Ride and Die (Ridgemore #1)

19 The Bonds of Family Run Thicker than Blood

19

The Bonds of Family Run Thicker than Blood

L ayla stood over me, squeezing my back repetitively in a way that suggested she didn’t even notice she was doing it. I sat on the shoulder of the road, an injured Bobo cradled in my lap, my body numb everywhere—especially my heart. I was afraid to let it loose from the temporary prison I’d hastily constructed for it. I feared what I might feel. Griffin had told me he loved me for the first time in all the many years we’d shared together as friends, and I hadn’t said it back. I’d let him go over the edge of the mountain without those final words.

Now, there was no guarantee I’d ever get the chance to tell him how I felt. I didn’t know if I’d ever see the guy I was now wholly convinced I actually did love. When I wasn’t worried about ruining the friendships that meant everything to me in the world, it all became so simple. I fucking loved the shit out of Griffin Conway .

He lay close to the bottom of a crazy steep ravine, his car upside down, not a peep coming from the scene beyond the occasional creak or groan of the vehicle shifting.

“Are you sure he’s down there?” Hunt asked from where he stood at the edge of the shoulder, peering down into the dark.

All that was visible of Clyde was whatever the slice of moon illuminated here and there. It occasionally glinted across the Mustang’s undercarriage, a weaving of pipes and chrome that was too reminiscent of guts spilling from a body. I couldn’t look anymore.

When I didn’t answer Hunt, he turned to study me. “It’s possible he jumped before the car went off the road.”

As soon as I flagged them down, Brady, Hunt, and Layla had swarmed out of Bonnie. I’d kept my shit together long enough to run down the most pertinent information as quickly as I could. Griffin’s life hung in the balance of whatever choices we made.

“Is it possible he managed to jump before the car went over?” I repeated aloud, thinking it through some more, even though it was all I’d been able to think about. “Yeah, sure. I wasn’t aware of anything beyond trying to keep Bobo safe and my bones from breaking till I stopped rolling. But then I called for him right away.” I gulped. “He didn’t answer.”

He hadn’t answered any of us. It was the first thing the three of them had done after my machine-gun-fire fast update. We’d shouted for him until our voices cracked.

“I’m gonna walk back up the road,” Hunt said. “See if he’s in the brush off to the side.”

“No point,” Layla said, her voice somber as a deflated party balloon. “Brady went back that way. He for sure would’ve been keeping his eyes peeled. If he’d spotted Griff, he would’ve honked to let us know.”

The five of us rarely went anywhere without our iPhones. When we weren’t together, we kept in constant contact with each other. If our parents weren’t assholes who tracked our every move, and we’d had our phones on us like usual, we would have been able to call for help. Instead, my insides were tied into knots so tight I could hardly pull in a full breath.

Brady had driven off to the closest sign of civilization to call emergency services. We could hardly remain within the town limits of Ridgemore and be any farther removed from people. Of course, that had been the whole point of coming out to Raven’s Lagoon, which was just a few more turns away.

“I’m still gonna go,” Hunt said. “I can’t just stand here and do nothing. I’m losing my fucking mind.”

I stared up at him, wanting to offer him comfort, but found none to give.

“Brady’ll be back soon,” Layla said, though she didn’t sound convinced it would be soon enough. “How long’s he been gone, anyway?”

None of us knew. We didn’t wear watches; we usually had our phones.

Hunt wove both hands into his hair and tugged hard, grunting like a feral animal, something I’d never seen him do. “It’s been too fucking long. It feels like he’s been gone for hours.”

It had probably only been a few minutes.

“You know Brade’ll be driving like fucking hellhounds are on his bumper,” Layla said. “He’ll get help out here as fast as humanly possible.”

“That’s the thing,” Hunt said, staring once more into the darkness of the ravine below. Desperation pinched every one of his features. “Humans aren’t fast enough.”

“We might not even be human,” Layla whispered.

“I’m counting on that now,” I said, running a soothing hand along Bobo’s back. He’d finally stopped whimpering. I was so relieved he’d survived the jump that I didn’t want to let him go. He wasn’t asking to go anywhere, heavy and limp across my lap.

I clenched my jaw with resolve. “If Brady could come back from what happened to him, then Griffin can come back from this.” A shiver ran through me, making my body jolt, and Bobo complained. I kissed him on the top of the head, then whispered, “He has to. Griff has to survive this. He fucking has to. He just fucking has to.”

For several moments, none of us said anything. The chirping of insects from the heavy foliage increased in volume, setting me further on edge.

I covered Bobo’s ears, then yelled with all I had. “ Griffin! ”

Though we’d called and called for him already, Layla didn’t hesitate to follow my lead. We shouted until the night around us quieted, until Hunt again said, “I’m gonna climb down.”

“No, Hunt, no,” Layla said, not for the first time. “It’s too steep and too dark. And Clyde’s like a hundred feet down. We’ve got no equipment, no rope, nothing.”

“I gotta try something. What if he needs us right now?”

He didn’t complete his thought, but I registered what he didn’t say just the same. What if Griff is down there dying and we’re playing it safe?

“Hunt,” Layla said firmly. “We can’t risk you too. You could slip and fall too easily.”

When Hunt’s mouth only settled into determined lines, she added, “Griff wouldn’t want you to risk your own life to save his.”

“Maybe not. But isn’t that what we do for each other? We’re fucking family , Lay, and I’m not gonna stand here for another second scratching my damn ass while my brother’s down there alone, needing me.”

“He’s right,” I said.

Layla circled around me just to better frown down at me. I’d been the first to suggest it was too dangerous to climb down to Griffin’s aid. The only safe way down was to rappel, and we needed harnesses and a rope for that.

I no longer gave a single, lonely fuck.

With Bobo in my arms, I slowly stood, doing what I could to hide my wince as sharp pain shot through my left leg and into my hip. A smattering of twinkling stars danced in my vision before I blinked them away. Breathing deeply, I waited for the pain to pass as I steadied myself.

“You’d better not be thinking what I think you’re thinking,” Layla growled.

“I’m going down with Hunt.”

“Like hell you are. Woman, you can barely stand!”

“Maybe, but I’ll live, and we need to get down to Griff, like right the fuck now.”

“No, girl, not like this. If you can’t fucking stand, you can’t fucking climb. Don’t be stupid.”

Ordinarily, I’d want to bitch-slap the crap out of her for using the word stupid anywhere near me. But she was right, and I knew it. It was just that I didn’t care anymore.

“Take care of Bobo till I get back.”

Layla dodged Bobo to flatten a hand against my chest. Her fingers were light across my breastbone, but her wide-legged stance told me she wasn’t going to let me climb anywhere.

“We all want Griff well and safe. But what happens when we get him back and then you’ve gone and fallen to your fucking death ’cause you’re hurt now? He’ll fucking murder us for not having stopped you.”

I scowled and readjusted Bobo’s weight, trying to find a position that put less pressure on my leg. Every which way hurt, and I could tell my sweet boy was in pain too.

“Griffin knows as well as you that no one tells me what to do,” I said, trying to figure how I’d actually manage the climb when my body wasn’t working right. “I do what I want.”

“True,” Layla conceded. “But you’re not an idiot, Joss. Don’t start acting like one now.”

“Lay,” Hunt interjected. “You help me as I go down. Joss can walk up the road with Bobo, searching in the brush on Griff’s driver’s side.”

Quickly, he glanced from her to me. Layla and I nodded.

“Good,” he grunted. “Let’s go.” He stared down the ravine as if memorizing what he could make out in the dark. Next, he got down onto all fours, then his stomach, and started inching back into the void behind him.

My heart shot into my throat, lodging there, making it hard to swallow. I croaked out, “Hunt, don’t you fucking dare fall. I’ll kick your ass if you do.”

I might love Griffin in a way that transcended friendship, but I loved Hunt too. I loved them all. I couldn’t lose a single one of them. I wouldn’t .

Ordinarily, Hunt would have chuckled or ribbed me back. Instead, his handsome face, drawn into somber lines, its planes more severe than usual in the long dark shadows, settled into determination.

“I’m serious, Hunt,” I said. “I need you to come back from this.”

“I know, Joss. Trust me, I know. We’ll all be back together soon.”

“You won’t keep going down if it doesn’t feel safe?” I pressed.

Layla snorted, but it wasn’t her usual sarcastic sound. She was pissed, more at the situation than at Hunt, I’d guess. “Safe? Nothing about this is fucking safe. A nearly straight-down climb on rock that’s probably slick as fuck? And when it’s not straight up-and-down rock, then it’s covered in fallen leaves that are probably slick as fuck. And in the dark, no less? Yeah, not safe, not at all.”

“I’ll be fine,” Hunt said, already inching backward over the edge’s lip. “You know me, I can climb anything.”

That much was true. Dude was like a monkey. But that was the whole point—he was only like a monkey. He was in zero-drop sneakers, not feet with opposable thumbs.

I stared at him, willing myself to find the right thing to say or do. To make the right decisions. I wasn’t sure this was the correct one, but the alternative definitely felt wrong. We couldn’t just wait when we might be able to do something to help Griffin. Anything was better than nothing, wasn’t it?

“Joss, go,” Hunt said, snapping me into action. Usually I’d be the first to do whatever was needed.

Limping away a few steps, I stopped and whirled back around before Hunt dipped entirely out of view. “Hey, Hunt.”

“Yeah?”

“I love you, you know?”

“Yeah, I do. I love you too, Joss.”

Before this night, none of us had ever exchanged I love you s. I didn’t think even Layla and Brady had, and they were actual siblings. But I’d made the mistake of not telling Griffin, and if I did anything, I learned from my mistakes.

“You too, Lay,” I said. “I love your snarky ass.”

She smiled at me, but it was a ghost of her usual jovial expression. “Ditto, girl. Now go find Griffin.”

Numbly, I nodded, pointing myself back up the winding mountain road, hugging Bobo tightly to my chest, limping as I studied the brush for any sign that Griffin could have jumped into it. I searched for bent branches, flattened grass, anything at all that would tell me he wasn’t in Clyde, upside down near the bottom of the ravine.

Though it was dark, I was certain I wasn’t missing anything of importance. I found nothing that helped. Nothing to make me hopeful.

When sirens finally cut through the night, tears stung the back of my eyeballs.

“Help’s coming, boy,” I told Bobo, kissing him on the ear and turning to head back to where I’d left Hunt and Layla. I needed to be there when emergency services arrived, and I was moving much slower than usual.

Pain and relief merged to create a heady mixture. Every step I took required every bit of my attention, lest I crumple before I could get there. Bobo whined a bit, but I had no more soothing to offer him.

I focused only on moving one foot after the other, keeping the dog and myself upright.

The sirens wailed louder, closer, and when I turned to look, blue and red flashing lights colored the night. Another shudder raced through me as I walked on.

When the sirens were nearly upon me, Brady slammed on the brakes in Bonnie, sliding to a stop beside me. He didn’t say a word, nor did I, before I hobbled to the passenger’s side and got in. Within seconds, he floored it again, still ahead of the parade of emergency vehicles. He must have indeed driven like a bat out of hell to get a response here so quickly. To us it had felt like a small eternity, but I had no doubt he’d broken every speed limit and most laws on his way to get help.

I sat gingerly on the leather seat, not bothering with a seat belt, and readied myself to jump out the second Brady pulled to a stop.

“Any update?” he eventually asked.

“No.” Disappointment made the one word heavy. “None. Hunt’s climbing down to try to help. Layla’s got his back.”

I hoped. Brady must have thought the same as he tensed beside me, his fingers like vises around the steering wheel.

“I was looking in the brush, just in case. But nothing. I think he went over in Clyde.”

Tersely, he nodded.

When Bonnie’s headlights shone over the shoulder with the trampled foliage, Layla was standing at the edge, waving her arms to signal this was the spot. Brady slowed, then parked far enough away to leave room for the ambulance.

I couldn’t fully hide my grimace as I rose from my seat, exiting the car, and before I’d managed to steady myself on my feet, Brady was there, arms extended.

“Here, let me take Bobo.”

Blankly I nodded, handing over my pittie who was groggy from pain and exhaustion. Brady hugged him close, then stalked over to his twin sister while I staggered behind him.

“How’s Hunt doing?” he asked before I could.

“Fine,” Layla answered, resuming her position at the cliff’s edge. “He’s about given me a heart attack a few times, but he’s almost at the car.”

Brady looked into the ravine. “I can’t see him.”

“I know. But keep watching. When the moon hits just right, you’ll see him.”

The rhythmic whirring of a helicopter sliced through the looping sirens. My relief was so intense I stumbled to the ground beside my friends and plopped onto my butt.

“Hold on, Griff,” I breathed to no one but myself. “Help is here. Just hold on a little longer.”

I prayed it wasn’t too late—and if it was, that our traitorous parents were telling the truth for once, and we weren’t ordinary humans.

Right about then, I’d kiss every one of the lying bastards smack on the mouth if only they’d be right about us.

Come on, Griff, be something paranormal. Live for me.

The first of the emergency vehicles crunched to a halt beside me.