Yolo (Carter Brothers #7)

Chapter 2

You’re acting weird. First of all, I’m not acting.

— Garrett to Gable

GARRETT

1 ⒈／⒉ years ago

“ You ever done this part of the hike before?” I asked Gable .

Gable and I were in Colorado for a family vacation.

The rest of our family had come, too, but it’d only been me and Gable willing to do this hike.

The rest of them were all hiked out from the last week of hikes.

Gable and I had wanted to come on this one in particular, so after we’d finished the hike this morning and eaten lunch, we’d decided to do this one before we left in the morning.

The others had stayed at the house with the promise of cooking dinner.

I hadn’t minded.

I didn’t get to spend as much time with Gable as I used to before he’d met his wife, Athena .

Not that I had any hard feelings against her.

I loved Athena .

I loved that she made my brother happy.

I also loved that she was there for him when he’d been shot a few months ago and we thought he wasn’t going to make it.

All because of me.

I had a hit put out on me months ago thanks to a new gang leader taking over the Breakers gang. Apparently , the new leader didn’t like that I’d fooled him when I was undercover years ago, and he made that known by telling everyone in his gang that if they saw me, to kill me.

Only , what they thought was me was actually my brother.

Gable was okay now.

Though , at one point, we didn’t think he would be.

I knew it wasn’t my fault.

That didn’t make my heart hurt any less, though, when I thought about my brother taking a bullet meant for me.

“ No ,” Gable said. “ The last time I did this, this part was closed because of snowfall.”

Same for me. I’d been so damn bummed that I couldn’t finish the hike, but risking life and limb wasn’t something I was willing to do for a recreational activity.

“ Same ,” I said.

My brother and I liked to hike.

We traveled all over the place when we were in the military together, finding hikes all over the world to hit up when we had the time.

Colorado , being the closest to Dallas with great hiking, was our go-to hiking location when we wanted to hit up something close.

“ Watch that. It’s a little slippery,” I said, pointing at a rock that’d shifted underneath my weight.

My brother didn’t reply in thanks, though, because he’d stopped.

I turned to look down at him, and his eyes were squinty.

He got like that when he was concentrating.

“ What’s that?” Gable asked after a few long moments.

I tilted my head and frowned, my gaze searching around and finding nothing.

“ What ?” I finally asked, thinking he’d seen an animal of some kind.

“ Shh , listen,” he urged, holding up his hand almost abruptly.

I did and could faintly hear the sound of a woman crying, calling out for help.

Hysterically .

“ Shit ,” I said as I hurried up the trail. “ Where’s Boss when I need him?”

Boss was my K -9 partner at DPD — Dallas Police Department .

We’d been together for years now, and he was ultimately one of my best friends.

I didn’t bring him with me on any hikes lately, due mainly to the injury he’d received a few weeks ago during a call that had sprained a ligament in his left leg.

The woman wasn’t hard to find, though.

It took us another four hundred meters or so—me all out sprinting up the mountain—to get to her.

What I saw had my heart leaping out of my chest.

She was a tiny little thing, probably around five-foot-four or so, and she was backed up against a rock with a deathly pale look on her face. A face that was covered in blood.

“ Shhh , shh,” I said as I slid to a stop in front of her. “ I’m here.”

Her head whipped around, and the way she was looking at me had my heartbeat accelerating.

Like she couldn’t see me.

“ What happened?” I asked, catching her hand once I’d looped my arm out of the strap of my backpack.

“ R -rock s-slide,” she whispered, voice hoarse from all the yelling. “ Rock came down the mountain and hit me on the head.”

Gable came to a stop beside me, finally catching up, and noted all the issues at once.

“ When did it happen?” I asked as I started to pull out the first aid kit I carried with me everywhere.

I’d learned my lesson when I’d been sliced across the face with a door being slammed on me when a suspect had tried to get away during a traffic stop.

I’d subdued the suspect after throwing myself through his open window.

Meanwhile , after I had him set up in my back seat, I’d had nothing to stop the blood from gushing from my face.

The one good thing that I could say was that we were in the middle of Dallas , and it took the ambulance no time to get to me.

But now, I made sure to have it, no matter what.

“ Can you pull out a couple of four-by-four pads, please?” I tossed the kit to Gable .

“ Sure ,” he said as he started digging.

I would try not to freak out at his destruction of my medical kit later.

“ Where did it hit you?” I asked as I took stock of her wounds.

To do that, I had to get closer to her than she was probably comfortable with, but she didn’t react at all to having my chest practically pressed against her face as I checked her head wound out.

She lifted up her hand, and it caught my side, causing her to jolt. “ Oh , you’re close.”

I frowned as I went back to my haunches and looked into her eyes.

That’s when I noticed that both pupils were blown.

Shit .

“ Can you see me?” I asked as I waved a hand in front of her.

Her lip started to quiver when she said, “ N -no.”

A single word that had the power to make me want to fuck something up.

“ Shit ,” I said. “ How long ago did this happen?”

She drew in a deep breath before saying, “ Over an hour ago, at least. I don’t even have my phone to check the time because Joseph was carrying it in his bag.”

“ You couldn’t get down the mountain on your own.” I winced as I thought about what kind of terror that had been. “ Shit .”

“ I wasn’t alone when it happened,” she admitted. “ I was with my boyfriend and his family. But they thought I was okay and that they could just finish the hike up really quick then help me back down.”

My mouth nearly dropped to the uneven gravel underneath me.

“ You’re joking,” I said as Gable produced the pads.

“ Not even a little,” she said. “ When I told them I couldn’t see, they laughed and started going again. At first, I thought they were just joking—they’re complete assholes, but I didn’t think that they were that bad—but then I could no longer hear his sister’s radio anymore. He’d really left me. Alone . Right here on the side of the mountain, and I couldn’t see.”

Her words made me feel hollow.

How could someone leave her alone like this?

“ I’ll get you down,” I promised her. “ For now, let’s press this to your head to stop the bleeding.”

“ Okay .” She shrugged, her knees still up high to her chest.

The head wound was still oozing blood, but it looked like it’d coagulated enough to move her.

So after pressing gauze to her head and then wrapping it with vet wrap to hold it in place, I said, “ I’ll carry you. Are you ready?”

Gable took my bag, strapping it to his front instead of his back since his was still in place, and nodded at me.

“ Yes ,” she whimpered. “ Please . I’m ready to be off this mountain. It’s downright terrifying to be up here.”

I imagined so.

Just the mere thought of falling off because you can’t see sent shivers coursing down my spine.

“ I think on my back would be best,” I said. “ That okay with you? It’ll give you something to hold on to.”

“ I don’t care if you throw me over your shoulder as long as you get me down.” She tried to smile, but it was weak.

I wouldn’t be doing that.

But I did help her to stand, and then turned and crouched.

“ I’m right in front of you. Lean forward,” I urged.

Her delicate hand pressed to my shoulder, then she moved so that she was lying over my back.

I caught both of her arms and looped them around my neck, then said, “ I’m going to reach for your thigh now. Hold on to my neck, okay?”

Seconds later, she was on my back, and we were moving.

The hike had taken us an hour so far, but the way down was always easier.

I usually didn’t have an extra hundred and thirty pounds on my back, though.