Nash: A Rough Romance by Piper Stone (book series for 12 year olds txt) 📕

“Well, you are now.”

Much too late. I’d lost track of time as well as my responsibilities as a son and grandson. Some kind of asshole I’d turned out to be. Certainly not good enough for a woman like Mitch. I bit back a laugh. As if I knew her that well. More important, we weren’t in a relationship.

I continued the drive, another thirty minutes of quiet passing, allowing the good memories regarding my grandfather to flow in my mind, as well as extreme sadness. I had to honor him in some way.

At least the drive was significantly shorter. We had to be getting close.

Scorpion leaned forward, constantly scanning both sides of the road. “Did she tell you anything about the location of the truck?”

“She thought she walked about a mile and a half before reaching my cabin. I would say no more than a mile. She wasn’t dressed for traipsing through the snow.” As expected, the recent heavy snowfall had covered up anything that could have confirmed the assholes had even been hunting.

“It’s going to be a damn longshot at best.”

“I know.”

As I neared the last turnoff for the cabin, I slowed down to a crawl, scanning the woods. I knew the usual slick spots, ones that were usually blinding for those who didn’t know the area. One of them was coming up. When I eased the truck to a stop, Scorpion glanced in my direction. I pulled the Glock from under my seat.

“I don’t see a damn thing.”

I gave him a look before getting out of the truck, scanning the one side of the road. This would be the logical place she’d run off the road, maybe a little more than a half mile from my place. She would have taken this turn instead of continuing up the mountain. Plus, if the assholes found her truck, that would lead him to the cabin.

As I shifted closer to the woods, a sliver of sunlight streamed in through the tree canopy. I listened for any sounds that the assholes might have either stuck around or come back hoping to find something. There was nothing but quiet. Too damn quiet. I continued for several feet, keeping the gun firmly planted in both hands. Maybe I was wrong, but I could swear there was a single glint of something metallic. I heard the sound of the door opening and closing, Scorpion following me.

“Do you see anything?” he called.

“Not yet.” I kept going, knowing that if she’d hit the dip in the road it could have been icy enough to toss her down this way. While the sunlight was now blocked, I continued in the direction, finally noticing several broken limbs. Within another thirty feet, I found the truck resting against a tree. I didn’t need to examine every tire to realize all four had been slashed, the glass cracked from two gunshots, likely the ones I’d heard before we’d left.

“The fuckers found the truck,” he said, huffing as he came up behind me.

“That’s how they found Mitch.” I took long strides toward it, yanking open the door and peering inside. It had been tossed as I expected. Even the seat had been cut, the bastards looking everywhere.

“Fuck, man. We’re not going to find anything. My guess is she destroyed the axle.”

“That’s exactly what she said,” I mused, shaking my head. The girl had many talents.

I thought about what she’d told me, finding the lever for the seat and pushing the front down as far as it would go. What few belongings she’d brought with her had been dumped out, the clothes strewn behind the seat. I glared at the back of it, unable to find whatever pocket she was talking about.

“What are you looking for?”

“Check for a pocket on the back of the passenger seat.”

Scorpion snorted but headed to the other side, jerking open the door and feeling the back of the seat. “There’s nothing to find.”

“Just check. She’s one smart girl.” After almost a full minute, I was about ready to give up. Then I noticed he’d pulled out a pocketknife, using the edge to peel away what looked like duct tape.

“Yeah, you’re right. Mitch knew what she was doing. It’s not a pocket, but where one of the manufacturing tags is.” When he held up two jump drives, a grin popped on his face. “She was able to secure it with tape somehow. It was hidden in plain sight.”

“Christ.” I swallowed hard, bile remaining in my throat. “Let’s grab some of her things then get to the cabin.”

I loathed the fact there was no cell phone coverage on the mountain, at least in the dead of winter. I felt an even more urgent need to get back to her and find out what the sheriff had discovered. I was antsy as hell as we drove up toward the cabin. I didn’t need to bother looking inside. They’d likely trashed the place. The front door was wide open.

“Take it easy,” Scorpion said before pulling his weapon from his jacket and checking the ammunition.

Scorpion got out first, taking long strides but pushing his back against the siding. He darted his head inside, holding the gun in front of him then shook his head.

I eased out of the truck, glancing inside the woodshed. They hadn’t bothered with searching inside from what I could tell. There were no tire track marks, so the fuckers hadn’t been here since the main storm. As I moved onto the porch, a fleeting memory of seeing Mitch’s face for the first time shifted into my mind. I certainly didn’t need to go down memory lane right now. When I headed closer to the door, I heard Scorpion’s exclamation.

“Whew. Well, they did a fine job of creating a fucking mess.”

As I walked inside, anger boiled from deep within. Everything had been smashed or tossed over. They knew what they were looking for all right.

“Is this blood?” Scorpion asked as he hunkered down, wetting