One of Six (Den Hollows #1)

37. Ridge

37

RIDGE

What the hell am I doing?

Sweat runs down my back as I wipe it from my forehead. Those bastards have my little brother. Not that I'd ever call him that to his face. I mean, my brother has been having more sex than me lately. And all thanks to his girlfriend's underage best friend who has me tangled in knots. I don’t want anyone else. Did I want to fall in love with an innocent? Hell, no!

Shaking off these thoughts, I quickly take cover in the trees. This is the place my brothers came to with the feds. It's the only place I can think of where they have Essex. The feds can't come in without a search warrant. I don't need one.

What I do need is a plan, something I should have thought about before I snuck into this dead zone.

I quickly scurry around a tree when I hear a rustling behind me. Their footsteps grow closer even though they're trying to move quietly.

Out of the corner of my eye I catch a movement and jump to defend myself. It's only at the last second that I realize who it is, and I avoid wrestling her to the ground.

I wrap my arms around her in a tight embrace and cover her mouth with a hand. Her frightened eyes catch mine and she collapses against my chest, her heart racing as fast as mine.

"Jailbait," I hiss. "How are you here?" I slowly remove my hand from over her mouth.

"Bea sent me a note about Essex. She thought they might come for me too. I thought I'd be safer with everyone in Den Hollows."

"This isn't Den Hollows. You have to leave."

"I'm not leaving you." She stomps a foot, her arms crossed in front of her as one hip juts out.

I grin. "Babe, I don't have time for your sexy attitude."

"You think I'm sexy!"

I roll my eyes and take her hand, pulling her along with me, "You are going to be the death of me."

"I thought about stabbing you in your sleep when you called me by her name."

That stops me in my tracks as the pain I hear in her voice hits me in the chest. "I knew exactly who climbed into my bed, Violet. You scared the hell out of me, and I had to get you out of my bed before I did what I desperately wanted to do, which was take you. You were warm and naked in my bed, just like I dream about all the time." I sigh. "I knew it was you from the moment you walked into my room. I'm sorry I let you think otherwise."

"Oh!” Pause. “So, um, you do like me, right?"

I squeeze her hand, knowing it's a bad idea to continue this conversation; not only that, but it's too dangerous for her to be here with me. I don't answer and say, "Essex is here and I need a plan.”

"I could knock on the door and say I'm lost. Act stupid."

"One, we don't know what's behind those trees, and two, you're not going to face those assholes. No way."

"But..."

I stop and pull her close, holding her face in my hands. "Bea warned you that they could come after you. I'm not turning you over to those assholes. In fact, you need to leave. Now."

"No one's leaving," a voice says.

I push Violet behind me, only to have someone grab her. She kicks and screams as I lunge for her. Two thugs hold me back. "Get your hands off her!"

"She's a bitch," the guy hisses.

Violet kicks him in the shins, causing a string of curses to come out of his mouth.

"Don’t hurt the girl," Richard says, suddenly appearing. "Take her to Essex."

As soon as we're pushed into a dark room, I reach for Violet and hold her close. I drop my face into her neck and inhale the apple scent coming from her hair.

I look up and meet my brother's gaze. He comes closer and puts a hand on my shoulder. I can't bring myself to let go of Violet, who is shaking.

"You came to save me, didn't you?" Essex says.

I lift my face from Violet. "I'm an idiot."

"You're only an idiot because you brought Violet."

"He didn't bring me. I followed him," Violet mumbles against my chest.

Essex looks between us and frowns. "There's no way out of here. I've looked." He paces while my eyes land on a wooden table and two chairs along with a sofa.

Holding on to Violet, I sit down and pull her onto my lap. Jailbait doesn't just sit; she wiggles around and ends up astride me, her face buried in my neck. It takes me a moment, but then I grab one hip with a hand and the back of her head with the other. I catch a groan as she hits my erection. "Stay still," I whisper.

Essex stops pacing and watches us with a raised brow. "What the hell are you two doing?" he asks, his tone laced with amusement.

I clear my throat, trying to ignore the way Violet's body is pressed against mine and concentrate on finding a way out of our predicament. "They want Mrs. Lincoln's phone, right? Bea was getting it when I left." I pause. "What I don't understand is why would Lincoln do this with the FBI involved? It doesn't make sense."

“He must have an exit plan. The only thing that makes sense,” Essex says.

"Does that mean he's not going to jail?" Violet asks.

"He killed his wife. He's going to jail for that at least, providing I’m not right about him running," I say. "I want to know what is going on here. Why are there armed men here? Is this place the reason Dad and others have disappeared or died? I want answers, Essex. It's time we had them, don't you think?"

"We have to get out of here first, but I don't know how."

"We have to trust that the others will come for us. My parents will be looking for me too." Violet gasps. "Oh! That's not going to end well, is it?"

"Hey, Jailbait, we'll get out of here before anything happens to them."

"You can't say that, Ridge." She drops her forehead to mine. "We're in a bit of a pickle, aren't we?"

I can't help myself and grin. "Pickle, huh?"

Tears well up in her eyes. "Come here, Violet." I tug her gently until she settles against my chest. "Everything's going to be okay." I meet my brother's worried gaze.