Jake cleared his throat. “So, you think he’s safe to be around the women, and Graysie?”
Grayson gave it a moment’s thought before answering, “I’d say so. He seems pretty harmless. But he’s not going to stay here. He’s got a home, and he’s got Jenny there to keep him company.”
“That’s the reason I asked you. I didn’t want to mention this earlier in front of anyone, but he’s got a young woman over there that’s not his sister, or family, and she’s around his age, and he mentioned to me he liked to touch her hair, so it sounds like he’s sweet on her. You’d think she’d be meeting his er… needs.”
Grayson rubbed his jaw. His sore tooth was starting up again. In the excitement of Jake arriving, he’d forgotten it. Or maybe the pain had dulled, but it was roaring now. “I’m not sure he has those kinds of needs. He’s really like a kid—in a man’s body. He might not be playing with a full deck, but he doesn’t have a mean bone in his body. And he’s still an innocent. I think kissing is about as far as he’d go. He probably has no idea there is anything further than that.”
“I don’t know about that,” Jake answered. “When we came up the road today, I saw him first, before he saw me. He was sitting against a tree at the edge of your property.” Jake stopped, covering his embarrassment with a half-smile. “He had his britches down.”
Grayson shrugged. “Maybe he was taking a shit?”
Jake shook his head. “No, man. He was beating that thing like it owed him money.”
Grayson wrinkled his nose and cringed. “Oh no. I could’ve lived without that scene in my head. Seriously? In my yard?”
He and Jake both laughed out loud, but really, it worried Grayson. Maybe that girl—Jenny—wasn’t so safe there after all. Puck might be child-like in his head, but physically, he was a big man. Having urges and not understanding them could be dangerous. It might be best if Jenny came over and stayed with them, especially now they had other women here, until Puck’s mama came home.
Still, he hadn’t made an attempt to meet her yet, and Puck hadn’t offered to introduce him. He’d need to move that up as a priority; maybe in the morning.
Jake cocked his head. “Did you hear that?”
“I heard something. Maybe an owl?” Grayson answered.
“Ozzie,” Puck yelled from behind the house. “Ozzie!”
Jake and Grayson stood up and ran off the porch, and around the house, just in time to see Ozzie take off like a bat out of hell through the field behind the house, with Puck following behind.
“Grab your gun, Grayson! I’ll follow them,” Jake yelled as he took off in pursuit.
31
GRAYSIE RAN like the hounds of hell were after her. The branches slapped at her without mercy. Briars and brambles left her cut and bleeding. Water streamed from the corner of her eyes and splattered back to wet her face. She sprinted, adrenaline feeding energy to her tired limbs. She darted faster and faster through the trees, barely feeling her feet on the ground.
There!
She could see a break in the tree line and caught a glimpse of a pasture as she dashed closer and closer, finally seeing the outline of a farmhouse beyond it—dark and squatting—the windows black except for the moonlight reflecting off them, giving the house a threatening, sinister appearance, as if it lay in wait for Graysie to reach it.
But that farmhouse was far less threatening than the woods.
Moonlight peeped in as she raced on, and the bigger trees mimicked the shadow of a man, jumping out to frighten her over and over again; she didn’t know if he was chasing her or if it was her imagination fueled by terror.
Panting with effort, she pushed on almost to the edge where the woods would finally release her into the field. She stopped for a moment, sucking in air and feeling a little bit of relief.
But it was short-lived.
Before she could step out into the field, the forest exploded all around her.
She stumbled in the dark. Her feet tangled beneath her and she crashed down toward the forest floor. She squeezed her eyes tight as she fell, realizing he’d won the game. He was right behind me the whole time. Now the son of a bitch has me. She twisted her body before she hit the ground, trying to land on her back.
She’d still fight.
She’d fight like a man, just like her daddy had taught her.
Just before her head hit the ground, she opened her eyes and saw him; a dark blur barreling toward her—
32
GRAYSIE STRUGGLED to pull her pistol out from behind her as time slowed. The dark blur flew at her and she screamed, just before the shape of a man emerged and collided with the blur—Ozzie!—in the same split second she pulled her pistol free, pulled back the hammer and squeezed the trigger.
The gun loudly boomed, barking death.
The blur twisted in the air and barreled toward Graysie.
Man and dog went down in tangled heap.
Graysie scrambled to her feet at the same time as Ozzie, who crawled out from under the man’s arm and nearly flew to her, almost knocking her back over with his enthusiasm.
Filled with terror at what she’d done, she dropped the gun with a little toss, as if it were too hot to hold. She rubbed Ozzie’s head with both hands, checking to be sure he wasn’t hit. “You okay, boy?”
Ozzie was fine, barely winded even. She realized the farmhouse she’d seen from the back was her dad’s house. She was a lot closer than she’d thought coming in the back way.
The man on the ground moaned and Ozzie ran back to him, nudging at his leg.
Graysie stepped closer and pulled Ozzie away by his collar. “Watch out, Ozzie!” With the limited moonlight, Graysie couldn’t see much of his face, but he didn’t look like a tweaker. He was huge. Healthy.
Not like the sick guy in the barn. But the fact was he was out in the middle of the night, on her dad’s property, chasing either Ozzie, or her. She’d never seen him before. He had to be with the other guy.
“Who are you? Were you chasing my dog?” she yelled at him, fear making her voice shake. “What’s your name?”
The man hesitated and then moaned, “Fuuuucking Pu—” his words broke off as he screamed in pain through clenched teeth. He grabbed his wound. Blood seeped through his fingers.
Like a cold shower, anger replaced Graysie’s fear for a moment. He was trying to hurt Ozzie? What kind of freak would hurt a dog, especially a sweet dog like Ozzie? She had to be sure that’s what he was saying. “What?”
The man didn’t answer. He moaned and tried to roll over.
A different kind of fear knotted inside her. What if he dies? Am I in trouble? But if he was with the guy who attacked her, it was self-defense. Graysie yelled at him, “Look, were you with the meth head in the barn?”
He answered with a whimper.
The fear in his voice made Graysie feel stronger. She nudged him with her foot. “Who are you? Were you chasing me, or Ozzie?”
“Fucking Pu—” he yelled through clamped teeth, breaking off again with a sob, not able to speak through the agony.
“Stop cussing my dog!” Graysie screamed at him.
Ozzie stepped up to him again and sniffed, and then buried his nose in the man’s side, pushing at him. Graysie pulled on the dog’s collar, bringing him to a safe distance. He jerked free again, running back to the man and licked his face. He whined.
“Ozzie, leave him alone. He can’t hurt us anymore.” Graysie reached for Ozzie again, and to her shock and surprise, the man twisted and rolled to his stomach, and struggled on the ground.