Page 44 of Hard Knock Hero

Her face turned to stone. She nodded.

“We need to go.”

I grabbed her hands and pulled her up. We raced up the trail, grabbing our snowshoes and the remaining poles along the way. Snow was churned up in the woods, on the trail. It was going to be obvious to anyone who came through here that a fight had taken place.

And there was at least the one camera.

We had to get the hell out of here before anyone else stumbled on us. I just had to hope that, whatever had shaken the mountain before, it was proving a distraction to the rest of Mitch’s friends.

We were both covered head to toe in snow, which probably provided some decent camouflage as we trekked our way over the trail and back down Refuge Mountain. Jessi kept the rifle and tightened the strap so the weapon was nestled against her back. At one point, she paused to check the chamber. Closed it up again. Flicked on the safety. She knew what she was doing.

After we’d made our way down the other side to the road, I scouted ahead, but nobody was waiting near Jessi’s car.

We stowed our gear and snow-laden coats in the trunk, then buckled in and locked the doors. I’d taken the driver’s seat this time. Jessi had kept the rifle with her. Her hands shook slightly on the barrel.

“You all right?” I asked.

“Yeah. You?”

“Just fine.” But if Jessi had thought it was bad when I confronted Chester on the first night I’d arrived, there was no comparison to what we’d just done.

I thought about Mitch riding that ATV. The explosion. The possibility that we might still run into company. “Do you think Mitch’s friends are parked near here somewhere?” I asked. “It didn’t seem like they were following us on the trail. Could they be flanking us?”

“You can’t reach the forest access roads from this side of Refuge Mountain. They’re miles out of the way. They would have to circle half the mountain to get over here, and we can definitely beat them back to Main Street.”

That was good. I didn’t want to give them a chance to catch up to us. I started the engine, and we rolled slowly across the icy road back toward town.

Jessi squeezed the stock of the rifle. She had the muzzle pointed down into the wheel well. “I can’t believe Mitch is dead.”

“He tried to kill both of us.”

“I know. But did you…did you know he would go over the edge?”

“Yes,” I said evenly. “That’s where I intended for him to end up. You can’t feel bad about it.” I certainly didn’t.

“I don’t feel bad.” When she turned her eyes to me, they were like two blue gemstones. Hard and shining. “What do we do now?”

I sped up. Trees flew past. “We’ll go back to your place. Wait to see what they’ll do. If the other Rigsbys come for us, we’ll call Owen.” I was glad we had that rifle. It would help in case things got really bad. Our chefs’ knives had limited utility.

Though what I wanted most was to get Jessi to safety. Away from the diner. Where, though? There was nowhere else.

“You don’t think we should go to Owen now?” she asked. “Try to explain? It was self defense.”

“Whatever they’re up to on the national forest land, Mitch was patrolling to keep anyone from stumbling upon it. They’re keeping it a secret. And that’s our leverage. For tonight, we stay quiet and wait. If we’re lucky, they’ll do the same. They’d be idiots not to.”

“We’re talking about Chester and Theo.”

“True. But I think Daddy Dale is involved in what they’re doing, too. He’ll be calling the shots.”

“Because of what Dale and Chester were talking about last night? How they can’t afford to draw attention?”

“Exactly. That camera was there for a reason.”

We reached the diner, and I parked Jessi’s car behind it in her usual space. We went inside. I made sure all the doors were locked and shut as many curtains as possible. Jessi and I stripped off our outer layers. Left them piled by the back door. Puddles formed as the snow melted.

We sat huddled together in her kitchen. We were both high on adrenaline. Primed for the next fight. But I’d lived this before. Jessi hadn’t. This wasn’t like the other night, when Chester had threatened her. Not like the brick either. This had been far more intense.

But maybe it was like what Jeremy had put her through.

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