had searched before giving up and calling for help, and he was worried. He was trying to remember all the hunting places his dad would have taken Jesse when his cell rang again. This time it was Aidan.

“Bowie, are you on your way home?”

“Yes. Are you already there?”

“No, I’m probably behind you now. I got held up at home. Johnny fell and cut his lip. He’s okay, but I couldn’t leave until I made sure he didn’t need stitches.”

“Oh, man. Sorry about the little guy.”

“Yes, me, too. Being a father is the best and the scariest thing that can ever happen to you. Anyway, I’ll see you at Mama’s.”

“Right,” Bowie said, and disconnected.

It was nearing noon. The shadows were short, and the sky was clear. Jesse knew the woods too well to be really lost, and as much as Jesse liked to eat, he would surely take himself home soon. But Bowie knew what was worrying their mom most. She was afraid Jesse had hurt himself. Bowie’s urge to go faster was strong, but the road had too many curves, so he stuck to a safe speed.

He was about three miles from home and beginning to steer into a curve when he tapped the brakes to slow down. But instead of slowing the car, the brake pedal went all the way to the floor without anything happening. He had a moment of panic, then downshifted to a lower gear and steered the truck off the road and down into the ditch, which slowed it down even more before he purposefully steered it into the trees. He was jolted hard on impact, but he’d gotten the vehicle off the road, which was what mattered most.

“Just when I need not to be late,” he muttered, as he got out and popped the hood.

He leaned in to check the brake fluid and was shocked to find that there wasn’t enough there to measure. Now he was stuck waiting for Aidan. He tried to call his mother, but he didn’t have a good signal, so he dropped the hood and walked a short distance up the road until the signal was strong enough for him to make the call.

Leigh answered on the second ring.

“Hello? Bowie? Are you on the way?”

“Yes, ma’am, but I had to pull off the road. I was driving into a curve when the brakes went out. I had to drive the truck down a ditch and into some trees to get it stopped. I just checked, and there was no brake fluid.”

“Oh, no,” she muttered. “I’m sorry. Stanton never mentioned anything to me about the brakes being bad. Want me to come get you?”

“No, I just talked to Aidan. He’s coming up behind me. I’ll ride with him. I’m sure sorry. Don’t worry. We’ll find Jesse.”

“He’s not far from the house, because I heard a couple of gunshots after I called you. I keep hoping he’ll walk out of the woods any minute now.”

“Don’t worry. We’ll be there soon.” Then Bowie heard a vehicle coming up behind him and turned around. “Hey, Mama, Aidan just got here. We’re less than three miles from home.”

“Oh, thank goodness. I’ll see you soon.”

Aidan braked as Bowie came running toward him.

“What happened?” Aidan asked, as Bowie slid into the seat beside him.

“No brakes. The brake fluid leaked out. It was lucky this curve had trees. Most of the curves don’t have anything but that wire cable to keep someone from driving straight off the side of the mountain.”

“Yes, and the cable is barely four feet off the ground. I don’t know how the county thinks that’s protecting anyone. I know Dad has brake fluid in the shop because I’ve seen it. He probably knew the truck had a leak. We’ll get you fixed up after we find Jesse.”

“I just talked to Mama. She said she heard a couple of shots not too far away from the house.”

Aidan shook his head.

“Leslie and I talk about this all the time. I don’t know how Mama is going to cope with him on her own.”

“No, don’t worry about that,” Bowie said. “She told me the other day that taking care of Jesse was going to be what saves her.”

“Really?” Aidan said.

Bowie nodded. “She’s one strong woman, brother, and you know it. She’ll find a way, and for the times like this, there are three of you within driving distance.”

“You’re right. Dad would have said we’re just borrowing trouble, thinking like that,” Aidan said.

A couple of minutes later Aidan took the turn off the blacktop onto the long graveled driveway leading up to the house.

Leigh was waiting for them on the porch, and she frowned when she saw Bowie was alone.

“Where’s Talia?”

“She wanted to change clothes. She’s probably already on her way here.”

“You need to change out of your good clothes, too,” Leigh said.

“Yeah, all right. Give me a couple of minutes and I’ll be right back,” Bowie said, and hurried into the house.

“I’m sorry I was late,” Aidan said. “Johnny fell and cut his lip. I had to make sure he didn’t need stitches before I left.”

“Oh, no!” Leigh said. “Poor baby. I shouldn’t have called. You need to be home with your family.”

Aidan frowned.

“Mama, stop! This is what family does for each other. We worry as much about Jesse as you do. We would be hurt, even angry, if you didn’t include us in your lives.”

Leigh hugged him. “You’re all such good sons.”

“We had good parents to raise us,” Aidan said, as Bowie came running back out of the house.

He’d changed from the dark pants and white shirt to jeans and a blue denim work shirt. He had on his old boots and had pulled his hair back in a ponytail.

“I’m ready,” he said.

“Okay then,” Leigh said, and pointed into the woods behind the garden. “He went in back there. You can see his tracks until they disappear farther up into the woods. I heard shots down that way about a half hour ago. I’m going to lock up every gun in the house when I get him back home.”

Bowie grinned.

“We’ll find him, Mama. Just remember what you told me. He’s still a crack shot, and if he’s still good at tracking, too, he’s not going to get lost.”

Leigh sighed.

“I know that. I guess it’s just knowing I don’t have your daddy for backup that’s making me so anxious.”

Bowie gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.

“We’ll see you soon, and if we need any help, we’ll call.”

She patted her pocket to feel for her cell phone, and then watched them jogging across the backyard and into the trees.

By the time Talia had changed clothes and pulled her hair up and away from her face, she was feeling grateful for the invitation to the Youngblood house. Staying here alone right after the service would have been difficult, and there was no longer a reason not to leave the house. She’d always loved Leigh and for years had assumed one day she would belong to her family. Getting this second chance with Bowie meant getting his family back, too-except for Stanton. She still couldn’t believe he was gone.

She left the house through the utility room, exiting into the carport. She slid into the car and tossed her purse into the passenger seat, then buckled up before backing out of the drive. There was a part of her that felt guilty for being happy. Her father was gone, and Bowie’s father had been murdered. Tragedies, and yet she’d been given this wonderful second chance.

She drove toward Main Street, and she was thinking about the visit ahead when she slowed down for the stop sign at the end of the block. Within seconds a robin flew across her line of sight. It was summer in Eden, and robins were everywhere, so it wasn’t all that unusual. Except that wasn’t how she took it.

There had been a robin at her mother’s funeral, then today she’d buried her father and here was another one. She took a quick shaky breath as her eyes welled with tears. No matter what anyone else might think, it felt like a message from her dad, giving his approval that she was right to be moving on with her life.

“Thank you, Dad. Say hello to Mama for me.”

A little tearful, she drove through the intersection and then eventually out of town. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d gone anywhere without a need to hurry home. By the time she reached the road that would take her up the mountain, she was smiling. The windows were down, the radio was on. Bowie Youngblood was on her mind. Even though it had been years since she’d driven this road, it was as familiar to her as the man she loved. She knew exactly how much to accelerate as the incline grew steeper, and she knew where the easy curves were, and where the sharp ones appeared with little warning.

When she reached the first hard curve her fingers automatically tightened on the steering wheel. She tapped the brakes as she took the turn and frowned when they felt soft.

“What on earth?” she mumbled, and glanced down at the dashboard, looking for some kind of warning light, but she saw nothing.

A couple of minutes later she came up on Bowie’s truck parked off the side of the road and frowned. It looked like he’d had engine trouble, and she wondered if she would catch up to him walking home. She thought about calling him, but when she picked up her phone and saw there was no signal, she tossed it aside and kept driving.

She was still keeping an eye out for Bowie as she approached another curve. Once again she tapped the brakes, then felt sheer terror when the pedal went all the way to the floor.

“No, no, no! Oh my God!” she cried, still stomping the brakes and thinking this couldn’t be happening. She was holding on to the steering wheel with every ounce of her strength, trying to pull the car into the curve, but she was going too fast. There was a huge jolt when she hit the cable, and just when she thought it would save her, it popped. The cable was suddenly in the air, coiling and recoiling like a dying snake. From the corner of her eye she saw it flying backward into the trees and had no more than a split second to realize what was happening before everything turned into a nightmare. She was in the air and screaming, dropping, down, down, down toward the trees growing out of the side of the mountain.

She threw her arms up in front of her face just as she hit the first tree, snapping it off at the point of impact. Then the car nosed downward, sliding almost perpendicular to the slope until it caught between the trunks of three tall pines and stopped. The engine was smoking. The door on the passenger side had popped open. Except for the repetitive ding ding ding from the open door, there was nothing to be heard but wind through the trees.

Bowie and Aidan were less than a hundred yards from the house when they heard another rifle shot off to their left.

“That was a rifle,” Aidan said. “Has to be Jesse.”

Bowie nodded. “I think we need to start shouting his name to let him know we’re in the area.”

“Good idea,” Aidan said. “I’ll head for the creek, then walk north, and you head for the spring above it and walk south. I think he’s somewhere in between.”

“Agreed,” Bowie said, and took off at a lope, calling Jesse’s name every few yards.

At first he could hear Aidan doing the same, and then his brother’s voice got fainter and fainter, until Bowie could no longer hear him.

The pine trees on this part of their land were thick and straight, like toothpicks in a shot glass. Bowie moved as quickly as he could through them, knowing Jesse wouldn’t be hunting in here and was more likely closer to the water.

He thought of Talia as he searched, wondering if she was already at the house with his mother and imagining what their first conversation would be like after so many years.

He paused to get his bearings and called again, “Jesse! Jesse! Where are you?” then waited without an answer. “Dang it, Jesse, where are you?” he said, and kept moving until he finally reached the spring.

Within seconds of his arrival he saw footprints and breathed a sigh of relief. Jesse had been here.

“Jesse!” he shouted again.

And then he heard something faint in the distance, and ran another couple of hundred yards before he stopped and shouted again. “Jesse! Where are you?”

He heard a faint voice and the words, “I’m here!”

“Stay there! I’m coming toward you!” he shouted, and began following the flow of water downhill.

He was still going downhill when he heard another voice. It was Aidan.

“I found him!” Aidan yelled. “We’re here!”

Bowie lengthened his stride and soon came up on Aidan and Jesse cleaning squirrels.

“Look at all my squirrels,” Jesse said proudly.

Aidan looked up. “He nailed five…all clean head shots. I can’t do that.”

“I’m a good shot,” Jesse said. “Just like Daniel Boone.”

“I see that,” Bowie said, and then gave Jesse a big hug of relief. “You know, Mama is worried about you.”

Jesse frowned. “I know how to take care of myself,” he muttered.

“Did you tell her you were leaving to hunt?” Aidan asked.

Jesse frowned but didn’t answer.

Bowie took out his phone to check for a signal, then made a call to Leigh. Her voice was shaky when she answered, “Hello?”

“Mama, it’s me. Aidan and I found him. He’s fine. We’re cleaning squirrels, and then we’ll be home.”

“Thank goodness,” she said. “I’ll see you soon.”

“Okay. Hey, Mama, is Talia there yet?”

“No.”

Bowie frowned. “Okay. I’ll give her a call.”

He disconnected and then made a quick call to Talia. The phone rang and rang until it went to voice mail. He left a brief message for her to call and hung up.

It took another fifteen minutes to clean the last two squirrels. They washed the blood off their hands in the creek and headed home.

Jesse’s stride was long and sure. His head was up, and there was an expression of satisfaction on his face that Bowie hadn’t seen in a long time. He wondered what it felt like to be Jesse now, a grown man and yet a boy again.

Leigh was standing on the back porch watching for her sons to come out of the woods, and when they finally appeared she said a quick prayer of thanksgiving, then went back into the house and cried.

By the time they all came in the back door, she was sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee between her hands.

Jesse looked at her, and then ducked his head and plopped the field-dressed squirrels into the sink, got out a big dishpan and ran it full of water to clean them again.

“Thank you, Bowie. Thank you, Aidan,” Leigh said, and got up and hugged them both.

“You’re welcome, Mama,” they echoed.

“Do you need us to stay?” Bowie asked, wondering what was keeping Talia.

“No, and I’m sorry I called you away from what you were doing.”

Jesse’s shoulders slumped. He might have lost some of his acumen, but he still knew enough to know he was in trouble. And when Leigh turned around and took the gun he’d left in the corner and headed out of the room, he was instantly wild-eyed and worried.

“What’s Mama doin’ with my rifle?”

His brothers shrugged.

“You need to be asking her that,” Bowie said. “I told you she was upset that you left without telling her. That’s called running away, Jesse, and Youngbloods don’t run away from home.”

Jesse’s eyes welled.

“I didn’t run away. I wouldn’t ever leave Mama.”

“Well, she didn’t know that, buddy,” Aidan said.

Jesse took a shaky breath.

“I gotta go say I’m sorry, don’t I?”

“That’s what a man would do,” Bowie said.

Jesse straightened his shoulders and dried his hands. “I am a man,” he said, and left the kitchen.

“Lord,” Bowie said.

“Glad you were here to help,” Aidan said.

“I need to check on Talia,” Bowie said. “She should have been here by now.”

“I’ll run out and get the brake fluid,” Aidan said. “Meet you out front.”

Bowie called Talia again and got her voice mail again, and now he was worried. She’d said she was coming. If something had changed that plan, she would have let him know. He went through the house to find his mother. She was sitting on the bed with Jesse, letting him apologize because it was important for him to acknowledge he was wrong. Bowie hated to interrupt, but he didn’t want to leave without telling her goodbye.

“We’re leaving now, Mama. I’ve got to go get the truck, but I’ll be back. And I’m worried about Talia. She should have been here by now.”

Jesse stood abruptly.

“I’m a good tracker. If she’s lost, I can find her,” he said.

Bowie smiled. “I know you are, Jesse. I don’t think she’s lost, but she might have had some kind of trouble.”

“Uh… Bowie…” Leigh hesitated, as if debating with herself about what she was about to say, and then she blurted it out anyway. “Like the trouble you had coming here?”

The idea startled him. “What made you say that?”

“There wasn’t anything wrong with Stanton’s pickup before. If it had been leaking fluid for a while, we would have seen it on the ground where he parked. There’s nothing there, and there’s nothing where you’ve been parking. I went to look after you called.”

“Why would you do that?” Bowie asked.

“Because Justin threatened to get even with us. Once you make an enemy of that family, you always have to watch your back.”

“Well, hell,” Bowie muttered. “But when could he possibly have done that?”

“Where did you park when you went into Eden?”

“At Talia’s house. In her driveway.”

And then he panicked. She was late. She wasn’t answering her phone.

“You don’t think-”

Leigh stood up.

“I don’t know what to think. I keep going over and over in my mind that decision Stanton and I made to help his sister and his brother to keep their homes. If we hadn’t, Stanton would still be alive.”

“You can’t second-guess yourself on that,” Bowie said. “That was nothing but pure love, helping them keep their homes, and everything that happened after that is all on the Wayne family. I love you, Mama, but I have to go. I need to find Talia.”

Jesse stood up.

“I will go with Bowie. I have sharp eyes.”

Leigh was getting ready to say no, and Bowie could plainly see her eyes were red from crying. Between the murder, her grief, and the stress of how the investigation was playing out, he guessed she was nearing her breaking point.

“It’s okay, Mama. Let him come with me. I’ll get the truck and refill the brake fluid. It’ll be enough to get us back into Eden, and if the brakes were tampered with I’ll get them fixed. And on the way we’ll look for Talia. We’ll be coming back this way later, so it’s no big deal.”

Leigh frowned. “Are you sure?”

“Yes, ma’am, I’m sure. Jesse does have sharp eyes. He shot five squirrels right through their heads.”

Leigh relented.

“Okay, Jesse, you can go. But you have to promise to do everything Bowie tells you to. He’s the oldest brother, remember?”

“Yes, ma’am. He’s in charge,” Jesse said. “Like my lieutenant in our unit. He gives the orders, and I say ‘yes, sir’ and ‘no, sir’ and I do my job right.”

Aidan honked.

“There’s our ride, Jesse. We need to go now, Mama. We shouldn’t be long, but if we get held up I’ll give you a call.”

Leigh nodded, then followed them to the door, but there was a knot in her belly as she watched them leave.

Jesse was sitting in the backseat of Aidan’s car, and true to his word he rolled down the window and set up watch as if he was on patrol. He scanned the trees as they drove down the drive, and when they reached the blacktop, they had to caution him to not hang his head out the window.

He quickly obliged, but he sat as close to the door as he could get to watch the cliff side of the road as they started down the mountain.

Bowie glanced back and smiled at how seriously Jesse was taking his job.

“What are you looking for, Jesse?”

“Looking for your girl,” he said.

“Do you remember what she looks like?”

Jesse shrugged. “Kind of, but I’m not really looking for her. I’m looking for what’s not right.”

Bowie frowned. “What do you mean, little brother?”

Jesse just shrugged and leaned his head a little farther out the window to look at the road as they passed a big curve.

“The truck is just a little bit farther,” Bowie said.

All of a sudden Jesse shouted, “Stop the car! Stop the car!”

Aidan slammed on the brakes, making the car fishtail before coming to a stop. Before Bowie and Aidan knew what was happening, Jesse was out of the car and running.

They got out and followed him, grabbing him before he got too close to the edge of the cliff.

“Jesse! What the hell’s wrong with you?” Aidan shouted.

“It’s gone!” Jesse cried.

“What’s gone, Jesse?” Bowie asked.

“Can’t look. Can’t look,” Jesse muttered.

“Can’t look at what?” Bowie asked.

Jesse pointed over toward the cliff side of the road.

“The fence is gone. It was there, and now it’s not. Someone’s dead like Daddy. Can’t look.”

Bowie stared, unable to believe they hadn’t noticed, and then he saw the broken cable in a tangle off in the trees.

Even though he understood the ramifications of the broken cable, he wouldn’t let himself believe it had been Talia who’d broken it.

His heart was pounding as he ran to the cliff’s edge and looked down. When he saw the back end of a blue car plainly visible among the trees below, he had a brief understanding of how his mother must have felt finding Stanton.

“Oh my God! Aidan! It’s Talia. Call 911. Get an ambulance. Get a wrecker. She went over the cliff.”

Without waiting for Aidan to answer and without thinking about the danger, Bowie stepped off the edge of the mountain and took the fast way down in a running, stumbling slide.

Talia couldn’t be dead. God wouldn’t let that happen.

Aidan grabbed his phone to make the calls, and while he wasn’t looking, Jesse took one giant step out into space and followed Bowie down the side of the mountain.

Bowie couldn’t focus on anything but getting to the car.

He lost his footing countless times and started sliding down on his back. Then he dug in his heels and began grabbing at saplings to slow his descent until he could regain his footing.

As he neared the car, he kept hearing a strange dinging sound. By the time he got close enough to see, there was no movement inside the vehicle and no one shouting for help. He was almost on top of the car before he realized the dinging sound was because the car door was ajar on the passenger side and the keys were still in the ignition.

He scooted sideways until he reached the car. Seconds later rocks began rolling down at his feet, and he looked up to see Jesse less than ten feet away with an intent expression on his face, waiting for orders.

Bowie was stunned that his brother had made it in one piece. He didn’t know whether to be glad Jesse had followed him or worried that he was going to have two people to get back up the mountain instead of one.

“Grab a tree,” Bowie said, and Jesse did. “Just stay there a minute and let me see if I can get to her.”

“Staying here,” Jesse said.

Bowie gave him a thumbs-up and began inching his way from the back end of the car to the driver’s-side door. His first sight of her was heart-stopping. She was slumped over the steering wheel, unconscious, and bleeding from the nose and from a cut he could see above her forehead. There was no way to tell what kind of internal injuries or broken bones she might have, and he was just praying for a pulse when he leaned in and felt her carotid artery. To his everlasting relief, it was strong.

“She’s alive!” he yelled.

Jesse raised his arms in jubilation.

“Alive! Alive!” he yelled, and waved at Aidan, who was staring down at them in disbelief.

Bowie tried to open the door, but it was jammed. He thought about circling the car to the open door and getting inside, but he was afraid his added weight would cause the car to start sliding again. And he hesitated to move her for fear he would make bad things worse. All he could think to do was pray the rescue units would get there soon and make those decisions for him.

“Talia, can you hear me?” he asked, and put a hand on the back of her neck. “Talia, baby, it’s me, Bowie. Can you move? Can you feel your arms?”

She moaned, and the sound was such a relief he almost cried.

“Baby, I need for you to wake up and talk to me,” he said.

She moaned again, then moved one hand toward the steering wheel.

Seeing that much motion was a relief of sorts. At least now he knew her neck wasn’t broken or she wouldn’t have been able to move her arm. She could, however, have a spinal fracture, and a wrong move there could cause permanent damage.

He was debating with himself about what to do when the car slid a few feet forward, followed by a sudden explosion. Bowie fell backward, and Jesse jumped a good foot in the air and then hit the ground looking for cover.

Within moments Bowie saw that when the car slid forward it had rammed into a broken-off sapling, which had pierced the tire like a knife. He got to his feet shouting, “Jesse, it’s okay! It’s not a gunshot. The tire blew out. It’s just a flat tire.”

Jesse rolled over and sat up. There was a frantic expression in his eyes.

“You’re okay,” Bowie said. “It was just a tire going flat.”

But Talia’s situation was no longer okay. The blowout had caused the car to shift position. Bowie could see it beginning to move, and waiting to get her out from the other side was no longer an option.

He made a split-second decision. It was this or risk losing her for good.

He grabbed his pocket knife, slashed the seat belt holding her in place, then leaned in the window and slid his hands beneath her shoulders.

The moment he shifted her weight the car moved some more.

Please, God, no.

He planted the heel of his boot on the slope to keep from going with the car and began to pull.

All of a sudden there was a loud thud. The car vibrated, rocked once, and then the slide suddenly stalled.

Bowie looked up to see Jesse spread-eagled on the trunk of the car, putting all his weight on the back end to steady it.

“Hurry, Bowie!” Jesse yelled.

Bowie took him at his word and pulled her free. He fell backward with her in his arms just as the car began to slide again.

“Jump, Jesse!” Bowie yelled.

Jesse pushed himself backward as the car slid out from under him. He grabbed on to a tree as the car continued to slide before catching in more trees farther down.

Jesse crawled over to where Bowie was lying with Talia in his arms and threw his arms around his brother’s neck.

“You’re okay, Bowie. You’re okay,” Jesse said, then looked at Talia and gently patted her on the arm.

Bowie held on to Talia with one arm and grabbed his brother with the other.

“Jesse Youngblood, you are one awesome dude,” he said softly, hugging him tight.

“I have sharp eyes,” Jesse said.

Bowie started crying and hugged him again.

“You sure as hell do, little brother. You helped me save Talia’s life.”

Aidan was shouting at them from above, but Bowie couldn’t hear what he was saying. Moments later he heard a siren in the distance. And then another, and another.

Bowie looked at Jesse. “Help is coming,” he said. “Do you hear the sirens?”

Jesse nodded, then looked down at the knees of his jeans, and frowned at the dirt and tears.

“Mama’s gonna be mad I tore my jeans,” he muttered.

“No, she won’t. Not this time,” Bowie said. “I promise you, she won’t be mad.”

Leigh was pacing the floor. She had a bad feeling about what might have happened to Talia, and when she began to hear sirens, she ran outside.

The sirens were close, which wasn’t good, considering the short time her boys had been gone. She grabbed her cell phone from the hip pocket and was about to make a call when it rang in her hand. She jumped, saw it was from Aidan and was officially scared. She didn’t bother with hello.

“What’s wrong?” she cried.

“We found Talia. Her car went over the side of the cliff. Bowie went down to the wreck site, and before I could stop him, Jesse went, too.”

“Oh my God!” Leigh groaned. “Is Talia alive? Are the boys okay?”

“Talia is alive, but I don’t know how badly she’s hurt. Her car was partway down, hung up in some trees. While Bowie was pulling her out the window the car began to slide again. Jesse threw himself on top of the trunk to slow it down so Bowie had time to pull her free. I never saw anything like it, Mama. He may be slow, but in times of danger, his soldier instincts kick in. They’re still down there waiting for rescue to get to them.”

Leigh could hardly believe what she was hearing.

“I’m coming down. I won’t get in the way, but those are my children hanging on to the side of the mountain, and I need to be there.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Aidan said, and then saw the first rescue truck appear around the curve. “Oh, thank God. The first rescue unit is here. Gotta go.”

Leigh ran inside the house for her purse, tossed in the phone and pulled out her car keys. Moments later she was in her Jeep and heading for the main road. Never had she felt Stanton’s absence as strongly as she was feeling it now. They were all under attack, and it was turning into a blood feud.

“Oh, Stanton, this is just more of the madness related to your murder. I don’t know how this is going to turn out, but I’ll go down fighting for you and our children,” she said, and kept driving until she came up on the rescue vehicles blocking the road.

She got out, trying not to be overwhelmed by the panic she was feeling, and began moving through the crowd of men and vehicles looking for Aidan. When she saw him talking to Constable Riordan she headed straight toward them.

Aidan saw her coming.

“Mama’s here. You can ask her about all this.”

Riordan saw the look on her face as he turned around. She looked upset, bordering on enraged. Just as he thought she would stop to talk, she walked right past him and all the way to the edge of the road.

Aidan ran to catch up with her.

“Mama?”

She pointed at the men rappelling down the mountainside just below where they were standing.

“I can’t see Jesse or Bowie.”

“They’re lying down. See the top of Bowie’s head there, between that stump and that scrub brush?”

She looked again, then put a hand to her heart, as if to steady the beat.

“My God, yes, I see. Where’s Jesse?”

Aidan pulled her a few feet to the right and pointed again.

“See him there? Bowie has one arm around him and the other holding Talia.”

“Do you know how badly she’s hurt?”

“No, only that Bowie yelled that she was alive before he pulled her out.”

Leigh shoved her hands through her hair.

“I can’t believe this happened. Are they going to be able to recover Talia’s car?”

“Yes, ma’am. The wrecker crew is waiting until they have Talia in the ambulance before they get to work.”

Leigh looked out across the mountains to the valley below. Eden was down there somewhere beyond the trees, harboring a den of vipers. It was time to run the snakes out of Eden.

“I need to speak to Constable Riordan again.”

“He’s waiting to talk to you, too,” Aidan said. “Want me to go with you?”

“No, you stay here and watch out for Talia and your brothers.”

“Okay,” he said.

He’d seen that look on her face before. He recognized that take-charge attitude. Shit was about to hit the fan.

Leigh looked for the constable, then ran over to where he was standing.

“I need to talk to you,” she said.

“Yes, ma’am. Let’s step over here so we’re out of the way.”

She followed him a few yards uphill and then stopped.

“You saw Bowie’s pickup down the hill?”

“Yes, on the way up. Aidan said Bowie’s brakes went out.”

“I think they were tampered with, and the fact that Talia’s car went off the side of the mountain leads me to believe it was tampered with, too.”

“That’s a pretty far stretch, saying someone got access to both their vehicles and then they just happened to be driving up the mountain on the same day,” Riordan said.

“It’s not a stretch at all. Circumstance put both cars right beside each other today, and I’d bet money that’s where and when it happened. Talia buried her father this morning. Bowie went into Eden to be with her. Both cars must have been parked at her house, because the funeral home would have picked them up there to take them to the service.”

“Why do you automatically assume it was tampering?”

“Because a couple of days ago I had a run-in with my family. It wasn’t pretty. The bottom line is, when we went to leave, if it hadn’t been for Bowie’s quick thinking, Justin would have put a knife in my back. My boys took him down and took the knife away from him. He threatened to get even. He told all of us we would be sorry. And now this? There is no such thing as coincidence when it comes to those people.”

Riordan frowned. “Did you report the assault to Chief Clayton?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“They committed murder and are still living their privileged lives. With the incident being their word against ours? Why bother?”

Riordan frowned.

“I understand how you feel, and I hear your theory. But we still don’t know why Miss Champion’s car went over the cliff.”

“You don’t know yet, but you will find out. But by the time you do, something else will have happened. If anyone else in my family is harmed, or even threatened in any way, and the law still has done nothing, I will go to war with them. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

The hair rose on the back of Riordan’s neck. Leigh Youngblood had just given him fair warning.

“Okay, I hear you,” Riordan said. “I’ll have both vehicles towed into the county impound and get my crime scene team to check them out ASAP. And I’ll have Chief Clayton start investigating your accusation today.”

“Thank you,” Leigh said, and then heard a commotion and saw a lot of people beginning to gather at the edge of the road. “What’s happening?”

Riordan glanced over his shoulder.

“I’d say they were bringing up the injured woman. Excuse me. I need to be there,” he said, and hurried away.

Leigh followed, praying Talia’s injuries weren’t life-threatening. It would kill Bowie if anything happened to her now.

While all the confusion was happening up on the road, Bowie and Jesse were waiting for help to get down to them.

Initially, when the car had rolled away, leaving Talia in Bowie’s arms, he was more or less perpendicular to the slope. Desperate not to move Talia any more than he’d already been forced to, he dug in his heels to keep from sliding and dropped the rest of the way to the ground. His arms were beneath Talia’s breasts, and he had her head immobilized between his chin and his chest to brace her. He hadn’t moved since, except once to grab Jesse, and now they were stranded, waiting for someone to get Talia before they dared to move.

The sun was directly overhead and brutal. There was a bit of a breeze that high up, but not nearly enough. He needed to shade her face, but didn’t have anything.

“Hey, Jesse, do you have a handkerchief or a bandana in your pocket?”

“Got a yellow bandana.”

“Can you get to it without sliding away from me?”

Jesse moved enough to pull it out of his back pocket.

“Here it is!”

“Would you please unfold it all the way and then lay it over Talia’s face so she won’t get sunburned?”

“Yes, yes, I can do that,” Jesse said.

Still holding on to Bowie, he opened the bandana, then gently covered her face with it.

“That’s great,” Bowie said. “Thank you, brother. You’re really doing a good job.”

Jesse smiled. It was a smile of innocence that touched Bowie’s heart.

Bowie was relieved the sun was off her face, but he was concerned about her breathing, which didn’t sound good. There was a slight rattle to her breath every time she exhaled. He feared everything from internal bleeding to a deflated lung, and he was hanging on to each breath she took as his lifeline. He’d turned himself into a backboard to keep her as immobile as possible and just needed this hell to be over with. Sweat was burning his eyes, but he didn’t dare move.

Then he began to feel a change in her breathing and tried not to panic.

“Jesse, I think my girl is waking up, and we don’t want her to move until doctors can check her out, right?”

“Yes, sir. What do you want me to do?”

“I need you to scoot down beside me and just hug her legs a little so she can’t move around. Do you understand?”

“Yes, sir. I’m gonna hug your legs and hers, but not too tight.”

Bowie sighed in relief.

“Yes. Exactly. Go ahead now and scoot, but don’t ever turn loose of me, okay? I don’t want you to accidentally fall farther. Mama would be really angry with me if I brought you home hurt.”

“Won’t turn loose. Gonna hug your legs now,” Jesse said, and did just that.

Bowie breathed a sigh of relief when he felt the weight of Jesse’s arms across their legs, and it was none too soon. Within seconds Talia stiffened and let out a moan that tore through him. She began mumbling, but he didn’t understand until he listened closer.

“No brakes…no brakes…no brakes.”

Bowie groaned. His mother had been right.

“Talia, can you hear me, baby? You’re alive. I’m holding you in my arms.”

She moaned.

“Don’t move. You’re hurt, but help is on the way.”

She moaned again, then he heard her whisper, “Hurt…”

“I’m so sorry. Stay strong. Don’t die, baby, please don’t die. I love you so much.”

“Brakes,” she said again.

“I heard you. I’ll tell them. No brakes.”

She sighed.

He felt her body go limp again, and it scared him until he realized she had just passed out. He could also feel Jesse patting them. If love could heal, she would already be well.

“Thank you, Jesse. Thank you. You’re my hero, do you know that?”

“No more war. No more medals,” Jesse muttered.

“No. No more war. Just you and Mama on the mountain. How’s that for a good life?”

“Yes,” Jesse said. “Gotta take care of Mama.”

Bowie was struggling to wrap his head around the complexity of this whole damn mess as he looked up at the cloudless blue of the sky. He saw an eagle soaring high over the mountains and heard a faint screech before it flew out of sight, and he wished he could fly. They would already be off this mountain if he could.

When he began to hear voices, he knew the rescue unit was close.

“Are you okay, Jesse?” Bowie asked.

“I’m okay,” Jesse said, still following orders.

Still holding on.

Then all of a sudden rescuers were swarming the area. They put a cervical collar on Talia to keep her neck immobile, checked her vitals and then moved her to a backboard. As soon as she was in their hands, Bowie rolled over onto his knees to help them steady her. They put her and the backboard into a caged lift basket and signaled the rescuers above that she was good to go.

Jesse was strangely silent, which worried Bowie, but it was too late to change what had happened. All he could do was pray the incident didn’t throw his brother into an episode of PTSD. He needed to get Jesse home safely, and he also needed to be at the hospital with Talia. Once again, he was torn between his heart and his responsibilities.

Once Talia was on the way up they strapped Jesse and Bowie into rappelling gear to steady them should they slip and began pulling them up, too. Bowie couldn’t climb up fast enough, but he wouldn’t go ahead of his little brother.

When they finally reached the top, it was with a huge sigh of relief. The ambulance was already on the way to the hospital with Talia onboard, and Leigh was waiting for them with open arms. She had Jesse in a fierce embrace when Bowie reached the top. The minute she saw him, she hugged him, too, pulling her oldest and her youngest as close as she could get them.

Her voice was shaking when she said, “You two scared me, but I’m very proud of you.”

“Is Aidan still here?” Bowie asked.

“No. Leslie called while they were loading Talia into the ambulance. She was on her way to the ER with Johnny. She said his lip wouldn’t stop bleeding and probably needed stitches after all. Aidan left to meet them there.”

“Poor little guy,” Bowie said.

“Johnny will cry,” Jesse said, and frowned.

“Yes, but his mommy and daddy will make him better,” Leigh said.

Jesse put his arms around Leigh.

“Like you make us better. I am a man, Mama. I won’t scare you again.”

Leigh just shook her head and hugged both of them again as Riordan approached.

Bowie gave his mom a quick pat and shifted his attention to Riordan. “Was Talia okay when they got her topside?”

“Yes. They had her stabilized before transport,” Riordan said.

“You need to know that she said her brakes went out,” Bowie said.

Leigh moaned, thinking how close she’d come to losing both Bowie and Talia.

“That does it,” she said.

Riordan glanced at Leigh. The calm tone of her voice was deceiving, because the look in her eyes was frightening. It was the first time he saw the resemblance between her and her twin, Justin.

“I told you,” Leigh muttered, then handed Bowie her keys. “Jesse and I will walk home. It’s not far, and you need to be with Talia. You’re all the family she has now. Be careful today, and know that this won’t happen to any of my family again.”

Riordan flinched. “Now, Mrs. Youngblood…Leigh…don’t do anything you’ll regret. Jesse needs you with him, not behind bars.”

She ignored him and spoke to Bowie again.

“Call me as soon as you know something. We’ll say prayers. She will be well. I believe that for you.”

“Will I be able to take the truck and get it fixed?” Bowie asked.

Riordan shook his head.

“No, I’m going to have both vehicles towed so my crime scene team can look for signs of tampering. I know what’s been said, but you know where I stand. I have to go by the letter of the law, and facts are what will stand up in court.”

“What about Chief Clayton?” Leigh asked.

“I’m going to call him right now and have him interview the other residents on Ms. Champion’s block. Maybe we’ll get lucky and find a witness.”

Bowie looked down at his clothes.

“Mama, you and Jesse get in the car. I can’t go to the ER with all this blood on me, and I’m not driving off and leaving the both of you to walk home. I’ll get to the hospital soon enough. Jesse and I did all we could for her. It’s up to God and the doctors now.”

Riordan walked away to call Henry Clayton as Bowie took his family home.

Chief Clayton was coming out of the courthouse when his cell phone rang. He glanced at the caller ID and frowned.

“Hello, Constable, what can I do for you?” Clayton asked.

Riordan didn’t waste time getting to the point.

“We’ve had an incident up on the mountain near Stanton Youngblood’s home. The brakes on Bowie’s truck went out. He managed to stop it before it wrecked. Talia Champion was about a half hour behind him when her brakes went out, too. She went over the cliff. She’s alive, but that’s all I know.”

The hair stood up on the back of Clayton’s neck. He knew without Riordan saying anything that the Wayne family was somehow involved.

“That’s terrible. I’m assuming you called to do more than fill me in.”

“Leigh Youngblood had another run-in with her twin. He was about to put a knife in her back when her boys stopped him. According to her, he threatened all of them and told her he’d get even. She swears he’s responsible.”

“But-”

“Hear me out. You know where Miss Champion lives?”

“Yes.”

“Both vehicles were parked at her house this morning while she and Bowie were at her father’s funeral. I need you to do a door to door down that block and see if you can get me an eyewitness to someone messing around her house.”

“Will do. I’ll start first thing tomorrow morn-”

“No. Today. Please. No more delays. We could have another body next time instead of a hospital patient.”

Clayton’s shoulders slumped. Shit. He was about to wind up in Mad Jack Wayne’s crosshairs again. “I’ll give you a call if I find out anything.”

“I appreciate it,” Riordan said, and disconnected.

He was still at the site of the wreck when the tow company began pulling Talia Champion’s car up the mountain. Behind him, Bowie was in his mother’s Jeep, weaving his way past the rescue units on his way into Eden.